Here's my story. Its Saturday and me and the misses had a babysitter for once and we were going to go the movies. My friend had just become a spyker dealer and invited me to look at the cars the day before. Well we missed our movie time and decide to go look at the spykers. We checked them out and he is also an AM dealer. I had always liked the looks of the Vantage so I took one for a drive. I thought to myself this is a fun car and told Chris to look for a decent used or left over Vantage and I would be interested. We left and Jen being way smarter than me said you will be bored with that car after a month. She than suggested we give a 911 a go. Well we had time to kill so off to the Porsche dealer. I meet my long time friend who is the Porsche sales manager and tell him I might be interested in a base 911 with 6 speed. He says I don't have any. Were getting ready to leave and he said have you ever driven a Caymen, and I said no. So he tosses us the keys and says have fun. The car was a blast but did not have enough go juice for me. I thank him and were getting ready to leave and he says would you consider a 911S for the price of a base. I said talk to me. He had a 09 left over, nicely option but not over the top with PDK, which I did not want. He said take it out. I told him I had errands to run as we were going snowboarding the next day and we did not have any winter clothes. He said just take it and bring it back when ever. Well about an hour later I brought it back and he was about to show it to another couple and I got territorial. I said that is my car, it sold and I'll take it. So it took me about a whole day of tire kicking to buy a car I did not know I wanted. I'm in love now

PS. the spyker will be the next car, just because I want a car that looks like an airplane

 

You are far ahead on lost car values. I lost 3 cars in two divorces yet i view the overall experience as being a positive . I am very happy because years later i did meet the right woman for me. What I am trying to say is that whether its a matter of love or finding things that work well for you .. the education can be an experience and it also can be expensive . By "expense" I don't just mean time and money .. but even the energy placed into the emotional decisions which lead to ones growth.

It may have taken you three cars UNTIL now to find the Porsche.
I knew I wanted a Porsche .. but it took me a lot of years to find the right woman .

I would not view the Lexus , or the Denali. or the Mini -- cars as a "loss" . I see them as transitional vehicles which contribute towards a better appreciation of the Porsche.

 

NEVER takes me too long.. My steps are pretty simple..

1. Decide I want a Certain car..

2. Call around to see who has it

3. see who will approve me

4. sign and drive..

Life is too short to window shop.. Ive lost plenty in cars over the last few years and i am not saying my steps are smart.. I know i have a car problem.. Trust me.. LOL

Mike

 

Some great stories here. I think it's telling of all of our different personalities.

Mine has just gotten shorter and shorter.

Porsche #1: 1988 Carrera Targa, Black/Black 57K, purchased in 1995 after 4 weeks of contemplation. Hardly any real popular internet sites back then, save for classifieds2000 and recycler. Found it in the local paper. Was in college and the paperwork for that 22% financing took a damn long time to close without credit history. Who cares if I could have afforded it. I loved it and had to have it (eventually dated my then girlfriend, now wife, in it). Worked my butt off to pay for it at $11/hr for Novell Netware admin services...rather useless skill to have these days.

Porsche #2: 1978 930 DP Slant nose, grey market. Purchased in 1997 after again finding it in local paper. Rare enough, unique enough, and damn it had crazy racing stripes that me of my childhood Martini 935 toy. Owner's house was a HUGE mansion in Carmel, thin slicing the situation told me he was trustworthy. Sold Porsche #1 in 3 days, picked it up the next day.

Porsche #3: this one found on recycler.com (popular with the socal crowd for some many years) in 1998. It was a smoke silver 1990 C2 Targa. Fundamentally a very different car from #2, and I was tired of spending my hard earned money maintaining that 400HP monster (uh, was still in college, pay was still $11/hr). This one took 2 days to transact. Reliable, comfortable, and didn't attract the riff raff. Drove down with a friend in his brand new Toyota Supra Turbo in a record 3:19 (still stands for me between bay area and thousand oaks today...do the math), looked at it, comptemplated a night down there, and picked it up the next day.

Porsche #4: 1996 993 (still have it) in 1999. 1 day. It was speed yellow and wasn't all the rage back then. It was the internet boom times and a check was by then easy to cut. Found it in Niello Sacramento. Car delivered to me next day. Loved the car then, love the car today. Purchased sight unseen.

Porsche #5: 2006 C2S in 2010. 1 day. Saw it, spoke to owner, sent deposit via paypal. Thank you, instant payment. Sight unseen, owner agreed to post-deposit PPI.

Bottom line: I'm growing to be an impulse buyer (cali2121, still staring at your GT3 at Carlsen...). What the heck, you only go around once.

 

Oh man !!! Can I relate to this !!! It's a combination of an exhausting day filled with nervous excitement and anticipation . Great story.

 

When I think of the hardest impulse car scenario that I ever faced it was at a BMW dealership. I wasn't sure if I wanted the car because i just went there to look at it. They knew me well as i had bought other cars from them. So the manager says to me "why don't you just take it home for a day ? no obligations . you can return it tomorrow if you don't want it." My first reaction was complete confusion. I didn't even know whether to accept the offer but I did. I drove the car off the lot on a beautiful day and i must have gotten about a mile away that i realized taht i was on my way home to get my title to the car I left with them.

I have never had this happen with a Porsche but i must say it ups the ante on making the purchase decision hard to resist.

 

That's about right - took me a week. But I needed a car and had been looking at other cars for a few months.

 

I have a similar story (no wife, though ). Decided to go look for an 997S on a Wed. Had a horrible experience with one of the big dealerships here in Houston. Walked out. Went up to Porsche of North Houston on a Friday to see a 997TT on a whim and picked it up Saturday morning.

Friend has an E550. Such a great car! Was it another impulse buy?

 

In 2008, I custom ordered an Audi R8 ($132K sticker) for delivery in Q1 2009, but in the meantime the economy tanked, and my business dropped significantly, and my wife became pregnant with child #3 (surprise!). So spending that kind of $ on a toy no longer seemed prudent (as if it was before). So I waited a year and a half for biz to come back, and when prices really dipped on porsches last spring/summer, I could no longer stand not having a toy.

So I looked for a few months, and found a CPO'd 2008 C2S with 7K miles at a dealer in san diego. Drove the family down there for a vacation, and bought the car on the spot when I went to look at it, for less than half of what the R8 would have cost me. And I'm very happy. Although I still stop and stare whenever I see an R8 drive by.

 

WELL SAID, LARRY!

You are absolutely right. I've learned a lot from my experience, and I do truly realize what the right car for me is. So much, that the wife is pusing me towards it so I will pay attention to her and not these boards!!!

 

took me about 6 mos to pull the trigger.

 

I'm with Mike@AWD, I decide on a car and find one that I like. Distance usually isn't an issue. For the right price I am more than willing to deal with the cost and the wait. It usually takes me about 3 months from the time I finally decide I want a certain car to having it in my garage. I do my homework looking for exactly what I want and then between dealing with sellers then inspection companies then shipping which is anywhere between 10-25 days the process is a while. The worst part is that I'm usually out of my cash for about a month before I can even drive my new car.

BTW, some really nice stories here, I enjoyed this thread.

 

LOL That's exactly me. I started off looking for a fun car, explained my NEED to the wife (it is a need, the soul must be fed!) and once I got the go ahead it was heads-down research mode for about two weeks.

I toyed with a couple Vipers (I've had a fetish for the 1996 Viper GTS Coupe in blue since it came out) but in the end decided upon a Cayman after a spirited test drive at a local dealer. I even worked out a price on a 2010 Cayman with PDK and paddles that was gorgeous.

But when it came down to signing the papers it just felt WRONG for some reason. Part of the reason was that I couldn't take my kids with me out for my favorite pastime - a weekend drive. So in the end I passed on the Cayman and was on the hunt again.

Then another dealer in the area I frequented had my 2006 CS2 Cab Cobalt-blue baby on their CPO website. I got out of work early and took a test drive. I was hooked. I made the deal the next day.

With all my recent experiences I'm thinking I'll keep her for the two years of the CPO and then trade her in for a new 911. I'm not sure I can stomach driving a car without a factory warranty...

 

I've always been known to be an impulse buyer, but with restraint when it came to cars. Two things came into play when I decided to buy my 6th car, which is a 2009 C2S. First, was my humbling and life-changing experience when I volunteered my medical services for a week, for earthquake victims over in Haiti. When I came back to the U.S., I was a changed person. Took one day at a time, been very thankful for what I have and that, "life is too short" to worry about what lies ahead. Which then led to my flipping on the TV one night and stumbling upon the National Geographic Channel's Ultimate Factories, which showed the 911 being built from start to finish.

After seeing that show, it took me but a few minutes to tell myself, "Why would I wait till I'm 50 to buy my "mid-life" crisis car? Heck, I'll buy it now while I still can! LOL. Got on my computer and searched for a Carrera S in Racing Green. Lo and behold, the very car I was dreaming about was for sale in Dallas, Texas at Park Place Porsche. Sent an inquiry that very night and was called by my sales guy, the very next day. Negotiated a price, sent them a check and the car was delivered 8 days later here at my home in NH. Never regretted it. "Life is just too short"! :-)

 

^Hey Vinny,

Excellent license plate.