A Porsche 911 is (could be) for life

I’ve long argued that buying a used Porsche can make more financial sense than a new, mundane car – read my eBook  to find out why.

Recently, though, I was driving a newish 997 car and pondering to myself. What if you bought a shiny new 911 – went to the showroom and got your perfect colour and spec – and kept it for life? The £80,000 purchase price spread over 30 or 40 years would be reasonable (assuming you can find the money in the first place) and surely less expensive than a string of those boring cars.

We live in an increasingly disposable society – we buy new things every few years because we always want the latest – and that goes for cars too. I’m as guilty as anyone of this and I do wonder that, after buying a brand new 911, in a few years I’d be hankering after a newer model.

But maybe I’d fall in love with the car and not want to sell it. After all, you don’t trade your kids in every few years, do you?

I have a book called Durable Car Ownership that argues the case for keeping a car running indefinitely – much as you would a house. It’s a good plan, so long as you have the right car to start with – the book suggests Morris Minors (OK, it’s quite an old book but the principle remains).

Now, there’s the problem – modern Porsches have too much built-in obsolescence. Take the PCM system, for instance, in 10 years the sat-nav will be laughingly old fashioned. In the old days, you could easily buy a Porsche – say a 964 or 993 – and quite happily keep it going and, indeed, people have done. However, I’m not sure a modern car, of whatever type, will have that same durability, which is a shame.

However, there’s no reason for not buying an older Porsche – a 964 or 993 would be a good choice – and then keeping it for life. It would become a much-loved member of the family. It would also make financial sense and be more eco-friendly than throwing away cars and buying new ones.

That said, a part of me still thinks that a modern Porsche, such as a 996 or 997, could also be considered as a lifetime purchase. Maybe even a 991…

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. P964FP

    Great write up Phil. Always love your blogging.

    I myself own a 964 – I have absolutely no desire to ever sell. Circumstances permitting.

    I’ve taken the view it’ll never depreciate and therefore spend my disposable income on modifying as opposed to saving for my next ‘new’ car that would depreciate.

    The beauty of modifying is the chance to build something perfectly suited to your needs. In this case a 3.8 ltr ITB rebuild that should last another 100,000 miles.

    I guess that’s the biggest ‘secret’ regarding 964s – they’re modern enough to use every day and modify to todays standards of usability and performance.

    PS> What Porsche do you currently/ hope to own?

  2. Bill

    Thanks. Great comments. My 96 993 C4 with less than 45K miles is a keeper. Had it for 13 years without any major problems. It makes financial sense, plus the car is well built. It may not be the fastest car on the road, but it will still quickly break the speed limit and gets thumbs up by so many people. So whenever my wife gets bitchy and says to sell my car, I plan to use stories like yours in my defense.

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