Would You Rather...
 

I purchased my 2012 base model way back in 2014. She and I have had some lovely times together. She's got tasteful mods, but I'm at a crossroads with her and could use an internet opinion.

Would you rather supercharge your car for approx $15k or sell and pick up a 992 Carerra S cabriolet? Yes I know the price-points are wildly different, but such is the dilemma I am in.

Assume the financial bases like house, retirement, kid's college fund etc. are covered.... so which would you do?

get the 992S and keep the Z as is or sell. your 2012 base Z probably is enough to cover the tax and license for the 992.

992….992….992

I don't think there is a right answer. I was between moving up and going SC on my Z. I did the latter of the two. Apart from sentimental value, there's some charm in the sense that the car was never necessarily engineered to go that fast, as opposed to a 992 which comes more ready/refined.

Something different in my scenario, though, is I've been nowhere close to entertaining a 911 (even a 997 gen). I don't know how long your window is to be able to shop such a car, compared to how viable it is to find yourself in another Z if you changed your mind.

I love most German cars. But once the warranty is over. That scares me. The maintenance and price for repairs and parts is more then I can stomach. I could go for a Cayman GT4. But like I said before. :shakes head:

992 and I have a single turbo Z (when its running).

The question doesn't even make sense, it's like asking which is better 15k or 150k? The two options are not even remotely comparable so the answer is obvious.

Porsche

Are you suggesting there are zero people who would prefer to have $135k in the bank?

Are you paying for the Porsche in cash? Because if not that question is not relevant.

But the answer is yes. Of the people considering a 992 Carrera S Cabriolet purchase, zero of them care about $135K in the bank.

Yes I am and of course I would care about that amount.

Personally, I wouldn't waste that kind of money on a cabriolet. Isn't the base GT3 near that price?

Yeah it’s close if it doesn’t have options. I know the cab is the less popular option but I’ve never fully understood why. What do you not like about them?

I generally don't like convertibles. The idea of someone looking into my car is un-nerving, so I would never have the top down anyway. That and I live in Texas, so F that.

Specifically why i dont like the 992 Cab? The GT3 simply exists.

You did ask in a way to leave finance out of the equation though haha.

And extra $135k means a lot if that’s a significant portion of your free cash, but may not mean as much if you have like $500k+ free cash sitting around and makes $500k a year. We wouldn’t know which one applies to ya.

How many p car test drives have you done so far? Shoot, drive them all!

GT variants would be a better financial decision in terms of depreciation, however. Even 991.1 GT3 cars still exchange hands easily at 110k-120k range nowadays.

My point was if you're looking at spending $150K in cash out of pocket, then obviously that $135K difference out of your bank account is not a big deal. If you cared that much about the money, then you wouldn't be looking to spend it on a car or else you see a value in spending it. Only you can choose your perspective there.

Personally, I'd rather have $135K in my bank account. But that's because I don't have bank funds where I can shell out $150K cash for a vehicle. If I did have that kind of money, I can assure you my perspective would be different.

I would keep the Z as is... like Rusty, I prefer the cayman GT4, also convertibles are great (Have a miata) but convertibles are not good for tracking if you even get the idea about tracking it...

Or for less money and depending on what you are looking for how about s2000.

Fair points. I’ve driven a 991.1 gts cab, a 991.2 s and a 992 base carerra. It’s been extremely hard to find 992’s in general because of the chip shortage. I’m sure that I’d like the GT3 but I need the backseat for a kid’s car seat.

No offense, but if I had porsche money I probably still wouldn't own one...but the pick between the 2 is obvious lol

Feel the same way here.... If one can truly afford to pay $150K cash for the 992S... probably $160K with tax and license.

Spending additional $15K or needing to sell the 2012 base Z is quite insignificant financially. :rolleyes:

I'm waiting for the 992 GTS and will keep the Z as a spare car.

992 isn't hard to find in California. How many do you want to buy? ;)

135k is almost 1k a month passive income invested conservatively.

so if I still had to work for a living, I would never spend that on a car, because you're roughly a quarter to half of the way to not having to.

Since you are in Cali, Porsche and no worries about smog stuff and inspections.

Have you looked at these?

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/12/2c...f6eba37314.jpg

Don't mind Aunt Edna on the roof :icon17:

I saw one at a used car lot nearby. Someone was already looking at it, though.

Yeah this is really the crux of the decision point for me. I think it comes down to priorities and what one can still afford to do if the money is spent, which is totally dependent on each person's situation. I think there is an assumption that if someone has the money for a new Porsche they have enough money not to care about the cost... which for many owners just isn't fully true.

Maybe for you lucky SoCal people! I'm between the Reno dealership and the Sac dealership and neither gets very many allocations.

if you have to think about priorities before spending $150k+ for any toys, you probably are not ready for various reasons.

Based on your original question regarding spending $15k or $150k, you obviously have not done your homework financially.

Sorry...

so that's about 9% annual return.... Care to share more detail about this conservative investment?

looks like it is having an erection :eek:

Is this guy a troll? I mean, does he really need 20 diff opinions in response to his ridiculous question in order to make up his mind? Hard to believe a person that would ask strangers this question would have somehow accumulated that much extra cash to throw at a car.

I'm rounding up, but I'm thinking about a covered call ETF with a 7% dividend yield and about a 1% appreciation.

Is it really that hard to believe? :icon08:

I'll take the options tip if you feel like sharing :)

I brought my 2020 base because it was a good bang for the buck for a new car, it was less than a 4-banger BRZ. I shop by value. The most expensive sport car I would ever buy (to drive), no matter how rich I was is a C8 Corvette. Why pay more for a mid-engine sports car?

There is only one reason to drive around a super car, taken straight from the mouth of a Lambo owner. One night stands.

...I don't know, maybe you are single.

With the cash you have, top out your budget at a C8 if you are dead set on a mid-engine car or wait for the Z35 if front engine will do and invest the rest. Anything more is a waste of money. I give you only two options, because in my opinion these two cars represent the best value in their class.

I only see one reason to ever buy a >$100k sports car, and that is as an investment if you believe it will appreciate as some do. But you seem like you want a car to drive and not keep in a glass box so this does not apply to you.

not much of a tip, any high yield oriented ETF will perform similarly.

I'm in Canada, so I'm thinking of the BMO products, like ZWK, ZWE, ZWC.

note that there are good reasons not to buy these, you're essentially paying a high 'fee' in return for getting a regular dividend as opposed to more growth.

also, don't invest based on what some rando says on the internet, especially not *this* rando cuz I know just enough to understand how little I understand.

OP, have you considered a Lotus Emira?

Now that looks very interesting! I had not considered it and hadn’t even heard of it. I’m about 200 miles from the closest dealership and I’d imagine if something went wrong with it I’d be dealing with a pretty nasty headache.

The C8 would be absolutely perfect if I didn’t need the backseat. Weird as it may sound, having the ability for a kid seat in the back will allow me to drive the vehicle waaaaaay more.

OP, it's your money, your decision. Go buy the Porsche. If you are like some first time Porsche owners. You will sell it the first time you have to do major maintenance service.