London - where to live that is Porsche friendly

[911Thrasher]

ZeroH said:

Seen cars keyed, with eggs thrown on them and a whole row of cars with paint over them all in sw7.
Had one of my old cars keyed in sw1 and seen numerous porsches in resident bays with key wound in westminster.
I assume you saw what happened to shans alpina in chiswick?

Dude i'm just sharing my experience of living in Central London. Listening to you, we should all hide our cars away.
answer to the OP then, where do you suggest is a safe area for his 996?

[ZeroH]

911Thrasher said:

Dude i'm just sharing my experience of living in Central London. Listening to you, we should all hide our cars away.
answer to the OP then, where do you suggest is a safe area for his 996?

Yep well everyone has different experiences I'm afraid & indeed I keep my own car in secure premises.

I never offered any suggestion of safe location because I believe wherever you park your car on the street in London is something of a lottery. You may never have a problem, or you may have plenty - you simply can't generalise.

[Du1point8]

craigjm said:

Du1point8 said:

Live where ever you want and just hire a garage to put the car in.

Simple idea and just accept that it will cost £50-80 a month for the garage.

Please tell me in what areas of London near decent links to the centre can you get a garage for 50-80 a month?

When I was looking it was just off the A3 at clapham north, secure garage behind gates... I wonder why it went so quick.

[subaqua]

OH kept her mini in resident-only on street parking in a leafy square of Notting Hill for 7 years and every few months there would be a new parking ding, scratch from a pedestrian, minor vandalism incident or whatever. When I moved there, the insurers wanted me to keep my lotus garaged, which meant renting a spot in an underground car park.

Keeping a nice car on street in London you have two issues - other peoples stty parking (which will never go away) and vandalism. Vandalism is mostly random, way home from the pub stuff (but there's a pub on nearly every street in London) or the more sinister, but much less frequent organised mass acts of vandalism - you'd be pretty unlucky to get caught by the latter, but the former is likely to be an annual occurence.

Peopoe who keep supercars on the street in K&C, do so because if the paintwork gets f*cked up, they will just trade it for a new one and let the dealer sort out the problem. If you can't afford to play that game, then get an underground car park space or garage and expect to pay 150-200 a month for it.

However... the first thing you need to do, is find an area you want to live in. Once you've done that, then work out where best to put your car away. Check out places like parkatmyhouse.com to see what's on offer in the area you like

[kingston12]

gd said:

Surrey. What you spend on commuting into Waterloo station every day you will save in housing and car insurance costs.

Have a look around Weybridge or Walton. Still not cheap, but 30 mins into Waterloo (same as a tube ride from anywhere in zone 1/2) and much more Porsche friendly.

I agree. Porsches are so common around there that you'd be unlikely to get any unwanted attention. It is also a long way out of London, so houses with garages and off street parking are the norm rather than the exception.

You'd have very easy access to some good roads from there as well. The only possible downside is that it is a very quiet, family-type area, which may or may not suit you.

[jackal]

Come to the Royal stretch from Richmond to Teddington/Hampton Court. Best area in England. Obviously chav and vandal free. Drive up Richmond hill and it's hard to spot a car that isn't a Porsche.

Edited by jackal on Monday 13th August 10:14

[kingston12]

craigjm said:

Please tell me in what areas of London near decent links to the centre can you get a garage for 50-80 a month?

I could rent a garage for £80 within a few minutes walk of Surbiton station which is less than 20 minutes from Waterloo.

Obviously, this is just zone 6 with a faster than usual train line, so I guess it would be a lot more as you get closer in.

[Kidhaa]

ZeroH said:

Yep well everyone has different experiences I'm afraid & indeed I keep my own car in secure premises.

I never offered any suggestion of safe location because I believe wherever you park your car on the street in London is something of a lottery. You may never have a problem, or you may have plenty - you simply can't generalise.

Ahhhh now i know......

that's why u & shanif (aka so many name changes) dont drive your cars

[RiccardoG]

Cheib said:

North West.....Jubilee Line will have you to Waterloo in 20 mins.

That means St John's Wood, and parts of Hampstead, Belsize Park and Primrose Hill that are within a 10min walk of the Jubilee Line. A 996 would not attract any attention parked on the streets around those areas.

You can get to Heathrow in 35 mins be outside the M25 in 20 mins and the commute on a bike to Waterloo is very easy....you can even take in the Outer Circle of Regent's Park and do a few laps of that on the way home with everyone else that uses it as a cycle track if you want.

As for life it's got loads of great pubs and restaurants or you can be in the middle of the West End in 10 mins.

It's not cheap but that's because it's the best part of London....yes I am biased.....but that's because I live there

Got to totally agree with you on that one. Then again, I too may be biased as a fellow NW1 resident


To the OP, as a central London resident since 1999 and having kept two 911s on the road, I have gone through these same considerations. My conclusion is that as a garage will cost you at least £1500 /year, so its probably cheaper to just leave the car on the road and get it tidied up every couple of years than renting a garage.

Your biggest risk, as mentioned above, is other careless drivers bumping into your car when manouvering. Second major risk is for 'Cup mirror' owners (964/993) having them stolen, along with centre caps on 996/997. In terms of vandalism I think a 996 will attract little attention, which is part of what makes owning a 911 so great, as in London they are so common.

[cuse92]

OP, there are almost more options that you can list, but you may want to consider somewhere around Clapham Junction... St. John's Hill, Clapham, Wandsworth... there's a train every couple of minutes to/from Waterloo (much more frequent than tube), its a 10-minute trip and you can get on A3 (or A24) and be in West Sussex/Surrey in half an hour on the weekends. I moved to the area from Notting Hill after 10 years there, because the housing prices are so much better. I was worried about the car getting damaged, but except in the immediate vicinity of Clapham Junction and the nearby housing estates it is no worse than any other area. To paraphrase an earlier poster, with a pub on every corner, and depressed areas interpersed between nicer areas all over the city, very few parts of London are risk-free.

[PGN 500sl]

No-one will bat an eyelid at a 996 in London.

However, I guess it's about probability. I live in NW8 and I'd say it's less likely to get damage there than somewhere like Finsbury Park or Lewisham.

[baz1985]

Highgate.

[Actus Reus]

New Malden - easy links to Waterloo, but fairly leafy so out into the country in minutes, and posh enough that a 996 won't cause you problems.

[Fulla]

Ealing is a good place IMHO. Waterloo is easy reach on the district line. There is also the central line , piccadilly, overland to paddington, heathrow express, M4, M40, M3, M25 and M1 in easy reach. With cross rail the city gets closer as well. Chilterns are a short jaunt away for the weekend hoon.
Plenty of interesting cars on the street or in driveways.

But as has already been said it's budget dependant. There are plenty of places to store your car around London if you don't want to leave it near where you live.

[RacerMDR]

Move here - http://www.panpeninsula.com/

there is valet parking underground - and some very nice cars around. (Lambo, R8, Ferrari, Masser etc)

My space costs me 30 per week (by personal negotiation - going rate is 40 per week) - but you have to rent a flat (or buy one) to be allowed to rent the space.

Also - close to Brands, can be on the M25 in 15/20 minutes

I can get to Reigate in 45.........

I lived in Surrey before - and frankly although only officially 40 minutes to Waterloon from Guildford - it costs thousands, and then parking the car on top in train station car park.

Personally i'd rather spend that money on my own standard of living, rather than the train/car parking companies bosses's

I can get to Waterloo from my place on the loser cruiser in 15 mins (5 minute walk to Canary Wharf Station)

Edited by RacerMDR on Monday 13th August 17:25

[Cheib]

johnbrace said:

Cheib said:

North West.....Jubilee Line will have you to Waterloo in 20 mins.

That means St John's Wood, and parts of Hampstead, Belsize Park and Primrose Hill that are within a 10min walk of the Jubilee Line. A 996 would not attract any attention parked on the streets around those areas.

You can get to Heathrow in 35 mins be outside the M25 in 20 mins and the commute on a bike to Waterloo is very easy....you can even take in the Outer Circle of Regent's Park and do a few laps of that on the way home with everyone else that uses it as a cycle track if you want.

As for life it's got loads of great pubs and restaurants or you can be in the middle of the West End in 10 mins.

It's not cheap but that's because it's the best part of London....yes I am biased.....but that's because I live there

Have you not bumped into Harry from Portiacraft, he lives in right in the centre of Hampstead in the village I often bump into him in the coffee cup or base he seems to spend all his time there.

Can't say I have, haven't been to Portiacraft though a mate has bought a 993 from them.

[Slaav]

We live in a very nice part of town. Muppet parking is your greatest worry in my opinion.

One evening, there were 5 911s outside and a Ferrari, couple of 4X4s etc. Council estate round the back and the tube is c. 100yds away. Taxi Rank almost opposite.

Minor ding from parking on 911 but our 160K mile Series 1 Disco WAS broken in to

Figure that one out?


No use to teh discussion as go with what Ins Co's think - there is a reason for their premiums and ratings.

Good luck

[jcelee]

Maida Vale was always exotic friendly when I lived there. I do recall one or two instances where alloys had been targetted though and some muppet parking.

[fido]

Actus Reus said:

New Malden - easy links to Waterloo, but fairly leafy so out into the country in minutes, and posh enough that a 996 won't cause you problems.

Depends which bit you live in, and more specifically which road. I knew someone with jealous neighbours who used his 993 as a goalpost - he moved away in the end and cited this particular family. It's a nice area in general but as always there are unpleasant people about resent those who have more material showings than them. Though granted when i have driven through the area, there are alot of Porsches about (old classics to newer models) so i guess stick to The Groves or off Coombe Lane.

Edited by fido on Monday 13th August 21:41

[AyBee]

26jcd said:

This may be a daft post but I thought it might be worth a try. I've just moved to London with my Porsche 996 as my companion - couldn't bare to sell it when moving down here!

Now I work very close to Waterloo and I'm currently trying to find a good area to live in where I can park the car safely and navigate my way out of the city quickly when I fancy a hoon at the weekends.

Any ideas?

Also, wouldn't mind being near airport links, cycle as a commute and be somewhere with a bit of life.

Any advice would be much appreciate

Clapham/Balham?
There's 2 997 convertibles, a C63 (albeit debadged), 2 Astons and a 360 that live in my immediate vicinity on the road. 6 mile cycle commute to the city, quick enough to get out of the city and Gatwick isn't too far away. Plenty of nice pubs and bars and 10 minutes by train into Waterloo when needed.