To Garage, or not to Garage
Discussion
No, i'm not referring to chav musical taste, but more where do you leave your car overnight?
B-day and therefore 996-day are looming and the long wait is making me think of more downsides of owning a porsche.
I live on a nice wide road in clapham near larkhall rise. Its a quite nice area, theres a targa, a classic porsche, and that big beefy old aston martin. But would i be mad to leave a porsche on the street?
Touch wood, nothing has happened to my golf. You will probably think i'm mad, as its only a golf, but it was my first car, so im quite protective. On my walk to work every morning i do tend to find myself having a quick check and seeing if anyone has been peering in..
So... what im asking is who here lives in london and leaves the car on the street..?
B-day and therefore 996-day are looming and the long wait is making me think of more downsides of owning a porsche.
I live on a nice wide road in clapham near larkhall rise. Its a quite nice area, theres a targa, a classic porsche, and that big beefy old aston martin. But would i be mad to leave a porsche on the street?
Touch wood, nothing has happened to my golf. You will probably think i'm mad, as its only a golf, but it was my first car, so im quite protective. On my walk to work every morning i do tend to find myself having a quick check and seeing if anyone has been peering in..
So... what im asking is who here lives in london and leaves the car on the street..?
I used to live in Clapham and parked my E46 M3 Cab on the street (in a nice area with family houses, 'twix the commons'). It would (obviously) get marked by others parking around me, but it also got keyed (down all three panels on one side) and on another occasion I had two wheels stolen (£1,500 to replace) and it was dumped on its calipers.
Delivery of my 997 C2S 18 months ago spurred me to move and my cars are now stored safely and securely (in the dry) under my pad in Chelsea (surrounded by electric doors and CCTV)... peace of mind is worth lots.
Delivery of my 997 C2S 18 months ago spurred me to move and my cars are now stored safely and securely (in the dry) under my pad in Chelsea (surrounded by electric doors and CCTV)... peace of mind is worth lots.
Garage it if you can...some low life keyed my car couple of weeks ago and there is always the risk of getting marked with clumsy parking..
If it means waiting longer until you have a house with a garage, it's worth it. Plus, having it on the street makes you a target for car-jacking and burglary.
out of site, out of potential trouble!
If it means waiting longer until you have a house with a garage, it's worth it. Plus, having it on the street makes you a target for car-jacking and burglary.
out of site, out of potential trouble!
roygarth said:Perhaps the anti-lentilist brigade are more active than we thought
I parked my bright red 964 on Ramsden Road in Balham for 2 years with no problems - not even a dent or scratch from others parking. But in same period my bright red 2CV was keyed twice, had the roof slashed and was dented all over by others parking........go figure!
I keep my Passat estate on the street (well it IS a car ...) however, the 993 lives in a rented garage, a minutes walk away - only £12/week.
This is SE11 by the way, somewhat less salubrious than Clapham.
I'd speak to your local Council see if you can rent a garage, there is usually a bit of a waiting list.
This is SE11 by the way, somewhat less salubrious than Clapham.
I'd speak to your local Council see if you can rent a garage, there is usually a bit of a waiting list.
I'm up in NW6 and have rented a nearby off-street parking spot for the last 5 years. I'm very lucky as insurance is cheaper, finding the space is obviously much easier and I can sleep a lot better. I used to have an M3 which got nicked and a GTV which got keyed, both while parked on my street. To be brutally honest, if I lost the space, I'd probably get rid of the car too. Sad, but that's London I suppose.
I can't afford a house with a garage in my location so all my cars (see profile) have been parked on the street and in a public car park next to my street.
Touch wood, no major aggro so far. I had one perplexing weekend trying to work out why there were fine scratches around my Noble, turned out to be a cat sleeping on the warm engine cover and scarpering when disturbed, clawing at the paintwork
Not in central London, just outside the M25 so I guess it depends on:
1. how many other 'flash' cars regularly park locally, would a porker stand out?
2. is parking congested and regularly used by shoppers doing Paris-style parallel parking?
I've been able to insure my cars on the street. No doubt I'll get vandalised eventually, but that's not going to stop me enjoying my favourite cars - the assholes have won if you waste money on something you don't love just because of other peoples' potential behaviour.
That said, I've given up on fast scooters after having 3 stolen in one year - insurance and replacement costs outweighed the upsides unfortunately. For me to give up on the car thing, I'd have to suffer 3 total losses with no insurance payouts.
If you've got a garage (or one rentable, sufficiently nearby to not put you off driving the thing) then yeah, use it. If not, get a subtle coloured 911 Do what I do - aventura green and never wash it 
Touch wood, no major aggro so far. I had one perplexing weekend trying to work out why there were fine scratches around my Noble, turned out to be a cat sleeping on the warm engine cover and scarpering when disturbed, clawing at the paintwork
Not in central London, just outside the M25 so I guess it depends on:
1. how many other 'flash' cars regularly park locally, would a porker stand out?
2. is parking congested and regularly used by shoppers doing Paris-style parallel parking?
I've been able to insure my cars on the street. No doubt I'll get vandalised eventually, but that's not going to stop me enjoying my favourite cars - the assholes have won if you waste money on something you don't love just because of other peoples' potential behaviour.
That said, I've given up on fast scooters after having 3 stolen in one year - insurance and replacement costs outweighed the upsides unfortunately. For me to give up on the car thing, I'd have to suffer 3 total losses with no insurance payouts.
If you've got a garage (or one rentable, sufficiently nearby to not put you off driving the thing) then yeah, use it. If not, get a subtle coloured 911
Do what I do - aventura green and never wash it During the week I'm in Streatham, off the high road and 'between the cinemas'. When I got my 986S, as an experiment I left it in the street for one Fri night. Next morning the wing mirror was twisted around but no other damage. Since then, and esp since i got the Targa it goes into a lock-up 15 mins walk away. a bit of a pain sometimes, but peace of mind: there are too many sad fuggers around. Lad down my road has a V-reg 996C4, I've seen no damage to it; then again it is an unobtrusive Arctic Silver... ;-)
BliarOut said:
I parked my bright red 964 on Ramsden Road in Balham for 2 years with no problems - not even a dent or scratch from others parking. But in same period my bright red 2CV was keyed twice, had the roof slashed and was dented all over by others parking........go figure!
LOL!
roygarth said:
I parked my bright red 964 on Ramsden Road in Balham for 2 years with no problems - not even a dent or scratch from others parking. But in same period my bright red 2CV was keyed twice, had the roof slashed and was dented all over by others parking........go figure!
I used to live in Elmbourne Road, Balham, moved from there in 1990, every panel of my 930 ( white 3 litre)was keyed over a period and eventually it was stolen along with my CBR 1100.
cant believe how many people suffer 'keying'. what kind of low life actually walks along and thinks 'i'll scrape a key up this car' it defies belief. thankfully it doesnt happen over here as much, never happened to me or anyone i know yet.
>> Edited by irish boy on Saturday 25th February 11:44
>> Edited by irish boy on Saturday 25th February 11:45
>> Edited by irish boy on Saturday 25th February 11:44
>> Edited by irish boy on Saturday 25th February 11:45
I've lived in Camden for 10 years: Impreza STI stolen (with no battery in!), Audi RS2 seriously vandalised twice, BMW keyed, wing mirror broken off MX5, lacquer scratched off the Volvo, but no damage to the Golf (so far). My Caterham has also been OK, but then it only spent one night on the street. Oh, my neighbour had his Lotus Carlton stolen and burnt out. Insurers love us!
If you can afford the insurance excesses and premiums, and don't mind the ocassional additional trip to the garage, get what you want.
The cost of repairs etc seems to be quickly reimbursed to the insurers by higher premiums (even with a protected NCB). It is only the £19k for the stolen car which made me think the insurance was in fact good value.
There are a couple of (older) 911s parked near here which seem to have been OK so far, and one is a soft top. Good luck to them - and to you.
>> Edited by rah on Sunday 26th February 09:15
If you can afford the insurance excesses and premiums, and don't mind the ocassional additional trip to the garage, get what you want.
The cost of repairs etc seems to be quickly reimbursed to the insurers by higher premiums (even with a protected NCB). It is only the £19k for the stolen car which made me think the insurance was in fact good value.
There are a couple of (older) 911s parked near here which seem to have been OK so far, and one is a soft top. Good luck to them - and to you.
>> Edited by rah on Sunday 26th February 09:15
bermyandy said:
Just wanted to get this to the top to get more views on my dilemma...
I'd agree with the sentiment of most of the posters below. Parking your Porsche habitually "on-street" will lead to it suffering at the hands c**ts who can't afford one...eventually. Parking dings are absolutely inevitable and will turn up almost immediately.
If you don't care, want a 996, and intend to use it as a daily driver then go for it and accept that when you sell it it will need a respray and you might need to respray the thing if you're unlucky enough to get it vandalised. If you DO care, want to keep it mint, and will not use it every day then rent a garage.
My car is garaged every night. I live in a quiet, well-to-do estate in a (horrid) town miles from the capital. There are people who leave Porsches, and other cars of quality, outside overnight with no problem. But, there again, they have off-street parking at the very least.
Rent a garage.
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