Never selling my 981

[SkinnyPete]

Never say never obviously, but after six years of ownership, I still can’t see imagine a scenario where I decide to move on to something else.

Sure I wish it was a convertible and I wish it had a manual gearbox, but not enough to go through the hassle of changing.

This car has taken me on some great journeys with great friends, so there’s probably a bit of sentimentalism going on, but I still look forward to every single drive.

I always said when I could afford it I’d buy a 991.2 cabriolet with a manual box, but now that I can I just don’t fancy it. Instead, I’ve spent £4k fitting the X73 kit as well as some other new suspension components.

The car feels more aggressive now, definitely turned it up a notch! So here’s to another six years of motoring.

[SkinnyPete]

Gunk said:

Everyone says that, you’ll end up selling it and moving on. I said that years ago about my 911 Carrera 3.0. I ended up with a messy divorce in 2001 and it had to go.

Ha, well of course I’ll have to move on at some point. I could wrap the car around a lamp post tomorrow for all I know, but my point is I’m not bored of it at all.

The X73 kit has given it a new lease of life too, and a new character to enjoy.

[SkinnyPete]

Paulr1980 said:

I’m with you…

Cayman for just under four years. Thought a 911 must be a revelation as the 981 is close to perfect.

Bought a 991.2 Carrera T. Sold it and within a few months bought the exact old cayman back and modified it.

This is interesting. What didn't you like about the 911/miss about the Cayman?

I've driven a couple of 911.2's, including on track, and I've always seen them as the only thing that could get me out of my 981, money aside.

[SkinnyPete]

Paulr1980 said:

SkinnyPete said:

This is interesting. What didn't you like about the 911/miss about the Cayman?

I've driven a couple of 911.2's, including on track, and I've always seen them as the only thing that could get me out of my 981, money aside.

Some of it was financial. 30k cayman vs 75k 911T. Well in to the realms of diminishing returns. I liked how special the T looked and felt to be inside but that was it. Moving it sounded synthetic, with artificial pops. I could ramble on about it but it boiled down to the Cayman just feeling like a glove fit for me. It just needed a little help to be more personalised to me.

So Spyder wheels painted satin aurum, KW suspension, some interior bits... It's everything I wanted it to be and still half the price.

I see your 911T was in the spotted article. Incredible looking car, but well into diminishing returns as you say.

What are your thoughts on the KW suspension you fitted to your Cayman?

[SkinnyPete]

On the talk of running costs, I had a bit of spare time recently (and I'm very sad) so I added up every invoice from the day I got the car.

Tax, insurance, MOT, tyres, servicing, repairs, etc., everything except petrol, over six years and about 61,000 miles....£23,857.11.

That figure would have been astronomically higher if I didn't have the extended warranty. On the flip side, it would have also been a lot cheaper if I didn't fit expensive upgrades like the X73 kit, or if the brakes and tyres didn't suffer exaggerated wear from track days.

Money well spent and no regrets, but I'm not entirely convinced I'd spend the same on another car in the future. Cars keep you poor, and I'd quite like to retire at 52!

Maybe I just need to work smarter

[SkinnyPete]

SkinnyPete said:

This is interesting. What didn't you like about the 911/miss about the Cayman?

I've driven a couple of 911.2's, including on track, and I've always seen them as the only thing that could get me out of my 981, money aside.

So to come back to this, by chance I had the opportunity to drive a 991.2 recently, it was a lovely example and well specced.

I enjoyed sitting in it stationary to start, just soaking in its aura. I drove it fairly sensibly on a mixture of roads, and if I'm honest, unless you were concentrating it would be difficult to tell the difference.

No matter which way you look at it, you are still sitting in the same seat as a Cayman, holding onto a very similar steering wheel, operating an identical pedal box, looking at an almost identical gauge cluster, and interacting with identical switchgear and ergonomics.

I liked it, but feel the wow factor was lost having been spoilt by driving a nearly identical Cayman for a number of years. Would I have one if money was no option? It's a very unconvincing maybe.

To complicate matters, I also recently drove a 992S on track. That was sufficiently different and ahead of the game compared to my 981 that I could see myself seriously considering one in the future. It felt bonkers fast and the interior was pretty nice.

The only nagging thought in the back of my mind is I'm pretty sure my 981 feels better balanced and turns in with a little more purpose, but I could just be making that up!

[SkinnyPete]

ATM said:

I have a 981 and I think its a good car. I dont necessarily think its great but it is good. My reasoning for it maybe being a keeper is specific to my situation in that I destroyed it and then repaired it. I am almost stuck with it now because of our history. So new cars dont necessarily excite me but there are plenty of cars which are not brand new which do excite me. I think the land scape for cars has definitely changed in the last 1/2/3 years. Most are going electric so petrol really does start to feel like its old. All petrol are turbo now so if you want none turbo / NA you have to really go back a few years unless you buy the GT products from Porsche. People have been talking about combustion engines becoming relics soon but I am seeing it now. I also have a 986 and I can appreciate the old school-ness of this compared to the 981. Does this make it better - no. The 2 are different. Gun to my head and forced to choose 1 I would probably choose the 981 as its just an easier car to live with. Right now I still have ideas about cars I want to ty but I dont necessarily want to sell the cars I have to do that. So I am stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Hi ATM,
I have followed your other thread with interest, and it's great to see your car is now back where it should be.

I understand where you are coming from about your history with the car, and I think a lot of people can feel that way especially when they have invested in expensive repairs or upgrades.

I'm the same, although part of me is conscious that I could be falling victim to the sunk cost fallacy.

I did actually want to sell my car shortly after buying it, as I realised PDK was the wrong type of gearbox for me. I couldn't suffer the instant depreciation/loss so I'm where I'm at now. I still get frustrated with it as it indecisively shunts through the gears, back and forth, but as in my original post I can't bear the hassle of selling privately and the monumental cost to change into something else.