Do You Own Your Porsche or Does It Own You?
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Term
collectible car
A collectible car is a car that people want to own because it's rare or special in some way. These cars can become more valuable over time, which is why some people buy them as investments.
Car
Porsche Cayenne
The Porsche Cayenne is a fancy SUV that you can use every day without worrying about damaging it. It's built to be both luxurious and practical.
Car
Porsche Macan
The Porsche Macan is a smaller luxury SUV that you can drive every day. It's stylish and fun to drive, just like other Porsche cars.
Car
Porsche 911
The Porsche 911 is a famous sports car that has been around for a long time, known for being fast and stylish. Many people admire it because it combines luxury with the ability to drive it every day, making it a popular choice for car lovers. It's often seen in places where high-end cars are parked.
Term
low mileage
Low mileage means the car hasn't been driven much, which usually means it's in better shape. People like low mileage cars because they often last longer and have fewer problems.
Term
original paint
Original paint means the car still has the paint it came with from the factory. It's important for collectors because it shows the car hasn't been changed or repaired in a way that might lower its value.
Car
Porsche 944
The Porsche 944 is a sporty car made by the German company Porsche. It was popular in the 1980s and 1990s for its good handling and performance.
Car
Honda Accord
The Honda Accord is a well-known car that many people use for everyday driving. It's known for being dependable and comfortable.
Car
Dodge 2500
The Dodge 2500 is a strong truck that can carry heavy things and is often used for work. It's built to be tough and reliable.
Term
PDK
PDK is a type of automatic transmission used in Porsche cars that helps the car change gears quickly and smoothly, making it more fun to drive.
Term
standard transmission
A standard transmission is a type of car gearbox that you have to shift manually. You use a clutch pedal to change gears, which can give you more control over how the car drives.
Term
alignment
Alignment is how the wheels of a car are set up to point in the right direction. If they're not aligned properly, it can cause uneven tire wear and make the car harder to drive straight.
Car
Porsche Boxster
The Porsche Boxster 981 is a sports car made by Porsche that was produced in 2014. It's known for being fun to drive and has the engine located in the middle for better balance.
Term
plunger style lock
A plunger style lock is a kind of door lock that you push down to lock and pull up to unlock. It's often found in older cars, and you can sometimes unlock it using a shoelace if you get it around the lock.
Term
long hood
A 'long hood' is a type of car design where the front part of the car is long, usually because the engine is located there. It's common in sports cars and makes them look sleek and fast.
Term
all-wheel drive
All-wheel drive means that power goes to all four wheels of the car, which helps it grip the road better in bad weather, like rain or snow.
Term
water-cooled
Water-cooled means the engine stays cool by using a liquid, usually water mixed with antifreeze. This is how most modern cars keep their engines from overheating.
Term
air-cooled
Air-cooled means the engine stays cool by using air instead of liquid. This is common in older cars, like some Porsches, and can change how the car performs and is maintained.
Term
salt on the roads
Salt is spread on roads to help melt ice and snow in winter, but it can damage cars by causing rust, especially underneath where you can't see it.
Term
beater
A 'beater' is a car that isn't fancy or new. It's usually older and used just to get you from one place to another without worrying about it getting damaged.
Term
Great White North
The 'Great White North' is a nickname for Canada, especially known for its cold and snowy weather. It affects how people drive and care for their cars.
Term
galvanized era of Porsche
The galvanized era is when Porsche started treating their cars with a special process to stop them from rusting. This began around 1976 and made their cars last longer.
Term
two-wheel drive
Two-wheel drive means that only two of the car's wheels get power to move. This can make it harder to drive in snow or mud compared to four-wheel drive, where all four wheels get power.
Term
four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive means that all four wheels of the car get power to help it move. This is really helpful in bad weather or on rough roads.
Part
Michelin Alpens
Michelin Alpens are special winter tires made by Michelin. They help cars grip the road better when it's snowy or icy.
Concept
rally
A rally is a type of car event where drivers follow a set route, often in a group. It's more about enjoying the drive and the scenery than racing as fast as possible.
Car
Porsche 356
The Porsche 356 is an early sports car made by Porsche, famous for being lightweight and fun to drive. It was one of the first cars made by the company.
Concept
parade laps
Parade laps are when cars drive around a racetrack slowly, usually for fun, not racing. It's a way for people to enjoy their cars on the track without competing.
Term
hard pack snow
Hard pack snow is snow that has been packed down and made hard, usually from cars driving over it. It can be slippery and tricky to drive on, making it harder to control the vehicle.
Term
immaculate
Immaculate means the car looks perfect, like it's brand new. There are no scratches or dents at all.
Term
PPF
PPF is a special film that you can put on your car's paint to keep it safe from scratches and chips. It's like a protective cover for your car's surface.
Term
paint work
Paint work is when a car gets repainted or fixed up to cover scratches or dents. It can change how the car looks and how much it's worth.
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Will and Derek navigate the winding roads of Porsche Obsession, exploring the good
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Renthousias Radio, because life's too short not to talk about Porsches.
Welcome to Renthousias Radio. I'm Will and I'm Derek. And in today's show, we're going to be
answering a very, very simple question that seems to have gotten a lot of traction out there on
my social media and it is as follows. Do you own your Porsche or does it own you?
Derek and I were talking about this topic to give you a little bit of kind of a setup folks.
I went to the airport the other day and I was going on a trip that would require me to be out
of town a couple of days and I elected to take my 997.2 to the airport and I parked it in the
parking garage between two very large SUVs and just kind of snapped a picture of it and almost
as an afterthought and threw it up on Instagram and I just put some text below it said airport,
parking, big mistake, question mark or something like that. And I'm fairly active with my Instagram
account and I've gotten kind of a sense of baseline engagement with some of my stuff that I
publish and I'll do your standard issue, Derek, like your really sexy three-quarter pick and that
kind of thing. And in the case of this airport picture, it was a piece of shit, dude. It was like
bad lighting. But I mean, it caught fire. I don't know. I had 191 comments and 1192 likes,
something like that. And in my little tiny corner of this world, I mean, that's a lot.
And so it got me thinking about why did this particular post catch on fire? And so I batted
around with Derek and to give credit where credit's due, Derek came up with the title of this show.
But yeah, we're going to be talking a little bit about how we use our cars,
how people in the hobby tend to use their cars and view their cars and maybe what makes us scared
about what could possibly happen to our cars versus having an effort mentality with the cars and
use them. So I know that was a little bit of a long setup, Derek, but hopefully I did a good job
of setting the stage. Yeah, I mean, we put these cars on such pedestals, right? I mean, they're
aspirational cars, you work and you work and you work, you finally buy one and they become such
like this like picture in your head of success or attainment of goals or whatever. And I think
the question I'd like to answer today is, is your car a tool or is your car a trophy? And
it can be both for sure. But when you park a car at an airport like that, I think that's why you
got so much of our responses because it's like, oh my God, he's using this as a tool. He's parking it
in the wild where it could get hurt or stolen or, you know, fill in the blank. And it's just not
where you normally see those cars. Yeah, no, like it's supposed to be in the canyons of Colorado,
you know, it's supposed to be in the canyons of California, you know, you're supposed to only
take those pictures when you're on your, on your side laying on the ground from a three-quarter
view with mountains in the background. And all of a sudden, here you are using your car as a minivan
to drive to the airport. And I think that's probably why people are like, what the heck is going on?
Well, and I do think too, it has to do with like how collectible is a particular car you're using.
I mean, if you've gotten this kind of 996C2 with, you know, an Arctic Silver with,
I don't know, make it up 80,000 miles, I mean, maybe people wouldn't raise an eyebrow as much as
they do when you've got a GARDS red, you know, Carrera S997.2, fairly rare car, rare generation,
yada, yada, yada. So I think that was part of it. But yeah, man, I mean, I think we got about this
around. We're kind of, you know what I mean? Yeah, you're more disposable portions. That sounds
terrible. Yeah, you could kind of like watches, right? Like you have tool watches, and then you
have other watches that maybe are for fancy occasions. And tool watches, you can bang into
things and use as intended. And I kind of feel like that's like a Cayenne or a Macan. Like,
you know, they're high end, awesome machines that you can use every day. And that's great.
But you don't normally see, you know, a hundred something thousand dollar car.
Well, but then again, you know, when I fly at a Logan in Boston quite a bit,
you wouldn't believe the cars I see parked there. I'll park my car, and I'll walk to the gate,
or I'll walk into security, and I'll pass Lucids, I'll pass any number of 9-11s. I mean, and I mean,
not GT3s, but like GTSs and like really nice cars, Mercedes, I mean, just, I mean, cars that have
very high tickets, and they're just there for storage for a couple days. And so people definitely
do it, man. They use it as intended. I thought what might be fun is maybe everyone at home
can play this game too, but I'm going to throw you some scenarios. And you tell me,
Okay, I love it. Would you, would you or wouldn't you? So let's pick one of your cars.
I feel like the, do you think 997 is probably a good one? I was going to say your GT4.
No, let's say your 993. 993. Would you or wouldn't you? Would you park your 993
at an airport garage for a couple of days? On the fence, likely not. I mean, that's a car that,
I mean, it's, in my case, of my example, I mean, 70,000 miles, all original paint.
I got the car dialed in exactly what I want. I've had memories in the car that involved
rallying it and long road trips. And like, I would hate to see somebody back into it.
You know, I mean, that's it. Would you feel differently if your 993 had 120,000 miles and
had maybe like a respray on the front because of rock chips? Yes, you would. Yeah. Yeah. I think
that's a different animal, you know? And I've owned that 120,000 mile car. It was a polar
silver car and it had been resprayed. And I just felt differently about that. I love the car. Don't
get me wrong. It just wasn't as special as this one. I don't know, man. I don't, to be honest with
you, I don't know why I'm saying that other than the kind of the thin reasoning I just gave you.
I guess it's an instinctive thing, you know? It's like yes or no.
It is an instinctive thing. I completely agree with you. I mean, here you are back on my couch
being psychoanalyzed. So I'm sorry for that. But it is one of those things, man, where I wonder
if it has to do with the age and or how fresh is it, quote unquote, out of the wrapper? You know,
like a low mileage original paint car, you have more to lose if it gets stolen in or banged up
in your mind because you can't have that originality again. Whereas if something's already,
you know, if something's already been repainted or it's a high mileage,
you know, it's maybe a little bit more common. How about this one? Ease of replacement. I'm not
going to say that's the only factor that you look at in considering these things, these questions
you're asking, but like, I mean, they're out there, but do I want to fiddle around trying to replace
that exact example? I mean, I just, it's tough. Even I have the thing over insured. So the money
wouldn't be the issue. It's like, you're beating the bushes for a year, two years, I don't know.
I mean, the 997.2 that I took to the airport and dropped off there, like A,
it's a higher mileage example, B, I just kind of, I still struggle to like put into words
how I view that car, but it's way more of a tool car, if you will, like I've modded it,
it's higher mileage. It's not, I would hate if I lost it, but when I tried to source that, well,
when I sourced that car, I published a video on my channel saying I wanted to buy one.
I like it within the span of a week, I don't know, I got seven cars sent to me. So I guess the
ease of replacement is there with that car. It's just, it's a lot easier. So I don't know if that's,
that resonates with you or not. Well, and also the dollar value, right? Like,
because these are replaced your 993, it would be easy too. If you're like,
hey, I have 150 grand in my pocket. I just want a perfect example, but that's just not the case.
Then you're in too deep.
In too deep. All right. Well, then I think that probably answers the next question. Would you,
would you street park this? I'm not saying in downtown, you know, Boston or downtown,
you know, city, but like, would you overnight street park this in a neighborhood, like you
go visit your friend and you're crashing? Would you leave it on the street?
The 993?
God, I'm just pausing because it's like, here's what the deal, I have. So I've taken the car up for
drives in the mountains and there's a friend of mine that lives in, he's got a place in Blowing
Rock and it, I mean, where else am I going to park when we overnight there and you park right on
and it's weird. I don't think twice. Now it's, it is, it is parked with its fellows.
You know, so there's another couple of 993s. There's a GT. So maybe there,
maybe it's like a, it's like a, it's like a group of sheep.
Yeah. The wolf's going to pick one and maybe, maybe it's not. So I mean, to answer your question,
I have, I mean, I wouldn't want to put it in a very like urban area with hoodlums wandering the
sidewalks too in the middle of it. But yeah, like the reason I was laughing is it's like, how
so weird that I just wouldn't even think twice about doing that. But like,
it doesn't have to be 9-11. Probably not.
Yeah. Yeah. And you don't want to see that thing up on crates, but it, it's really,
it's really any Porsche. I remember distinctly when I got my first 944 and I took my, my, my
girlfriend now wife out to dinner in it with that famous story where it got broken into the first
night I had it. And, but I remember distinctly parking outside of her apartment in her apartment
complex. It was well away from main streets and multiple times in the evening and then overnight
going to the window and looking out to make sure it's still there. And like,
you know, and that was a $4,000 car, but it was, it was such an accomplishment. It was such a
special thing. And so I could see you will sleepless nights, just peeking out through the
blinds, making sure that, you know, your car is still out there on the, on the curb. It's fine.
Well, it's funny you've mentioned this. I mean, I specifically remember I flew down to Atlanta
to pick up an 86 3-2 Carrera that I had bought. It was my first, you know, 3-2 G-Bike. And, you
know, I flew down there and had cost to stay overnight with it. And I ended up at a hotel.
And it was one of these hotels where I was trying to save some money. And let's just say there's,
there's activity out in the parking lot all night long, whatever the hell these people are
doing in and out. I don't know if they're using or drinking or what they're doing, but anyway,
people are doing what they do. And I, I did keep like looking to pull the curtains aside,
looked at it, made sure it was still there, close it.
I can see you're sitting in your chair and the shotgun's leaning up against the wall next to
the window and you're just slowly peeking through the blinds. I mean, I wonder if age, age is at
play here too for me. Like the older I get, the more of these wonderful cars I've experienced,
the more I realize like, like use it. You can't take it with you. And if something happens,
it's always fixable. I mean, and so maybe there's some of that. That's that hobby journey thing
you and I talk about a lot. And then I just do think it's the aging process and how we look
at these material possessions, you know? Yeah, we can definitely get into that later,
because I do agree with you in many respects where I am, I'm going to ask you a question later about
like maybe the craziest thing that you might have done that was not Porsche-like in your Porsche,
just to like, you know, like however you hooned it or whatever you did. And like,
I do find that after you've owned a lot of these cars, now granted, you want to make sure that
they're well insured. So there's a level of safety net for that. But I do find myself doing
things with my cars I would have never considered before. And having more of the opinion or the
feeling of like, I'm not going to save it for the next guy. I could get hit by a bus tomorrow,
like I'm going to go have that experience now. And it is a tool. It's an expensive tool. I don't
want it to break. I don't want it to get hurt. But at the same time, with the calculated risk,
I'm going to have that experience. I want to make that memory.
For sure. For sure.
All right. So grocery store run, you need to get some milk. You have to run down to the
Pigley Wiggly and you need to park it in. I don't live in deep Louisiana.
I don't know. I just picture Pigley Wiggly's everywhere by you because you're down south,
like practically Florida. No.
Got it. Okay. Keep going. All right. Let's call it the Pigley Wiggly. That's fine.
All right. You're going to get your milk at the Pigley Wiggly. I'm going to let you park in the
back of the parking lot. Okay. But are you bringing that down to the grocery store?
Of course. Now, we all know that we park way far away from everyone else. And then we also know
that maybe two thirds of the time, some asshole will come up and park right next to you, even though
there's plenty of other spots much closer to the building. But yeah, I would take it to the grocery
store for sure. You're going to walk out. You're going to see a slamed Honda Accord parked inches
from your passenger door because you just started a sweet row.
And I feel like, yeah, that's right. I mean, I think somebody like that you kind of trust
around the car. They wouldn't open their door into yours because they care about theirs.
What I'm talking about is like, you know, the Dodge freaking 2500 pickup truck that's all beaten up
and the guy clearly parked right next to it for whatever the hell reason. I don't know if it's,
I've never understood that mentality, but that shit happens, you know.
Why do you think he would do that? I'm curious because that has happened to me. Do you think it's
like an intimidation thing, like cute little car? Probably. Like I can't know it. I mean,
to me, clearly it's intentional. You know, I don't know, you know, there's their jokes at
Porsche owners expense outside of the community. And so maybe there's something there. I mean,
I don't really, I don't care that much that they do it just as long as they don't harm the car.
Parking lot etiquette, just as an aside, right? So definitely back at the parking lot,
definitely looking for a corner of the parking lot. And at best case, you want to park next to
one of the dividers that have some trees or a light lamppost. So you're protected on one side,
right? Like that goes without saying. And I'm three inches off the curb, so close that I'm
so careful, might scratch that wheel, might scratch the wheel, but I'm not going to put on that close.
Yep. Because you want to give plenty of room on the other side in case someone does come up
and park next to you. All right, all right. Are you one of those, hey, I parked it, but I get
out and look at it and I'm not totally satisfied. So I get back in and adjust a little bit. Are you
like, yes. Yep. Yep. Hey, I'll do you one better. Well, I'm looking at the elevation of the parking
lot. And I'm like, you know what, there's a slant to this parking lot. And if someone lets a carriage
go, there's a chance to gather speed and make it out to my car. So I'm parking. Never.
What? Never. You're not looking, you're not, you're not running calculations for wind speed
in the spin of the earth to the Coriolis effect of a cart coming at you. No.
If it rains, the water will rush and bring silt towards the car, like that kind of thing.
No way. Anyways, but definitely these things all play into the calculus of your head of the
parking lot, you know, bingo. So all right, here's one. You're in your 993, you're taking your best
girl out to dinner and they have a valet at the restaurant. Do you give them the keys to go park
the car? No, only because it's not necessarily fear of the whole like, oh, the perfect car might get,
I guess maybe it is related, but like the dude, how do I know he can drive a stick shift?
I have had to do this a couple of times at hotels where, you know, you're in the city and you pull
into the front of the hotel and there are valets there and you're like, where the hell am I going
to park? So I've turned over the keys to my 991, my old 991 that was a seven-speed manual. I had to
do that a couple of times and I just walked away and held and just hoped because at that point,
I really didn't have any other options. You know, like what am I going to do? I don't know
even where to take the car. They have a protected lot somewhere. Anyway, the answer is very reluctantly
when forced, but as a general rule would avoid at all costs. Yes. Yeah, you just have a picture in
your head of the valet taking your car over a jump, you know, many thousands of miles overnight
and then bringing it back. I personally, like you, I would feel much better if it was a PDK,
for sure. And I have been the jerk asking the valet if they can, if they're comfortable driving a
stick because there have been times where I've come out of a hotel. I stay in hotels quite a bit
and there's no car for five or 10 or 15, 20 minutes and I'm like, hey, any chance,
you know where the car is and they're like, oh yeah, can I bring you to the garage so you can
drive it out? Because there's no one here that knows how to drive a standard. And so that's grinding
of gears and mashing of clutches, never good. I'll tell you what else though, man, too. This is
going to sound really silly. All these cars are really nice. Alignment is a premium, you know,
and if you give some cat your car and he bangs up against the curb or takes a parking lot,
entry too quick and knocks out of alignment, like that's a piss or two. I mean, I know that for
me and where I live, like there's an alignment shop that's about an hour that knows how to dial
in the 993 perfectly. And so like that, it costs a lot of money, but it's also such a pain in the
ass. And so I think through like, does somebody really know how to make sure they take care of
the alignment? And I know that sounds really silly, but like, I just don't want some idiot,
you know, going through a pothole too fast. Next thing you know, I got to spend two days
of my life dealing with that. Yeah, that's fair. I mean, I'll definitely give, I'll definitely give
the valet a tip, you know, I'll give them 10 or 15 or 20 bucks and then I'll park my car myself,
but credit Costco a lot. I don't shop there. So yeah, just the pigly way. We don't have Costco
around here. No, we do. I mean, are you talking about where I have to park between two cars?
There's no option. Like a full parking lot. Yeah, because Costco, Costco is huge in New England.
I mean, it's a religion and the parking lot is full. Every space is full. So if you get a spot,
you're parking there. I mean, I would, I'd look for one where, I mean, you're going to roll the
dice a little bit, but if you can find one where people actually created a lot of room on either
side of the lines, you know, if I had to, I would. And I would hope that the people don't leave and
some other asshole comes in in one of their spaces while I'm in the store. But at the end of the day,
I mean like shit. So I guess what I'm saying to you here is like, I would avoid it and kind of
take care of it. I mean, I was selected back to the red car at the airport. I mean, I probably
drove around a fair amount in that parking garage before I hand selected the right spot.
So I'm cautious. Yeah. You know, I'm not, I'm not just like, hey, let me invite disaster or park
super close to this, you know, anyway. But at a certain point, you just got to like,
keep your fingers crossed and roll on in your life. Because as you mentioned, like all this
shit's fixable. And I don't want to spend my life in fear over a freaking metal object, you know.
Right. And taking the unfun car and leaving your car home because you're afraid of what might happen.
I agree. And I do go back to what you said earlier about the age of the car. Like there's
definitely places I'll bring my 2014 Boxster 981 versus my 72911 for sure. In terms of feeling
comfortable parking it somewhere, parking it in a parking garage. And part of that honestly has
to do will with the level of security of old cars versus new cars. Did I ever, I don't know if I ever
told you the story. I don't think I've ever told the story on this podcast about how easy it is to
break into a 72911 with your shoe.
Well, you did this, I think, at the rally. Then you lose your keys or lock them in or some
shit or you open somebody else's car. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't, I don't,
I don't even really know. I forget his name, Dave, I think or someone. Anyways, a gentleman came up
to me and he was like, hey, I have this car. It was like a beautiful car. It was, it must have been
many hundreds of thousands of dollars and it was, it happened to be an Albert Blue car. It was a 70
something, one, two. And he's like, I, the keys got locked inside and I can't get in. You know,
is there, you know, any chance you guys know how to get into one of these cars? And I was like,
can I borrow your shoelaces? And we went over to his car and there's a way in which if your
door has the old school plunger style lock that you can get a shoelace with a slipknot
past the seals of the car down and around the plunger and you cinch it tight and then you can,
you can pull it up and pop the door lock and get in. And it was hilarious because this was probably
1230 at night and you had the gentleman who had the car and probably there must have been a bunch
of your friends. We were probably five or six of us, seven of us. And it was, it was like, it was
like kids around a claw machine at an arcade. You know, here I am on one knee going down,
coming so close with the shoelace. Oh, almost, almost reset, reset, you know. And, and we finally
got it and the door clicked right in the screams that emanated from that parking garage of like pure
joy, hugging, high fiving. It was so fun. But yeah, I mean, you can break into one of these
cars with a shoelace dude and, and it's, it's not hard to do. So I take that into the calculus.
Congratulations folks out there. Your insurance rates just went up if you own a long hood.
Thank you, Derek. Maybe we shouldn't share that. Maybe that should have been protected information.
Definitely don't Google that. I'm sure the people at Haggerty have already figured that out. So
yep, my, my insurance just got canceled. But theft, theft is definitely a part of it, man. And
I'll ask you one final question about where you would you or would you not drive your car?
And I'm not going to ask you about your 993 because I know the answer to it already,
but I'm going to go back to your 996 C4 that you had your, your all-wheel drive car.
Would you drive your car to a ski weekend?
Yeah. Yeah.
There's some romantic about the pictures you could get. First of all,
right? This guy uses his 911. Look at this guy.
For the grand? Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. And maybe just a small amount of what it's like to hoon one of those cars in the snow.
Yeah, but you got to go like down the path of, I mean, I know that a lot of people are big,
big fans of those cars and I mean, it was nice, but it's not one that I kept very long. You know,
I didn't feel particularly, it just didn't feel pretty that exciting to me. And so I don't know,
my answer would be different if it were like a 993 C4S. I, you know, I don't know.
But if I did what you're talking about, I would absolutely have to source
roof rack for the pictures.
Oh, without a doubt. I mean, you have to. Yeah. Or if it's an older air cool car, the cool
ski mounts that go in the back trunk.
Yeah. And I don't, I don't, like I've never been skiing. I don't ski and,
and I would still have to have that stuff up top, you know?
You'd rent skis just for the pictures. Yeah, that's right. That's right. That's right.
So where, so, and this is just again, in the, in the spirit of using your car or using you,
where does your cutoff end about driving these cars in winter? Does it, if it's a C4
and all wheel drive car, is it automatically you'd consider driving it and inclement weather
potentially with salt on the roads or is it, is it a vintage a year?
What's in your wallet? Term supply, ccapitalone.com slash bank, Capital One NA member FDIC.
Is it a cutoff between air-cooled, water-cooled?
Salt is the enemy. That's it. Period. So here in North Carolina, as we speak, there's been like,
the past week and a half, we've had an ice storm. I was down in Miami. Thank you, God.
Over the past week, I got home last night, but while I was gone, they got like 10 inches of snow
here. So, you know, they use plows, but they use a lot of salt here. And the moment the salt is
coming, I'm like, even Brian, right? Like, so they spray some of that spray on the road before
they even drop the rock salt. And when that's there, I'm not, I'm not playing. I just don't want
that on my car. And I don't need that on my car. I've got a beater. So if the salt is on the roads,
obviously not. And I will still wait for like a nice big rainstorm. Once all this weather's
gone, and you still have the salt residue on the road, I wait for a big rainstorm to wash
all that away. So, yeah.
I wonder if that would change your opinion if you lived up in the Great White North,
like me, where you have salt on the roads for five or six months of the year.
And the decision is, do you drive a fun car or do you not ever?
I mean, I wouldn't live where you live.
Fair. All right. That's
sorry. I mean, like that's, and I, and I kid, like it's a wonderful area. I've seen it. There's
beautiful, um, fall foliage. And I know that, you know, home is home for everyone. But yeah,
I'm more of a Southern guy. So I can't answer that question. I imagine I would be annoyed.
I would be annoyed.
Yeah. Well, I mean, listen, when you look at my garage right now, I have all white cars
because it's just, you cannot go out without your car just being covered in white.
You know, kind of where I stand on it, I certainly nothing before the galvanized era of Porsche,
right? So that's like, what, 76-ish? Like, I mean, my 72, I joke with my friends like,
if they're putting salt on the roads, I'm worried about my car who's tucked away in my garage
up on the lift, you know, that is going to smell the salt and start to like,
you know, fold like wet toilet paper. Because I dealt with rust on that. But
I don't know. I'm a little bit more liberal when it comes to driving in the winter,
just because it is for a long time here. And I mean, I think that two-wheel drive versus
four-wheel drive definitely makes a difference when it comes to our sports cars. But I'm a huge
proponent of like, listen, if this car is a newer car, you know, the rust-proofing on modern
Porsche is so good. Like, I feel like once the water cooled era happened, like, they're just
such usable cars, I'm more worried about the tires. Like, you can't go out with summer tires,
you can't even really go out with all-season tires. But if you get yourself a set of like,
Michelin Alpens, and you can go out, and as long as it's not like actively like salt in the roads,
like rocks, I say, go have a good time. Come back and on your way home, stop at one of those
self-car washes and just get under there and hose it down before you get home. And I don't know.
Again, it goes back to why you're not going to use your car for five or six months a year.
Yeah. I mean, there's two things for you. Number one, I mean, there's like, there's the whole
scale, scaling or whatever you want to call it. Like, it gets on the end of the nuts.
You know, there's certain, yeah, like, you know, the car's galvanized and the major
meaningful parts are impervious to that. But you still like, you can get up under a car that's
been driven in salt and you know it. As a buyer, I avoid cars from the Northeast or I just scrub
the hell out of them in the due diligence process. Here's a story. I wasn't going to tell you this,
but I will because who knows what I'm going to, who knows what kind of comments I'm going to get.
So this was, I don't know, early December and I live in Central North Carolina. My mother
lives in Southwest Virginia about two hours, two and a half hours away. She's at a much higher
elevation than I am. They get very different weather here. I mean, they're at 3,500 feet and
I don't know how high we are. But anyway, the point is, is when you go up there, you're in a
different climate. And I jump in my 997 and I'm going to drive up there because I need to pick
up Christmas gifts. So the plan was, hey, drive up, grab the gifts, stay overnight and come back.
Well, as I proceed, like I'm an hour and a half away, maybe two hours away from home,
as I start to go up into higher elevations, I'm like, damn, there's a lot of salt on the road.
It hadn't been really activated yet. I think it was a remnant from a previous storm.
But the further I got away, the more it was like everywhere. You know, the surface was white.
But it had not yet been activated. It was dry. So it wasn't like, you know,
it wasn't spraying all over the cars. It wasn't being kicked up by the traffic on the highway,
but it was still like, oh, damn it. Typical will, like I hadn't planned. I don't plan in my life,
dude. I'm freefaller. It's not really an attractive trait, but I just think about as far as, you know,
it was for dinner. So I hadn't looked at the weather over the next couple of days.
And so as I, when I got to my mom's, I look at the thing and I'm like at the weather,
you know, app and it's like, it's supposed to rain tomorrow the next day. I'm like, shite.
So what's going to happen here is it's going to activate all that shit. And I had to go back
the next day. There was no doubt. And frankly, it's very, it's a very quiet where she lives.
And I contend to get a little stir crazy rather quickly. So I needed to come back home the next
day. I mean, when I started to really look at, I looked at like three or four different weather
report sources, information sources, they all said rain. I got in the car and I left.
Did you get a hug even? Or did you just bolt through the wall?
Threw them in the trunk, you know, the front. And then, and I rolled out, man, to beat the rain.
I mean, that's, so that should give you a sense. I mean, I added two and a half, two 45 to my,
to my drive. I mean, I was driving all day long because of that. And that's, that was my phobia
about salt. And so folks in the comments, just tell me how crazy I am. I hear it a lot anyway,
and just bring it, you know? Well, I can, I can see her, she's, she comes out of the kitchen with
a plate full of cookies. And she's like, Willie, Willie, and the door is still open and you're
already down the street. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I know you didn't really, I know it's not good.
I know it's not good for your car. I mean, of course she knows me well. And 48 years,
she knows that I'm definitely, I'm neurotic. But yeah, she, she, it was, it was odd. It was
an odd thing, but that's how much I hate salt. You know, I'll do a lot. I will, we can get into
this portion in a moment of like the crazy shit we've done in our cars. Like I will do a lot,
but salt, salt is a non-starter for me. Well, yeah, go ahead. You know, you've asked me these
questions. You know, why don't you give me a quick rundown on your opinion. I know you've
been kind of peppering them in there, but like, sounds like you'll take your car to the airport,
right? Yeah, I'll take, I'll take my box through the airport. Again, it just comes down to like
that, but with Verdi my 72, it's in many ways irreplaceable to me. Like to find a 72 Albert
Blue car that I've sorted into a great extent. I just have so much time and effort into it
that I'm very selective about where I bring it. I will go most places with it when it comes to
driving. You know, I will be, I'll take it down a dirt road if I have to. God knows, I've followed
you Hoonigans down in the Carolinas and took plenty of rock chips because it was for a great ride,
but I just don't really love the idea of parking it somewhere for a couple of days and walking away
from it. Every once in a while, I'll drive it around New England for work if I'm staying in a
hotel. If it's, you know, in a city that's kind of quiet and it's kind of far away, but
that's, that is kind of rare. Much more the Boxster. I'll park the Boxster pretty much
anywhere. And for me, that's more of my, this is going to sound so good. It's more of,
it's more of an everyday type of Porsche, you know, like me, like it's, it's more of a tool,
like I'm going to drive this and if I'm going to drive, I want to drive in style and have a lot of
fun and it's worth it to me. So I'll park that in an airport. I'd park that on the street outside
my friend's house. I'll definitely, depending on where the neighborhood is, you know, I'll park
the old car out there. I'll take either of them to a grocery store. I generally won't let someone
valet the cars just for no other reason than if something does go wrong and they do,
that I'm going to be held, like left holding the bill. So I'm just cognizant of that. It's more
of a cost thing. Well, you and I are both very fortunate and we have options in the garage.
So I can't speak from experience. I mean, you know, I did have,
we're, this is going to sound very obnoxious. There was a point in time where I only had one
Porsche and I guess that just changes the calculus a little bit on this. But, you know,
because we have options, we can kind of pick and choose which ones we want to put at risk and
maybe which ones are too precious to do so. So it would be an interesting question to ask somebody
who like only has one, has no plans of buying another one. That's just what they do is own one
as to how much they would put it in these situations, you know?
Yeah. And again, I'll just go back to what we talked about earlier that I think as I've owned
a bunch of them, they're always special to me. They're always wonderful cars.
With no fees or minimums on checking accounts, it's no wonder the Capital One Bank guy is so
passionate about banking with Capital One. If he were here, he wouldn't just tell you about no fees
or minimums. He'd also talk about how most Capital One cafes are open seven days a week
to assist with your banking needs. Yep. Even on weekends, it's pretty much all he talks about
in a good way. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capitalone.com slash bank, Capital One NA member
FDIC. But at the end of the day, they're just they are cars. And so I do find myself doing more
and more things with them. Maybe younger Derek would not have. I need at least one story. Give me
one crazy story of something stupid that you've done in your Porsche that you don't regret,
but maybe isn't like a cars and coffee thing. Yeah. This is quite the opposite. There's a rally
called the Topoco Classic. It occurs in Western North Carolina. It's a pretty small event. I
get air-cooled only. And the reason it's kind of exclusive is only because there's a limited
number of rooms that people can have. But anyway, a couple years back, this might have been the
second year. My friends and I put it together and it might have been the second year that we held it.
I had a white 993. The thing was dialed. It was a great car. And when you go to these rallies,
generally what happens is the organizers will have pre-matched routes that you upload into an app on
your phone. You have run group leaders. They're leading the groups following these pre-mapped
routes and away you go. And you spend half the day getting to a lunch point and then you spend
the second half of the day getting back home to the hotel. And I was in my run group and in this
993 was lower, dude. It was slammed. It was well done, though. It was the right height. And at a
certain point, it turned out that like one of the roads on the routes that had been clear the year
before had been closed over that year. So by the time the second event happened, it was like it
was no longer a good route. But there did appear to be a road that was clearly laid out in the app
that showed it was a cut through. And it would have reconnected us with the road where we needed
to be, whatever. So it looked like a legit two-lane, at a bare minimum, two-lane road.
So we commit. And it turns into gravel and it looks like it's... There are houses up on hills.
This is in the mountains. I want you to imagine like you're in a holler and you're on a gravel road
and there are beautiful mountain cabins that are up on the side of the hill overlooking the road.
And it's clearly an access road for this neighborhood. So it's a holler like a valley
for the... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, yeah. All right. It's rough terrain, right? You got the look down
the side to your left. And it's like, I don't want to go over the side of this road because my
car will flip eight times. That kind of... Yeah. Anyway, okay. So we commit and we keep going. And
we're like, okay, this should get better. And then all of a sudden we find ourselves on this gravel
road that was no longer really gravel. It had turned to like dirt with roots and shit going
across it. And there wasn't enough room to do three point turns. So we're fully committed.
And we're looking at the map and it says there's another seven miles. Well, we can't really turn
around. We didn't know what was ahead of us. And so we just kept rolling. And I mean, dude,
we had to do 20 miles an hour at most for seven miles in the condition of the road, if you will,
just kept getting worse and worse. And by the time, like the worst part,
I have footage of this, by the way, and it's somewhere on my channel.
Like it was two track road, all dirt. And it had been where like,
the rain had washed it out to such a degree where it had exposed like flat stone that was
underneath the road. So dude, I'm driving down stair steps. I mean, and maybe it was only like
each step might have been like four inches, you know what I mean? It was not like,
like you didn't need a four wheel drive. But as we progressed, believe me, like I was getting
nervous because like, A, what if I can't go any further? And I had like six other air cool cars
with me and they were all freaking, they were all love that level, that level of responsibility
to that you brought them there. Yeah, right. So you get to a place of, all right, well,
what if I literally can't drive the car any further? Because I can't, there's not enough
clearance and who's going to pull us all out of here? We can't turn around. Are you going to
reverse four miles? Right. So, so, so we kept punching through, man. And thank God. Thank
God we got out. But that was probably the stupidest thing because there was no out,
but it was one of these things where you're fully committed, like what do you do? You have to keep
pressing forward. So thankfully it didn't cause any damage to the car. And it was a hilarious
memory. I mean, we all laugh about it. But for the, actually I was the group leader. So I was the
idiot that got us into this. But I mean, you know, the thing is to, in my own defense, like the
line on the map, it indicated the thing was like a, just a normal road. You know, I think it even
had like a road number on it. So anyway, that was the, that was the stupidest thing. But in hindsight,
man, it was a hoot and you know, we laugh about it. And that was that. A couple of scraped chin
spoilers, but good memories. And that's, yeah, that's all that matters. I am, I have two quick
stories. The first was I had a 64356C and there was like a 993 Invitational here. But my 993,
I think I need to do break work. And the Invitational was at a local race course,
the beautiful, like this, this, this crazy race course where it's like built on the
side of a mountain in New Hampshire. And crazy elevation changes, really sharp corners, no runoff,
all walls. And I couldn't bring my 993 and I asked would be okay if I brought my 356.
It's one of those things where it's not a track day, but they do parade laps, right? Which is,
you don't need a helmet, but just keep up. And it was very nice for them to open the track. So I
wasn't in New Hampshire, I was in Connecticut. And anyways, I raced it. And I was in the back,
all the 993s were in front of me. And of course, they take off. And here I am in my little, I don't
know, 75 horsepower car, four wheel drifting around corners, the back ends hopping as, you know,
I mean, the tires or what four or five inches wide. And I just had the best time doing 50 or 60
miles an hour around this course. In retrospect, it was incredibly stupid. You know, I didn't get
any track insurance. I could have, could have been this thing up and I would have been out a fair
amount of money, but great memory. But I probably the dumbest thing that I've done in, in, was to go
pick up my 991 out on the other side of Colorado and Salt Lake City and drive it home in February.
You and I have talked about this. So I won't go too deep into it, but it happened to be in one of
like those century storms on the, the, the, the planes east of Colorado, you come out of Colorado
and you're coming across Nebraska and like what is the highway? I don't know, is it like 81 or
70 or something? 80? I don't know. But it's like this highway that all the trucks take, but it's,
there's no, the wind is incredible and they had this snowstorm that was like, I mean, there's no
joke. There were trucks on fire. There were, there were 18 wheelers off the road in flames
because they had gone off the road and just burst into flames. Cars left and right. I had
my, I was with my son. Oh God, this was so stupid. I had my son in the car. I did put on
Michelin Alpen snow tires on this two wheel drive, 2013 991. And I was, dude, when I tell you, I was
white knuckled for hours, for hours. I had to like, I think to get home, I had to do something
stupid, like 300 something miles a day. And there was one day, it went on for three days. We went
through this like crazy snowstorm and it was like the hard pack, like the snow was hard packed on
the highway. So it was like this slippery thing. So you'd be driving and you'd feel your back end
start to go out and you correct and then you correct and then you correct. And you just get,
you know, you at the end of the day, you're so exhausted, you go to bed at seven o'clock. And
there was one day I had to beg out after just a couple hours of driving because it was so dangerous.
I was going to crash. That was monumentally stupid. And as much as I love a good adventure
and fighting the odds and giving the finger to mother nature and showing that I'm bigger and
better, next time I'm just going to ship it because that was like dumb, dumb, dumb. But fun,
fun. Next time get a C4. I can't imagine that dude. I bought a, I bought a car out of Wisconsin
and drove it back to North Carolina. And I always thought like, you know, a trip that of that length
would be awesome. It sucked. It sucked. I mean, cause long straight roads, a lot of times you
forget about that in the Midwest, you know, it's like, that's not exciting. So this was another
related conversation that Derek and I had to the topic of, you know, do you own your Porsche or
does it own you and this idea of at least for me in my, you know, career of buying and selling and
joining these cars. I was just always so hell bent on all original paint, especially if it was in a
cool color. And I have since sort of changed my mind on that. And I'm more willing to accept cars
that have been painted as long as the pain is of decent quality. And here's the key. Here's the key.
There's just some about the way I think. I want to know about it before I buy it, not after.
I hate discovering a surprise like that. And for me, it just kind of, you know, called the
cosmic vibe of the car gets disrupted. Like I will buy a car that has issues. I will buy a car now
that has, you know, not necessarily all original paint, as long as it's done to a decent quality.
I'll buy that. But I just feel like I need to know what I'm getting before I get it. I hate that
feeling of, ooh, I got zapped and maybe some of its pride, which is not attractive, but like,
I don't want somebody getting one over on me. And that was kind of part, you feel, yeah, you feel
taken. And it's just, when I buy cars, I want to stay in touch with sellers and feel good about
that whole experience. It's just part of my enjoyment equation, if you will. What do you think?
Yeah, I can imagine that if you look back at some of the cars you passed on because the paint
wasn't original, and then if you took a step back and said, well, if I looked at the car as a whole,
maybe that would have been a cool ownership experience. Yeah, you miss out on a lot. Because
here's the thing, right? I mean, listen, with a new car, the last five or 10 years, if you're
looking for a car that's under 10 years, I kind of feel like it's not a hard ask to be like, I'd
like the paint to be original, unless it's a really special car and there's an excuse as to why the
paint isn't original. But you start looking at some of the cars that we've owned or would like to own.
I mean, they're older than we are. And God knows, I've had lots of dings, and I certainly could
have used a paint job or two in my life. And so, you know, you start to have a little bit
more patience when it comes to the cars and say, well, you know what, like it's part of the car's
story as long as the repair was done right, and there's an crazy amount of bondo. And I mean,
my first 911, if you drove behind it, you could see one side of the 911 was lower than the other.
I'll never forget that. I remember my mom was driving behind me and she said,
something's wrong with your car. The passenger side's lower than the driver's side. And I was
like, what are you talking about? Don't give me a lot of bondo. Don't give me these crazy, crappy
repairs. But you know, some of these cars, like with the old paint, yeah, like it is what it is.
And you take a step back, you look at the whole car, how does the story look, and then you buy it.
All right, so here's the deal about original paint, especially if it's immaculate. And you may as well
just go ahead and tack on another $5,000 to $6,000 over what you paid for it. Because guess what?
You're going to want to PPF the whole car. How would I know that? Because I've fallen into that
trap. Don't necessarily begrudge it because now I can enjoy it worry free. But that's what you get
with, you know, original paint. So like my GT4 racing yellow paint, immaculate, like no chips at
all. So I felt like if I'm going to drive the car, I needed to put PPF on it. The 993, we've already
touched on that. And so in a sense, all original paint can hold you hostage. And if you're a driver,
like maybe you start to say, Hey, I'm actually been welcoming a car that has had some paint work,
because now I can really enjoy it worry free, guilt free.
I used to know a guy who anytime he bought a new car, he'd take his key and go over and key
the lower front balance of the car. So he wouldn't feel like it was like perfect anymore.
Yeah, no, that, you know, way to bring it back around. Will, you're absolutely right.
And that's a piece of advice I give people to when they ask me like, Hey, if I get a car,
should I get it repainted? And I'll be like, be very careful. Because if you do that, yes,
nowadays you can PPF it. But for a long time, I would say if it's a three foot paint job,
just drive it. Because if you have beautiful paint, it's only going to go one way.
If you start driving the car and then you're not going to drive the car, it's going to sit in
the garage because you want to keep it perfect. You spend all this money on a paint job and the car
owns you. And finally, you and I talk about this a lot, you know, I'm not going to sit here and
pass judgment on how somebody wants to enjoy their car. Cars, you know, it could be that you're a
detailer person. It could be that you really appreciate the artistic expression of the car.
It could be that you just like to sit in your garage and have a cold beer and, you know,
sit on a lawn chair and just stare at the cars. And so if that's your thing, and like you're
not interested in taking your car to the airport because you just don't want to disrupt that way
you enjoy it. I mean, no problem there. You know, but for, I think for people that are,
this episode is really for the people that fight with themselves. Like I want to use it,
but I don't want to damage it. So I guess what I wanted to say in closing is that I just didn't
want to knock somebody for how they want to enjoy their cars. No, no, absolutely not. And
everyone's ownership experience is their own. It's your own prerogative how they use the car.
If anything, my whole thing to people is just go drive it. Go enjoy it and just drive it and
don't save it for the next guy because that's just not a great way to own these cars. They're
too expensive. They cost you too much money every year and there's too much fun and memories
to it be made. So yeah, well, there we go. We're on our soapbox again. Well, this was a great
episode. I really enjoyed this conversation. All right, brother. Well, I guess we'll look
forward to next week's recording session. Sounds good, dude. Catch you later.
We'll catch you on the next episode of Renthusias Radio.
In a good way. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capitalone.com slash bank. Capital One N.A.
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About this episode
Will and Derek dive into the complexities of Porsche ownership, exploring whether these cars serve as tools for driving enjoyment or trophies to be preserved. They discuss the emotional attachment owners have to their vehicles, illustrated by a viral Instagram post about parking a Porsche at an airport. The conversation touches on the balance between using a car and protecting its value, with engaging scenarios that prompt listeners to reflect on their own experiences with ownership. The episode is filled with personal anecdotes and insights into the mindset of Porsche enthusiasts.
Original notes
Rennthusiast Radio is back with a simple question that hits every Porsche owner.
Do you own your Porsche, or does it own you?
This episode started with Will parking his 997.2 at the airport and posting one quick photo. The response was huge, and it exposed something we all deal with. Fear of door dings, theft, bad luck, and the stress that comes with driving a car you worked hard to earn.
We play a fast “would you or wouldn’t you” game with real-life scenarios. Airport garages, street parking overnight, grocery store runs, packed lots, and valet parking with a manual. Then we get into the bigger topic, tool car versus trophy car, and how your choices change based on mileage, rarity, and replacement cost.
We also talk original paint, why it matters, when it should not, and how chasing perfect paint can make you drive less. We cover PPF, buying repainted cars the right way, and why surprises in the history can ruin the whole experience.
If you’ve ever skipped a drive because you didn’t want to risk the car, this one is for you.
Watch and listen here
YouTube, Will: Rennthusiast
YouTube, Derek: ElevenAfterNine
Podcast: Rennthusiast Radio on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen
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