[MLJJ]

Its been nearly a year of ownership. I enjoy my 2019 Cayman and all that it offers, but find myself wandering into the "should I sell it" mentality. Several years ago on this forum, before I made the purchase, I mentioned that I was a long-time truck guy with no sports car experience. One member saliently noted that his truck friends didn't understand why one would buy a small, uncomfortable car that goes fast. I ignored that since I had been bitten by the Porsche bug. Now, having owned it, I'm starting to feel like "been there done that". I've done that on other purchases too. Furthermore, my wife, in her infinite and indisputable wisdom, told me when I bought the car that she expect it to last about a year before I was ready to move on . Dam*, I hate it when she is so right!. Is there any cure? I know, personal choice and preference. Will someone please talk me out of this nonsense? She's ready for a new SUV (not a Porsche), so selling would make room for that. I don't need the money, but it just seems like a money pit the longer it sits in the garage.

 

[718Niko]

If you seat into it, go for a drive, find a quiete windy road, and press the throttle down hard, do you giggle ?

 

[JazzCatGab]

I think @718Niko is suggesting the best test. Can't remember if yours is a DD or a toy. Mine is a toy and I'm just over a year also. No way am I anywhere near ready to give it up. Toys are for fun and mine is just too much fun. Also, I've discovered taking it on a track doing HPDEs and I've only been two weekends and making progress each time toward being able to solo. Yes, four days on the track should have been enough, but I'm getting so close. So, are you having fun? Does it still make you grin when you go through marked turns at 15 to 20 mph higher than the posted suggestion? Are you over passing other cars and looking down at your speedometer and you are somehow going 90 mph? Do you not feel the car's beautiful lines when you are washing and drying it? If not, then maybe its time to move on.

 

[MLJJ]

Making me smile Jazz. It is a toy. Most of the things you say are true. Haven't tracked. Need a cone course first I think. Passed up Roebling this March due to pre-wedding plans. Suspect I will keep until my daughter and boy friend (future husband) can drive away from wedding. Only a couple of months away. I can wait until then. Wife may change her tune when she takes it on the track - she's an aggressive driver. We'll see how things go. I'm gonna step off the ledge for now, but not far.

 

[Grozk17]

Resist. A very common problem once a bit of “newness” wears off Is to forget about all the joy of driving these cars. And in a very short time (shorter than I ever thought) IC sports cars will be much rarer. You say it’s not a financial decision, so short of that reason, hold on and enjoy (if space is an issue, spend a couple of thousand on a lift).

 

[chester7]

I felt this way for decades with my 944 Turbo, but you know what? Every time i drove the car she grabbed a hold of me and would not let go. In 2012 I bought an Audi S5 with every intention of selling the 944 Turbo. Like an epiphany, the day I drove my new S5 home, I took my 944 out for a final drive. On the very spirited drive, her soul grabbed me completely and I exited the car thinking "Porsche. There is No Substitute" is the truest slogan ever.
I kept Lucy for 23 years, finally selling her to fund my 718 GTS. Thinking of Lucy still provokes very strong feelings.

My two cents: Drive your car. If she does not possess you, then sell it.

 

[Snrubel]

I completely relate to what you are saying.

Consider going to a high performance driving school and taking your wife. It is a life-changing experience in several ways. One is that you will completely understand where your Porsche fits into the world. And driving trucks/suvs will never be the same experience that it was. Your wife may resist at first, but I guarantee you that she will tell you afterward that it was the best idea you ever had. BMW‘s 2-day school is ideal and quite affordable.

Do the 2-day school — not the 1-day — because the adrenaline from day 1 will distort the experience such that you need Day 2 to reset from the shock of what you learned/experienced on day 1.

I think that anyone who has been to this sort of thing will back me up here on how learning to REALLY drive changes the world.

 

[silvia718]

Another option - depending on where you're located - here in the Pacific NW the local Porsche Club of America chapter hosts tours on a pretty regular basis. I've been on a couple and learned about local back roads I had no idea existed. It was a fun way to drive with a group, on the road, and get to know my fellow local Porsche peeps during stops/breaks and after when we all got food. I'm always excited to get back out in my car after those events (plus spending some time talking about cars with like minded people helps too.)

 

[aeronca65tl]

Don't beat yourself up about it. Do what makes you happy.

That said, running on a track or competing in autocross can be very compelling. I did my first autocross at age 16 with a fake license. I'm almost 70 now and I still get a kick out racing around the cones.

If you haven't tried autocross (the SCCA also calls it "Solo") , you really owe it to yourself to give it a shot. It's a hoot. And it might change your mind about how that car affects your psyche.
I've been wheel-to-wheel racing on road-racing tracks like Watkins Glen and Lime Rock since 1973 and I'm also a racing instructor.
But I still like the easy, simple atmosphere of trying to outsmart the cones in a parking lot.

Here's two links that may give you some ideas:

Central Fla. autocross

Buccaneer Region SCCA autocross

 

[Bill H]

If she does not possess you, then sell it.

I know mine loves me, I'm 69 years old and sometimes IRA (my 718) won't let me out without a struggle.

 

[Viffermike]

I'm gonna use an analogy to try to help out, @MLJJ :

I'm a bass player. I made the switch from six-string guitar back in 1997 or so. I sold my six-string gear and bought brand new top-shelf gear: A $1k SWR combo amp, and a $2k-plus Warwick Streamer bass. I had that bass for several years as I taught myself the nuances of the instrument -- to the point where I could play lines on that specific bass in my sleep that I couldn't quite pull off on someone else's four-string. I chalked it up at the time to a lack of skill. (Little did I know ... )

Then, I came down with what we in the musical-instrument field call 'GAS' - Gear Acquisition Syndrome. The search for The Perfect Bass Guitar. First, I added to the Streamer with a less-expensive backup. Then, I wanted to try something better -- or maybe it was a temporary financial bind; could have been both -- and I sold the Streamer in 2003.

Oops.

Now, nearly two decades and at least two dozen basses later, I still regret selling it. Turns out I'd found 'the ONE' as a bass 'virgin'. No Warwick I've ever picked up felt or sounded like that Streamer (though a Thumb once came close, and a Music Man HH in a Guitar Center was close, too, but it was the wrong color) -- and while my two present basses are both phenomenal for different reasons, neither have that Streamer mojo.

My point is: I bet most every car you've ever owned has been a good bass guitar. But there's good, and there the one with the mojo. If your 718 doesn't have that mojo, continue the search. But if it does (or if it has something close ... ) DO NOT succumb to SCAB (Sports Car Acquisition Blight). Keep it, and use it to get better, like I did using that Streamer to become a better bassist.

 

[garethmat]

I'm gonna use an analogy to try to help out, @MLJJ :

I'm a bass player. I made the switch from six-string guitar back in 1997 or so. I sold my six-string gear and bought brand new top-shelf gear: A $1k SWR combo amp, and a $2k-plus Warwick Streamer bass. I had that bass for several years as I taught myself the nuances of the instrument -- to the point where I could play lines on that specific bass in my sleep that I couldn't quite pull off on someone else's four-string. I chalked it up at the time to a lack of skill. (Little did I know ... )

Then, I came down with what we in the musical-instrument field call 'GAS' - Gear Acquisition Syndrome. The search for The Perfect Bass Guitar. First, I added to the Streamer with a less-expensive backup. Then, I wanted to try something better -- or maybe it was a temporary financial bind; could have been both -- and I sold the Streamer in 2003.

Oops.

Now, nearly two decades and at least two dozen basses later, I still regret selling it. Turns out I'd found 'the ONE' as a bass 'virgin'. No Warwick I've ever picked up felt or sounded like that Streamer (though a Thumb once came close, and a Music Man HH in a Guitar Center was close, too, but it was the wrong color) -- and while my two present basses are both phenomenal for different reasons, neither have that Streamer mojo.

My point is: I bet most every car you've ever owned has been a good bass guitar. But there's good, and there the one with the mojo. If your 718 doesn't have that mojo, continue the search. But if it does (or if it has something close ... ) DO NOT succumb to SCAB (Sports Car Acquisition Blight). Keep it, and use it to get better, like I did using that Streamer to become a better bassist.

Great analogy! I guess its human nature to never be fully satisfied with what you have but it doesn't always lead to better things...

 

[chester7]

Now, nearly two decades and at least two dozen basses later, I still regret selling it. Turns out I'd found 'the ONE' as a bass 'virgin'. No Warwick I've ever picked up felt or sounded like that Streamer (though a Thumb once came close, and a Music Man HH in a Guitar Center was close, too, but it was the wrong color) -- and while my two present basses are both phenomenal for different reasons, neither have that Streamer mojo.

Oooh... I feel for you. Sage advice, Viffermike.

I had a similar experience (but nowhere near as psyche damaging as yours) with stereo speakers. Decades ago, I bought a pair of used KLH 5's and just could not believe how good they were. So I embarked on getting a new pair that would be "even better". Ended up with very expensive AR9 floor standing speakers. The AR9 never matched the KLH 5 tweeter sound and it took me 20 years to find something close- and even then my mind rates the KLH 5 tweeter as the best ever.

 

[Viffermike]

Oooh... I feel for you. Sage advice, Viffermike.

I had a similar experience (but nowhere near as psyche damaging as yours) with stereo speakers. Decades ago, I bought a pair of used KLH 5's and just could not believe how good they were. So I embarked on getting a new pair that would be "even better". Ended up with very expensive AR9 floor standing speakers. The AR9 never matched the KLH 5 tweeter sound and it took me 20 years to find something close- and even then my mind rates the KLH 5 tweeter as the best ever.

Yep. I've done that with audio gear, too, though to nowhere near that extent. And as you and most others can imagine, GAS isn't limited to just instruments. I've been through about as many speaker cabinets as I have basses, and I've owned close to 100 effects pedals -- including at least 20 compressors and an equal amount of overdrives.

Funny: Through high school I had a mid-1970s Sony STR-7045 receiver, which was a hand-me-down from dad after he went all-in on a Sansui rack system in 1982. This one:

Maybe it's nostalgia, but to date I have yet to hear a solid-state receiver that sounded better than that thing did -- not a McIntosh, not a vintage Marantz, not a Rotel, nothing. I SOOOO regret getting rid of it ... but that's the price of movin' on.

 

[chester7]

Sansui made my heart throb back in the day.

 

[InTgr8r]

This is an interesting topic.
I’ve gone both ways over the years with different cars.

Had a 914 that I owned for over 25 years and still regret the day I sold it.

Recently had an E92 M3 that was gorgeous in Santorini Blue; sold it after one year.

Both great cars in their own right.
One grabbed my soul and one didn’t.

My CS was originally intended to be a fun ride for now and then do a factory order on another Cayman near the end of the cars life cycle as a ‘keeper’.

I’m not sure that’s still in the cards because this Lava Orange beastie has seduced me in ways that were unexpected.

 

[Scubaregs]

I think it is time for a change.

A good bit of tlc, maybe some cosmetic touch ups here and there, one last good service and then let the wife go.

You don’t need that sort of negativity in your life.