Life....well...hmmm...do I keep her?

The car that is. Not the wife.... I gotta tell you guys, I love my 996. Actually I mean... I LOVE MY 996 There... Well...my wife and I have a 2.5 year old and we have been talking quite seriously about having another child. I am really taking to the family life and am torn if I should keep my 996. (sniff, sniff)... I am sure that I will have another Porsche, but not quite as special as this one. So I am torn. Do I keep the 996 and find a cheap little econobox for running around in? Orrrrrr.... Do I sell the 996, go the family route and grab up an Audi S4/RS4? (I like those BTW)... Man....I am really torn about this. Any opinions? (and sorry Ben, your's don't count... )

Chad, The S4 is quite a car and baby wagon. This would be at the top of my current list. Except: The BMW X6 would be the perfect 1 car family. That new ride is ... well what ever the crave word is!

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Depends upon your definition of "cheap econobox". Used WRX? Used Ford Escort? Personally, I'd rather have a $30k 996 and a $30 STi than one $60k Audi.

Didn't you just buy the car approx. 1-2 months ago??

I keep the 996 and get COMMUTER car for the family. I am in the same predicament and conclude that selling my 996 would make me very unhappy (after all the money I put into it) if I have to drive a automatic Honda Element everyday. I'll probably end up with 4 cars, one being a gas sipper/hybrid commuter.

What car does your wife have? That should be the family wagon.

i just bought a town and country for my dog...i am newly single,and the dog(60lbs)and my 911 are not friends..its an 03 for 9600 bucks..it has a ton of room and is very comfy...some times its nice to just drive and listen to music..good luck

dont sell her Chad, you didnt really get to enjoy her yet. Plus... the sunroof delete doesnt come by easy these days. There's plenty of econobox for cheap out there.

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My vote is to get a second car. It'll be better on gas, better for hauling, newer and with a warranty. You can use the 996 as your weekend car, DE machine, and smile factor car (your smiles ARE worth something). My wife and I have discussed this at length, and the joy my little car brings me is worth as much to her as it is to me. She appreciates my willingness to sacrifice my car for us, but life is short. She wants me to be happy too. -td

Keep the 996, let her have a family hauler and you can get a beater.

Thanks all...wifey and I had a good long discussion. The verdict: Keep the 996. Her car is a 2005 Nissan Murano SL AWD. We really love that car as well. (She more than me...). She doesn't really want to part with it either... I have had the 996 now for 6 months. Believe me...I have no "itch" whatsoever to get another car. Other than perhaps a little econobox for daily BS. For that I am thinking a Mazda3 hatch. Thanks guys. I am glad she is liking the C2 as well. Makes the decision easy. C.

Chad, I have three kids. The 911 is the perfect family car. You will seriously regret selling your toy. For a track junky, you have the next best thing to a GT3 and you have back seats for the kids. Buy wifey something she really likes (mine loves her Range Rover) that will hold the car seats, strollers, diaper bags, etc. for the longer trips. For dropping off kids at daycare, school, sports....the 996 is perfect. Life is too short to waste your time driving a beater, when you could be driving a Porsche. The new Cayenne GTS would make a really nice family car and would look great next to your 996. You could probably get about $30,000 for your 996, plus or minus a couple thousand. There is nothing out there that compares and will accomidate the family on around town drives. You have built a gorgeous car....don't do it.

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Just when I was going to try to sell you my 1700 mile S4!! Good decision to keep the 996, BTW. Enjoy the car and your family!! My kid's got a Mazda 3s that he adores - 5MT, 160HP, and loads of fun. Neat commuter.

Porsches are great for families - My second car seat arrived today... a Recaro Young Sport is in there now and a Britax Parkway will be going in there next. You'll need a second car though... the route I'm heading is a C2 coupled with a Panamera in a couple of years.

Glad you're keeping the car (and the wife, she seems nice ) I love seeing pictures of your car and would hate to see it go to someone not on rennlist Since you started the thread can you post another picture just for the heck of it

I'm glad you're keeping it. My wife has an urban assault vehicle as the everyday driver (new Expedition) for the kids, dog, groceries, etc. My daily driver is an old Isuzu. It's cheap and gets great gas mileage. Keep the 996!

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Wifey approves this message. (LOL) C.

Our 'beater' car is a 2004 Honda Accord, in which our muddy Golden Retriever eagerly jumps into the backseat. The Honda has been 100% perfect, has a smooth 6 cylinder engine that gets near 28MPG on the highway, is paid off, and I think of it as a free car that will last another 10 years. I take good care of it, but I don't worry about a door ding or dog slobber on it either. I'd recommend keeping the 911 you are so passionate about and getting a capable japanese car.

Let me know if you want to sell her since you beat me to her the first time.

Chad, Here's my opinion I've got a baby on the way and you'd have to pry my 996 out of my cold dead hands. If you sell the 996, you'll only get around $30k out of it. Then what? You don't want a junk pile (you want another safe car) so you have to spend a big portion of what you get back. You might find a little more room in another car, but you've already got one family car in the Nissan so do you really need it? The 996 is pretty good on gas so you won't save a whole lot there. I guess I just don't see a whole lot of "upsides". I think you made the right call to keep it.

Chad, really now. priorities, priorities. Do what I did and get both. I went with a Volvo R for that little extra "family appeal". Don't tell the wife it has 325hp... (photo not my car but you get the picture-wrong computer) Chad

Wow, reread my post about my current daily driver. I really need to get my 914-6 and/or 996 back on the road!

The reality of it is, even with 2 kids, you'll do most of your driving around by yourself, assuming you have to drive somewhere to go to work. That right there is reason enough to keep the 996. Next most frequent "travel" will be the whole family - you, the wife and the kids. In which case, use her vehicle. The least frequent combination will be you and a kid - like you want to go run an errand and bring one along with you. And that you CAN do with the 996. In a few years, they'll both be the perfect size to fit in the back without car seats, then then you'll use the 996 even more for little family excursions (like PCA gatherings). When your kids out-grow the back of the 996, then you can get an M or S sports sedan. Just my 2 cents (and, FWIW, outlines my family/car situation).

I wanted a boat, my wife an SUV (she feels safer and she is a very ****ty driver) I wanted to keep my 966 even when having more children....so I got a escalade..boat and suv and kept the Porsche....it is catching a lot of dust in the garage lately....it is kind of sad.

Chad, I have been in the same circumstance for years. I go back and forth, but the kids and my wife love the 996. It isn't always practical, but your 2.5 year old has lots of years left in the back seat. I had an extra SUV, but we sold recently. So now I'm using the 996 daily (I almost always have) and borrow the SUV from my wife when I need to haul something. Good choice...stick to it, you seem to love working on it as well as driving it.

Just an out of left field thought... with your care and attentiveness with your cars and your apparent handiness with a wrench, you could live with a beater that did the job functionally but was more interesting than a Honda. A lot of 'interesting' cars depreciate ridiculously, making older ones pretty cheap. Not that I'm recommending a Land Rover specifically but, as an example, these things are very inexpensive when they get out of warranty, and they're usually rock-solid if they're maintained (and hellish if they aren't). There's no rule that says you can't have two 'special' vehicles in the driveway.

Hey, Chad. Great decision (keeping the 996). You have years to reconsider - there's no rush for now. As some of the guys who have posted, I also have three kids. My wife has a Honda Odyssey, my daily driver is a Ford Explorer, and the 996 is my obsession. As for a daily beater, I would either buy another 951 (I know, probably not a solution) or check out a used Cayenne. I'm that obsessed with these cars. If I had your knowledge of how to work on them, I wouldn't hesitate. Bob

Keep the car and yes, get a minivan , then when you can't take it anymore you can go for a drive. Mike

Hey! Keep it ! My two kids rode in the 996 daily for daycare drop off for nearly a year. It was no hassle. They were 2 and 3 at the time. Now they are both in Boosters and have even more room back there.