Hello, new from Sterling Heights, MI

Hi, my name is Dan, and cars have been one of my hobbies since I was a teenager (which was a very long time ago). I've been a member of these forums without posting for several years, but am now subscribed here to participate more. User Veedub00 is someone I have known from local car shows from a lot of years, and now my wife happens to be his co-worker too. He recommended being a member here. So I started thinking about a Ferrari recently and we went to dinner for a talk about ownership and what to expect. He did not talk me out of it.

So, I'm looking. Right now, my Cayman S is for sale to make room for the new car. I sold a car I restored, a 1980s Toyota, on Bring A Trailer recently (photo attached from the same photographer who did veedub00's profile picture). However, I did keep my other Japanese car. I don't keep it at my home so I couldn't go out to take a fresh photo of it, but I do drive it every year at the Woodward Dream Cruise and usually I can search photo sites with the right tags and find a picture of us in it, so I included that here too. It was imported in 2002 by a company called Motorex who is long gone, but for those who have been through Registered Importer work or compliance stuff for Japanese cars in the early 2000s, that name might mean something.

While I'm not doing the car thing, I have a number of watches - my Father's sideline was repairing mechanical watches when I was a kid. Now I have way too many, and I also have collected arcade games and pinball machines and I do restoration work now on pretty modern coin-operated machines and support that community.



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Welcome aboard. You’ll find all sorts of folks around here that share each of your interests.

Happy hunting, if you are in that phase of Ferrari interest!

 

Wow. Very nice R34! Welcome.

In my opinion the best-designed Japanese car of all time. But there were a lot of good ones from that era, specifically.

Do you have an idea of what kind of Ferrari you may be interested in?

 

I have had a decent amount of seat time in the R34 GTR and I also consider it to be a great car. It’s obviously getting pretty long in the tooth. Outside of raw performance due to age, I feel it’s aged really well. I love the car, but I don’t drive it very much anymore. In fact, I have had a lot of cars I don’t drive nearly enough and I’m trying to avoid that this time.

As far as a Ferrari, I am looking for a California T. It’s a car I can see myself driving often. If a car is uncomfortable, I’ll just find excuses not to use it too easily. i really want to drive and enjoy the next car i buy - I’ve had regrets for not using cars I’ve owned and I want to not do that again. It’s also something my wife would be comfortable driving. This model is not where I started looking, but it’s really grown on me.

 

Welcome aboard, Dan.
Share your passion for Japan's finest.
And pinball machines

 

Here in Livonia, good time to be looking for a Cali the prices on them are tanking. Mine was just totaled out in a fire....

 

Holy crap!

 

Yep she's gone, insurance gave me a great number for her and sent it to an adjuster for more. 2010 with 26k miles I ended up with 117k, I was looking to upgrade to a 458 anyway I wouldn't have gotten anywhere close to that so I guess it worked out....shopping for one now. Just wish i hadn't spent 10k on shocks the week prior....oof.

 

$10K spent on it the previous week - before the fire - dang that stings.
Good fortune in your search for a nice 458.
I am sorta looking for an MC20 coupe.
Guess we are 'jacking the O P's intro thread here.. . .

 

Sorry to hear about the loss, I assume if it was the car there was more affected as well, and I hope you and your family are being taken care of/have what you need.

Threadjack is all good, I'm glad to meet anyone who wants to talk about Cali Ts or has experience with them

I agree that the Cali T popularity/demand is falling off rapidly and it's a good time to be looking. This is honestly part of the reason I've chose It, I'm going to need to be smart with my spend here. That being said, I've spoken to a few owners that are interested in selling their cars, and they may not have gotten word yet about what is happening - that sort of market move is more visible to the national market than regions or an existing owner. Ferrari CPO cars, I missed a blue one for $120k and there is a $126k car with sort of average to higher miles (20k-30k), those priced higher and seem to be sitting. Private sellers who have pretty typical cars (condition, miles, and options) are asking more than CPO cars - I know the fall in values is recent and not every is spending all day looking at California prices and transactions like myself, so I can't blame them, but I also have to just inform them that I can't take up more of their time in discussions.