What's this 2001 911 worth?

I slept on it and am going to move forward, give the bank what they want, etc. Let's see what happens. I have some other issues, namely insurance (which I will try to sort out asap) and perception. My lawyer friend thinks I am really going to need to get past that. I deal with a lot of people who are struggling with their buildings because things are pretty bad out there, and to drive up in a PCar isn't much different than driving up in an FCar IMO. Like 308s, although not a fortune, people think they cost a fortune. I do not know how that will be perceived. An extravagance? I dunno. This will be a daily car, rain or shine.

RMX

 

Trust me on this, get the Infiniti. You'll lose business. Perception is reality.

 

I have worked in the real estate biz. Don't get the car as a daily driver. Get a VW bug or Honda Civic Si and you will get a lot more business, enought to get you a Ferrari 550 with in a year. Buy the Ferrari and keep it at home and drive on the weekends. Sorry people in this country do not trust guys that drive Porsches/Ferraris. Trust is a big part of business. I learned this the hard way many years ago. Buying this car and driving it to work will cost you $50,000 or more a year in lost business.

 

Perception......

I have a couple of clients who deal with that issue this way.......when someone makes a smartass remark he asks "what do you drive"........usually (90% of the time) it is a blinged out loaded up SUV or some other car that costs the same or more than his used Porsche. It shuts them right down when he points that out.

Other times he'll says "well if your perception of me is changed because of what I drive then maybe I don't want your business".....

It does not seem to be affecting his business any. Personally I have no perception issues myself as I am a salesman driving a Porsche, insofar as how it affects my business or personal relationships, if you don't like it, F-you. Life is to short to kiss someone's azz and conform to what they think is acceptable because of a car.

 

I think you are right that driving up in this 911 would be seen the same as showing up in a Ferrari.

It may be stupid to think so, it may be wrong, it may be inappopriate, it may be defeatist, but I really think that driving that car on a daily basis is going to be bad for business. Some folks say they appreciate success in those that provide services to them, but I have to say that seeing my commercial RE guy showing up in a 911 would give me a negative impression. I'd be thinking I am paying him too much, or that he's a shark and making tons of money on a deal (even if he's not), or that I'm imminently about to get fleeced.

Get something understated. Just about any American car is OK... for foreign cars, a 3-series is OK or a low-end MB. Anything by Acura/Honda/Toyota/Nissan is OK (except NSX/GTR/Supra, etc). Or just get a brand new Jetta. My brother got one and I think it was around $13k? Cheap car. Then you can have the toy for the weekends.

 

Agreed.

Get a GMC Yukon XL or a Lexus LS.

Early on, I did very well and spent money accordingly. Shuttled clients around in Pcars and MB S-class for years. I use to think they all enjoyed the nice cars like I did, and perhaps some of them did, but I suspect in the back of their minds it was a black mark. In retrospect, I wonder how much income was lost due to my pride and determination to drive something that showed my level of success.

Today, when I meet with clients, for lunch, or golf or anything, I drive one of three cars. Lexus LS, Toyota Land Cruiser or Ford F150. Nobody says a word, business is good and I've learned to enjoy my toys on my own time.

I think Pacino's character had it right in Devil's Advocate, "No matter how good you are don't ever let them see you coming. That's the gaffe my friend. You gotta keep yourself small. Innocuous. Be the little guy. You know, the nerd... the leper... ****-kickin' serf."

 

Well, well, wouldn't you know it.

I just got back from an appointment with a guy who has a newer industrial building, is going out of biz pretty soon and needs to lease or sell his place. We were walking around the parking lot counting the spaces and he stops behind my Acura and says "is this your car?" I said, "yeah". He put his hands in his pockets and said, "well, I'm glad to see you're not driving no Mercedes or nuthin' like that." Now of course I am super curious because it's like ... wow I'm going through this kind of soul searching right now. So I asked "why?" He said, "because the last guy who I talked to about my building drove up in a Mercedes and it's apparent to me he's making too much money and won't work very hard." I was like "how do you figure?" He says, "Listen, see that..." he points to an older gray F250 a few spaces away. "That's my truck. That's what I drive. People right now don't wanna so no agent in no show off Mercedes, especially me. Things ain't good. It's just not right and tells me I'm probably going to pay them too much." I just nodded. Imagine if I had driven up in that Porsche. The thing is, I'll bet he wouldn't have said a thing if I had been in a PCar. Probably would have been polite, we would have parted ways and that would have been the last time I talked to him. You get one shot in my business a lot of the time. I'm not always dealing with super rich guys, doctors, CEOs and lawyers. Many are good ol' boys who own property for their (sometimes struggling) businesses. It really is a good 70% of my client base come to think of it. I know a woman Realtor on Longboat Key who drives a Bentley around. She also sells $5m+ condos, 7-10 per year...different world where that kind of thing makes an impression.

I'm going to have to err on the side of caution on this one, folks. I really don't want anyone perceiving me as too rich to work hard. I hate it, but it seems to be reality. The reality is I should really be saving more and working harder so I can afford this kind of thing as a weekend car. Sucks, but I'm afraid this car is going to cost me in more ways than maintenance.

RMX

 

Like I said I learned the hard way. My biz doubled when I started driving a Buick verses the Alfa GTV6, Lotus Turbo, TVR 280 and the Ferrari Lusso to customer sales calls. I kept the fun cars at home.

 

Looked into an LS a few weeks back. Still seems too ostentatious to me. The LWB car is really nice, I have a feeling it might be too long for my garage.

RMX

PS: I just spoke to Allstate - removing glass coverage and raising the deduct from $500 to $1000 (the max) and dropping rental car coverage is only saving around 10%.

 

Everything is local. You know what the pulse of your customers is. Around here, people see a Lexus and think, "fancy Toyota", but if I pull up in a 10 year old $5,000 Benz they think I'm trying to show I'm better than them. The LS works for me for most of my clients, the other half get the LC(just a plain ole' Toyota, ya know?) and if it's a new client, the F150 is the shuttle of choice.

If you haven't driven a newer(07+) Yukon, do so. It's a hell of truck, gets decent mileage for the size and doesn't offend anybody. Put a toy car in the garage beside it.

About ten years ago I was in medical sales and happened to run into a doc(client) in the parking lot. I was driving a new CL600 at the time. Back then I had my head too far up my A$$ to know why business with him dropped off. Live and learn.

 

Audi S-4 Twin turbo.
Ultimate sleeper. $15k

 

I guess that answered your question about if it should be a DD or not. Still a lot of fun cars that you could get for daily purposes. Mini, Mazdaspeed3, WRX, GTI, etc.. Then use the leftover cash towards a fun weekend car.

 

This is a fairly wealthy area, so an LS might not be so bad, maybe an older one. I see new 600 S-Class cars every day. Buyers are always pulling up in those things for some reason. I know a local commercial agent here has an F430 and a 911, but I do not think he drives it to appointments. Another has an SL550. I've owned an LS before as well as an SC. Great cars.

The seller of this PCar car has called me several times today. I think the market is soft, even here, no matter how much he tells me he has "interested parties". Most of the big money here is derived from real estate, so I'm not surprised.

Out of everything I looked at, I still like the new G37 coupe the most. Has pretty much everything, but getting the dealer to get real is an issue.

I did look into the possibility of a last gen M3, those things are pretty cheap. That's still up in the air, but not a huge fan of Bimmers.

RMX

 

Dude

Spend $15k on a respectable used BMW 3 series or Infiniti G ...then you can put that Viper in your garage in NO TIME.

Its a win/win and those dont come around often.

 

That wagon is looking pretty darn good now isn't it?

 

A few months ago I was talking to a young engineer who works for a very large European multinational. He is on the power generation side (think GE turbines). Anyways, one of the hotshot sales guys he knows heads off to get the multimillion contract signed and shows up in his Ferrari. The buyers comment, and I am paraphrasing is pointing to the car says, "So this is what we are paying for too?". No deal. Hotshot salesman is transferred to another state. HR uses this incident as a "teaching moment" for the company.

 

After reading the past few posts, it's sad how judgmental people can be. I get teased about my 8 year old 3-series at work by people driving brand new Hyundais and SUV's that cost twice as much.

 

Wow, I can't see you but it seems you've grown a foot taller. There's always a lot of talk on this board about finally getting the dream car.

Glad to see you're really on your way to yours.

 

That settles it, you should get a 1997 Honda Civic.

 

I don't know why the car is such an issue. Personally if I were interviewing comercial or residential real estate agents and they drove up in a nice car I would think they do well in what they do and if they were in a beater I would think they are strugling. Ultimately either way the person will be given the chance to say what they came to say anyway and if you are turned away before that happens because of a car that would be pretty hard to believe.

 

That's because you're likely a like-minded professional, a car lover like me, not a good ol' boy, truck driving, struggling property owner living in the sticks. People are just strange and jealous. My mom and dad were like this. In the 70's they had some nice cars (Corvette, etc) but kept them out of sight of their employees. Mom got a Caddy for her real estate, said that was necessary for her work (it was). Mom and dad always tried to keep their (very modest) wealth out of sight. They had a place in Florida (the reason why I'm here to begin with) and did NOT let their employees know. I was told many times not to say anything about it while growing up. I realize we are in a different world today, but more people will be pissed at you than happy for you when it comes to things like this, especially when times are tough like they've been. Sad to say. I don't want to lose any business because right now I spend what could be my Ferrari money on marketing (roughly $2k month out of pocket). Imagine I could easily buy an F355 Spyder for that kind of dough, maybe even a 360. I don't want that money going to waste. I need every opportunity I get right now.

Maybe soon. Maybe soon.

RMX

 

Here is your answer: 4 door Civic in the driveway and a Viper in the garage...

 

I would look at an 03/04 Audi RS6. Great performance, plus it's got enough room to take clients out and it's an understated car that only aficionados will recognize as anything more than a normal sedan.

 

Tell me more about this car!!! Seems like a possibility and I can pay cash for that and not miss it. I think with a good navi system/stereo, this could be good. How fast are they? What can be done to them? Expensive to own???

RMX

 

While you passed on this car, I would get a 911 turbo. It's a much better car, will have better resale in the future and you're talking an extra $7-10k for an 01 with 40-50k miles.

$35k is way too high for an N/A P-car, I read through each page and it seemed like you were closer and closer to pulling the trigger, I'm really glad you didn't. Unless it was below $30k

I have an 03 911 turbo right now, badass car but I don't have an occupation where my image effects anything.