What car are you buying/test driving?

GlennK - Porsches are old mans cars more because they can easily be daily drivers. My dad drove 911s almost exclusively for the past 25 years. Cheap to own (not buy) and are great in all weather. I've had mine for 20 years now and I'm only starting to get old! They are practical sports/super cars.

IMHO the Panamera is difficult to look at in some angles but quite striking in others. I wish they would bring the bigger diesel over to NA.

Paul - I love Audis too but the new A8 is the blandest car I've ever seen. The S8 is much better but still... The CLS is very striking and a 63 is all the car you would ever need. The Tesla in your neck of the woods is perfect. Right weather and Elon will make enough battery transfer stations that range will never be a problem for you.

I wouldn't buy a Ghibli in the 1st year of production. Just too many potential problems. What about a nearly new M5? And if you go up another $20k or so you can snatch one of the very very rapidly depreciating Aston Rapides.

Porsche's are a thrill to drive no doubt and I'm probably in the minority with the old guy comment but it seems around here only guys over 50 are rocking the Porsche.

Agree with everyone on Tesla. Great looking and the drive is really fun. It takes some getting used to though as Danyull said, there is no lag which can almost be scary until you get used to it.

Teslas are starting to show up around here. They are still a novelty car, for the Palm Beach area.

I have to start thinking about what kind of car to buy for a teenage boy who is about to get his driver license. Anyone know where I can buy a used Tank?

My wife just bought a new car. After testing the MB E350 (just didn't like it for some reason), BMW 5 (uncomfortable seats, front and especially rear) series, and Audi A4 (it was definitely in the running,the S4 was just too expensive and the 5 didn't come in a sedan), she decided she would stick with the Infinity and replaced her '05 G35 with a new G37s. She loves the car (except she was bummed she couldn't get it in Caribbean Blue like her last one was) and I have to agree with her, it is a lot of fun to drive and has plenty of space. Of course, if it was not for the fact that we needed a sedan because of aging parents, she might have chosen differently.

quote:

Originally posted by Rothko:
Teslas are starting to show up around here. They are still a novelty car, for the Palm Beach area.

I have to start thinking about what kind of car to buy for a teenage boy who is about to get his driver license. Anyone know where I can buy a used Tank?

You can't get out of the state without a charge. At least they can get to JAX

I’m turning in my MB next week. I ended up going in a completely different direction from my original plan in this thread and leased an Acura ILX. I recently changed jobs and my commute is only like 10 mins each way. I’ll probably struggle to put 5-6K miles on my car next year so I just couldn’t justify a high payment. I’m literally in my car for only 25 mins total a day during the week and on the weekends we take my wife’s SUV because it’s much easier with the baby. It’s got better technology and is more comfortable than my MB and I can actually fit the little one in the back seat and a couple of sets of golf clubs in the trunk. I was pretty floored at the payment as well. They were really dealing on the 13's to make room for the 14's. I will miss the punch and handling of my C350 though.

Tesla is an interesting option . . . I just don't think there is anywhere I can test-drive this here in Boston

Rob .. .Agree with the don't buy Ghibli in first year comment. Maserati's aren't particularly known for their reliability

Re: the A7 and Panamera .. . like a few of you, I both love and hate the looks on each. But both are great drives! Question is will the uglier side of their form start to become more apparent once you're 6+ months in

quote:

Originally posted by Parcival:
Tesla is an interesting option . . . I just don't think there is anywhere I can test-drive this here in Boston

Yes there is

quote:

Originally posted by KSC02:

quote:

Originally posted by Parcival:
Tesla is an interesting option . . . I just don't think there is anywhere I can test-drive this here in Boston

Yes there is

Tesla dealer that will offer test drives in Boston? I need to check this out. I've never visited a Tesla dealer in Boston. Last time I visited a Tesla "dealer" it was in a mall in Scottsdale, AZ. Good to know though

quote:

Originally posted by KSC02:

quote:

Originally posted by Parcival:
Tesla is an interesting option . . . I just don't think there is anywhere I can test-drive this here in Boston

Yes there is

KSC-- thanks for the heads-up. . . quick internet search revealed that there is a Tesla Motors 5 miles from my house. Once I saw their "store" in a mall in Scottsdale, I just assumed they had no "real" dealerships here in the states

The Tesla MOdel S is a great car but unless I lease, and even at that, it would be quite pricey here in Canada.

I am looking at the A5 from Audi or the 435xi from BMW as replacing the old 3 series I have.

Just dropped a small fortune for my annual MB maintenance. Needed new tires, brake pads, and rotors.
Very painful to pay that bill and got me wondering about a new vehicle. Kept thinking how much wine I could have bought....

I see many of you have given the thumbs down on Lexus. My wife and I are on our 6th Lexus now and have had great satisfaction. She has a 350ISC and I have a Gs350. The local dealer has been awesome with sales and service. I know they are not the fastest cars but all have been quite fun and comfortable. Never a major issue in 14 years of ownership

Anyone have any experience with Porsche Boxsters? Do you like it as an every day car? Are maintenance costs high like MBs and BMWs?

Mimik, Tesla doesn't have leases at this time in Canada. They do have an 84 month financing at 3.99%.

DoubleD, Porsche's like many other cars, you get the newest you can afford. Boxster's are great drivers if you only need two seats and want a drop top. The bigger engine in the S is not truly necessary but very desirable (and honestly the car could handle more power than that) and the extra power, better brakes, suspension etc. are worth it. They have two fairly good sized trunks and are fine daily drivers for 3 seasons in NJ. The porsche club in NJ is very very active as well. Good group. Maintenance isn't bad. If you are looking at a new or nearly new one though, I would look at the used 997 Cab market instead. Much better car.

My neighbor just got a Ferrari FF. I don’t like the look of the back, but I drove it last night and it was scary fast. He is going to be using it as his daily car.

quote:

Originally posted by GlennK:

Agree with everyone on Tesla. Great looking and the drive is really fun. It takes some getting used to though as Danyull said, there is no lag which can almost be scary until you get used to it.

for someone who golfs as much as you do

i'm surprised yer not used to it on the golf cart ;-)

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:

quote:

Originally posted by GlennK:

Agree with everyone on Tesla. Great looking and the drive is really fun. It takes some getting used to though as Danyull said, there is no lag which can almost be scary until you get used to it.

We have those crappy regulators on our golf carts so we can't drive fast. But yet, the Tesla feels like a really fast golf cart.

for someone who golfs as much as you do

i'm surprised yer not used to it on the golf cart ;-)

quote:

Originally posted by DoubleD:
Anyone have any experience with Porsche Boxsters? Do you like it as an every day car? Are maintenance costs high like MBs and BMWs?

going through a midlife crisis?

dont you need to fix up the house before you get a car?

quote:

Originally posted by GlennK:
My neighbor just got a Ferrari FF. I don’t like the look of the back, but I drove it last night and it was scary fast. He is going to be using it as his daily car.

Very colour dependent. I hated the look of them at first, but it's grown on me. Still too cartoonish at the front but looks good in darker/somber colours. You're right scary fast (the F12 with the same engine/but more power is faster than an Enzo). If next year is a really really good year, I"m being very tempted by a 612. Most of the depreciation is already in and it's a true 4 seater with a big V12 and innocuous enough to drive around town.

Back in January, I got a 2013 Ford Escape. More than pleased with it since. Love what Ford has done with technology and gas mileage. I'm getting close to 28mpg for a small SUV, seems quite good considering my previous car (Altima) didn't even get that. Since my last two went for 240k miles+, I doubt I'll be looking for another car anytime soon. I drive them till they don't drive no more.

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:

quote:

Originally posted by DoubleD:
Anyone have any experience with Porsche Boxsters? Do you like it as an every day car? Are maintenance costs high like MBs and BMWs?

going through a midlife crisis?

dont you need to fix up the house before you get a car?

Yeah, I do need to fix up the house first.

Darn you g-man, you never let me have any fun on these boards.

I guess I'll just live vicariously through Glenn and Rob.

quote:

Originally posted by DoubleD:

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:

quote:

Originally posted by DoubleD:
Anyone have any experience with Porsche Boxsters? Do you like it as an every day car? Are maintenance costs high like MBs and BMWs?

going through a midlife crisis?

dont you need to fix up the house before you get a car?

Yeah, I do need to fix up the house first.

Darn you g-man, you never let me have any fun on these boards.

I guess I'll just live vicariously through Glenn and Rob.

i find it amusing how i personally put in a new bathroom/wine cellar and a new backyard patio before you've broken any ground =)

and btw, the patio SUCKS! the backpains from lugging around 15k lbs of dirt and another 10k lbs of stones is not fun.

quote:

Originally posted by Rob_Sutherland:
.....I"m being very tempted by a 612.

quote:

Originally posted by GlennK:
My neighbor just got a Ferrari FF. I don’t like the look of the back, but I drove it last night and it was scary fast. He is going to be using it as his daily car.

Yowza . . . love that car. AWD in a Ferrari! Somewhere in the 300k vicinity?

Must be nice to be neighbors with this guy especially since he handed over the keys the other night.

quote:

Originally posted by Parcival:

quote:

Originally posted by GlennK:
My neighbor just got a Ferrari FF. I don’t like the look of the back, but I drove it last night and it was scary fast. He is going to be using it as his daily car.

Yowza . . . love that car. AWD in a Ferrari! Somewhere in the 300k vicinity?

Must be nice to be neighbors with this guy especially since he handed over the keys the other night.

He is a super nice guy, but does like to show off a bit which is why he tossed me the keys. When I first met him he was driving an Aston Martin, then he got rid of that and was driving a very used Toyota SUV for about a year and now he has the FF. Whatever he does it looks like its rocky!

Just cant get behind the FF.... If I want the hatchback look, I will go for the panamera turbo... now the 612 that Rob is talking about- me likey!

I wish I owned Tesla stock over the past year. It is up 350% this year and the company is now valued at $20 billion.

quote:

Originally posted by wine+art:
I wish I owned Tesla stock over the past year. It is up 350% this year and the company is now valued at $20 billion.

I would short tesla... It is a hype stock right now. I only gave people two stock tips this year: 1) buy Netflix at $60 and two weeks ago I said buy American Airlines at $2.60... Up 11% today alone to $3.40

I bought a new Kia Rio. Nothing fancy but it gets great gas milage and drives wonderful.

Just rolled 160,000 miles on the BMW, but since I only live 2 miles from work i'm in no hurry to replace it.

Did place an order for a 2nd vehicle, a 2013 Toyota Tacoma, but they are now building the 2014's so the dealership is currently trying to figure things out.

quote:

Originally posted by TPEwinedrinker:

quote:

Originally posted by wine+art:
I wish I owned Tesla stock over the past year. It is up 350% this year and the company is now valued at $20 billion.

I would short tesla... It is a hype stock right now. I only gave people two stock tips this year: 1) buy Netflix at $60 and two weeks ago I said buy American Airlines at $2.60... Up 11% today alone to $3.40

Screw a short. As I said, I wish I was riding the 350% ride this year alone.

A simple $250k investment 9 months ago would have been a nice gain YTD.

Turning my MB in today. Got it up to 115 mph this morning going up hill on the toll road before I chickened out and pulled back. Someone is going to get a nice used car. Not a scratch on it and only 17,000 miles.

quote:

Originally posted by Rob_Sutherland:

DoubleD, Porsche's like many other cars, you get the newest you can afford. Boxster's are great drivers if you only need two seats and want a drop top. The bigger engine in the S is not truly necessary but very desirable (and honestly the car could handle more power than that) and the extra power, better brakes, suspension etc. are worth it. They have two fairly good sized trunks and are fine daily drivers for 3 seasons in NJ. The porsche club in NJ is very very active as well. Good group. Maintenance isn't bad. If you are looking at a new or nearly new one though, I would look at the used 997 Cab market instead. Much better car.

Very well said Rob. 997 is a much much better car than Boxster....on a side note, I test drove the new Boxster and find it very boring....

quote:

Originally posted by GlennK:
My neighbor just got a Ferrari FF. I don’t like the look of the back, but I drove it last night and it was scary fast. He is going to be using it as his daily car.

FF is the ugliest F-car ever....Period...

Have had the opportunity to be in some Porsche dealerships lately doing some work and really like the look of the new line-up all the way down to the Boxster. Never been a huge fan of this car but in a showroom, it looks real nice. Definitely thicker if that makes any sense. The new body on the 911 is also an improvement IMO.

On another note, I can't believe the inventory that these places carry. There must have been 150+ cars at one dealer. Not sure if that is a good sign or not.

If you want me to help in the GTA, I was previously the president of the Porsche club for our region of N.America (I think the 4th largest region in the world? with over 4k members) and have owned one for the past 19 years so I know the dealers fairly well.

And Maingiare, that is just the inventory you see, both DFC and Pfaff have underground garages with about the same amount again...

quote:

Originally posted by Rob_Sutherland:
If you want me to help in the GTA, I was previously the president of the Porsche club for our region of N.America (I think the 4th largest region in the world? with over 4k members)...

PCA UCR?

quote:

Originally posted by aav28:

quote:

Originally posted by Rob_Sutherland:
If you want me to help in the GTA, I was previously the president of the Porsche club for our region of N.America (I think the 4th largest region in the world? with over 4k members)...

PCA UCR?

That's the one. I was on the national president's board as well for a year.

quote:

Originally posted by Rob_Sutherland:
If you want me to help in the GTA, I was previously the president of the Porsche club for our region of N.America (I think the 4th largest region in the world? with over 4k members) and have owned one for the past 19 years so I know the dealers fairly well.

And Maingiare, that is just the inventory you see, both DFC and Pfaff have underground garages with about the same amount again...

At Pfaff, there was not one spot on the grounds or in the pre-owned lot next door.
Rob, I'll send you an e-mail as one of my good friends is about to open a massive dealership in Oakville. May be good to connect you guys.