Knowing What You Want is Always Half the Battle

I started looking seriously for my 911 in February of this year.  Had lots of homework to do:  these cars are elaborate pieces of machinery and highly customizable with many options.  So I thought it wise to take the time to figure out what I wanted- and didn't want.  My BMW guru advised me to buy a new one because these things are so bespoke, where I might end up with features I don't want or those that may be prone to problems.  I didn't listen.  Well, I did listen initially but sorry Grant-- I ended up looking a few years back.  For a number of reasons: first of all cost- a slightly used 911 with low mileage was significantly more affordable.  Second I liked the pre-mid-2012 design better than the newer revamp, which lengthened the 911 by about 4-5 inches and featured a wider rear wheel base.  The current model is pictured here:  http://www.porsche.com/usa/models/911/911-carrera/


This is where I zeroed in on the 2010.  See the difference between this and the one in the link above?

The 2010 is straighter and shorter from head to tail.  Looks leaner in my mind.  I just like it better. 

So one of the other features I knew I wanted:  hard top.  Never was into cabriolets because I don't like to be in the sun too much, and speculatively I feel safer in a coupe or sedan generally given the accident prone environs of I-495 and the Washington DC area in general.  No shortage of aggressive, mean drivers around here. 

I then figured out I wanted a base Carrera, meteor grey or blue metallic exterior, dark leather interior.  Manual transmission (of course!), wrap around seats, sunroof possibly, and everything else was more or less negotiable.  I did initially go to my local dealer and asked one of the sales people to find one for me, but he refused.  Kept calling me with 2012 and 2013 Carrera S, 4S, Turbos, and the like, many featuring hideous big wings, ugly colors, and other things I didn't want.  I did test drive a few of these for fun but they were not it.  The sales guy turned out to be not at all helpful as all he wanted to do was push vehicles coming off leases and didn't care what I was interested in.  I finally had to block his calls.  Good riddance.

So at the same time I was searching on Autotrader.com and Cars.com and for a few months I saw nothing that fit the bill.  Lots of cabriolets.  Lots of vehicles in black, which seems to be a popular color.  And the occasional screaming yellow and other loud attention seeking hues.  It became obvious quickly that there were few sticks out there.  Having not been on the car market in over a decade, things had really changed.  But a Porsche 911 in an automatic?  I'm just not feelin' it. 

I got word of a beautiful one in San Diego in dark metallic blue, about 20K miles, and it was really close but had the light sand beige interior, which was a show stopper because that shows the dirt too much. 

Finally, one Friday afternoon riding the train home from work I got a message via Cars.com that one fitting my interests had just come on the market in Richmond, Virgina, only about 100-something miles away.  Ok, I'll look at the details when I get home.  I did, but there were no pictures for some reason.  I called the number listed anyway and left a message for the owner, named Tom-- all the private sellers of these kinds of cars by the way were guys-- this is not a critique-- just amusing.  He called me back within an hour and we talked for about an hour. It was one of the most fun conversations I'd had in a long time, all about the car he had for sale, and about Porsches, BMWs and Audis.  He directed me to an ad he had created on Craigslist that had lots of pictures.  Between our conversation and the pictures, I said to my husband, "This may be it." 

I called Tom back and asked if we could come see it the next day.  So Saturday we set off for Richmond.