Every day I frequent car forums because it’s a great place to chat with like-minded people and also to learn about cars. Model-specific forums are a fantastic resource to find out about the ins and out of a particular car; they’re extremely helpful for research before purchase, and to share in the ownership experience afterwards - truly a hive mind of knowledge. I’ve done this with every car I’ve own thus far, and presently with the 911 GT3 I’m a registered member of Rennlist.
There’s a strange phenomenon on Rennlist that I haven’t seen before in the dedicated forums of my previous cars: the constant talk and worry about a car’s value. I simply can’t believe the amount of chat regarding depreciation and how best to use a car to get the maximum resale value (don’t put miles on it, obviously). Honestly, what are all these rich car guys worrying about?
And those people are rich, because Rennlist is a Porsche forum, and transactions for Porsche cars can easily reach into the six figure sums. One would think that if you’re wealthy enough to pay 3 to 4 times the costs of an average new vehicle, you aren’t likely to fret over losing money on depreciation like the rest of us plebeians. So what if a 911 loses value like a Maserati luxury sedan (it doesn’t, but that’s beside the point)? Most of those guys can afford to buy the same car many times over!
The depreciation talk is especially acute in the 911 GT car section - covering all 911 models with a ‘GT’ moniker attached, where seemingly every other thread is someone asking about best practices in speccing a car to get the most on resale, or is a particular model a good buy given the market trends. These are special 911s with prices well into the six figures – why is depreciation such a concern? I have to question do these owners truly love cars and driving, or merely the symbolism that comes with owning a Porsche.
In my past experience, there were no such silly discussions in the Subaru or Mazda forums; people there buy cars to drive and enjoy - that’s it. No one cared that not opting for the sport package is going to negatively affect the resale down the road, or question is it okay to daily-drive a car because the value will go down.
I guess I’ll have to keep saying this: cars are meant to be driven.
This little one needs a bit of assist.