My passion for Porsche began when I was 10 (1977). My family had gone out to Point Reyes to go for a hike at the Bear Valley trail. Those of you familiar with Northern California already know that Marin is a hot spot for Porsche cars and that rural West Marin is an excellent place to exercise sports cars. So it wasn't a rare thing to see lots of Porsches around.
A few of us had gotten back from our hike early and sitting next to our Chevy van was this beautiful blue sports car. Across the back engine cover were the letters P O R S C H E. I remember saying out load to my big brother, "oh… that's a Porsche." He just teased me for being so stupid.
We sat there waiting for the others to get back so we could head home, and the entire time I just stared at the car, soaking in the its beauty. As we pulled away I knew that someday I would have to have a Porsche.
In fact for years I obsessed over them. I read everything I could. I even discovered, bought, and still have the very first issue of Excellence Magazine (then titled Porsche Magazine) that I found at a 4th street news stand in San Rafael. Growing up in Marin County didn't help my obsession much either because Porsche cars are everywhere. In high school and college my interests took me into the arts, pottery specifically, and for a while my dreams of owning a Porsche waned due to living the spartan life of a starving artist.
For the past decade my focus changed from the Arts to the Internet and my fortunes changed with them. My day job at Wells Fargo and my tiny but growing dotcom has finally given me the resources to afford my dream car, at least a used one. The actual model never really mattered, although I know that someday I'll have to buy and restore a blue 914, but for now that can wait. Instead I bought a more modern mid-engine Porsche, a used 2001 Boxster.
I bought it from Michael Stead Porsche in Walnut Creek, California, which is about half way between my day job in San Francisco and my home near Sacramento. I feel like I paid a fair price for the car, and I really liked that the salesman (Mike Pardini) worked most of the deal with me by email. It really impresses me when a car guy will actually use the Internet the way it is meant to be use. Many of you reading may be in the car business and I bet you are just like Mike or you wouldn't be on this website.
I picked the car up the first week of January 2006 and drove it 90 miles home in the rain. Everything seemed fine. My Honda Ridgeline was still parked at the bus station so my wife and I drove the Boxster across town to pick it up. Shortly after arriving home we decided to go out to eat and celebrate.
We got back into the Boxster, turned the ignition, and every light on the dash flashed, buzzers buzzed and the windows jumped up and down. Suffice it to say the car didn't start and we took the pick-up. All through dinner I tried to calm myself and my wife by saying it was just something I was doing wrong. It couldn't be the car. I probably sounded like Luke Skywalker when he screams, "That's Impossible!!!" when Darth Vader tells him that he is his Father.
Once we were back home I tried starting the car again with no improvement. I immediately called Mike back to ask him what I did wrong. He said the battery had probably gone into "sleep mode" after sitting on the lot and I should put it on a trickle charger. So I went out and bought a trickle charger and charged it overnight.
I won't bore you with the details of the following week but basically it was much of the same stuff. On Saturday I took the car back to Walnut Creek after a brief conversation with Mike who assured me that it should be ok to drive. But as luck would have it the car just stopped about 40 miles from my house and needed to be towed to the dealership.
In most cases this would sound like just a bunch of bad luck, a bad alternator and a used car that just needed to be fixed (which is in fact what happened). But at the time, the ten-year-old boy inside me was crushed. On that day, the day my dream car died on Interstate 80 was one of the lowest days of my life.
The only reason I'm telling the story is in hope that maybe someone will benefit from the lessons I learned.
1. If you have the option to by a Porsche Certified Warranty, buy it! I was a stupid not to get the warranty, but Michael Stead Porsche came through and covered the cost of the tow and alternator.
2. Trust you instincts and don't drive a car you don't feel safe driving unless you like sitting on freeways for 90 minutes and watching your dream car dragged behind a tow truck.
3. Buy a car from a local dealer. After my experience I can't imagine buying a car from an out-of-town dealer. I know that sounds odd coming from a guy who has built websites designed to help local and distant people connect for the purpose of buying and selling cars. The only exception might be if I buy a car with a warranty that a local dealer can service.
4. Have any used car checked out by an unbiased, independent mechanic before you buy it, no matter whom you buy it from.
5. Listen to your wife. Always listen to your wife. I know sometimes it doesn't sound like she is making sense but she is… she really knows what she's talking about.
6. And finally the most important lesson is that if you have a childhood dream, and it is something physical like a car, don't cheat yourself, get the best, newest one you can. If you have to wait longer it very well may be worth it; after all it is your childhood dream, not something worth messing with.
p.s You may be wondering about my opinion about Mike Pardini and Michael Stead Porsche after all this. In the end they came through for me. Up until the car not working this was by far the best car buying experience ever. I would recommend Michael Stead Porsche and Mike Pardini to anyone.