Unreasonable?
 

My wife thinks that I am unreasonable when it comes to my rules around driving the Boxster, so I think I need some other opinions.

We purchased the Boxster as a third car with the intention it will only be driven in the Summer for fun driving, dates out etc..

I refuse to drive the car to work b/c I park at a commuter lot which I don't think is safe (My Touareg has a big dent in the hood to confirm that). My wife parks in a garage so I'm OK with her taking it to work on occasion.

My general rule is that she can drive it to work as long as it's nice out (ie not raining) and that she only drives it 3 times a week. I don't want her to stack miles on the car commuting to and from work - Not why we bought it.

Now I'm getting pressure from her to drive it more often regardless of rain etc... She claims, why have the car if you aren't going to drive it. She is doing all kinds of calculations to determine the cost per time we drive it etc.. to prove her point.

I'm holding strong that the car was not intended to be used for commuting. I also have to admit a jealousy issue since she can drive it to work and I can't :(

So I'm open to opinions - am I being over the top?

Man, you're in a tough spot, for sure!

I can see both sides of the "argument".

The general rule in our house is if, "Momma is happy, the whole house is happy...and if Momma ain't happy, no one else is either!"

Good thing for me is that my wife does not drive a manual...and is afraid to learn! That makes "Daddy" very happy. :D

Listen to the wife. Boxsters should be driven :)

Implied in your post is that you consider the Box to be "your baby". If this wasn't the joint understanding going in, I think you're being over the top. I agree with BuffBox, better to have someone drive it, then no one, especially with a shortened convertible season in your neck of the woods.

Clearly the only solution is to obtain a 987 S, which would be "yours" and the current Box can become hers ! :cheers:

Your Boxster is not a lawn ornament!
Drive and enjoy it! life is to short...


:dance:

I see where you are coming from but you are definately missing a couple of key points.

First is that the sentances containing "my rules" and "we bought" are mutually exclusive. Either it's my car with my rules or it's our car with our rules.

It sounds to me like you're the one making all the rules and then justifying them to both your wife and yourself. I'd be curious as to your reaction if your wife made a few rules of her own regarding the Boxster. Run my suggested rules by your wife and see if she likes them....

"My general rule is that he can drive it no more than once a week provided I'm not already using it - we didn't buy it for him to drive. He's not allowed to go over 35 mph and I must approve where he's going ahead of time to ensure it's parked appropriately. I'm okay with him occasionally driving over 35 provided I'm with him at the time."

As to putting wear and tear on your car - I agree with your wife. I don't get the people here who put it away or only drive it when it's nice. It's a Boxster not a freaking Enzo (speaking of which I had a black Enzo pass me on Sunday and OMGOD is that a beautiful machine). Does it make sense to use it as a commuter vehicle if you also have an older car (maybe better gas mileage)? Probably not. But I strongly believe she should have a voice in this. Maybe you should sell her other car and let the Boxster be her vehicle. Then.... Buy another one as YOUR Sunday driver...

Thanks for the responses so far - there seems to be favor towards my wife's point of view which I can accept.

SD987, the car is actually a 987 S, but I guess I could always buy another one for me.

Keep the comments coming, I'm sure she will enjoy reading this.

Boxster is a depreciating financial asset, Lucrative emotional investment.
 

I drive mine every day I can.
I wont drive in the pouring rain and wont drive in the snow.

The car will depreciate just sitting in the garage and depreciate faster with miles on it.But I did not buy it as an investment.
I bought a Boxster because it is fun to drive , not because it looks great in my garage.

Enjoy your car and your wife.
Keep the wife happy , she has the greatest capacity to make your days wonderful or miserable.

Hey Burton,
I drive mine all the time now.I try to keep it dry though,that acid rain stuff is scary...lol . Using it for commuting can be expensive so I would take that in to consideration. Around me,you really can't avoid rock chips on the parkway which really stink. Meanwhile, cars are made to be driven,so I feel thats what's best to do. Three times a week seems very generous though. Assuming,the car belongs to the two of you and there are 5 work days in a normal week, then she sounds like a winner to me.You should suggest lowering it to two and see what she sais.Maybee then she'll relize how lucky she is to have three days :D
Frank

DRIVE IT!!! Have fun...just try to minimize any chances of dings in lots. I know this is difficult for you with the train lot and all...but it is a Boxster. Repairs aren't any different than any other car. I drive mine year round here in Chicago...not because I have to...but because I can't stop! :cheers:

Its a car ... its meant to be DRIVEN, not sit around looking pretty.

Your wife is right and pleasing the wife always has its benefits. I would be thankful she likes driving it.

Hmmm you are a better man than me letting the misses drive your baby.

anyhooo this could be settled quiet easily.

get Leland west to insure your Boxster. They have cheap rate (relative to my state) and will only insure you if you drive less than 5,000 miles a year and keep the car garage kept.

This way you can blame the insurance company.


I don't like racking miles up on my car for work realted commutes but after seeing my insurance bill it makes no sense paying for something that's just going to stay parked.

The Porsche is just a machine and its meant to be driven. It's not a show car. It is depreciating and costing you money just sitting still. So use it and derive some enjoyment for your expense. IMO

When all is said and done, it is still just a car - a nice car, but still just a car.

....and trust me on this one, it will be cheaper in the long run to get a replacement car than it will to get a replacement wife :)

If she has a car already, why does she need to drive the Box to work? Putting miles on the car via driving to and from work (especially if she works far from home) is pointless in my opinion. I would say save the Box driving for what you mentioned you bought it for "Summer for fun driving, dates out etc.."

However, if you both paid for this beauty, I guess its as much as her right to drive it as yours. I would assume that you are just kind of upset that she can drive it to work and you cant becuase of the whole garage thing.

Also, I am sick of all this "As long as the wife is happy" talk on this board! I understand some of it is said in jest, but lets be serious! I am not saying "what the man says goes" but I would hope the say around the house is 50-50.

If it is your car, what is the discussion about? Do you tell her how to drive her car?

If it is her car, she gets to decide.

If you BOTH own it, there is your first mistake!

Remember, divorce costs more than any car.

Good luck!

Drive and enjoy!

Was That Your Tourag?
 

Sorry. I Guess The Note Was Blown Away.

Beaten into Submission
 

Ok, you guys have beaten me into submission! :matchup: I can agree with many of the comments regarding a car is meant to be driven etc.. I think a big part of my problem is the jealousy thing b/c she will end up driving the car alot more than I will.

So I'm going to experiment with an 'open' policy - she can take the car whenever she wants to. Now I can't guarantee that after the first rock chip or door ding the 'open' policy may be revoked, but I'll at least give it a try.

Since I have only had the car for about three months, I'm also hoping my overprotective ways may subside over time.

I guess I'm glad I didn't go for the new 911 (a consideration). I would probably be parking that in the living room so I could drink beers and just look at it. Not much driving would have happened with that car.

Thanks for the input. (my wife enjoyed the read, I'll probably never hear the end of this)

If you look on the forums for the older models, you'll see the ones that have the most problems are the ones with the lowest miles. Porsches do not like to be driven a little here and there and they don't like to be babied.

Enjoy! :cheers:

I just bought a 2000 with 30,000 miles on it for $21,250. The sticker price was $48,516. Assuming the first owner paid a little less than sticker price for the car, his depreciation cost was almost a dollar a mile.

My point is that you and your wife ought to enjoy driving the car. Don't abuse it, but don't let it become a garage queen. The only person that benefits from that is a value-oriented used car buyer like me. Not that I mind.

One thing I haven't seen is the kind of car that your wife drives on a regular basis.

You drive the Touraeg, and say that you are glad that you didn't get a 911.

Unless the other car your wife drives is really something special, you appear to me to be on the jerk side of things. No, I don't know you, and you may well be the best person in town, but your wife deserves much more than I see from your post. This is your WIFE you are talking about, she deserves the whole enchilada and some in reserve.

Get rid of the car she is currently driving and put her in the Boxster full time. The funds from the sale will cover the "addidional costs" until you get used to treating her better (again my perspecitve from your post).

I have an old motorcycle ('81) and an old car ('67) and I 'm building my second Cobra replica, my wife got a new Boxster and I wish I could have gotten her a 911.

We use the Boxster for everything (two years, 26K miles), when it wears out, or we find another car that we want as much as we wanted the Boxster, we will get it. When that happens she will drive it everywhere she goes.

I have a Boxster as a 3rd car. My previous "3rd" car was an RX8. I NEVER drove it in the rain. It was stored (with the wheels off on 4 jacks under a car cover) in my garage from November to April (I live in Ohio). The car was waxed weekly with either Collinite #845 or Collinite #915. Oil was changed every 1000 miles YES 1000 MILES!!!! (no, not synthetic...castrol dino).

Needless to say (other than the 1000 mile oil changes), my Boxster will be treated like my RX8 and RARELY get driven (its a 2003 with only 2900 miles on it). Why don't I drive it??? Well its because I LOVE taking care of it and keeping it as prestine as possible...that is MY way of enjoying the car. Then to take it out on a perfect day every once in a while...well that's a bonus for owning the car. Yes, I know there are people in here who think that not driving the car is bad for it....well...we'll see. I have a hunch that my Boxster will be in much better shape in 10 years than one that is used as a daily driver. And if I do have problems...well, I have the warranty until 2009...so that's the dealer's problem, not mine.

So my suggestion is to do what you enjoy....if that is letting the car sit in your
garage....man...I'm with ya!!!!

p.s. my wife can care less about my Boxster...so I guess my situation is quite
different from yours.

"Unless the other car your wife drives is really something special, you appear to me to be on the jerk side of things. No, I don't know you, and you may well be the best person in town, but your wife deserves much more than I see from your post. This is your WIFE you are talking about, she deserves the whole enchilada and some in reserve.

Get rid of the car she is currently driving and put her in the Boxster full time. The funds from the sale will cover the "addidional costs" until you get used to treating her better (again my perspecitve from your post)." Crzn427


My wife's other car is a Ford Explorer and we really don't have the option to get rid of that and have her drive the Boxster full time. We have two children (2 and 10mnths) and a dog. So whenever she is home with the kids she needs the extra room for the family. Also, I live in Minnesota so I feel like the Explorer is a much safer car for her to drive in the winter.

Also, I think it is a bit of a stretch to imply I am a 'jerk' or that I don't treat my wife well based on my post. My intention was to simply limit the number of commuter miles on a car we purchased as a fun summer car. My wife is treated like a queen and is my number one priority - along with the kids.

Porschetgeorg - Glad to hear I'm not the only one who can enjoy a car without driving it. It looks like my wife will end up driving it to work in the Summer, but the car will be stored in the winter (which is 8 months here). That way, I'll keep the miles low and the car in good condition while also keeping the wife happy. Seems like a reasonable compromise.

Asking for personal advice on the INET is fraught with problems. One is being called a jerk.

Lets all chill out and let this post die an appropriate death.

Soon, I hope!

:)

Disagree Constructively
 

Calling Drburton a jerk on only your 2nd post on this forum is way out of line.


Differences of opinion are usually discussed with etiquette...

BTW Drburton Minneapolis was named the friendliest city to drive in.

I saw that Minneapolis was rated the friendliest city to drive in. Generally, I would agree that the drivers here are very courteous and aren't particularly aggressive. I'm not sure how they actually rated 'friendliest' driving but I guess that's a compliment.

Minneapolis was also rated the second best place to live a couple of weeks ago. Given that weather was taken into account that's a pretty big compliment. Personally, if I didn't have family here it wouldn't be my first choice but it's nice.

DrBurton, while I wholeheartedly agree that a Boxster should be driven often and hard, my box is a third car and I do not use it as a commuter car for these reasons:

1. Boxsters are not nearly as safe as my passenger cars. A side impact or a rear impact by a much larger, heavier vehicle would send me airborne I bet. And in Houston, getting plowed into by an illegal alien without a license or insurance, or a housewife or business man on a cell phone not watching what they're doing is a real, nearly guaranteed threat!

2. Wet days are a big problem for me and my boxster. 90% of my concerns surround other drivers hitting me because they refuse to slow down and drive cautiously when water sits on top of hot pavement laden with oil and grease. The other 10% is me not being careful enough while going around corners in the city where the roads are really slick and the back end sliding out from under me from time to time... even with brand new tires on the box.

3. My last concern is maintenance. While my boxster is now a very dependable vehicle (couldn't say that a year ago, that's for sure!) I don't want the accelerated maintenance I know I will incur by driving it every day. Suspension parts wear, tires seem to discintegrate before my eyes regardless of how carefully I drive, and idiots who have 400 pound doors and know how to use them to ding my car seem to be everywhere. Then there's oil changes, etc.

One last thought for you to talk over with your better half... I'm willing to bet you bought "weekend" insurance on the box like I did, right? Call your insurance company and ask them what the rate would be if you move it to a daily driver status and talk over the increase in premiums with your wife to make an educated decision.

Or, start saying prayers and asking God to turn your wife into one with my wife's mindset on the Porsche in the stable. She's petrofied to drive the car, and doesn't like me taking it out on foul-weather days for the aforementioned reasons!

Hope this helps.

Worst case scenario: She puts a ton of miles on it, it gets wrecked, and you get a newer better one sooner than later!

My view......keep it in the garage and use it for special occasions...look forward to driving it, when its raining go into the garage and have a beer, maybe even polish an alloy!
I bought my Boxster for the same reasons, I dont want to rack the miles up, not because of depreciation, just want to keep it A1.

I had the same heated discussion with my wife......and ended up buying her a BMW as a compromise!!!

Shes happy ,I'm happy......taxman very happy!!

and Brucelee....as always...wise...you are!

In my earlier post I suggested that drburton was on "the jerk side of things". That is a ltttle short of hanging the tag around his neck. If you read beyoud that you see that I qualified my impression to what was in the post. If that is insufficient, then I extend an appology to those who thought I was a little hard on the subject. Even good people can be misinterpureted if they only provide a smattering of data.

The information provided after that does shed a little more light on the subject, but his original post was about jealousy, not concern about room for the kids or the relative safety of the two vehicles.

I have been a member of this forum since we bought the Boxster, the fact that I don't often post is another matter. Every so often I get that drip that tops my bucket and I decide to say something about it, other wise I get lots of information (some times I offer information) and intertainment from the various forums I go to.

Drive 'em, park 'em, polish 'em, admire 'em, save 'em for another day. It is all part of being an enthusiast.

I DO NOT want to be anywhere near you when you get that first ding/chip!! :D I was like you for a bit with other cars but it seemed that no matter how careful I was, when I did finally take it out of the garage for the "Sunday Drive", I picked up another chip! I couldn't win!! So my thoughts have changed...the car will depreciate whether it sits or not and I was still getting chips on the "good" days so now I sold the other daily drivers and drive this car year round...result...I haven't had a new chip in months!! :D

You are very kind!

Thanks.

Toys are meant to be shared. I let my 19-year old kid drive mine all the time. (He has his own 944 turbo, so it's not like he's going to go over the top with mine. His is faster, but mine is prettier.) I also lent mine to my boyfriend for two days in exchange for his candy-apple red Cadillac, just so he could give his ex-wife fits. ("Run around town in it," I said. "Wave at everyone. Tell them all that I gave it to you for your birthday."

And guess what? Rumor has it, in the small town where he lives, that I gave it to him for his birthday. :D

Toys are fun. Driving the Box is fantastic. But sharing your toys is part of what makes them so damn much fun.

And if something happens to them, well that's what we pay those fantastic insurance premiums for, isn't it? Yeah. So suck it up and let your wife drive the Box to work. She'll love you for it, and isn't that what having toys and fun is all about? Oh, yeeesssss.

My wife is not allowed to eat french fries or drink anything colored in the Box. For some reason after she is done it looks as if a french fry sprinkler went off in the car. I swear she puts one fry in her mouth and throws two on the floor. I love her quirks, but not in the Box.

"He has his own 944 turbo, so it's not like he's going to go over the top with mine."


BahAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!


It is nice that you believe that!

:cheers:

Being as I have know idea where my boxster is (the wife bandit). I can say I deeply sympathize. But, as a very wise man once said "For God's sake let the girl have her way... is this issue really worth half of ALL your ****************?" ~ older brother

OK maybe he's no confucious but the guy sees in only black and white which I can't seem to do.

I think the best settlement is to let the 'ol lady have the box (they love the convertable) and go get yourself a Caymen.... Maybe a New Carrera... Why not... let's shoot for the ENZO you know being as you have a money tree in the backyard...

Update
 

Figured I would give an update for those who are interested. As noted earlier, I decide to move to more of an open door policy with my wife driving the Porsche earlier this week (partially based on some of the comments below). So here is how the rest of the week went:

Note: the car was in IMMACULATE condition when I last left it in the garage, I had just washed it and applied two coats of Rejex. Also cleaned the wheels and tires etc... Looked like new.

My wife drove the car Wed-Fri to work given the new policy. Here is the current condition of the car:

- Filthy - she drove it in the rain and it is dirty as hell, including bugs everywhere
- A bird crapped all over the top, which required Ragg-Top cleaner and alot of scrubbing to remove
- Crack in windshield - a rock hit the windshield and cracked it :eek:

So in my short moment of free time that I would normally take the car for a nice cruise (beautiful day out), I instead washed the car, removed the bird crap and made phone calls to get the windshield replaced - which is going to take 7 days.

So the open policy is not off to a good start, but I'm not pointing any fingers and I'll see how it goes.

Who broke the car and got it dirty?

Who is fixing it and cleaning it?

These answers may tell you something you need to know.

Just a thought!

I TOLD you not to go there (here) for personal advice.

Good luck!

You mean cars get dirty when driven? Holy CRAP (pun intended)! I'm surprised it didn't melt when the rain hit it....

Sounds to me like you want the car how you want the car when you want the car... Get another car....