Sports car?

[ShokWaveRider]

I did get a Porsche Twin Turbo when I first retired, but never used it so I sold it. I now have a sports sedan, it gets used every day.

[USGrant1962]

I've been eyeing used Miata's.

[Walt34]

My retirement present was a brand new 2003 GMC 4WD pickup truck that replaced the 18-year-old '85 Chevy pickup. It now has 97k miles on it and I have no plans to replace it anytime soon. It probably will be the last pickup truck I own though because at 67 I just don't use that capability much anymore.

Maybe I'll get a sports car then....

[bradaz2488]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShokWaveRider I did get a Porsche Twin Turbo when I first retired, but never used it so I sold it. I now have a sports sedan, it gets used every day.

Nice car.. The 996 turbo is a great car. The engine does not have the "dreaded" IMS bearing issue like the non-turbo 996/997 and Boxster engines up to model year 2008. People are starting to realize that and the value of the 996/997 Turbo's are holding their values and have even increase the last couple of years.

[RE2Boys]

My retirement present was a newer minivan (2001 Windstar) and a pop-up camper (new old stock) so I, DW, and my 2 and 4 year old sons could go camping. That trailer has been west to Wyoming and SD Black Hills twice, northern MN, Maine twice, Disney World, Arkansas Buffalo River, and many many points in between. Trailer is 18 years old now but has been lightly used the past 5 years (HS phase). Opened it up to check things out and do some maintenance a few weeks ago and spent many nights "camping" in the back yard.

[Ronstar]

Bought a new corvette in 2001 and spent 13 summers driving it to work. Now that I'm retired, it mostly sits in the garage.

[Ronstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 My retirement present was a brand new 2003 GMC 4WD pickup truck that replaced the 18-year-old '85 Chevy pickup. It now has 97k miles on it and I have no plans to replace it anytime soon. It probably will be the last pickup truck I own though because at 67 I just don't use that capability much anymore. Maybe I'll get a sports car then....

You may want to keep the truck. Sports cars are not easy to get in and out of as we get older.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar You may want to keep the truck. Sports cars are not easy to get in and out of as we get older.

Come to think of it, you're right. We're already having slight issues with the Honda Accord and my knees are not going to get better with age.

[Pilot2013]

Already bought it, will keep it in retirement. I'ts "only driven on Sundays, when it's not raining".

Tried to insert pic, but apparently not tech savvy enough.

Figure it out...

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cap_Scarlet Did you buy a fancy sports car when you retired? I have my eye on a nearly new Porsche Boxster but don't want to be a cliché ....or maybe you 'treated' yourself to something else as a retirement gift...from you...to you?

I retired in 2009 and bought myself a brand new top of the line 2009 Toyota Venza SUV. A perfect seat height to get in and out, comfortable ride, easy to drive, and big enough to take lots of stuff with me in hurricane evacuations. Here's a photo of it the day after I bought it, at my old house.

[Texas Proud]

One of the things you can do is buy a nice sport sedan...

I owned a '97 Firebird Formula 350.... it was quick for the times and handled pretty well... but was a piece of junk if you wanted reliability...


In '04 bought a nice Acura TL 6 speed... it has more HP, but less torque... it was quicker to 60 and 1/4 mile than the Firebird... it had HP tires and handled better... and to top it all of it was a 4 door!!!


So, unless you want to get rip roaring acceleration, I would go with a practical car most of the time that had the extra ability to give you some fun.... I hate these cars, but lots of people buy BMWs to get just that...

[Danmar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cap_Scarlet I have my eye on a nearly new Porsche Boxster but don't want to be a cliche ?

Early in my retirement I had a 911S on order but backed out. Got an M6 convertible instead. Agree about the cliche thing, "another old A-hole in a Porsche". They are great cars though. Love the M6.

[bhoferp]

Don't have the $$$ most of you have, but we bought a 2015 Dodge Challenger RT Shaker. Comfortable and fun to drive. Going to get groceries today, was asked again by someone who wanted to take a picture of it. Always tickles us.

[Bamaman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Callitaday2022 You can buy Mercedes benz SL 55 or 63 AMG and get 500 supercharged horses for around 20-30K. Lots of value, but when it breaks down, bend over

Popular Mechanics has a link to a 100 page long blog where a gentleman had the head bolts fail on a R63 Mercedes station wagon. The customer repaired the engine although it took him 10 months to execute the fix.

Cost of engine from dealer: $49,000 plus $150 labor per hour to install.

Mercedes is well aware of failures with this engine, but refused to help the customer because he didn't purchase Mercedes' new and he doesn't deal with Mercedes dealers regularly. The dealer just gave the customer lip service and tried to rip him off on parts.

The moral of the story is stay away from ultra high tech/high performance automobiles unless it's within warranty or covered by an extended service plan.

That said, I've purchased a low mile Jaguar XK convertible in my retirement years.

[ejman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Breedlove Yes ! next spring when DW and I are both retired we will get a sports car . I have already looked at the Porsche Boxter and decided it is more problem then I want . Some cars that I am looking at and this is just opinion but check out the maintenance on the Porsche. If you like the Porsche mid engine , check out the Toyota MR II real dependable and cheap to maintain. Probably the top rated roadster for the money are the Mazda Miatas. Tons of Camaro's Mustangs out there used ones are pretty cheap and easy to maintain. I know this is crazy as hell but we took one of the Fiat 500 Abarth's out for a test drive . We loved it . It seemed like we were driving a go cart on public roads . ...........But again they are not one of the top rated cars by any means. The old days I used to rebuild Triumphs and MG's so easy to work on . Older brother still does Jags.

Many moons ago I owned a Fiat 124- what a blast to drive, probably the must fun car I've owned. I did my own maintenance then and over the 80,000 or so miles I owned the car the only thing I remember is I had to do frequent tuneups for top performance. Spark plugs, points, condenser adjust the timing - that sort of thing. I also owned an MG and frankly the 124 was a lot more fun.

No idea what the Fiat 500 is like but if it is anything like the 124 I'm sure it's a fun drive. It seems like Italian cars are designed with the idea that the owner/mechanic will fiddle with them all the time as part of the "fun"

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ejman It seems like Italian cars are designed with the idea that the owner/mechanic will fiddle with them all the time as part of the "fun"

It's this getting stranded along the roadside thing that they are trying to help the owners figure out. But as unreliable as the old Italian cars are, they would not hold a candle to the 70's Jensen Healy I had for a while (short while).

[JoeWras]

Older neighbor won't part with their BMW Z4. They also can't get around enough to drive it. They ask me to take it out for "joy rides" to keep the seals supple, let it breathe, burn off the moisture, etc. (No fallacy there, the machine needs to get exercise.)

I guess in a way this is a good deal. No cost, just fun and time.

[bradaz2488]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ejman Many moons ago I owned a Fiat 124- what a blast to drive, probably the must fun car I've owned. I did my own maintenance then and over the 80,000 or so miles I owned the car the only thing I remember is I had to do frequent tuneups for top performance. Spark plugs, points, condenser adjust the timing - that sort of thing. I also owned an MG and frankly the 124 was a lot more fun. No idea what the Fiat 500 is like but if it is anything like the 124 I'm sure it's a fun drive. It seems like Italian cars are designed with the idea that the owner/mechanic will fiddle with them all the time as part of the "fun"

Wow.. Blast from the past... The first car I bought was a 1978 Fiat Spyder (fix-it-again-tony). Fun as hell to drive and got a lot of attention back then, but the most unreliable car I have ever owed. Did a lot of the work myself. It was fun... Loved it so much I kept it for 12 years... Only car I felt sad selling...

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ejman Many moons ago I owned a Fiat 124- what a blast to drive, probably the must fun car I've owned. I did my own maintenance then and over the 80,000 or so miles I owned the car the only thing I remember is I had to do frequent tuneups for top performance. Spark plugs, points, condenser adjust the timing - that sort of thing. I also owned an MG and frankly the 124 was a lot more fun. No idea what the Fiat 500 is like but if it is anything like the 124 I'm sure it's a fun drive. It seems like Italian cars are designed with the idea that the owner/mechanic will fiddle with them all the time as part of the "fun"

You can buy a brand new 2017 Fiat 124 Spider now, should be more reliable since it shares a lot of parts with the Miata.

http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/lat...icle-1.3215875

[JonnyM]

No, however 10 years into retirement, when we both hit 60, we needed to replace an aging auction Lincoln Mark VIII that was beginning to fail. Donated it. Found our perfect car was the last Scion XB to haul my Music gear, and our Irish Wolfhounds, plus the last Miata MX-5 with a retractable hardtop for the fun drives (just us). We used other peoples money at 0%, spent about 40K total one day Jan 2016. Should be good to go for the foreseeable future...