Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em

The time has come to put the For-Sale sign on our mighty 996. A member of the family for almost seven years, driven to countless baseball/softball games, Cars and Coffee, and quick trips on our fabulous back roads, as long as one member of the family was missing, it was the car of choice. Therein lies the problem; we have a family of five, and once the kids are older than 10 or so it gets to be a pretty tight squeeze in the back.

For years, we reliably hauled the kids and their stuff to meet the grandparents, I almost always took it trail running and hiking, and there was a time or two where we went all-out 1970s and had 5 kids plus myself piled in after some random church event (it was only 2 miles away and everyone loved it).

For most of our ownership, it made the journey just as fun as the destination. Over time, though, the kids started complaining about it being claustrophobic, it's too loud inside, and the radio sucks. We drive it less and less, and now it's mostly a gorgeous static display in our garage.

"But it's paid for!" you say, and until I ran the numbers, I'd totally agree with you. As far as Porsches go, it's about as cheap as it gets. I'm a middle aged married guy, so our insurance is very reasonable. We don't drive it more than three thousand miles per year, so the maintenance costs are reasonable, but check this out- Sitting in our garage as a paid-for, low maintenance third car, still costs us over $12,000 over the next seven years! Like a 'free' puppy,  ownership is just the beginning of the cost equation. I'm not including depreciation here because the car has basically hit bottom and shouldn't depreciate much more.

Exhibit A:

Jan-2019	Jan-20	Jan-21	Jan-22	Jan-23	Jan-24	Jan-25	Total
Est Mileage
45000	48000	51000	54000	57000	60000	63000
Vehicle Tax
250	225	200	180	180	180	180	1395
Insurance
600	600	600	600	600	600	600	4200
Oil Change
100	0	100	0	100	100	0	400
Tires	F		R
	400		450				850
Brakes		F			R
		350			300		650
Clutch/IMS/RMS
					3000		3000
Suspension
		600			600		1200
Unplanned Repair
	200		200		200	200	800
950	1425	1850	1430	880	4980	980	12495

A key part of this also includes me doing the brakes, tune-up stuff, and oil changes myself. The big-daddy of repairs, the clutch/rear main seal/intermediate shaft bearing will come due right as my son is about to head to college. I'll be hitting him up for ramen! So... on a year-over-year basis, it's not the end of the world to keep it, but the reality is that the opportunity cost of keeping it becomes a bit of a boat anchor when the pleasure of ownership is outweighed by the nagging feeling that this money (plus the sale price of the car) can be put to better use in our family.

Boat and motorcycle owners may want to take a good look at this, too. We often hang onto things because they're a part of our identity, and it's way cooler to say, "I have a Harley/Bayliner/Porsche," than it is to put on the thousand yard stare when you drive by the car show or marina and say, "Yeah, I had one of those..." Sooner or later, the numbers just scream at you from the spreadsheet, "Get me outta here!"

Naturally, if you use your fun conveyance regularly, you're ok with the costs, and it adds, rather than detracts from your pursuit of happiness, then by all means, keep it! Your results may vary, but for us, we'll be providing a great vehicle to a new owner with the life circumstances to use it the way god intended.

I drank from the fountain, and it wasn't just good, it was freaking awesome! With the right attitude, the next chapter will be even better.