Welcome to my ‘Understanding the Economics and Emotions of Porsche Ownership’ series.
There is an abundance of information and analysis about Porsche cars’ history, performance, racing success, engineering prowess, technical specifications, etc. But what about the emotional and economic aspects of Porsche ownership? The MSRP of your dream P-car is important but is only the most obvious piece of this puzzle. Variables such as the specific model you are considering, how you intend to use it, how many miles you drive it, additional dealer markups, and more can have profound effects on the economics that you experience around the ownership of your Porsche.
Articles in Kirk’s Korner will contain analyses, discussion, and opinion about some of the important, but less obvious, monetary and economic aspects surrounding Porsche ownership that you may want to consider in what is often a very emotionally charged decision.
Future articles will address:
- The higher cost of your first (or your next) Porsche can be considered more like a refundable deposit.
- Can you afford to buy / not to buy a Porsche? Is life too short to drive boring cars?
- Additional dealer markups (ADM). What are they? How much can they be? What effects do they have?
- Diminishing marginal returns. Is a 718 Spyder RS that costs twice as much as a regular 718 Spyder really twice the car?
- What are the economic consequences surrounding how you drive your Porsche?
- Autocross – Camaraderie and competition, but at what cost?
- High Performance Drivers’ Education (HPDE) – Non-competitive driving experiences at real racetracks.
- Mileage vs no mileage – How you feel about buying a five-year-old Porsche with less than 1,000 miles on it can depend on where those miles were driven and how you plan to use the car.
- Getting your P- car serviced at the dealership vs other places. Cost and convenience considerations.
- To modify or not to modify your Porsche. The biggest performance gains can come from improvements made where you may not expect.
Your input matters – I welcome suggestions for additional topics you’d like me to explore. Your input will help us cover the most relevant and helpful content to guide your Porsche ownership experience.
Stay tuned and remember to always “Drive with Passion”!
– Tom Kirk is an avid Porsche enthusiast having owned 12 street and 5 Porsche race cars. He is a Historic Sportscar Racing national champion and PCA HPDE driving instructor. His day job is financial advisor at Savant Wealth Management.