I’m with you but I did have one exception. I bought a 2005 Corvette Convertible 9 months prior to it being delivered (because they were not making them yet). The only reason, however, was because I already owned a 2002 that was perfectly good, I got the new one below invoice and it was delivered to my house and transferred ownership of the two cars in 15 minutes. With my wife’s Camry Hybrid, I made the offer to the dealership in an email ($100 over invoice) and picked it up at the dealership within 30 minutes after arrival. With my 997 it took me a test drive and 30 minutes.
ChuckJ

 

Thanks Tim! Can't believe I got away with it. Was told by the gal at the DMV here in town that the person in charge of approving the requests was very conservative. She then asked me for my "second" choice in case my first request didn't go through. So I then wrote, "VIAGRA" as my second choice. LOL! I was so thrilled that I got my first choice. I get people commending me for it, laughing at times, having pictures of my plates taken whenever I'm at a light or when I'm parked somewhere in public.

A friend of mine asked me why I went with CARGASM. I then took him for a ride in my car and showed him how LAUNCH control felt. After I stopped the car, he turned to me and said, "Now I know what YOU meant. I just CAME in my pants" LOL!

 

It's taken me 46 years to be able to buy my first Porsche - a new 997 w/ PDK and paddles.

Owning a Porsche has been my dream for that many years. A little background.. I had a neighbor on the other side of the alley where I grew up in Denver in the 50s and 60s who bought a new 912 in '65. No one knew what it was back then, but I can still remember being mesmerized by the sight and sound of that car. Then it was off to high school, then off to the Army..

I wanted to buy a new 911S when I returned from an Uncle Sam sponsored trip to Southeast Asia in January of 1972, when the car could be bought for $10K (new). Of course the fact that I was making $400 per month had something to do with my inability to sign on the dotted line.

The wait continued.. and continued..

I went to four funerals for four friends last month.. On May 4th one of my retired Army buddies did the eulogy for a mutual friend who died on April 30th.. Two weeks later he died unexpectedly. I'm still speechless as a result of his death.

An active duty Army Colonel that I served with in Korea 25 years ago when he was a lieutenant died two weeks ago.. and another retired Army buddy who as on the Iranian hostage rescue mission in 1980 died this past week from a brain tumor... It's been a bad month..

As such, I'm realizing that I'm not a spring chicken any more, and God only knows how many days, weeks, years any of us has left, so I said WTF, and did something I've wanted to do since I got back from VN in 1972.. I bought my dream car... As a motor-head, this is the pinnacle of my automotive dreams.. I'm still a working class nug, and pulling the trigger on a new 997 was not something I took lightly.. but I've put some money away over the years, and I decided that I wasn't going to meet my maker without fulfilling one of my life-long dreams.. to own a new Porsche.

Now that I've owned the car, a nicely optioned '10 C2 a grand total of two days, I'm kicking myself in the butt for not doing this many years ago..

 

great thread. My story is similar to that of many others in that I have had a long-term lust for a 911. I've been a huge automotive enthusiast since I was little, but I never understood the appeal of the 911 until I first rode in one, which was a 2001 Arctic Silver C2 that I test drove with my dad. Even though I knew the 911 was no dragster, I can still remember feeling blown away by its straight line performance the first time my dad opened it up in first gear on a test drive. It was absolutely breathtaking, and the handling immediately clinched my understanding of why these cars are so spectacular. I have been hooked ever since. He was as convinced as I was too, and he then placed an order for a 2002 C2S cab (triple black), which he graciously let me drive on occasion. Against his better judgment, he let me drive it whenever I wanted to, and I used to take it out on late weeknights for a little exercise.

I was in high school then, and I set a goal that I would try to work hard enough to own one by the age of 30. I worked my nuts off throughout college and landed a good job out of school. My first car post-school was a 2008 BMW 335i, which was an amazing car. I loved it for every minute of the 18 months I owned it before I placed an order for a 2010 M3 (after I went through the 2-day M-School I was hooked).

My M3 was due to me on October 1 of 2009, which I anxiously awaited, but delivery was delayed several times due to the EPA. After waiting so patiently for 3 months, I was, somewhat childishly, at the end of my wits. So I decided to poke around on autotrader to see what used 911's were out there, although I was hesitant at first as I thought I was too young to own such a prestigious car. I thought to myself, "what a ******bag you would look like buying a 911 in your mid-20's." But then I said f*** it, life's too short. I found a local 2008 C2S spec'd exactly how I'd want it with less than 2K miles, which seemed to be priced right, and I decided to test drive it. The dealer (not a Porsche dealer, but a local high-end used car dealer) treated me with much respect and suggested I take it for the weekend to see how I like it. Knowing no better, I obliged. What an amazing car. It was initially tough to get over feeling that it was far more than a schmuck like I deserved, but I was a fast learner. I simply couldn't drive back to the dealer on the following Monday to give the car back to him, so I brought a check with me to make sure I wasn't driving my BMW home. Funny thing is on the drive back to the dealer I got an email saying my M3 was released from the EPA holdup, but that didn't sway me a bit. I drove home that night in this beauty. I hit my goal of owning a 911 by 30.

Sorry for the long-winded story.

 

Once you take the car home overnight it's understandable that you'd want to keep it.
It redefines the concept of a "one night stand" .

 

Beautiful combination and well worth the wait .

 

+1....sorry to hear about your friends. Enjoy your car! You deserve it!

 

Some good stories here, for me sport car wise: BMW Z4 3.0, then BMW e46 M3, then Cayman S. Sold the cayman a few months ago and now regretting every minute of not driving a P-car. Now been looking for the past month for a 911S, the 997.2 looks great, but not sure I want to spend extra $20K over a 06 C2S. Decisions decisions.

 

I decided I wanted one when I first browsed the "997" section of 6speed. I'll probably wait until 2013-2015 and get a used 997.2...

Was about to jump on a very used 997.1 until I found out how overpriced the dealer wanted it.

 

Just like Fang911, I usually get into an OCD like phase of research and the sooner I get out , the better off my whole family is. It usually take between 2 and 3 weeks. The problem is, this keeps happening to me every 6-12 months!!! My accountant is on an endless search for the cure.