How It Started…
Since I returned my Jaguar, which was a leased vehicle, in August 2020, I had been thinking about getting another fun car. I already own a pick up truck – 2019 Ford Ranger, which I love. I thought I didn’t need another fun car, but 6 months in the lockdown due to COVID-19, I was bored at home every day, and there was no mental stimulation at all. I needed some happiness.
So I started looking for my next fun car. My Jaguar has 3.0L V6 supercharged engine with 340 HP, and it can do 0-60mph in 4.5s. So I need a faster car. Looking into BMW M3, AMG C63 AMG and 991.2 911. I am a kind of superficial person, I always want some attention (but not too much) and I like low profile show-off, if that thing exists. While I was looking at those three cars, I started feeling special about Porsche. And I’ve been talking a lot with Xiangyang, who owns a Boxster. He highly recommended Porsche, and also Porsche is the most reliable luxury brand. So I started looking at 991.2 exclusively.
I actually started thinking about the next fun car a few months before I returned my Jag. So I went to Porsche Stevens Creek in San Jose for a test drive. They seemed a bit hesitated about that, and they asked me what I was driving, and required my insurance card. Maybe they wanted to make sure you looked rich enough so you’re not just test driving for fun. They couldn’t find a Carrera S, so they drove out the 4S on display from the showroom. Before I took off, the salesperson told me: Don’t be too loud in the residential neighborhood… He knew exactly what I was going to do.
The more I browsed listings on autotrader.com, the more I felt like the new 992 generation. It’s so much better looking, and the interior is completely redone. 991.2 feels like a car from 8 years ago, and it is; 992 feels futuristic, especially the tail lights and the interior. So my budget bumped to 150K from 100K LOL.
I quoted a few dealers around the country. I was thinking about shipping the car from NY/FL because they gave me best discount. But then I needed to pay for the transport and needed to find a good transportation company. Feeling bothered by those troubles, I focused on the LA dealer, which is actually in Ontario. The salesperson was very unprofessional at first, kinda dropped the mic after I proposed my expected discount. I was really mad, and I emailed his manager. The manager apologized, and I negotiated about 3.5% discount off MSRP. Actually 992 Carrera S was super short supplied at that moment. The whole country only has about 40-50 cars on the lot. While I got some discount, I regretted that I didn’t order a specialized version, which I think totally worth the wait right now. And I’d have it delivered to PECLA.
The payment was a pain in the ass too because I already booked my trip to Palm Springs and I wanted to pick it up on my way there. I needed to wire them the payment, but none of my account had enough money. So I ended up making two wires and it caused a lot of anxiety because I wasn’t sure if it’d arrive on time before my trip. I didn’t sleep at all that night, being bothered by the payment issue and being afraid the transaction would fall off. That caused my migraine for 4 months later on.
Picking up My 911
I was so excited to go down to LA to pick it up. Everything went smoothly after arriving at the dealership. She was such a beauty!
You can just see how excited I was to sit in my dream car… But even as Porsche dealer, they still try to oversell you some shits that you don’t need. And I was very unpleased about that.
Heading to Palm Springs
After picking up, we headed to Palm Springs for vacation. The traffic sucked, and the road in California was just as bad as I expected. There were several times I thought my car was gonna be damaged. It was almost 110+ F every day. But it was a lovely town, with very active gay scenes. There are very nice restaurants in downtown. Although in the pandemic, restaurants were allowed to open outdoor dining; and the resort I stayed (which is a gay clothing optional resort) closed some common areas, but pools and hot tub were open.
We got a day trip to Joshua Tree National Park, and I got to take a lot of nice pictures of my car. She is just so beautiful, from any angle.
Some complaints…
This car is almost perfect…. because it still has something that I don’t like. I guess I’m picky, but almost all car reviews on YouTube complained about those.
First, the instruments on the most right and left are blocked by the steering wheel. On the right, it shows range and how much gas left – which is very helpful. On the left, it shows time, temperature and direction – which I rarely look at.
Second, the shift stick is soooooo small. I don’t like it – it’s not masculine enough for me. I drove GT3 and GT3RS which are based on 991 generation, and I just love their shift sticks.
Third, the wireless car play and charging situation. There is no wireless charging. And wireless car play is very easy to overheat your phone, and then it’ll slow down a lot. On my way to Palm Springs and also from there to home, my phone stopped working (so navigation/music all stopped) because of overheating – which was introduced by charging and using wireless car play at the same time for a long time.
When I’m writing this post, I’ve owned it for almost half a year, and I loved every minute I was driving it.
wow