I was conflicted when I got the email from Porsche Cars North America.
Of course I wanted to take them up on their PR pitch to drive various models from their fleet, for free, for a week.
But I’ve been trying to fall out of love with cars.
At their core, cars are a tool, a means from getting from A to B. Through that lens, anything more expensive than a Nissan Versa (MSRP $15,380) is overkill.
But in practice, cars are more than that. They’re status symbols. They’re expressions of identity. They’re toys.
But cars are also expensive — especially the fun ones that call out loudest. They’re also not exactly the safest hobby — again, especially the fun ones.
And Porsche knows this.
Their website advertises one model, the 718 Spyder convertible, as “perfectly irrational.” The ad copy continues: “Without compromise. Without regrets. Without rational arguments.” You buy it because you want it.
So of course I accepted the invitation to try Porsche Drive, their subscription and rental service. Through participating dealerships — in this case, Sonic Automotive’s Porsche of Nashville — the app-based program lets you arrange to have various models dropped off to you. Its entry points range from renting one car for one day to a subscription model that allows access to a fleet of models.
Costs range from $245 for a one-day rental to $3,600 per month for a multi-car subscription. Whether that’s a good deal is subjective, but pricing struck me as in line with what you’d pay to rent comparable cars from Turo (a sort of Airbnb for cars).
For my rides, I opted to start with a convertible Boxster and to finish with the iconic 911. In the app, I was only able to select a model, not a specific trim.
Imagine my surprise, then, when I walked out to the parking garage at work last month to not find a base-level Boxster (starting MSRP $65,500), but an upper-range GTS 4.0 model ($108,000 as optioned). I’d thought the Boxster would serve as an appetizer to its more famous 911 sibling that I drove over a weekend (“mine” wound up being a base-level Carrera, with a $123,590 sticker price), but the roadster stole the show. It was louder. It was more dramatic. It had more visual “presence.” (Not just according to me, but to my daughter, mother-in-law and nephew.)
It was also more honest: The GTS 4.0 reminds you, and onlookers, at every turn that you bought a toy. The 911 pretends to be a more mature purchase (hence a tiny backseat).
My main takeaway from these two cars, in which I logged more than 600 miles (and nearly $200 in premium fuel), isn’t knowing which one I’d buy, it’s all the memories from the things the cars gave me an excuse to go out and make.
The complete lack of bodyroll in the Boxster was incredible. But driving my 4-year-old around the neighborhood with the top down looking for deer was more fun. Using “launch control” mode to go from 0 mph to [redacted] as quickly as possible made me laugh like an idiot every time, but having an excuse to catch up with friends I hadn’t seen in a while had me smiling more. Being able to say I’ve driven almost a quarter-million-dollars worth of Porsches is cool, but being able to say I drove my mom into the edge of a rainstorm with the top down or that my dad and I drove through a herd of loose cows is cooler.
A six-figure car isn’t necessary to make memories like that. But it’s why I have them.
Which brings me to my final takeaway: When it comes to cars, I’m still hopelessly in love.
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