Delivery Day

This all started on Tuesday, January 24, 2017 at 10:52 PM (PST). That’s when I found Corinna, the 2001 Porsche 911 Carrera in orient red metallic over black leather, and sent the owner an email. After 110 emails, several phone calls and text messages, and a lot of waiting, I finally accepted delivery today: Saturday, March 4, 2017 at 8:02 AM (PST). Thirty-nine days later.

This was the first time I got to see the car in person, the first time I got to touch it, start it and drive it. This is when it became real. As it turns out, it wasn’t too good to be true afterall. Everything was exactly as was expected… except for, maybe, one little surprise.

Ron, the previous owner, lives on a farm in Georgia and has several horses, and some goats too. This was one of the great things about Ron, not only does he love cars, he also loves animals. You’re just not human if you don’t love animals. My wife loves horses particularly well, and she adored the pictures Ron had sent of his horses. However, I didn’t expect to open the door and immediately smell his horses!

My wife recognized the smell immediately as she’s been around horses quite a bit. I’ve been around them on occasion as well, and now that unmistakable smell was wafting at us from the interior of my new car. But, I wasn’t mad; just surprised. I didn’t anticipate this, and who could? Who would ever think to ask if the interior smells like horses? I don’t blame Ron at all—the man lives on a farm, he’s around horses every day. I guarantee you he never noticed the smell.

I did a little research and found that Meguiar’s makes a product called Whole Car Air Re-Fresher. I’m not big on scents, so I got the least-scenty one I could find: New Car Scent. My other choices were Summer Breeze, Citrus Grove, Spiced Wood, Sparkling Berry, or Spring Blossom… although, I suppose any of those would be an improvement over its current Farm Fresh scent.

Meguiar’s Whole Car Air Re-Fresher is a fogger that’s very simple to use. It’s only three simple steps and takes about half an hour total.

1. Turn on your AC and make sure the air is recirculating, roll up all windows.
2. Place the can in the center of your car and depress the locking trigger then exit the car whilst shutting any open doors.
3. Wait 15 minutes, then open all windows and doors for another 15 minutes.

After that, I couldn’t smell any horses. Three hours later, I still can’t smell horses. My only real concern is whether or not this is a permanent fix, or will the smell come back? If the smell is deep in the fibers of the interior carpet, I’ll have to seek professional help and take it to a very experienced detailer, which is something I planned on doing anyway. Which is exactly why this little surprise no way detracts from the car itself, or the experience. I really couldn’t be happier with the car. It really looks better in person, photos just don’t do it justice.

Driving the car was an absolute dream. It’s so similar to my Boxster, yet it’s completely different. The sound is absolutely glorious, shifting gears is smooth as silk, the power it puts out for 16 year old car is utterly unbelievable, and the ride was firm and smooth. It was exactly how I had imagined it would be, exactly how it should be, and better than any other 996 I’ve driven in the past. This car is truly special. It’s also inspiring as my wife wants to learn how to drive a stick shift now… and I’m more than happy to teach her!

My first destination in the 996 was to a gas station (it only had a quarter tank on arrival). As I’m pumping gas a gentleman in a VW Jetta started talking to me about my car. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he commented on how beautiful it was. We talked for about five or six minutes and I think he might be looking to buy one right now. Two of my neighbors (whom I embarrassingly don’t know very well) came out and formally introduced themselves to me and we chatted about the car for about ten minutes or so. This car attracts people and conversation, and that’s something I’ll have to get used to.

After giving the car a quick EcoGreen bath this evening, I put up the windows, closed the sunroof and the doors, then locked it up. I really had no other places to go, nothing else to do, and rain was in the forecast (though it never came). I wanted to continue driving the car, but there’s only so many hours in a day. Tomorrow, weather permitting, I will get myself very acquainted with the car via a nice, long drive. However, if it does rain as the forecast shows, I guess I’ll have to get acquainted by just sitting in it. That’s not bad, but certainly not at all what I had in mind.