Which Porsche Should You Actually Buy for the Money? | JayEmm on Cars

Derek (0:00)

Hey, everyone, I'm Derek. Welcome to Eleven After Nine. Every week, I get the same question over and over again. What is the best first Porsche for the everyman, for the average guy?

And so what I wanted to do is reach out to my friend, James Martin of JayEmm on Cars, the very famous YouTuber who has literally driven everything. And his YouTube are informative, they're in-depth, they're succinct, and most importantly, they really get to the heart of, is this car a good car? And I am thrilled to have him on my podcast. James, welcome.

James Martin (0:35)

Hi, Derek, thanks for having me.

Derek (0:37)

Oh, dude, it's such a pleasure. I'm so happy we could make this work because people want to know, like, oh, 911s, Boxsters, Caymans, should I go old, should I go new?

And I know, having followed you for a long time on the YouTube side, that when I was looking for a 981, I went to go see what James thought of that. Or when I was looking at a 911 T, how does that drive? And now, granted, we don't have the B roads you have in England, my friend. But, you know, it's an approximation.

James Martin (1:08)

Yeah, I mean, the really, really short version, like, if anybody's kind of, you know, about to go to work, now go along to listen to the whole podcast, like, the short version, and this applies to all brands of car, is buy the one that you want, at a price that you're happy paying, that you think you can comfortably afford to run. Yeah, we're talking about a brand here that's really a brand of desire.

You know, nobody needs one of their cars, nobody. I mean, I used to say, it's changed a little bit over the years. I used to say, any car over about 20 grand, so for you guys, probably more like 25, 30,000 bucks.

Any car beyond that, that's a want car. That's not a need car. You know, 20 grand here will comfortably get you something that's got AC for the summer, heating for the winter. It's safe. It's reliable. You know, go out, get your Corolla, your Camry, your Civic, like other guys in the States have a real thing for Subarus. We don't.

Derek (2:13)

But I live in New England. Subarus, I make a joke that every road, whenever I want to go on my back roads and enjoy my cars, I'm always stuck behind a Subi, always. That is the national car of New England, and especially Vermont and New Hampshire. So I hear you.

James Martin (2:28)

Yeah. I think last year or the year before, I think Subaru in the UK sold 8,000 cars. It might actually be less than that. I would have to check it. But yeah, and then I think, but meanwhile, there have been times in the USA where they've sold more cars than VW and Mercedes combined. The same cars, it's just clearly one worked for the market and not in the other. But yeah, right now on my driveway is a 986 Boxster S. It's a 25-year-old car and it's sat next to a Ferrari 355 that I borrowed from a friend, which is like childhood dream supercar, the stuff of your imagination.

Oh, yeah. That Ferrari has got a list price that today is about 50 times maybe what I paid for that Porsche.

But the Porsche is just brilliant. It gives you like 90 percent of that experience. There's some ways where it's a lot better. Don't tell the Ferrari guys. It's really, really easy and Porsche people are very, very guilty of this, maybe more than any other brand. I think because of the fact you've got, you've had the 911 for 60 something years now, and you've got these other models that have also had very long lives. Boxster has been with us since the mid-late 90s, and even the Cayenne is now on all the car. You're on this sort of constant quest for perfection, and well, is that better, and you're always trying to measure things and work out what is or isn't better. I think not enough people just stop, step back, and just go, is it nice to drive?

Does it give you the fizz is the important question.

Derek (4:24)

It also depends on what forms you're reading, right? Because they are very definitive about what is a complete piece of crap and what is God's gift to Porsche. And I always go back to it's what that person loves.

And James, I want to get into your ownership history. There's no doubt about it. But I always tell folks that call me for consulting, like, hey, what should I buy? Or even fans that I meet out at car shows. And it's like, listen, my journey started with a 944 in the 80s, went to a G body, went to a 90s 911, cars in the 2000s, Boxsters, Caymans. And my favorite car of all time is a 1972 911 T, that is a cobbled together car. It's not even a pristine car.