Can you describe the character of the Porsche and how you are going to enjoy fettling it and falling in love with it ? Is it a character car or a modern usable 'sports car' ?
Perhaps Bob doesn't want to spend £45/£50K on a car that needs to be fettled? It's not unreasonable to expect something in that price bracket to work 'out of the box'. Maybe he doesn't want a car that might be off the road for an indeterminate period of time owing to replacement parts being unavailable?
Define character and explain why a Boxster should have, as you imply, none.
He's the one who is buying it !
Indeed I am, so let's make a start.
Chambers defines "fettle" as to make ready, set in order, to arrange, to tidy up or rub excess material off a casting. A fettler (Aust) a maintenance worker on the railway.
Railways did become a form of transport I became familiar with in the first year of my ownership.
Do I enjoy fettling? No, I sodding well don't.
Do I expect to fettle on a £50K odd purchase? Most certainly not.
The areas of comparison I intend making, and reporting on, will be as follows:
Do any of the bolts in the engine compartment compromise any rubber hoses?
Do the essential gauges work, and if they do lurch into activity on the odd occasion, do they accurately impart information?
Will there be the ability to accurately gauge how much oil there is in the engine?
Will the body paintwork resist chipping?
Will the leather seats not rub into holes after four years?
Will I experience excessive heat in hot conditions from an engine intruding into the drivers compartment?
My expectations of buying a new hand built car were that it would it would offer me a different experience. It did. The experience was that I bought a product that didn't fit together particularly well, but was fun to drive before the irritations set in.
Fall in love with it? It's an inanimate object for goodness sake.
I have gained the impression that many of the contributors to this forum are forgiving to the inadequacies of the product and the attitude of the manufacturers to their customers that would not be the case in other spheres, products or services.
I shall report objectively on my impressions of the Porsche after a coupe of thousand miles or so.
Keep smiling!
