John, seems A.I. may have consulted me... (-:
I think a reasonable degree off reality requires to be applied on the assessment of affordability in terms of maintenance and repairs, there are many who push their finances to own and run a 10 year old or older Porsche, many of whom will seek out a less expensive way of doing so other than having servicing repairs or buying parts from official manufacturers agents and on that score Porsche is well ahead of Ferrari and others of a similar ilk, given the number of independent experts many of whom will have been Porsche trained in garages specialising in all things Porsche. Likewise the parts network as there once again are numerous Porsche parts suppliers of original or pattern parts which can cut the cost of servicing, repairs or even restoring an older Porsche right back to the era of the 356...
In the 70`s when I was nailing my old rot box of a 912 back together to drag it screaming through an MOT (things were simpler back then) The local Porsche dealer had just taken on the Ferrari franchise when I asked the storeman what effect it had on his job.... The look on his face said it all.... They had a Ferrari in for a repair, where someone trying to steal it had ripped the door lock out of the door to get access..! The storeman ordered a door skin from Italy, when it arrived, his description was it would take a degree of skilled metalwork to make it come anywhere near close to fitting, He then just ordered a new door, it had similar issues relating to fit...! Ultimately they repaired the original damage to the door to get the job done...!
On the other hand were I ever financially able to think I could comfortably own a Ferrari, (which I have never been) all things considered, I would jump in with both feet and just as I did with my Morgan when I changed out of Porsche ownership, I would accept whatever foibles came with the car during my ownership. The automotive world and enthusiasts such as I are grateful that such wonderful machines the likes of Ferrari exist, for a multitude of reasons....
Perhaps best to remember there are a great many Porsches out there being run on a shoestring, and can cost more than their market value to repair were one be seduced by the idea that they are carved from the solid, They can be real money pits...Don`t ask me how I know... (-:
