thoughts on M6 vs XKR vs 911. £25-30k Budget

[c7xlg]

well I saw 3 XKRs on my 20 mile commute this morning, and 1 6-series which was a diesel. Too many 911s to bother counting (this was the M4 silicon valley Reading to Maidenhead).

[blueg33]

I have been through this very selection process over the last couple of months, i drove everything, researched like mad, shortlisted 997 and XKR, made the mrs sit in various cars.

My new Lotus Evora arrived last friday

Edited by blueg33 on Friday 28th February 14:01

[franki68]

had the m6 and 997.1 c2s ,hated the gearbox and all the settings on the m6 .Has some great features (engine,room,rode and handled well ) but honeslty the 997 is on a different planet ,unless you really want a more gt style car or need more space.

[Dblue]

franki68 said:

had the m6 and 997.1 c2s ,hated the gearbox and all the settings on the m6 .Has some great features (engine,room,rode and handled well ) but honeslty the 997 is on a different planet ,unless you really want a more gt style car or need more space.

I had a month and a thousand miles in an E60 M5 and I hated the box, amongst the worst of its type IMHO.
And the multitude of settings were almost completely pointless and rather irritating

[franki68]

Dblue said:

I had a month and a thousand miles in an E60 M5 and I hated the box, amongst the worst of its type IMHO.
And the multitude of settings were almost completely pointless and rather irritating

ruined the car for me,worst gearbox Ive encountered,plus the steering annoyed as well far too many settings which really didnt add anything to the experience.A shame because the engine and chassis were great.

[Shaoxter]

Drive it in manual mode...
The SMG is not an automatic so don't drive it like one.

[Schermerhorn]

...and if you lift off for gear changes (like you would in a normal manual) the changes are very smooth.

The gearbox is not the best but it took me 10 minutes to get used to it.

[MyMidLifeCrisis]

I know this thread is a little old now, but you where talking about the end of the year purchase and as your original requirements of cost, maintenance, etc are the same as what I am looking for (Although I am not considering a BMW - personally, it is too much of a saloon car), I am interested to know what your conclusions where and if you have, what you finally bought?

I was originally looking at an old Porsche 944 S2 coupe, as my budget was about £10K (allowing for spare cash for a couple of years maintenance), however it looks like my budget (to my nice surprise!) could be up to £30K, although it would need to be The One for me to part of £30K.
This would be an everyday car for me, and considering 911 CS4 or an XK (thought an Aston would be too much for an everyday car - happy to be persuaded for a Vantage though!)

Main concerns being the yearly maintenance bills - How much should I be considering?

[jazzyjeff]

I've had a Vantage as a daily driver for more than three years now, no problems (although it's not cheap on fuel, as you might expect!)

Thinking of selling for a change, soon

[The Stiglet]

Reading Schermerhorn's posts since, I wouldn't take an M6 if someone gave one to me as a present!

911 all the way

[Plainview23]

The Stiglet said:

Reading Schermerhorn's posts since, I wouldn't take an M6 if someone gave one to me as a present!

911 all the way

Jeez, the 997 is way more of a grenade than the M6.
You're almost guaranteed an engine rebuild on the first gen C2S 997.

[oldnbold]

Plainview23 said:

Jeez, the 997 is way more of a grenade than the M6.
You're almost guaranteed an engine rebuild on the first gen C2S 997.

What a complete load of rubbish. About 5% actually develop the documented problems.

[Shaoxter]

Well an E63 M6 and 997.1 911 will both have potential for large borkage bills.
Spend enough time on the internet and you'll be put off any car.

[blueg33]

oldnbold said:

Plainview23 said:

Jeez, the 997 is way more of a grenade than the M6.
You're almost guaranteed an engine rebuild on the first gen C2S 997.

What a complete load of rubbish. About 5% actually develop the documented problems.

a 1 in 20 chance of expensive problems isn't all that good.

[The Stiglet]

Shaoxter said:

Well an E63 M6 and 997.1 911 will both have potential for large borkage bills.
Spend enough time on the internet and you'll be put off any car.

oldnbold replied with the figure I would have provided for chance of engine failure on the 911.

The OP wanted something reliable that wouldn't depreciate much whilst still being exciting and able to take kids. The M6 cannot state to be either of the first two. Furthermore, the 911 is the dynamically superior choice out of this group, the only one with a manual gearbox and is pretty reasonable to run in comparison.

Agreed with you about scaring yourself silly on the internet. Luckily, you can buy through OPC or have one done from Hartech.

[oldnbold]

blueg33 said:

oldnbold said:

Plainview23 said:

Jeez, the 997 is way more of a grenade than the M6.
You're almost guaranteed an engine rebuild on the first gen C2S 997.

What a complete load of rubbish. About 5% actually develop the documented problems.

a 1 in 20 chance of expensive problems isn't all that good.

Well I guess it's about evaluating the risk and your ability to cope if a problem should occur.

That said all of the vehicles that have been mentioned, at the age that is being considered, have the potential to throw up a large unexpected bill I guess.

[blueg33]

oldnbold said:

blueg33 said:

oldnbold said:

Plainview23 said:

Jeez, the 997 is way more of a grenade than the M6.
You're almost guaranteed an engine rebuild on the first gen C2S 997.

What a complete load of rubbish. About 5% actually develop the documented problems.

a 1 in 20 chance of expensive problems isn't all that good.

Well I guess it's about evaluating the risk and your ability to cope if a problem should occur.

That said all of the vehicles that have been mentioned, at the age that is being considered, have the potential to throw up a large unexpected bill I guess.

Any car thats out of warranty runs that risk. But sadly it seems with the Porsche 996/997 gen 1 the risk is higer than usual. I guess the Class Action in the US is an indication that the rate of failure is higher than could be reasonably expected. Thats just IMS of course, soesnt include bore score unless cause by IMS

[oldnbold]

blueg33 said:

Any car thats out of warranty runs that risk. But sadly it seems with the Porsche 996/997 gen 1 the risk is higer than usual. I guess the Class Action in the US is an indication that the rate of failure is higher than could be reasonably expected. Thats just IMS of course, soesnt include bore score unless cause by IMS

Therefore if you consider the risk unacceptable on a 997 buy from an OPC, a quick search reveals that low £30k's are required to do this. Or buy cheap privately, and enrol in the Hartec maintainence scheme. Pal of mine purchased his immaculate '06 997 C2S with 35k miles on it and a full OPC service history for £22k earlier this year.

A mondial warrenty or the Hartec route should leave change from £25k I guess, with the small risk that there is, greatly reduced.

Edited by oldnbold on Friday 12th December 11:09

[blueg33]

oldnbold said:

blueg33 said:

Any car thats out of warranty runs that risk. But sadly it seems with the Porsche 996/997 gen 1 the risk is higer than usual. I guess the Class Action in the US is an indication that the rate of failure is higher than could be reasonably expected. Thats just IMS of course, soesnt include bore score unless cause by IMS

Therefore if you consider the risk unexceptable on a 997 buy from an OPC, a quick search reveals that low £30k's are required to do this. Or buy cheap privately, and enrol in the Hartec maintainence scheme. Pal of mine purchased his immaculate '06 997 C2S with 35k miles on it and a full OPC service history for £22k earlier this year.

A mondial warrenty or the Hartec route should leave change from £25k I guess, with the small risk that there is, greatly reduced.

Agree

[The Stiglet]

He could always just go for a 996 Turbo