RE: PH buying guide: Porsche 911 Turbo (996)
Discussion
To the previous poster re hot hatch comparison. I could've bought the hot hatch rather the Turbo but a) they [hot hatches] will never feel quite as special...a bit of an intangible, I accept. b) the new hot hatch probably would have cost me £7k-ish in depreciation. I suspect the porsche has maybe lost app £4k.
Someone asked earlier about maintenance and what owners have paid. Two new tyres (£550), service at £400, one wheel sensor at 125 fitted and an MOT. It has averaged app 23mpg in the 4000 miles I have done in the last year.
I would however, consider myself to be very lucky as far as maintenance is concerned. As mentioned earlier the costs for some of the parts would choke the average horse and there is always a fear of a huge expense. Pros and cons of the car.
They are also just another step away in terms of performance from a hot hatch (even the BMW which seems to be incredibly quick) but this can be a downside as they do feel stupidly fast on the road and unruffled by road conditions, rain etc. For this key reason I would always go for the turbo over the carrera...if I was paying potential Porsche maintenance money i would want to make sure that I was getting that full power feeling.
Everyone to their own though.
Someone asked earlier about maintenance and what owners have paid. Two new tyres (£550), service at £400, one wheel sensor at 125 fitted and an MOT. It has averaged app 23mpg in the 4000 miles I have done in the last year.
I would however, consider myself to be very lucky as far as maintenance is concerned. As mentioned earlier the costs for some of the parts would choke the average horse and there is always a fear of a huge expense. Pros and cons of the car.
They are also just another step away in terms of performance from a hot hatch (even the BMW which seems to be incredibly quick) but this can be a downside as they do feel stupidly fast on the road and unruffled by road conditions, rain etc. For this key reason I would always go for the turbo over the carrera...if I was paying potential Porsche maintenance money i would want to make sure that I was getting that full power feeling.
Everyone to their own though.
Had one (X50, manual, basalt black) a few years ago and ran it for 30k miles as my daily driver. Brilliant car. The wall of torque from 2k rpm to the red line is just amazing. The first few times I really lit it up will never be forgotten - it completely recalibrates your sense of what is possible acceleration wise.
My advice would be to spend as much as you can afford and get either the Porsche warranty or a decent secondary market one. If used properly, rear tyres will last around 3000 miles and the fronts a bit more. There are now a few kits out there to replace the discs on PCCB equiped cars, so these shouldn't be to much of a worry.
In the end, the two major things that I disliked about the car were what led me to swapping it for the GT3 - the turbo lag and the four wheel drive. It's not really a sports car, but an absolutely awesome GT. Nothing I have owned covers miles quite like this.
My advice would be to spend as much as you can afford and get either the Porsche warranty or a decent secondary market one. If used properly, rear tyres will last around 3000 miles and the fronts a bit more. There are now a few kits out there to replace the discs on PCCB equiped cars, so these shouldn't be to much of a worry.
In the end, the two major things that I disliked about the car were what led me to swapping it for the GT3 - the turbo lag and the four wheel drive. It's not really a sports car, but an absolutely awesome GT. Nothing I have owned covers miles quite like this.
pmr01 said:
To the previous poster re hot hatch comparison. I could've bought the hot hatch rather the Turbo but a) they [hot hatches] will never feel quite as special...a bit of an intangible, I accept. b) the new hot hatch probably would have cost me £7k-ish in depreciation. I suspect the porsche has maybe lost app £4k.
Someone asked earlier about maintenance and what owners have paid. Two new tyres (£550), service at £400, one wheel sensor at 125 fitted and an MOT. It has averaged app 23mpg in the 4000 miles I have done in the last year.
I would however, consider myself to be very lucky as far as maintenance is concerned. As mentioned earlier the costs for some of the parts would choke the average horse and there is always a fear of a huge expense. Pros and cons of the car.
They are also just another step away in terms of performance from a hot hatch (even the BMW which seems to be incredibly quick) but this can be a downside as they do feel stupidly fast on the road and unruffled by road conditions, rain etc. For this key reason I would always go for the turbo over the carrera...if I was paying potential Porsche maintenance money i would want to make sure that I was getting that full power feeling.
Everyone to their own though.
I don't disagree with most of what you say, I chose a 997 C2S over other cars but I can understand why others prefer the benefits of a different sort of car. I'm personally not attracted to a turbo, preferring the slightly more interactive experience of the 2 wheel drive NA car. However a good friend of mine swears by his 997 turbo, and wither who's owned both thinks the C2S is simply the better car.Someone asked earlier about maintenance and what owners have paid. Two new tyres (£550), service at £400, one wheel sensor at 125 fitted and an MOT. It has averaged app 23mpg in the 4000 miles I have done in the last year.
I would however, consider myself to be very lucky as far as maintenance is concerned. As mentioned earlier the costs for some of the parts would choke the average horse and there is always a fear of a huge expense. Pros and cons of the car.
They are also just another step away in terms of performance from a hot hatch (even the BMW which seems to be incredibly quick) but this can be a downside as they do feel stupidly fast on the road and unruffled by road conditions, rain etc. For this key reason I would always go for the turbo over the carrera...if I was paying potential Porsche maintenance money i would want to make sure that I was getting that full power feeling.
Everyone to their own though.
All personal preference, too many great choices nowadays!!!!
I would say the 4500 per year for servicing etc is probably an average. I have spent 8000 this year. 24k car bought last year, just below mid price - private sale. 3000 spent replacing parts found on inspection - heatshields for exhaust and turbos, front rads and suspension bushes and arms - then it was like new and very tight. Since, minor service, fuel pump failure and new clutch (these cannot be checked with a ppi unfortunately) and a new battery last week. A bloody expensive year and I am now at the tipping point, but hopefully plain sailing next year - just a major service.
Rear tyres that last 3000 miles? Jeeez!
I'd balance the running costs by suggesting this;
I had a 10k from new RS500 that had been kept in a well-known collection.
When I bought it I had a full engine service at a specialist inc cambelt as there was no record of change.
Yes it cost a bit, but if the belt had snapped it would have been an expensive engine re-build (a damaged cylinder head would cost £4k+ bare..) so if some of that nominal £4k a year is maintenance to preclude such costs you could argue its worth it.
Having said that I'd guess that some of that budget wouldn't be used and would 'roll over' I to the following years servicing budget.
I'd love a turbo but a GT3 would be more my cup of tea, a bit more analogue compared to digital.
I'd balance the running costs by suggesting this;
I had a 10k from new RS500 that had been kept in a well-known collection.
When I bought it I had a full engine service at a specialist inc cambelt as there was no record of change.
Yes it cost a bit, but if the belt had snapped it would have been an expensive engine re-build (a damaged cylinder head would cost £4k+ bare..) so if some of that nominal £4k a year is maintenance to preclude such costs you could argue its worth it.
Having said that I'd guess that some of that budget wouldn't be used and would 'roll over' I to the following years servicing budget.
I'd love a turbo but a GT3 would be more my cup of tea, a bit more analogue compared to digital.
Nobbles said:
I would say the 4500 per year for servicing etc is probably an average. I have spent 8000 this year. 24k car bought last year, just below mid price - private sale. 3000 spent replacing parts found on inspection - heatshields for exhaust and turbos, front rads and suspension bushes and arms - then it was like new and very tight. Since, minor service, fuel pump failure and new clutch (these cannot be checked with a ppi unfortunately) and a new battery last week. A bloody expensive year and I am now at the tipping point, but hopefully plain sailing next year - just a major service.
It's not an uncommon story though... there's one in the classifieds with 7k spent in the last year (and IIRC, it's a CAT car so pretty low value. That said, with the exception of the turbos, most of those parts needs replacing on 996 (and 986) Porsche's at around 60-70k miles (not sure what yours has done?).
My Boxster S has similar bills (probably 4.5k in a year) for the same stuff - clutch, battery, air con condensers, rad, bushes, disks and pads.
However, since then costs have just been servicing and non essentials (wheel refurb etc).
I'm going to be looking for a car with all those done in the new year if I can afford one (was looking at around your purchase price which I'm not sure if that'll just buy me a project).
The specialist cars with full prep suddenly start to look much better value when you start to total the costs of getting a tired car up to spec.
dme123 said:
Somehow I doubt most people considering £17.5k for a 911 Turbo is cross shopping for a 90s Japanese coupe with a terrible image and very Japanese styling you know.
A cheap Porsche Turbo has an equally poor image as a '90s Japanese coupe. For the car enthusiasts among us (not the badge enthusiasts), if you were to actually try a Supra you'd discover they're an incredibly underrated car. The build quality puts the Porsche to shame, the engine sounds much nicer than the Porsche (IMO), and it's RWD. They're much cheaper to run and tune, and they're still a great looking car if they've not had an awful body kit and tacky wheels attached.
MrBurt said:
Big Porsche fan, but had a go in a 996 T this summer and was disappointed. It was a triptronic and there was just no real connection. I put it down to the gearbox but the feeling of disappointment still weights heavy.
Once again, it's a case of the tiptronic 'box being a good thing on a comfortable cruiser and a bad thing on a sporty car. I don't think the 911 Turbo quite straddles that boundary between performance car and luxury GT enough to get away with the tiptronic gearbox. j_s14a said:
I think for £4k you could have a MKIV Supra twin turbo auto, which with basic mods costing under £1k, would be just as fast (if not a little quicker) as the 996 turbo from a rolling start.
One of the strangest things I've read for a while. A Supra. So what?!? My remapped Cupra R might be bloody quick but it sure as s
t ain't a bloody prestige sports car. Edited by PGN 500sl on Wednesday 26th December 22:01
Ran a 6TT for 3yrs. Had no major bills during my ownership. And my rears lasted longer than 3k before I changed them. YMMV.
Had an OPC warranty throughout (iirc it was around £1300 pa). Provided peace of mind. Major service was around £1k. Minor around £500.
Redefined my experience of what a fast car is. It really is too fast for UK roads, and it does what it does so well that it often gets criticised for being too sterile. I've never really got that - if you aren't a track slag then a GT3 is just as pointless (imo).
Had an OPC warranty throughout (iirc it was around £1300 pa). Provided peace of mind. Major service was around £1k. Minor around £500.
Redefined my experience of what a fast car is. It really is too fast for UK roads, and it does what it does so well that it often gets criticised for being too sterile. I've never really got that - if you aren't a track slag then a GT3 is just as pointless (imo).
Edited by ukwill on Wednesday 26th December 22:59
They can be cheap to run if you get one that someone else has had all the work done on... And you don't drive them really hard and track them like I did with mine....
I had one for 4 years... Tracked it everywhere and it was alot of fun but needed loads of work! 2 clutches in 15k miles.. Including new flywheel and hydro clutch stuff.... Rads, turbo actuators, split boost hoses, power steering pump, and that's all I can remember! I sold the car for less than I had spent on maintaining and slightly upgrading it sadly... But was alot of fun!
Few simple upgrades can really change them and adds the character I feel they lack as standard. I had rob at Dms fit an exhaust and Sportcats and a remap. Can't speak highly enough of him and what. Monster it turns the car into!
As I tracked mine alot, I upgraded the brakes to the 997 sixpots and JZM fitted and set it up on some manthey spec kw v3 coilovers. These totally change the car and make it sooo much more aggressive and fun on track. Well worth the money considering some of these cars now have dampers that are 10years and 60k miles old etc...
With that set up... And some sticky 888 or similar rubber you can terrorise nomex clad GT3 drivers on track... But you get some monster bills as they eat tyres, bushes, and brakes!
Cool cars. Great value now
I had one for 4 years... Tracked it everywhere and it was alot of fun but needed loads of work! 2 clutches in 15k miles.. Including new flywheel and hydro clutch stuff.... Rads, turbo actuators, split boost hoses, power steering pump, and that's all I can remember! I sold the car for less than I had spent on maintaining and slightly upgrading it sadly... But was alot of fun!
Few simple upgrades can really change them and adds the character I feel they lack as standard. I had rob at Dms fit an exhaust and Sportcats and a remap. Can't speak highly enough of him and what. Monster it turns the car into!
As I tracked mine alot, I upgraded the brakes to the 997 sixpots and JZM fitted and set it up on some manthey spec kw v3 coilovers. These totally change the car and make it sooo much more aggressive and fun on track. Well worth the money considering some of these cars now have dampers that are 10years and 60k miles old etc...
With that set up... And some sticky 888 or similar rubber you can terrorise nomex clad GT3 drivers on track... But you get some monster bills as they eat tyres, bushes, and brakes!
Cool cars. Great value now
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