RE: You Know You Want To: Porsche 911 (996) Carreras

[SmartVenom]

blade7 said:

Get one with this mindset and it should be ok, have the £7k put by and it's all good if you dont need it. How much can you buy a turbo for these days ?.

I've been looking at turbos a lot and it seems they start around £20K and there are some very, very tempting cars around £25K. Similar money to a decent cayman S. The turbo may be the best argument against buying an "ordinary" 996, you certainly get a lot of car for your money (most were over £100K with options) and it seems to have a better rep in terms of quality.

[bga]

jonah35 said:

Not that quick anymore

5s 0-60 is pretty awful for a £10k car....
There aren't too many that can match a 911 as standard for £10k.

[Walter Sobchak]

I think they are great value and great cars, I'm searching for a 996 myself at the moment, although one with 0.2 more litres and 2 turbochargers , to the other poster I wouldn't get a £20k Turbo, would rather spend £25/26 k and get a lower mileage well kept one.
I doubt there is much more room for depreciation on most 996s now either.

[Trevor M]

It's difficult to image somebody who would buy one of these when they could just spend a couple of thousand more and get a Boxster 987 with less miles, or even aspire to the "real thing" Carrera 3.2 for a couple thousand more than the 987 (although not for much longer). But it takes all kinds, I suppose.

[tr7v8]

I was looking for a 996 but couldn't really stretch to it so bought a 986 for £6500. If a decent 996 was available for that money I'd have gone for it.
My Box is Estoril Blue with a savannah interior & I love it. In fact the interior is what sold it to us.
I love the Blue 996 with the savannah interior. So many 986 when we looked were resale silver with black interiors.

[penalltimate]

I bought a '99 C4 with 94 000 miles about 6 months ago for £10500, private sale. Like all Petrolheads and probably everyone on this forum, did my research, got TOTALLY scared by the problems, but figured life's too short, and took the plunge. So far, 6000 miles in, involving a 3000 miles trip through europe this summer, it's not missed a beat. Took my time to find one with a replacement engine, the right spec for me (dark blue, turbo wheels, grey interior, sunroof) and one with lots of work already done (air con rads, new pads / discs, gearbox rebuild, etc). Still ended up spending £3500 sorting out the issues.... my experience - they're not cheap cars to maintain (my list was; new OEM M030 Suspension due to leaking dampers, suspension bushes and new lower front arm, all new coil packs, drained and replaced all fluids, geo, new tyres all round), now have a car that cost me (in reality) £14k and is (almost) fully sorted. There's loads of good advice out there, tread carefully and you can buy one without fear. Got 35mpg on the Europe trip on the Autoroutes and Autobahns ;-P , i'm enjoying it so far ! Design911 were brilliant too, highly recommended for sourcing good priced OEM parts. It's not perfect, but there are few comparable cars at around £10-14k i'd rather have.

[hornetrider]

tr7v8 said:

I was looking for a 996 but couldn't really stretch to it so bought a 986 for £6500. If a decent 996 was available for that money I'd have gone for it.
My Box is Estoril Blue with a savannah interior & I love it. In fact the interior is what sold it to us.
I love the Blue 996 with the savannah interior. So many 986 when we looked were resale silver with black interiors.

No it isn't

Zenith perhaps?

[leemarkadams]

I have a 'cheap' 911 that I bought 2 years ago for under £15K which has the GT3 kit, PSE, Sports suspension, sports seats etc. I have had no real issues with it at all and people always think it is worth a lot more than it is! Now I do the servicing on it myself now as it is 'only' worth about £10K and I refuse to pay hundreds for something I can , and are able to, do myself. I keep the receipts etc and when it comes to sell the 911 then I know it will take a hit, but so what.

I guess what I am trying to say is these are very good cars for the money!

[jensenhealey2]

Very timely, shortly going to be looking for one of these as a DD, probably a post-facelift with service history so will be paying a bit more. What's the worst that can happen? You might have to walk away from an expensive mistake if the engine blows. On the other hand you could end up PHer of the year, if you use it as intended. Worth the risk for a quality car and life-long ambition. The Jensen Healey was in the family and free, and cost me a fortune to keep on the road.

As for I am never going to do a 0-60 in it as I do not want to be replacing the clutch every three months nor half shafts. Vmax of 174 seems to me to be 100 mph over the maximum speed limit and about 75 mph over licence losing territory, so the number issue does not really concern me.

[anything fast]

leemarkadams said:

I have a 'cheap' 911 that I bought 2 years ago for under £15K which has the GT3 kit, PSE, Sports suspension, sports seats etc. I have had no real issues with it at all and people always think it is worth a lot more than it is! Now I do the servicing on it myself now as it is 'only' worth about £10K and I refuse to pay hundreds for something I can , and are able to, do myself. I keep the receipts etc and when it comes to sell the 911 then I know it will take a hit, but so what.

I guess what I am trying to say is these are very good cars for the money!

they are GREAT cars and bravo for being brave enough to service it yourself. However my own personal experience was only a short love affair with a 4S Cabrio on a 99 V Reg that cost £27,500 6-7 years ago. That had FPSH, but I had issues with oil leaks, steering rack and traction control malfunctions.. got peed off with it and the useless greedy Main dealers. With hindsight I wish it was a regular Carrera or a Carrera S and definitely a coupe, maybe then I would have kept it longer and not cared about the crazy depreciation.

[HondaPhil]

rtz62 said:

Hmmmmn
I had a mint 5.0 Chimera, and I just don't get why you would look at one if you are considering a 911.
I've never owned a 911 but would prefer one to my late lamented TVR as surely its a better all-round package????
And a Cerbera? Hmmmmn again, can be ruinous if they go wrong and I wouldn't want to receive the bill when an AJP engine lets go....

You really think an old TVR is a better all round package than a 911? You must have been sniffing too many fibreglass fumes!

[tr7v8]

hornetrider said:

tr7v8 said:

I was looking for a 996 but couldn't really stretch to it so bought a 986 for £6500. If a decent 996 was available for that money I'd have gone for it.
My Box is Estoril Blue with a savannah interior & I love it. In fact the interior is what sold it to us.
I love the Blue 996 with the savannah interior. So many 986 when we looked were resale silver with black interiors.

No it isn't

Zenith perhaps?

Yes it is Porsche Paint Code:- L998 335 Estoril Blue Paint to order ( I have the order) cost the first owner around £3,500 for that privilege.

Edited by tr7v8 on Wednesday 2nd January 18:22

[hornetrider]

Well that's me told

Not seen that before, nice motor

[Dirty]

Looks like the silver one has hit a a bit of worm hole on the front left bumper!

[dumpy]

Ive had a 10k 996 3.4 for 18 months. Only stuff to add is it always feels special, I smile each time i drive it as its just so accomplished. Done some work, replaced rads drop links, back boxs, tyres etc. they are good to work on and ill second the dont be put off by self service as long as the receipts are there. I self service cause im really fussy and can take my time. Can you see a garage replaceing bolts with stainless, taking a few days over a repair because the undertray was a bit cracked and wanting to replace with an opc item (Due to pro mechanics not giving a stuff about someone elses car.)Go on buy one that 911 itch wont scratch itself.

[TROOPER88]

I can assure you they wont come cheaper than this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200867518178?ssPageName=...

Could set a new low figure for them.

Not my taste but very cheap. Cant see it going past 8k.

[tr7v8]

hornetrider said:

Well that's me told

Not seen that before, nice motor

Thanks we have an Estoril blue 996 over on the TIPEC forum as well so someone else had the same idea & excess of cash.
The base invoice for the 986 was £43K & with options final price was over £52K!

[Lazygraduate]

Emley said:

kambites said:

Emley said:

1. It will be a weekend toy, something to cherish. Is a 911 going to feel special enough?

Worth trying one but to my mind the answer is "no". The 911 Carrera's great strength is that it manages to combine a reasonable degree of driver appeal with being a very usable daily driver, it makes no sense as a weekend car to me.

Thanks

Back looking at Cerberas then...

You're not actually going to change your mind, without a test-drive/look around, based solely on the opinion of an internet stranger, are you!?

[kambites]

Lazygraduate said:

You're not actually going to change your mind, without a test-drive/look around, based solely on the opinion of an internet stranger, are you!?

I certainly wouldn't, and it was my opinion.

It's definitely worth driving one, but to me it just felt too numb and heavy to really make a good "toy" car. Wonderful daily driver if you cover significant miles, but much of its talent would be wasted as low-mileage a weekend car, IMO.

Edited by kambites on Wednesday 2nd January 18:36

[hornetrider]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200867518178?ssPageName=...

Not the best eBay seller and by the looks of the paperwork on the pax seat this is a WBAC clearance.

2hrs to go and just 7k....