25k to spend on a 997 - which one to avoid-engine issues

[carcrazypop]

Why not speak to a Porsche specialist like 911Virgin; they'll only buy in cars they're happy with having done the necessary checks. I also believe that for an extra £500 you can get a 1 year warranty which will cover engine & gearbox faults at their own risk.

They're a friendly bunch so worth a phone call for a chat.

Good luck.

[drmark]

carcrazypop said:

Why not speak to a Porsche specialist like 911Virgin; they'll only buy in cars they're happy with having done the necessary checks. I also believe that for an extra £500 you can get a 1 year warranty which will cover engine & gearbox faults at their own risk.

They're a friendly bunch so worth a phone call for a chat.

Good luck.

Wise advice.

[newboy997]

drmark said:

Wise advice.

Seconded.

[DasChin]

avoid the 997 if you can. get a 996 Turbo maybe with the Metzger engine. that is the only way to be sure. or get a 997 non S with a rebuilt engine.

will be an older car than the 997 but will go like the clappers. don't worry about mileage if all the books and stamps check out.

[Adam B]

Correction to Daschin- avoid n/a gen 1 997 only surely

And why can no one spell Mezger on here?

Rest is spot on as I mentioned above already

[Porkster]

Why force the idea of the 996 turbo as being the cheap reliable alternative? They can throw up some huge maintenance bills, more so than a Carrera.
Besides he wants a 997
Choose carefully and buy from a decent independent.
I bought a 997 C4S last June. In January it went in for suspected bore scoring. It was fixed under warranty AND by hartech no less. So I was a little put out when it happen but now I have a solid car which I know is good.
All pros in my opinion and you could consider more desirable/ saleable when it comes to selling.

[skillimz]

DasChin said:

avoid the 997 if you can. get a 996 Turbo maybe with the Metzger engine. that is the only way to be sure. or get a 997 non S with a rebuilt engine.

will be an older car than the 997 but will go like the clappers. don't worry about mileage if all the books and stamps check out.

Cheers mate. I hear this quite a bit.

Very annoying this ims issue as I appreciate you can get problems in any car but do Porsche not warranty cars after ten years old?

I will give the specialist mentioned a call and see how far my budget can stretch.

[skillimz]

Porkster said:

Why force the idea of the 996 turbo as being the cheap reliable alternative? They can throw up some huge maintenance bills, more so than a Carrera.
Besides he wants a 997
Choose carefully and buy from a decent independent.
I bought a 997 C4S last June. In January it went in for suspected bore scoring. It was fixed under warranty AND by hartech no less. So I was a little put out when it happen but now I have a solid car which I know is good.
All pros in my opinion and you could consider more desirable/ saleable when it comes to selling.

Shame there is not a hartech in london.

[Adam B]

Correct no P warranty after 10 years

[vernz]

I sold my 2005 (55 reg) 911 C2S to an independent who then sold it for 26k in January. It had just under 50k in the clock. The car was in excellent condition inside and out and was always dry stored.

I did some research on the bearing issue and managed to cross reference my engine number against a data base and proved that I was someway outside of the production period for the smaller problem bearing. My understanding is that most gen 1 Carerra S cars have been fitted with the upgraded bearing which as far as I'm aware has not had any recorded issues of failure.

Mine never dropped any oil in the 2 years I had it and really the main area of worry would be bore scoring. I had the Hartech thermostat conversion done on mine and I also had the oil changed yearly, despite only covering around 6k per annum.

I'd be lying if I said that it never concerned me during the ownership period, but I reckon I spent around half of the cost of a warranty in bills for each year I owned the car, but as with all things in life, there is always the risk of something big going wrong and my advice would be to buy from an independent and squeeze/upgrade a 12 months warranty out of them.

[AJM6]

Bought a 56 plate 997 C2 in July '14 for £25k from Portiacraft.

Truly wonderful machine that has not missed a beat in over 10k miles.

When I was looking, 997s diminished in quality markedly below £24k. £15-20k will buy an excellent 996 C2 but running costs can be comparatively high with the more leggy examples. In 2003, I bought a 996 that had done 60k and it cost me a lot for the 3 years of ownership.

Good luck with the search - 996 and 997s are great cars and good value at the moment when you look at older Porsches these days!

[Porkster]

skillimz said:

Shame there is not a hartech in london.

I bought my car from Sussex, the warranty was with the dealer. When the work was undertaken the engine was removed and sent to hartech.

[zulash]

hi, i bought an 2007 basalt black 3.6 C2 a month ago. She' fantastic! only done 42k. I had a minor service done as soon as i could get her into Jasmine porsche (my indy). no issues whatsoever. i've been thinking whether to get the LTT but not sure it's needed for normal road use & she won't be going on a track. I've been in 997 S & unless you have a thing for red calipers & white dials don't bother. by all accounts the 3.6 is less likely to fail. the car brings a big smile every time i get in it post a pic. when you get the car & good luck.

[Adam B]

vernz said:

I did some research on the bearing issue and managed to cross reference my engine number against a data base and proved that I was someway outside of the production period for the smaller problem bearing. My understanding is that most gen 1 Carerra S cars have been fitted with the upgraded bearing which as far as I'm aware has not had any recorded issues of failure.

Interesting. Never heard of this database, where did you get it from, and did Porche confirm your premis?

Was the upgraded bearing a recall, as still hear regularly on here of engine issues which in theory shouldn't happen if they have all had a recall that is effective?

[Daz65]

Just bought my first 911, a 2003 996 C4S. If you were to follow the guidance of the doom and gloom stories (apologies to anyone who has suffered a 996/997 meltdown) then why would anyone buy one! They are all great cars and obviously a few have their particular foilbles! I read up as much as I could, asked indies etc and just took the view to take my time and find the best I could for my budget. Weigh up the cheaper end of the spectrum with having a reserve put aside for any problems and lets be honest, that is prudent for any older performance car that you buy, not just a porsche, against spending more at OPC/Indie and having the protection of a warranty in the first year/s of ownership.

Bought mine from Paragon and I can thoroughly recommend them. All of their cars are superb and come with the peace of mind of a full Paragon warranty. Looking forward to driving mine, already fallen in love with those sexy wide hips in the mirrors (oo'er missus);) Most of all just enjoy whatever you buy, things might go wrong, they might not, c'est la vie

Here's mine 2003 C4S, Manual, Guards red, Black leather, Sports seats, PCCB, 45000miles

[blueg33]

matjk said:

Until the clutch wears out then its £4k

£3k .

[zulash]

blueg33 said:

£3k .

why is it so much for a clutch on this car??

[blueg33]

Engine out plus not many indies seem to do it. Not sure why they didn't design it so it could be done with engine in

[c4sman]

Go for a 2006 997 3.6 manual running on 18's with no PASM with a few miles on the clock to fit your budget. According to respected Porsche expert (I think it was Peter Morgan?) it's the strongest Gen1 engine and when I had a go in one I wondered why I bothered with an 3.8S model at the time as the engine was sweet at you like, great exhaust note even without PSE and a nice ride and handling balance. With less power than the S you get to rev it more often which is also nice.

[pete a]

Daz65 said:

Just bought my first 911, a 2003 996 C4S. If you were to follow the guidance of the doom and gloom stories (apologies to anyone who has suffered a 996/997 meltdown) then why would anyone buy one! They are all great cars and obviously a few have their particular foilbles! I read up as much as I could, asked indies etc and just took the view to take my time and find the best I could for my budget. Weigh up the cheaper end of the spectrum with having a reserve put aside for any problems and lets be honest, that is prudent for any older performance car that you buy, not just a porsche, against spending more at OPC/Indie and having the protection of a warranty in the first year/s of ownership.

Bought mine from Paragon and I can thoroughly recommend them. All of their cars are superb and come with the peace of mind of a full Paragon warranty. Looking forward to driving mine, already fallen in love with those sexy wide hips in the mirrors (oo'er missus);) Most of all just enjoy whatever you buy, things might go wrong, they might not, c'est la vie

Here's mine 2003 C4S, Manual, Guards red, Black leather, Sports seats, PCCB, 45000miles

That looks fantastic, I really rate Paragon as well, top place and full warranty for a year.