996 as a 'weekend car' ?

[Bluedot]

Hi all,
What's people opinions on here of having a 996 as basically a weekend car ? At the moment I have a year old diesel Freelander (ok, you can stop laughing now) that is decent enough for driving around in, is comfortable and basically does what it needs to do.
Due to some changes in our lifestyle, we (me and Mrs K) now spend a lot of time at weekends basically driving around various places, not huge mileages, probably couple of hundred miles a weekend. The Freelander does it's job and is nice enough...
I've always wanted a 'weekend only type car' and have taken an interest in the 996's after seeing them priced at between £10k and £15k, basically I could flog my Freelander and get a smart 996 with a cheap £3k runaround for getting to and from work as well as the times I need something more practical.
I've never owned anything like a 996 before (not sure an MR2 T-Bar counts ? ) so am obviously wary of the running costs and potential bills. What's people opinions though on using a 996 like this ?

Thanks in advance
Jon

[Sandy59]

I'd say it's a fine idea.
Just do you homework and try to get a good well maintained one, either from one of the popular established Indies, or a private enthusiastic owner.
Maybe contact your local Porsche GB club for some advice and possibly info on good known cars for sale.

[jkh112]

A few years ago I would have said that there were better, more exciting cars as a weekender. That was when I was using my 996 as a daily.
For the past year I have had another daily car and my 996 has become a weekender and my view has changed. Not driving the 996 every day has made me realise I had become too used to it and I now appreciate it much more.
I do miss using it daily (and will again when my circumstances change) but at the moment I am very pleased to have it as a toy.

[Cayenneand996]

YES, but drive it every day of the week as well

Buy the best car you can find and enjoy it

[pat_y]

I use my 996 as a weekend toy and occasional commuter when the weather allows, It's great at this role. Agree with the previous posters comments though, use it all the time and it tends to loose it's 'specialness'. Just buy one with a good history where it has been looked after by a known specialist.

[Bloitus]

pat_y said:

I use my 996 as a weekend toy and occasional commuter when the weather allows, It's great at this role. Agree with the previous posters comments though, use it all the time and it tends to loose it's 'specialness'. Just buy one with a good history where it has been looked after by a known specialist.

Same here. It's quite a nice treat jumping from my daily into it for the weekends. It's something to look forward too after a long week!

[hygt2]

Bluedot said:

I've never owned anything like a 996 before (not sure an MR2 T-Bar counts ? ) so am obviously wary of the running costs and potential bills. What's people opinions though on using a 996 like this ?

Funny that, I am currently driving a 2002 996 Turbo manual and a 1995 SW20 MR2 T-Bar (mark 2 Rev 3) ... amongst my other cars.

Your use will be just fine for a 996 n/a. Obviously the 996 will be more expensive to run but be prepared it'll be multiple times more than a MR2. My 996 is looked after by Ken at Nine Excellence and my MR2 by Luke at Pacific Works.

Although regular servicing parts and consumables are quite similarly priced, labour rate of Ken (£80+vat per hour) is doubled that of Luke (£40+vat per hour). Also, MR2 has a very good second hand parts network, in comparison the 996 you might be forced to buy new. Non-servicing parts are where the prices are substantially different. For example, a suspension refresh I did on the MR2, OE dampers were £250 a set from TCB Parts, 996 I bought a set of Bilstein B6 from Germany was €650 a set as the OE Bilstein B4 are close to £800 in the UK. Luke did polybushes on the whole MR2 for under £400 parts and labour, substantially less than the coffin arms and tuning forks on a 996 when the bushes wear out. Same with the Pagid discs and pads I used on both the MR2 (£40 per disc) and 996 (£150 per disc). I think you get the story.

By all mean go ahead, you will enjoy a 996. However, bear in mind that even the youngest 996 will be 11 years old and rubber parts and bits and pieces will need changing from time to time.

[appletonn]

I've just taken the plunge with an early (March '98) cable throttle manual 996 C2 for occasional summer commuting & weekend fun.

Mine has 12 yrs of Hartech love & care & has needed a couple of trackrod ends & one new engine mount, otherwise it's fab & a real event to drive & steering is epic

[EGTE]

Well done.

Sounds perfect.

[Bluedot]

Thanks for all the helpful advice.
Looks like all I need to do now is find the right car
I'll post some pics of it when I get one, although I have no idea when that'll be!

[was8v]

Or, if you are handy with spanners buy the cheapest you can find (probably a high miler 3.4 C2, these don't have bore score or so many IMSB problems and non-egas throttles) and you will have a new weekend hobby

They are really easy to work on and because of parts sharing with boxsters, parts are relatively cheap (obviously not quite MR2 cheap). E.g. Sachs top mounts £35, Meyle coffin arms £215 for 4, OE Bilstein dampers refurbed by Bilstein £70 ea, Anything you buy from Porsche can be expensive although I found it easy to get a discount at the dealers or buying from european sources like rose passion..

Edited by was8v on Friday 22 May 10:40

[m444ttb]

Ideal weekend car IMO. I've had a few '2nd cars' over the last few years as I don't think i really knew what I was looking for. The 911 was definitely it. It didn't take long to realise why people happily drive them every day of the week either. If i was wealthy enough I'd be a serial 911 daily driver without a doubt.