The best time to buy a Porsche 997 for £20k ...NOW

The best time to buy a Porsche 997 for £20k ...NOW

Author
Discussion

LordHaveMurci

12,034 posts

168 months

Monday 15th June 2015
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g7jhp said:
Not saying it's not valid, but without detail stats aren't all that helpful.

My point being I presume POORCARDEALER checks his car properly before taking them (so rejects obvious turkeys). If they're then sold on they're not owned for long and spend most of the time stationary.

Of the 100 how many where aircooled or Mezger engined (turbo/GT£ etc) cars with a good engine reliability?

If it had been 100 997.1 C2S, then it would have been more interesting.
Please explain why any of the Indies supply these cars if most of them are going to explode? They mostly supply warranties so surely if the engines are as unreliable as some suggest it would be unviable business to stock them?

fastgerman

1,911 posts

194 months

Monday 15th June 2015
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Just passed 50k miles in my 2005 997.1 C2S Cabriolet (manual) and its using zero oil :-).

OPC approved used in 2011, stayed at Guildford Porsche and no aftermarket stuff.

Original engine, RMS/IMS replaced under warranty in second year of my ownership.

Car cost me £35k in 2011 and only been charged for service items.

Looks to be worth approx. £28k today.

Not bad ;-)

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds?CarTypeFF=C...


Edited by fastgerman on Monday 15th June 15:41

expatbore

18 posts

202 months

Monday 15th June 2015
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crostonian said:
Am I right in saying the standard 997 Carrera as opposed to the 'S' suffers fewer engine problems? I realise the standard car has the narrower body and less power but is it really the case that the 'S' is the only one to have?
I'm very interested in the answer to Crosotnian's question on the last page, as I'm in the market for a gen 1 C2 or C2S. Any thoughts anyone? Thicker cylinder walls and all that? I've only owned a gen 2 C2S so not sure how big a performance penalty I'd be paying to go down to the 3.6....

tyrrell

1,670 posts

207 months

Monday 15th June 2015
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
Spot on, its just a matter of time, shame because they are great cars.

YoungMD

Original Poster:

326 posts

119 months

Monday 15th June 2015
quotequote all
What a lot of non-sense, i think chosing any 10 year old Porsche based on whether it is a 3.6 or 3.8s or 996 v 997.1 based on possible failure rates of engines is absolutely nonsense. A 10 year old Porsche needs to be bought on condition, history and so on. How common Engine failure is nobody really knows but it would seem water cooled Porsche's until 997.2 potentially can suffer fairly serious engine failure.
So a few questions, would you buy a 997.1 MY2005 that had been serviced every year by indy or Porsche OR a 996 MY 2003 that had been serviced with a couple of 3 year gaps? it's all about condition not the 0.0001% more chance of a 997.1 engine going bang over a 996 engine etc etc.....

drmark

4,794 posts

185 months

Monday 15th June 2015
quotequote all
YoungMD said:
What a lot of non-sense, i think chosing any 10 year old Porsche based on whether it is a 3.6 or 3.8s or 996 v 997.1 based on possible failure rates of engines is absolutely nonsense. A 10 year old Porsche needs to be bought on condition, history and so on. How common Engine failure is nobody really knows but it would seem water cooled Porsche's until 997.2 potentially can suffer fairly serious engine failure.
So a few questions, would you buy a 997.1 MY2005 that had been serviced every year by indy or Porsche OR a 996 MY 2003 that had been serviced with a couple of 3 year gaps? it's all about condition not the 0.0001% more chance of a 997.1 engine going bang over a 996 engine etc etc.....
Agree with cmoose. You need to do more homework. Condition, history etc tend not to help in bore scoring. My wife's MY 2005 997 was spotless, cherished and didn't even make it to the first service before it needed a new engine. It managed all of 7kmiles frown
Still, it did not put her off and our current 2008 997.1 C4S is at 42k and goes like a train.

Edited by drmark on Monday 15th June 19:44

FrankCayman

2,121 posts

212 months

Monday 15th June 2015
quotequote all
drmark said:
YoungMD said:
What a lot of non-sense, i think chosing any 10 year old Porsche based on whether it is a 3.6 or 3.8s or 996 v 997.1 based on possible failure rates of engines is absolutely nonsense. A 10 year old Porsche needs to be bought on condition, history and so on. How common Engine failure is nobody really knows but it would seem water cooled Porsche's until 997.2 potentially can suffer fairly serious engine failure.
So a few questions, would you buy a 997.1 MY2005 that had been serviced every year by indy or Porsche OR a 996 MY 2003 that had been serviced with a couple of 3 year gaps? it's all about condition not the 0.0001% more chance of a 997.1 engine going bang over a 996 engine etc etc.....
Agree with cmoose. You need to do more homework. Condition, history etc tend not to help in bore scoring. My wife's MY 2005 997 was spotless, cherished and didn't even make it to the first service before it needed a new engine. It managed all of 7kmiles frown
Still, it did not put her off and our current 2008 997.1 C4S is at 42k and goes like a train.

Edited by drmark on Monday 15th June 19:44
Yep, and my mates gorgeous 997.1 C4S had it too.....cost him £10K to fix...this really is happening ....it's not just internet rumours!!

JasonRIx

69 posts

119 months

Monday 15th June 2015
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
There is a very simple insurance policy that you can take out with a relatively small premium, buy an engine with Nikasil liners.

Cheaper than a gen2 car, sounds better with PSE and not much more if any extra cost than any other 997.1 (at least for the time being).




YoungMD

Original Poster:

326 posts

119 months

Monday 15th June 2015
quotequote all
So basically you are saying buy a 99 996, ermm interesting, but then probably the Rms will go a couple of times in the same amount if years, maybe the Ims will be okay but not for sure so you might have a complete engine failure, then there the suspension that will probably need refreshing, but sure a 99 996 is a far safer bet than a later 996 or 997.1 Or what you could do is just buy a decent car on condition.......

JasonRIx

69 posts

119 months

Monday 15th June 2015
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
This is true in some cases but not all. Paragon's warranty only covers £5k maximum so wouldn't cover the cost of a rebuild, so I took a pass.

g7jhp

6,959 posts

237 months

Monday 15th June 2015
quotequote all
YoungMD said:
So basically you are saying buy a 99 996, ermm interesting, but then probably the Rms will go a couple of times in the same amount if years, maybe the Ims will be okay but not for sure so you might have a complete engine failure, then there the suspension that will probably need refreshing, but sure a 99 996 is a far safer bet than a later 996 or 997.1 Or what you could do is just buy a decent car on condition.......
No he's saying a 997.1 comes with a higher risk of engine issues and a much higher cost of putting in right.

There are lower risk/ lower rectification cost options like a '99 996 or higher cost low risk options like a 996 turbo, 997 turbo or 997.2 C2S.

There are potential issues with most models (real the buyers guides), but most issues aren't terminal.

All cars should be bought on condition and inspected by a Porsche specialist to reduce risk.



drmark

4,794 posts

185 months

Monday 15th June 2015
quotequote all
The 997.1 is the best all round 911 I have had (and I am lucky enough to have had a few). It will probably do 100k+ before needing engine work, but I am prepared to risk that it could go wrong tomorrow and I will need to Hartech it (and give it a new lease of life).

I don't care what the market thinks as my wife would never agree to selling it. Nothing out there comes close for the money IMO.

Edited by drmark on Monday 15th June 22:17

YoungMD

Original Poster:

326 posts

119 months

Tuesday 16th June 2015
quotequote all
anonymous said:
[redacted]
.......... i think you are missing out £20k for a top car that does'nt feel too unlike the earlier 993, does'nt have the modern touches like LED lights and touch screen control of the gen 2; would be better if the engine was more robust but a very pretty car in C2S form and even if the very worse came to the worse you could get the engine done for £10k and have a very nice personalised car with new engine............if you look around the problem is not the engine the problem is finding a good one that has not been abused, they dont wear that well in the wrong hands and with all the porsche finance leased cars 80% of the cars i viewed had worn interiors slightly random services etc etc

YoungMD

Original Poster:

326 posts

119 months

Tuesday 16th June 2015
quotequote all
anonymous said:
[redacted]
.......... i think you are missing out £20k for a top car that does'nt feel too unlike the earlier 993, does'nt have the modern touches like LED lights and touch screen control of the gen 2; would be better if the engine was more robust but a very pretty car in C2S form and even if the very worse came to the worse you could get the engine done for £10k and have a very nice personalised car with new engine............if you look around the problem is not the engine the problem is finding a good one that has not been abused, they dont wear that well in the wrong hands and with all the porsche finance leased cars 80% of the cars i viewed had worn interiors slightly random services etc etc

g7jhp

6,959 posts

237 months

Tuesday 16th June 2015
quotequote all
anonymous said:
[redacted]
What a WUM, top trolling YoungMD.

braddo

10,399 posts

187 months

Tuesday 16th June 2015
quotequote all
g7jhp said:
What a WUM, top trolling YoungMD.
yes

rubystone

11,252 posts

258 months

Tuesday 16th June 2015
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So early 996s...'98-99...are good news?...time to buy another one then...

YoungMD

Original Poster:

326 posts

119 months

Tuesday 16th June 2015
quotequote all
L
rubystone said:
So early 996s...'98-99...are good news?...time to buy another one then...
Oh yes definitely, of course the very early first water cooled engines Porsche made are the most reliable and strictly don't suffer ims issues, of course they may have cylinder issues and the RMS will leak like a paper boat but seek comfort in the knowledge that bore scoring will not be an issue...........could it be ....and just a little thought ....that people always think the latest problems are the biggest.....and with time perspective comes and more knowledge of fixes.... Remember 964 engines and all the terrible problems, now apparently all air cooled engines are perfect for 200++++ k miles.... Don't remember my 3.2 or 964 being sooooo

fastgerman

1,911 posts

194 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
quotequote all
Looks like the top specialists are on the hunt for 997's:

'Strong sales mean we currently require new stock.
We buy all Porsches from the 1980's to the current day, in particular 997 model 911s (2004 onwards)'

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/p...

911 Virgin

Jonesy997C4S

53 posts

111 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
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I thought at first it was wishful thinking but I have seen the price of non-GT 997's stay firm and in some cases increase in recent months. Obviously these are very well maitained and relatively low milage (25k to 45k).
I would say this is likely due to the 996 price hitting the floor at about 20k (C4S) and the recent coverage across some well known car websites stating that there is no better time to buy a 997.