996 c4s is this best value Porsche out there right now

[Tino Lazarou]

Check out Porsche prices on a daily basis and am a proud owner of a mint seal grey 996 c4s,having owned the car 5years now often wonder if I could upgrade.This is no easy feat as in my eyes I would have to spend 35k to get something considerably better i.e. gen 2 997..The overall package of running costs,stunning looks and value for money seems almost impossible to top.. Is this best value Porsche right now with great examples being about the 17k mark

[Tino Lazarou]

Yeah but I tidy turbo is a fair amount more to buy and also in terms of running costs the turbo costs more to service and maintain with generally..I do like the Turbo but not enough to swap as looks wise think is slightly uglier,albeit the faster on paper.. The n/a engine makes it a better daily I think also as you can rack on miles would not fancy a near 100k turbo.. Good shout though

[Tino Lazarou]

stubbsy996 said:

Well you did ask so I'll throw in my two penneth
996 C4S great looking car and all the 996 range great value for money if you get a sorted one, but the daddy in terms of best value, cost to performance, and dare I say reliability, has to be
996 TURBO!

Did reply but forgot to quote your comment it's on thread though if u wanna look ..thanks for reply

[Tino Lazarou]

jonttt said:

993 coupe , £30k now, £100k next year, now thats value lol

The 993 is amazing in wide body form gotta b one of the most pretty 911s ever..There values are nuts nothing would surprise me.

[Tino Lazarou]

911Viking said:

964 C2 with subtle upgrades to brakes, suspension, exhaust and chip... Modern'ish pure classic, still not gone through the roof, best ever all round 911.

Good call the 993 is a bit predictable for me gotta love the classic 911 look of 964

[Tino Lazarou]

Solarized said:

Best value Porsche IMO is the Boxster.
Best value 911 is the 993 of course

BOXSTER im not feeling sorry,993 cool car B-)

[Tino Lazarou]

hondansx said:

I've never seen the 964 as a special car. It looks too ordinary. Doesn't it have a swing axle too?

The 993 however, especially with the widebody, is a fabulous looking thing. It was interesting to see that EVO found it a disappointment and the 996 a surprising revelation - did that article change values at all?

For me the 996 is the runt of the litter; inbetween the handsome 993 and 997. However the C4S is the exception - the 996 that went to the gym! I agree they are good value, but will it be a future classic and therefore likely to appreciate? Hmm. My issue with the current market is that ANY 911 seems to be collectable at the moment; surely that's unsustainable...

I love wide body 911s carreras its kind of gets the great looks from turbo without the OTT spoilers etc and air intakes.993 Turbo my dream 911 if money was no object..But for me for under a litle over 15k 996 C4s an amazing package

[ktlcyprus]

uktrailmonster said:

I'd agree with the OP about the 996 C4S. A great looking modern classic 911 and vastly under-rated as a drivers car.
Personally I've never really liked the 993. I thought it looked great back in the day, but to my eyes it now looks a bit dated and I much prefer the earlier classic 911 look. Whereas the 996 C4S still looks like a modern car and only the interior dates it a bit.
If I was looking for a £20K 911, the 996 C4S would be high on my shortlist for sure.

Incidentally the 997.2 C4S looks even better to me, although obviously a lot more money. I think Porsche hit a peak with the 997.2 styling as it looks great from every angle, especially the C4S. The 991 rear end looks a bit iffy in comparison, although the 991 front end is arguably a further step forward. All IMHO of course!

I defo agree the gen 1 997s cant compare with 996 c4s the gens 2s areamazing def an improvement in looks etc.In fact think nicer than 991.

[ktlcyprus]

hondansx said:

Yep.

I have a C4S and Turbo and the wing and air intakes distract from the widebody shape; the purity of the non-turbos only accentuates the shape

The 996 turbo and ugly sod from some angles..997 turbo lovely i must say

[ktlcyprus]

Por911T said:

Ive have a 996 turbo, a 996 C4S, 996 C4 and now have a 997 turbo and have to say the '4S was a fantastic well rounded drivers car. So good in fact my view on the car hasn't been tainted by the much quicker turbo. Great value great car bargain price.

Your one lucky guy the 996 c4s my first 911 so your opinion is great to hear considering you have have so many..I love my C4s xxx

[ktlcyprus]

KungFuPanda said:

Tino Lazarou said:

Yeah but I tidy turbo is a fair amount more to buy and also in terms of running costs the turbo costs more to service and maintain with generally..I do like the Turbo but not enough to swap as looks wise think is slightly uglier,albeit the faster on paper.. The n/a engine makes it a better daily I think also as you can rack on miles would not fancy a near 100k turbo.. Good shout though

I'm in the same position as you having bought a 996 C4S three months ago. Love the car.

The C4S shares a lot of parts with the turbo though. Brakes, suspension, aircon rads, coolant rads so general maintenance of a turbo compared with a 996 C4S would be pretty similar I reckon. Also, the turbo runs with the Mezger engine which is a lot more solid than the regular engines found in the C2 and C4 variants. With the turbo engine, you don't have to worry about bore scoring or IMS and RMS problems so much. Sure, you may have to change the turbo for a new unit at 100,000 miles but I'd rather that than have to deal with a whole engine rebuild with new parts. I love my C4S but I'd have a turbo in a heartbeat.

They wont need engine rebuild this stuff mostly the 3:4 units the rms is nothing but a washer that u change when you replace the clutch,its not as bad as people say..I do like turbo dontget me wrong just dont reakon itsworth extra head ache with servicing etc and dont look as good..997 turbo yes looks great not so much in 996 form

[ktlcyprus]

KungFuPanda said:

Tino Lazarou said:

Yeah but I tidy turbo is a fair amount more to buy and also in terms of running costs the turbo costs more to service and maintain with generally..I do like the Turbo but not enough to swap as looks wise think is slightly uglier,albeit the faster on paper.. The n/a engine makes it a better daily I think also as you can rack on miles would not fancy a near 100k turbo.. Good shout though

I'm in the same position as you having bought a 996 C4S three months ago. Love the car.

The C4S shares a lot of parts with the turbo though. Brakes, suspension, aircon rads, coolant rads so general maintenance of a turbo compared with a 996 C4S would be pretty similar I reckon. Also, the turbo runs with the Mezger engine which is a lot more solid than the regular engines found in the C2 and C4 variants. With the turbo engine, you don't have to worry about bore scoring or IMS and RMS problems so much. Sure, you may have to change the turbo for a new unit at 100,000 miles but I'd rather that than have to deal with a whole engine rebuild with new parts. I love my C4S but I'd have a turbo in a heartbeat.

They wont need engine rebuild this stuff mostly the 3:4 units the rms is nothing but a washer that u change when you replace the clutch,its not as bad as people say..I do like turbo dontget me wrong just dont reakon itsworth extra head ache with servicing etc and dont look as good..997 turbo yes looks great not so much in 996 form

[ktlcyprus]

KungFuPanda said:

Tino Lazarou said:

Yeah but I tidy turbo is a fair amount more to buy and also in terms of running costs the turbo costs more to service and maintain with generally..I do like the Turbo but not enough to swap as looks wise think is slightly uglier,albeit the faster on paper.. The n/a engine makes it a better daily I think also as you can rack on miles would not fancy a near 100k turbo.. Good shout though

I'm in the same position as you having bought a 996 C4S three months ago. Love the car.

The C4S shares a lot of parts with the turbo though. Brakes, suspension, aircon rads, coolant rads so general maintenance of a turbo compared with a 996 C4S would be pretty similar I reckon. Also, the turbo runs with the Mezger engine which is a lot more solid than the regular engines found in the C2 and C4 variants. With the turbo engine, you don't have to worry about bore scoring or IMS and RMS problems so much. Sure, you may have to change the turbo for a new unit at 100,000 miles but I'd rather that than have to deal with a whole engine rebuild with new parts. I love my C4S but I'd have a turbo in a heartbeat.

They wont need engine rebuild this stuff mostly the 3:4 units the rms is nothing but a washer that u change when you replace the clutch,its not as bad as people say..I do like turbo dontget me wrong just dont reakon itsworth extra head ache with servicing etc and dont look as good..997 turbo yes looks great not so much in 996 form

[ktlcyprus]

uktrailmonster said:

ktlcyprus said:

They wont need engine rebuild this stuff mostly the 3:4 units the rms is nothing but a washer that u change when you replace the clutch,its not as bad as people say..I do like turbo dontget me wrong just dont reakon itsworth extra head ache with servicing etc and dont look as good..997 turbo yes looks great not so much in 996 form

There is most definitely a risk of a rebuild on a 3.6. My 996 3.6 was rebuilt by Hartech due to bore scoring at 55K miles and it's certainly not the only one! However, having said that I'd still buy one - but with a rock solid warranty in place.

if you look on internet I'm sure you will find horror stories on the turbo also in fact any car..A well respected porsche specialist in Cardiff reakons gen 1 997s are far worse than 3:6 996s and he's been in business for 20years plus..It's all luck of the draw..

[ktlcyprus]

Some interesting points thanks...But when I upgrade eventually will defo want a 997..996 turbo just don't push my buttons,it's kinda like a ugly woman who's great in bed..lol.

[ktlcyprus]

FeelingLucky said:

I'd take an ugly woman who's good in bed every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
But then again, I never was too shallow....

Hehehe

[ktlcyprus]

monthefish said:

Tino Lazarou said:

Yeah but I tidy turbo is a fair amount more to buy and also in terms of running costs the turbo costs more to service and maintain with generally..I do like the Turbo but not enough to swap as looks wise think is slightly uglier,albeit the faster on paper.. The n/a engine makes it a better daily I think also as you can rack on miles would not fancy a near 100k turbo.. Good shout though

The turbo doesn't really cost more to maintain. I have seen C4S running costs and my turbo was no more expensive to run.

Not sure exactly how an n/a engine makes it 'a better daily', and the turbo engine is not prone to the wide reported engine problems of the C4S/C2/C4 (whatever your view is on how common these issues are).

Not knocking the C4S at all - it is a great car - but I personally think the turbo is the best value Porsche out there right now.

Just bit excessive for a daily and if it's not a Manual the margin is even less in terms of performance,but u got a muted exhaust not higher fuel and servicing costs and an uglier looking car..U also got pay a fair amount more to buy to begin with,it all adds up..

[ktlcyprus]

ktlcyprus said:

monthefish said:

Tino Lazarou said:

Yeah but I tidy turbo is a fair amount more to buy and also in terms of running costs the turbo costs more to service and maintain with generally..I do like the Turbo but not enough to swap as looks wise think is slightly uglier,albeit the faster on paper.. The n/a engine makes it a better daily I think also as you can rack on miles would not fancy a near 100k turbo.. Good shout though

The turbo doesn't really cost more to maintain. I have seen C4S running costs and my turbo was no more expensive to run.

Not sure exactly how an n/a engine makes it 'a better daily', and the turbo engine is not prone to the wide reported engine problems of the C4S/C2/C4 (whatever your view is on how common these issues are).

Not knocking the C4S at all - it is a great car - but I personally think the turbo is the best value Porsche out there right now.

Just bit excessive for a daily and if it's not a Manual the margin is even less in terms of performance,but u got a muted exhaust not higher fuel and servicing costs and an uglier looking car..U also got pay a fair amount more to buy to begin with,it all adds up..

Not doubting it's a superior car but for me not worth the extra.

[ktlcyprus]

monthefish said:

+



but it's great that you love your car. We're all happy for you.

it's just the only model in the 996 range that still looks stunning in my eyes the narrow body 996s look dated,like I said mayb money ain't an object for you but for me I want the sexiest looking 911 for the least amount and a manual c4s in seal grey certainly ticked all my boxes.Call me a poser but I take looks over performance anytime..

[ktlcyprus]

LordHaveMurci said:

NJH said:

Your all but one just talking about cars you like and ignoring the obvious which is that the best value pork is a plain jane early 996 C2 manual. I love the look of the C4S and a good friend of ours has a mint one but its plainly not the best value on any level, this is crazy nonsense really, if anything its the worst value amongst all of the 986/996 cars.

Finally!

I can respect that they are crazy cheap but for me they haven't aged to well..A 3.6 996 C2 looks a lot better than early one but worlds below the C4s in the looks department... Gotta b one of best value Porsches though totally agree.