You have £10k to spend on a 911...
Discussion
So, let's gather some PH opinions on this.
Say you have £10k to spend on a toy. It's unlikely to do anything more than a weekender, perhaps parked off-site in a lockup. You'll only be using it every now and then, so you want the classic Porsche experience when you do. It's a pick-me-up after a hard week, a toy to mess about in on a nice day and really just revel in your love for the marque.
Therefore, it has to be a 911.
£10k has never gone far in the 911 market, but you don't care if the car needs a bit of TLC. You've noticed a few 911SCs and leggy 3.2 Carreras in the price bracket, but more recently, the 996 is hovering above and below £10k in droves.
Where would you park your cash? (Or: is the £10k Impact Bumper 911 a myth?)
Say you have £10k to spend on a toy. It's unlikely to do anything more than a weekender, perhaps parked off-site in a lockup. You'll only be using it every now and then, so you want the classic Porsche experience when you do. It's a pick-me-up after a hard week, a toy to mess about in on a nice day and really just revel in your love for the marque.
Therefore, it has to be a 911.
£10k has never gone far in the 911 market, but you don't care if the car needs a bit of TLC. You've noticed a few 911SCs and leggy 3.2 Carreras in the price bracket, but more recently, the 996 is hovering above and below £10k in droves.
Where would you park your cash? (Or: is the £10k Impact Bumper 911 a myth?)
jackpe said:
Any 911 for that money will be a serious money pit.. you might get lucky with the right 996 but that is about it.
Personally I would go for a 944.. at that budget.
Don't see why. Mine is perfect and has had lots of preventative stuff done but I doubt I would get more than that for it.Personally I would go for a 944.. at that budget.
The nicest 911 I ever owned was a 996 Carrera 4 at £11000. It was mint, obviously reliable, and looked a million dollars. 110000 miles with a history book to die for. Used it as my daily for a year and went everywhere in it, and still got my money back. Where's the down side?
I've got a GT2 now. I'm much more weary of where I leave this one, or racking up to many miles less it depreciate too much. As a result I hardly use it. Quite difficult to justify it somedays - then I go and drive it....
I've got a GT2 now. I'm much more weary of where I leave this one, or racking up to many miles less it depreciate too much. As a result I hardly use it. Quite difficult to justify it somedays - then I go and drive it....
I always struggle to understand spending so little on a powerful, high-end car. If you cannot afford 20k for a more reliable 911, it's hard to see how you can afford the upkeep on an older car (or a car in worse condition).
I know this is unhelpful and seems confrontational. I do not mean any offence to the OP or anyone else. Happy to be corrected if it really is possible to own and drive a 911 without spending a lot.
I know this is unhelpful and seems confrontational. I do not mean any offence to the OP or anyone else. Happy to be corrected if it really is possible to own and drive a 911 without spending a lot.
ORD said:
I always struggle to understand spending so little on a powerful, high-end car. If you cannot afford 20k for a more reliable 911, it's hard to see how you can afford the upkeep on an older car (or a car in worse condition).
I know this is unhelpful and seems confrontational. I do not mean any offence to the OP or anyone else. Happy to be corrected if it really is possible to own and drive a 911 without spending a lot.
I think you are pretty much spot on.I know this is unhelpful and seems confrontational. I do not mean any offence to the OP or anyone else. Happy to be corrected if it really is possible to own and drive a 911 without spending a lot.
You would be very lucky to get an impact bumper 911 that wasn't going to bite you big time for that kind of money. You could be lucky but would have to look at hell of a lot of them.
As an example, have a look at PC Chester's classic restoration link here to see what a £10k car can have underneath.
This car didn't look to bad as it was picked up, but you can see the horrors and expense required to put it right.
As an example, have a look at PC Chester's classic restoration link here to see what a £10k car can have underneath.
This car didn't look to bad as it was picked up, but you can see the horrors and expense required to put it right.
I can't see how anyone can argue that for that budget anything comes close to a 996. You may have to search to find a good one, which may be nearer £7k than £10k (such is the randomness of price compared to actual condition when scrutinised properly, and of course ignore the number on the odometer, as with any other 911 at this budget), but when you do nothing air-cooled will come close value-wise. They will likely be rusty, scruffy cars that you'd sink tons more cash into to go any way towards matching the condition of the 996, which you'd likely never do without a full restoration.
Sure the 996 engine could fail, typically a £4k-£7k job, but that's the same sort of cost as an air-cooled top-end rebuild (the only difference is you can plan for one of those), but most 996s don't have such failures.
Sure the 996 engine could fail, typically a £4k-£7k job, but that's the same sort of cost as an air-cooled top-end rebuild (the only difference is you can plan for one of those), but most 996s don't have such failures.
An early 996 C2 looks a bargain to me at the moment. The shape has aged really well & looks much neater than the facelift IMO. All the problems are now well known and have been addressed in many cars. A mate of mine has just bought one for 8k - will be interesting to see how he gets on.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
No, they'll deteriorate through use & wear, which isn't the same thing. I'd rather a car with 120,000 miles over long distance motorway-type journeys than 70,000 of varied use and more time running cold etc. When looking at 15 year old cars it's hard to know what use it's been put to of course, but the number on the dash isn't the be-all and end-all.Maybe it would be better if I wrote "don't put too much weight on the odometer readout" rather than stating it should be ignored altogether?
ORD said:
I always struggle to understand spending so little on a powerful, high-end car. If you cannot afford 20k for a more reliable 911, it's hard to see how you can afford the upkeep on an older car (or a car in worse condition).
I know this is unhelpful and seems confrontational. I do not mean any offence to the OP or anyone else. Happy to be corrected if it really is possible to own and drive a 911 without spending a lot.
I see your point - and my experiences from pushing a 944 into daily drive use have revealed the costs endemic with these cars.I know this is unhelpful and seems confrontational. I do not mean any offence to the OP or anyone else. Happy to be corrected if it really is possible to own and drive a 911 without spending a lot.
However, this car won't be used daily, so fuel costs aren't that applicable and servicing/maintenance isn't as regular as a daily.
There are previous posters which make the point that in a purely emotional purchase like this, costs can be rationalised, ignored and downgraded through man maths, to a point...!
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