£10 k Porshce, 996 vs Boxster S vs 968
Discussion
If I wanted a £10k Porsche which would you buy and why. Car would be for weekends and tnkering with as have new BMW's for daily. Fun car and can do a lot myself. Hypothetically speaking at this stage...
A £10k 996 3.4 manual with some miles & a good history.
A £10k Boxster S, lower miles, better history & newer car.
A very nice 968. Getting on a bit but easier DIY and are they any worse to drive??
A £10k 996 3.4 manual with some miles & a good history.
A £10k Boxster S, lower miles, better history & newer car.
A very nice 968. Getting on a bit but easier DIY and are they any worse to drive??
The boxster and 911 have engine issues and poorer build quality. You would eat up your whole budget buying one. 968 you should have money left over for tinkering and they are better built and overall are a nice "package" as a drivers car. Big difference is you won't get the engine note in the 68 that you get with the 6 cyl.........can be a deal breaker for some.
I would go £8k and get a clean 986 and replace the components that are tired. You can get one comfortably without any obvious faults but to get it as close to perfect as you can I'd change stuff that was beyond its best, mainly suspensions arms and possibly clutch. I've done this twice now and it's served me well with the cars covering 180k.
2.5pi said:
..and so it begins, pretty soon anyone hip to the beat will be snuffling around like a truffle hound looking for *the* definitive exemplar of 996 chic 
I think you'll find it's black, with 18" Turbos, lowered, got wheel spacers, PSE, K&N induction (with both it sounds 
) and got a nephrite green interior. 
I should also add that it's not for sale.
Stick Legs said:
If I wanted a £10k Porsche which would you buy and why. Car would be for weekends and tnkering with as have new BMW's for daily. Fun car and can do a lot myself. Hypothetically speaking at this stage...
A £10k 996 3.4 manual with some miles & a good history.
A £10k Boxster S, lower miles, better history & newer car.
A very nice 968. Getting on a bit but easier DIY and are they any worse to drive??
986 v 996 will really come down to whether you like convertibles or not and do you want the option of rear seats. I think these points are more important than anything else.A £10k 996 3.4 manual with some miles & a good history.
A £10k Boxster S, lower miles, better history & newer car.
A very nice 968. Getting on a bit but easier DIY and are they any worse to drive??
968 and the earlier front engine 4 pot cars are all very old now, at the bottom of their depreciation curve (good) but increasingly more difficult to get new parts for which are increasingly expensive (bad) and requiring extensive work which costs a lot if paying someone else to do it (bad). OTOH they are incredibly bullet proof tough, my 944 S2 race cars engine bottom end is on 172K miles and still pulling strong, I was worried it was worn as the car seemed to be feeling slower but a service, new air filter and some fettling has her pulling strong as ever again. One big deciding factor will be how you feel about the front heavy characteristics (engine is right over the front not behind it) and sound from the 4 pot motor. These 2 points IMHO will over ride anything else, if you don't like that you will never love a 968 regardless of what anyone says about them.
They might all have a Porsche badge but these are all completely different cars.
The 996 is much maligned. I've had my 3.4l 996 for 13 years and absolutely love it and no issues thus far (70,000 miles). It's light, agile and has great steering feel. My wife and I both prefer the steering feel of my 996 compared to her 997. Elsewhere on the forum someone else has done the research and found that the pre 2000 996 isn't susceptible to IMS issues and bore scoring.
With a budget of 10K you should be able to pick up a fine example.
I've never driven the other cars.
With a budget of 10K you should be able to pick up a fine example.
I've never driven the other cars.
cp996 said:
...Elsewhere on the forum someone else has done the research and found that the pre 2000 996 isn't susceptible to IMS issues and bore scoring..
My 1997/8 (R reg) car had to have the IMS bearing replaced (luckily it was caught when it was noisy, rather than actually failing) so whilst it may not be common it isn't un-susceptible to it.Thanks guys, some very sensible points, I think I will never spend much more than £10k on one as it will be a toy and not my main car, the only rationale behind my recent BMW purchase was that I am going to keep it for a very long time and it will be on family duties. The idea of keeping the 530d and having a toy is very appealing over maybe buying a 991 one daybut having to use it all the time.
As regards the seals on the flat 6 engines, is this diy-able? Is the skill level that of an engine out and back in on a 'normal' car or more like a bottom end strip down.
The difference is I can do it if it is the former, will have to engage services of friend* if the latter. Or is it Porsche specialist time? If so why?
As regards the seals on the flat 6 engines, is this diy-able? Is the skill level that of an engine out and back in on a 'normal' car or more like a bottom end strip down.
The difference is I can do it if it is the former, will have to engage services of friend* if the latter. Or is it Porsche specialist time? If so why?
- NB: Friend refers to garage owner who has rebuilt a couple of 928's and TVR AJV8 engines, and another friend who has an installed E36 M3 3.2 engine in his E30 M3 Evo (before you say anything it was a long time ago and they were cheaper then!) and runs a proper garage, so not 'friends' as in the enthusiastic amateur that this phrase sometimes covers!
bigunit00 said:
The boxster and 911 have engine issues and poorer build quality. You would eat up your whole budget buying one. 968 you should have money left over for tinkering and they are better built and overall are a nice "package" as a drivers car. Big difference is you won't get the engine note in the 68 that you get with the 6 cyl.........can be a deal breaker for some.
Spend some money on an aftermarket exhaust, and the sound of the 968 appreciates somewhat. I'd have the 968, lovely modern/hand built Porsche feel mix.
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