Ferrari 355 or Porsche 996 Turbo/C4S Coupe
Discussion
London to Luton 2x a week.... too much for an F355 IMHO.
Well, its not but for me it is. I would not want to put more than 3000 - 5000 miles a year on one.
Anything more than that and the bills are going to become big and its going to be a chore keeping it in tip top condition all the time.
For me the F355 is a Sunday car.
The 996TT is more like the car for the job, IMHO and will feel "special" enough for the price tag. IMHO.
Well, its not but for me it is. I would not want to put more than 3000 - 5000 miles a year on one.
Anything more than that and the bills are going to become big and its going to be a chore keeping it in tip top condition all the time.
For me the F355 is a Sunday car.
The 996TT is more like the car for the job, IMHO and will feel "special" enough for the price tag. IMHO.
I dont have experience of either but..
I note that on your profile's 'Dream Garage' section you have various Ferraris. You're obviously a fan of the marque - Is this birthday going to be the best chance you get to having a Ferrari or is it something that could be come back to in the future?
Personally I would go for one of the 911s, but that's because I wouldnt consider a 355. From your perspective I'd probably get a 355 with a view to keeping it a short while unless you really connect with it. As others have said though, I'm not sure that your Luton-London would be how I'd want to spend my time in a Ferrari.
I note that on your profile's 'Dream Garage' section you have various Ferraris. You're obviously a fan of the marque - Is this birthday going to be the best chance you get to having a Ferrari or is it something that could be come back to in the future?
Personally I would go for one of the 911s, but that's because I wouldnt consider a 355. From your perspective I'd probably get a 355 with a view to keeping it a short while unless you really connect with it. As others have said though, I'm not sure that your Luton-London would be how I'd want to spend my time in a Ferrari.
Sticking strictly to the thread title, i'd get the turbo for your intended purpose. Has to be one of the most accomplished real world everyday performance cars ever made ... surely ?
Those Italian cats and manifolds, never mind the regular belt changes, can be pretty catacylismic on the old bank balance
but, if i had total control of not only the answer to your question but also the question itself... i'd get the 355 as a special weekend, car and pickup a 1500 quid ford focus for the Luton journey
Those Italian cats and manifolds, never mind the regular belt changes, can be pretty catacylismic on the old bank balance
but, if i had total control of not only the answer to your question but also the question itself... i'd get the 355 as a special weekend, car and pickup a 1500 quid ford focus for the Luton journey
I was seriously considering a 355 about 3 or 4 years ago. I viewed a couple and joined a forum to see what the owners thought of them.
To be honest, the forum put me off. Owners seemed scared to drive them. I particularly remember a thread (American) where somebody stated they had just bought a 355 but it was 1,500 miles away - should they drive it home or get it transported. The majority of people suggested using a transporter - because you didn't want it to break on the first day.....
And - as has been mentioned above - some of the repair costs are scary. A common issue on early 355s (before year 2000 if I remember correctly) was a tendency to wear valve guides - and if that needed doing, it was a scary cost for repair. I don't know how common "common" really means - but it certainly wasn't a repair I would have wanted.
At the time, if I'd bought one I would have sold my 964. I concluded that I would be selling a car I trusted 100% to get me wherever I wanted (even the south coast of France) for a car I would never really trust. I found a number of reviews that stated "ok, so it's not as reliable as a Porsche" or "Ok, so it's not as well built as a Porsche". In the end, it simply didn't make sense.
Whenever I see one, my heart wants one - which has never been true of the 911s. But I decided that buying one was only half the battle - I'd also have to be prepared to risk some very big bills - for a car that I would never fully trust.
At the point I can own one and not get a shock if it needs an engine rebuild - I might buy one. But that's not yet - so I'll stick with what I've got.
To be honest, the forum put me off. Owners seemed scared to drive them. I particularly remember a thread (American) where somebody stated they had just bought a 355 but it was 1,500 miles away - should they drive it home or get it transported. The majority of people suggested using a transporter - because you didn't want it to break on the first day.....
And - as has been mentioned above - some of the repair costs are scary. A common issue on early 355s (before year 2000 if I remember correctly) was a tendency to wear valve guides - and if that needed doing, it was a scary cost for repair. I don't know how common "common" really means - but it certainly wasn't a repair I would have wanted.
At the time, if I'd bought one I would have sold my 964. I concluded that I would be selling a car I trusted 100% to get me wherever I wanted (even the south coast of France) for a car I would never really trust. I found a number of reviews that stated "ok, so it's not as reliable as a Porsche" or "Ok, so it's not as well built as a Porsche". In the end, it simply didn't make sense.
Whenever I see one, my heart wants one - which has never been true of the 911s. But I decided that buying one was only half the battle - I'd also have to be prepared to risk some very big bills - for a car that I would never fully trust.
At the point I can own one and not get a shock if it needs an engine rebuild - I might buy one. But that's not yet - so I'll stick with what I've got.
Just my opinion but rank the cars as follows in terms of coolness.
1) F355 - very cool.
2) 996T = Not Ultra cool but a really nice quick car.
3) 9996C4s although not sure you can really class this car as Ultra cool. Far too common for that status.
1) F355 - very cool.
2) 996T = Not Ultra cool but a really nice quick car.
3) 9996C4s although not sure you can really class this car as Ultra cool. Far too common for that status.
Edited by turbo964 on Monday 16th November 22:11
turbo964 said:
Just my opinion but rank the cars as follows in terms of coolness.
1) F355 - very cool.
2) 996T = Not Ultra cool but a really nice quick car.
3) 996C4s although not sure you can really class this car as Ultra cool. Far too common for that status.
Less C4S's made than 996 Turbo.1) F355 - very cool.
2) 996T = Not Ultra cool but a really nice quick car.
3) 996C4s although not sure you can really class this car as Ultra cool. Far too common for that status.
davek_964 said:
And - as has been mentioned above - some of the repair costs are scary. A common issue on early 355s (before year 2000 if I remember correctly) was a tendency to wear valve guides - and if that needed doing, it was a scary cost for repair. I don't know how common "common" really means - but it certainly wasn't a repair I would have wanted.
It is a potential problem with the earlier bronze guides, on both 2.7 and later cars (despite the myths pedalled about it only being 1995 or 2.7 cars). 1995 cars were mostly affected with around 20% needing attention form excessive wear.The guides were changed to a different type halfway through 95 (still bronze i believe) but bad batches did find their way into later years, including 1998. So the problem is there's no way of knowing if the car you're buying is truly affected or not. The only way out is to by a 1999 car which will have steel guides. I don't think any 1999 cars have gone pop.
What may help though is that if a car has reached 20k miles then all the evidence suggests that the problem would have already surfaced if it was going to. This is because its fundamentally a problem of valve seating. 90% of all failures occured at birth or within the first 2 years of the cars life. Having said that, there's a chap on club scuderia whose car went bang at 30k !
a pre-purchase leakdown is obviously wise but it obviously offers no guarantees. another saving grace is on any engine out job, the cost to also retrofit better valve guides will be relatively small.
Edited by jackal on Monday 16th November 22:28
Depends what you want to do with it that will make the decision for you, having said that I wouldn’t want to drive my 355 once to luton let alone twice a week. I drive from surrey to cambridge 3 times a week and it was just about bearable in the 997.
I had until recently the 355 spider for fun and a 997 2s cab for everyday, the 997 was a great everyday car but was pretty uninspiring it was the second 997 I have had and found both of them pretty dull.
The last 997 was the 9th 911 in a row, the 993's were pretty good fun a really different car to drive and took some learning.
The 996's I had 1x 3.4,1 x 3.6 and a GT2 were all ok had a few issues with all of them two engines and an issue with ceramics.
The 355 however is just fantastic a real keeper, even after 2 years I still pop out to the garage to sneak a look, never did that with the 996's or 997's.
If you are going to go down the 355 route you need to find a good one which took me two years and 25 cars before one I was happy to buy. In fact I bought Chris355's which has been faultless and a real joy.
If I were you I would go for the turbo with a good warranty ( good compromise) based on my own experience and then save for a 355 for weekends
Phib
I had until recently the 355 spider for fun and a 997 2s cab for everyday, the 997 was a great everyday car but was pretty uninspiring it was the second 997 I have had and found both of them pretty dull.
The last 997 was the 9th 911 in a row, the 993's were pretty good fun a really different car to drive and took some learning.
The 996's I had 1x 3.4,1 x 3.6 and a GT2 were all ok had a few issues with all of them two engines and an issue with ceramics.
The 355 however is just fantastic a real keeper, even after 2 years I still pop out to the garage to sneak a look, never did that with the 996's or 997's.
If you are going to go down the 355 route you need to find a good one which took me two years and 25 cars before one I was happy to buy. In fact I bought Chris355's which has been faultless and a real joy.
If I were you I would go for the turbo with a good warranty ( good compromise) based on my own experience and then save for a 355 for weekends
Phib
Well I use a 355 everyday and have used a couple the same way in the past, never had any issues and it costs similar money to my RUF to run tbh, a GTB makes a very good car and for the money there is nothing out there nearly as special to drive around in.
355's are very reliable cars, the valve guide issue was there but only effected a small number of cars and that was 10 years ago, majority were sorted under warranty at the time, wouldn't let that worry you much. The only big bill is belts but that is only £1500 every 3 years and the oil services are cheap, they are much lighter on tyres and brakes than a 911 turbo. Mileage is less of an issue now as a 30k mile car or 60k mile car are only about 5k difference in value, not bad for 30k miles in a Ferrari IMHO.
Only time not to use a 355 really is when there is salt on the road as they really don't like that much!
355's are very reliable cars, the valve guide issue was there but only effected a small number of cars and that was 10 years ago, majority were sorted under warranty at the time, wouldn't let that worry you much. The only big bill is belts but that is only £1500 every 3 years and the oil services are cheap, they are much lighter on tyres and brakes than a 911 turbo. Mileage is less of an issue now as a 30k mile car or 60k mile car are only about 5k difference in value, not bad for 30k miles in a Ferrari IMHO.
Only time not to use a 355 really is when there is salt on the road as they really don't like that much!
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