RE: Porsche 911 Carrera (991.1) | PH Used Buying Guide

[timberman]

davidbell said:

If Porsche had enough confidence in their product they should be offering a 5 year/60k warranty,
Every model is an evolution of the previous one so surely most of the common problems that are mentioned here should be well and truly be a thing of the past at this stage!

that would be nice but Porsche will let you keep the car in warranty for up to 15 years and 125000 miles which shows they're fairly confident,

besides not many manufacturers give more than 3 years and most charge extra for it ( I paid over £900 to extend the warranty on our tiguan from 3 to 5 years ) plus with people like me willing to keep renewing every 2 years and paying for it why would they.

[Pope]

The offering from new is 3yrs unlimited mileage. The extension Warranty can be purchased in 1 or 2yr formats and is bumper to bumper with no claim limits up to 125k miles; it can include breakdown cover, provide a replacement vehicle and repatriation costs if a breakdown occurs internationally. One less thing to worry about / peace of mind in my opinion.

The cars are dynamically cutting edge, with efficient but powerful engines; most with engine outputs north of 300bhp and up to over 600bhp - not gutless econoboxes. I am and will always be biased toward them - each successive model improves on the last in some way or another but is still instantly recognisable.

Edited by Pope on Sunday 16th February 16:42

[ducnick]

Reading this suddenly makes that Lexus IS-F looks like a sensible pill. Lexus reliability with a big V8 is nowhere near as brave a a 991 with Porsche parts prices, questionable build quality and a history of making critical moving parts out of chocolate.

[Speedgirl]

Great article and nice to see these cars becoming more affordable. The 991.1 is a quality machine and a lovely place to be, and mostly very reliable. I owned one for 4+ years and nothing went wrong. Expensive consumables though and warranty is overpriced. The warranty transfers to a new private owner but not if you sell to the trade so bear that in mind. Like all 911s the paint on the bonnet, mirror caps and leading edge of the roof takes a beating from stone chips, and alloys can be difficult to refurb. There are lots out there so work out what options you want. Always get a proper inspection. Oh yes, they are not too big for country roads but struggle a bit with width restrictions because of visibility.

[Cheapstraightsix]

Cold said:

Cheapstraightsix said:

£1k a year for a Porsche warranty is a no brainier for me.

Are you suggesting that these cars are so unreliable that you're better off spending £1000 per annum on a warranty as you'll still be quids in at the end of each year?

No, I’m suggesting if the PDK box or engine expire I won’t be floating home on a river of my own tears.
£1k a year on what was a 6 figure car is a bargain in my eyes, add to that it helps resale.

Edited by Cheapstraightsix on Sunday 16th February 17:14

[RDMcG]

I had an early Carrera S on test when they were first released and the only qualification I had was the the PDK was not all that great ( it has been improved immeasurably since then). I would say to try it and see how it feels. I also found the electric steering a bit numb though again later cars seem to have it dialled in better.

[Griffgrog]

The warranty costs the same as the one I have on my Discovery 4 and covers everything. I've had a few 991's and they're a fantastic car that's worry free if purchased well. You could get a Ferrari for similair money, but you end up worrying over every single noise. The best thing about the 911 is less is more. The best ones are normally the base models. I thought my 991.2 Carrera T was a better can than the GT3RS.

[crystalmethod]

timberman said:

I've had my 991 c2s for a few years now and the only faults I've had so far are a broken coil spring and aircon not working,
both sorted under warranty,

I've recently renewed the warranty at a cost of just over £2k including 111 point check for 2 years, which I wouldn't be without despite only claiming twice.

mines got sports exhaust and sport chrono,
both are nice to have but probably not essential,
the sports exhaust definitely adds to the way the car sounds and feels when you're in the mood and putting it in sport plus stiffens the car up quite a bit as well as giving you a thump in the back when changing up a gear,
I tend to put the suspension back into the standard setting after engaging sport plus because mine already has the lowered sports suspension (20mm lower than standard) and find sport plus a bit too stiff on most surfaces.

18 way seats are very comfortable and being adjustable in pretty much every way it's fairly easy to find a setting that suits,

I've also got a sunroof on mine which has never leaked or rattled,
I would have preferred a glass one for the extra light it gives but it's still nice to able to open it up on a sunny day.

Sensors front and rear are handy as it's not that easy to judge when parking, and cruise control is worth having even if you only use it in average speed zones like me.

Mine came with Pirellis which I ditched in favour of MIchelin Ps4s's when worn and noted a marked improvement in ride and handling, especially in the wet, plus it now doesn't crab on full lock nearly as much, which used to get on my nerves with the Pirellis.

911's often get classed as 2 seaters due the small back seats and only being suitable for small kids, but we've had family days out with either my wife or (adult) daughter sitting in the back plus the dog and no complaints about being cramped up, although it probably helps that my wife and daughter are only just over 5 foot and I'm only 5' 10" so I have the front seats forward a bit,
I wouldn't recommend it for long distances though.

Being a Porsche It's not cheap to run, depreciation being by far the biggest hit, but other than that It's costing me about £2K a year not including petrol and insurance which I'd say is pretty good,
I get about 25 mpg on average and can get high 30's if I take it easy on a run, and insurance for me is around £400 a year plus car tax is £325.

The only downsides I can think of are,

being stuck in traffic can be frustrating and often makes me think I might as well be driving our tiguan, plus you do get the odd idiot who seems to want to race or try and cut you off at lights etc,

having the lowered sports suspension, plus sport design kit means I have to put a bit more thought into driving over speed humps etc, but I haven't got caught on one yet, also I can sometimes hear it rub on the front a bit when going up car park ramps etc.

So far it's been a pleasure to own and I hope to keep it for a few more years yet till I give up and probably buy something electric.

Nice looking bit of kit.

[Cold]

130R said:

Cold said:

Are you suggesting that these cars are so unreliable that you're better off spending £1000 per annum on a warranty as you'll still be quids in at the end of each year?

Name a car of this age that was ~ 100K new that you would be confident running without a warranty then ..

If something major goes wrong it can get very expensive. You might save some money not paying for a warranty, or it might cost you a lot.

I run my Aston Martin without a warranty and have done for the past 7 or 8 years since I bought it. Nothing particularly untoward has happened during that time.

It seems Porsche can't build a car as well as Aston. Or at least, build a car that their owners have confidence in.

[GM182]

Very thorough guide but I wonder how many of those problems are actually frequent.

I do like the idea of a 991 and now is the right time for me as my children are 11 and 8 so would fit nicely in the back. The only problem is I'm at least £20,000 short of the market entry point!

I shall just have to keep my 987 Boxster and take the children one at a time ... or not at all.

[Paul_M3]

Cold said:

I run my Aston Martin without a warranty and have done for the past 7 or 8 years since I bought it. Nothing particularly untoward has happened during that time.

It seems Porsche can't build a car as well as Aston. Or at least, build a car that their owners have confidence in.

Aston Martin themselves can’t be that confident, as their extended warranty is over £4000 for two years, compared to £1850 for the Porsche equivalent.

[timberman]

Cold said:

I run my Aston Martin without a warranty and have done for the past 7 or 8 years since I bought it. Nothing particularly untoward has happened during that time.

It seems Porsche can't build a car as well as Aston. Or at least, build a car that their owners have confidence in.

I thought I'd made the right decision not to continue the warranty on my Amg, after which it went wrong roughly once every 2 months and cost me a fortune.

I fully expect that in 2 years time when the warranty on my 991s runs out again I probably won't have made a single claim and could have saved myself a fair bit of money,

but at that time if I decide to keep it longer I will, despite not claiming for the last 2 years,
renew the warranty anyway.

just to reiterate most of the issues with the 991 are fairly small and rarely happen, and the warranty is mainly just for peace of mind

I know what it feels like driving an expensive car and wondering if every little noise or occurrence is a signal of something failing and a massive bill on the way,

considering the cost works out at just over £900 a year I'd say it's worth it for the comfort of knowing if something does go wrong it's covered.

If other people are happy without then good on them, for me considering the costs involved it's just not worth the gamble.

I've been paying car insurance for nearly 4 decades and hardly ever claimed, but I still wouldn't be without it

[Pope]

Speedgirl said:

The warranty transfers to a new private owner but not if you sell to the trade so bear that in mind.

At which point you can request a refund of the remaining cover

[cib24]

Is it just me, or after reading that does it seem like a hell of a lot goes wrong throughout these cars in cars only 4-8 years old and with far less mileage than your typical commuter car? These things must be going wrong with 20,000 miles on them, not 100,000.

Sounds like an expensive out of warranty ownership proposition and these are just the regular models! Well, so many people dream of owning a Porsche I guess if you know the residuals will be strong you can stomach having the car in and out of service shops a few times per year with a large bill.

[MadMark911]

Venisonpie said:

GT car, not a sports car. Too big and heavy to be the latter.

That's a question of semantics. To me a sports car is a fast and purpose built car that's likely a 2 seater or a 2+2. The category would take in quite a few cars, such as Porsches Cayman, Lotus Evoras, Aston Martin Vantages, Jaguar F types and even BMW Z4's (but not M4's as they are not purpose built). It would not include Caterhams, Atoms or or other low volume cars that have little all weather protection.And at 1,415kg my 991.1 C2S is hardly an Aston Martin DB9!

[cerb4.5lee]

MadMark911 said:

Venisonpie said:

GT car, not a sports car. Too big and heavy to be the latter.

That's a question of semantics. To me a sports car is a fast and purpose built car that's likely a 2 seater or a 2+2. The category would take in quite a few cars, such as Porsches Cayman, Lotus Evoras, Aston Martin Vantages, Jaguar F types and even BMW Z4's (but not M4's as they are not purpose built). It would not include Caterhams, Atoms or or other low volume cars that have little all weather protection.And at 1,415kg my 991.1 C2S is hardly an Aston Martin DB9!

For me a sports car isn't a 2+2. A sports car to me is a Caterham and something like the original Lotus Elise. Pretty much everything else is just a sporty looking car and a sports car has to weigh less than 1000kg to me.

The 911 at 1400kg plus puts it into the sports Coupe/GT category imo.

[richinlondon]

Seems like a lot to go wrong on such a relatively new car.

[thelostboy]

Cold said:

I run my Aston Martin without a warranty and have done for the past 7 or 8 years since I bought it. Nothing particularly untoward has happened during that time.

It seems Porsche can't build a car as well as Aston. Or at least, build a car that their owners have confidence in.

I don't know where to begin with this. How can you get to your age and not realise how obtuse that sounds?

This guide is a list of all problems experienced. People realise this doesn't mean each and every issue is going to happen to every 991, right?

My dad has had a 991 for about 6 years and nothing's gone wrong on it. I had a 991 GT3, and other than the engine recall, nothing went wrong including track days. I had a 997 C4S and it also never went wrong.

[Gixer968CS]

I have a 997, not a 991 and have owned it for four years. It's an expensive car to run as quite a lot has needed fixing. I love my 911 as every drive feels like an occasion, but every time I drive it I'm also wondering what might go wrong with it. It does cast a bit of a shadow over ownership. Having got mine up to a good place (and when I got it it had only just had the OPC 110 point inspection done!!) I'm hoping it'll be ok for a while. I wouldn't buy a 991, or any other second hand Porsche now without a full Porsche warranty as I'd be worried about all those things that might need fixing again.

[sinbaddio]

crystalmethod said:

timberman said:

Nice looking bit of kit.

Agreed - lovely