Info request from 996 Carrera C4S Owners

[GT 130]

Hi,

The 996 Carrera C4S is at the top of my list at the moment, however I have never actually driven one to date. I would be interested to hear owners views on these, typical running costs, reliability etc, and also what does a service set you back on average and road tax out of interest.

Regards.

Edited by GT 130 on Sunday 4th December 11:33

[Angelus]

Have a look here, then post up any more questions.

HTH.

[DjSki]

In a year I have spent the following on my car......

Full service £700
Clutch at an indy £700(plus extra £500 for the flywheel)
RMS done at the same time as the clutch £50
Exhaust rebuild £200

I am averaging about 22/23mpg per the OBC. Car's not needed any oil.

[Azbo]

I've had my C4S for 3 years now and I've been very happy with it indeed but buy one with a good spec. I would recommend getting sports seats, switchable sports exhaust and the bose speakers. My average MPG is always around 24 or 25 but I can get 31 - 32 driving steadily on the motorway. Tax is around £200 and something and my 48000 mile service was £700 but find yourself a good independant Porsche speacialist as the main dealers will pull your pants down. I've just put new discs and pads on the front and that was £500. They are an absolute pleasure to drive and the road holding is unreeal. Mines on 51000 miles now and I've been so happy with it I'm going to sell it and buy exactly the same model but a 997. Any other questions, drop me a line and I'll be more than happy to give you an honest view of a C4S

[Whitean3]

Azbo said:

I've had my C4S for 3 years now and I've been very happy with it indeed but buy one with a good spec. I would recommend getting sports seats, switchable sports exhaust and the bose speakers. My average MPG is always around 24 or 25 but I can get 31 - 32 driving steadily on the motorway. Tax is around £200 and something and my 48000 mile service was £700 but find yourself a good independant Porsche speacialist as the main dealers will pull your pants down. I've just put new discs and pads on the front and that was £500. They are an absolute pleasure to drive and the road holding is unreeal. Mines on 51000 miles now and I've been so happy with it I'm going to sell it and buy exactly the same model but a 997. Any other questions, drop me a line and I'll be more than happy to give you an honest view of a C4S

Spot on. Very similar to my experience; mpg slightly better, but i tend to avoid short journeys. It has been ultra reliable in the 4 years i have owned it, just needing a few consumables and basic servicing. Now on 113k km. Must haves for me would be a sports exhaust of some sort; mine is fully loaded being a Swiss car, so i don't know a typical uk spec.

[burman]

GT !30... I am in the process of selling mine for a 55 plate C2S, and i think you will find prices have dropped a bit recently.
Mine is an 03 with 49,000 miles, Midnight Blue with fullish spec and is worth about £19k trade/ 20-23 retail, on the latest info.
Keep a keen eye on Tyres/brakes when cheking cars both are expensive.

[ROK]

you do not at all need the PSE switch. it's perfect on "loud" mode all the time because it's not loud and the bark is necessary. you'll never want to run it in silent because that'd be like vw golf mode.

[markyboy911]

I have:
Replaced both the front wheel bearings at 50,000 miles = £600 to £700 inc labour
2 x Front Thrust Arms = £300 inc labour (Suspension can be funny so bank on a bit more)
Bought 5L of Mobil 1 = £30
Some Bumper Grill mesh and Tiger Seal to protect the front radiators from leaves etc = £40 (I removed the front bumper myself)

PSE / Gundo Hack = £300

[6C4GTS]

ROK said:

you do not at all need the PSE switch. it's perfect on "loud" mode all the time because it's not loud and the bark is necessary. you'll never want to run it in silent because that'd be like vw golf mode.

You probably wont get onto a UK track without the switch - mine runs about 106dB in loud.

[burman]

64GTS is correct my standard exhaust reads 99db @4000revs, you might get pissed off with PSE on long motorway trips also

[Magic919]

You can't really hear the PSE much on the motorway.

[Shewie]

Great car. Have had mine just over a year. An OPC major service cost me around £600 and I've just had discs and pads all round which cost me just under £1000 from a reputable Indy. Tyres are the next big expense on the horizon as one of my rears is almost worn out and the fronts are looking marginal, so I'll probably take the hit and replace all four. Protyre in Bristol have quoted me just over £800 for PZero Rosso Corsa, slightly more for Michelin Pilot Sport.

Try and get a good spec with a decent history. BOSE, Sunroof, Memory seats, Cruise, Litronics etc. (although I wouldn't necessarily pay extra for the PCM Satnav)

Mine is a manual and has the PSE fitted which is fantastic and is almost always on in loud mode (although I tend to switch it off on long motorway trips). Check out my car 6 seconds into this youtube clip on a recent PH tunnel run to hear what it sounds like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBAFD2FF5lI

Similar to the above posts, mine averages around 24 mpg and anything upto 30 mpg on the motorway. I recently thought about swapping it for a 997 Carrera 2S, but to be honest it's such a good car I couldn't justify spending the extra cash for something a little bit newer.

[6C4GTS]

Shewie said:

slightly more for Michelin Pilot Sport.

Spend the extra!!

Shewie said:

has the PSE fitted which is fantastic

Call that a tunnel!!

[Shewie]

6C4GTS said:

Spend the extra!!

Cheers for the recommendation, may have helped the decision process. I had Michelin PS on my Boxster and was always happy with them. Currently running with PZero Assimetrico. Not been super impressed, but to be fair they had seen better days when I originally bought the car..

6C4GTS said:

Call that a tunnel!!

YeeeHaaaa!!

[GT 130]

Great, thanks for the useful information.

[GT 130]

ROK said:

you do not at all need the PSE switch. it's perfect on "loud" mode all the time because it's not loud and the bark is necessary. you'll never want to run it in silent because that'd be like vw golf mode.

Hey... not all Golfs are Golfs!! My buddy runs 420bhp in his petrol gti and our cars tend to growl when poked... But I take your point!