First taste of Porsche ownership - 911 Turbo

[ehyouwhat]

Hi all,

Well I've committed myself to a Porsche 911 (996) Turbo as my next car, replacing a Mercedes CLK55 AMG. The car I'm getting is a 52-plate car with 58k miles, in Basalt black with full black hide and sat nav. Looks the mutts nuts and goes like stink too, so I'm sure I'm going to be pretty happy with it. I'm buying the car from an uncle so I know it's been looked after, and I'm looking forward to baiting my Dad a few times in his BMW M6 (until he gets rid that is, as he hates it). I actually wish the car was the convertible model, but I've been advised that the coupe is the better car so I'm trying to get the idea of a drop-top out of my head.

As I'm only 25-yrs-old the insurance was always going to be a stinger, although I've managed to get it down to £2k a year. Are any further discounts likely if I join some sort of Porsche Owners Club?

I've also read quite a lot about going the OPC route for a warranty - is this usually the best direction to take with this sort of car?

I'm hoping I find the car has the everyday functionality that my CLK has, and I might even get shut of the Laguna v6 that I've been using as a daily driver. I'm also hoping that I have the car in time for Pistonfest!

[nevetas]

Got mine at 25, 03 plate Turbo. Insurance was £1800 from Elephant.

They wouldn't touch the RS though, telling me it was group 99??

Porsche Insurance wanted 9k! lol

Luckily A Plan managed to sort things out, 2.4k.

They never asked me anything about what clubs I'm in.

>> Edited by nevetas on Monday 17th April 19:08

[dazren]

ehyouwhat said:

I've also read quite a lot about going the OPC route for a warranty - is this usually the best direction to take with this sort of car?

Oh yes.

Take a look at my cars running costs and you'll see I'm in front in the warranty stakes. The warranty also gives you full european breakdown cover which is useful for me with the eurohoon trips.

My local OPC gives 10% discount to members of Porsche Club GB (not sure that all OPC do). For £55ish p/year it's a no brainer for me.

DAZ

>> Edited by dazren on Monday 17th April 19:15

[hammerwerfer]

Congratulations. Great car. Just the thing for eating the miles up on the way to the 'ring.

[ehyouwhat]

Had my first proper drive in this today and it was heaven. I'm trying to keep things steady with it at the moment as I don't want to get into any trouble (I don't know the car that well yet), but the car really does take off when you sink the pedal. Power seems to be there from any gear too - it makes my old CLK55 AMG seem really quite slow.

Only fault I've found so far - the sat nav is poo, and I think my £210 Tomtom is a better (safer) bet.

Edited to add? What exactly does the X50 factory upgrade include?

>> Edited by ehyouwhat on Thursday 20th April 16:53

[slippydiff]

Bigger Turbos ,larger intercoolers, remapped ECU (and different exhaust IIRC) gearbox mods and an uprated clutch.

[scaryx50]

The X50 upgrade ups it from 420-450 bhp with 457 lb torque via GT2 K24 turbos and intercoolers , different ECU and supposedly strengthened gearbox.

[david58]

Im 26 with a 993 TT, I go on my fathers insurance for approx £400 fully comp.

[Steve_M]

scaryx50 said:

The X50 upgrade ups it from 420-450 bhp with 457 lb torque via GT2 K24 turbos and intercoolers , different ECU and supposedly strengthened gearbox.

If you order the X50 pack from new at the factory you get the strengthened gearbox, if you upgrade after delivery via OPC the gearbox upgrade is not included in the package.

[Deutscher]

ehyou and nevetas

You are very lucky guys to have these cars at 25!

Amazed your insurance is only £2K.

[ehyouwhat]

Deutscher said:

ehyou and nevetas You are very lucky guys to have these cars at 25! Amazed your insurance is only £2K.

Yes I admit that I am very lucky. Indeed I had to think long and hard about whether someone of my age should be spending this amount of money on a car. Ultimately I decided that, as I got a good deal, I could justify the cost because I could always sell should I need to. I also don't know what my financial situation will be in five or ten years - I might be able to afford a Carrera GT, I might struggle to pay for a Fiesta 1.4, who knows? I CAN afford this car right now, so the time is right. Plus I work really hard for the money I get, so why not enjoy some of it?

Insurance has been a strange issue for me. My old car (Mercedes CLK55 AMG) cost me £1k to insure last year, down from the £1.9k it had cost the year before when I first bought it. By searching online the spread in quotation figures was huge, £9k all the way down to the £3k which my existing insurer offered. As this figure was three times the amount I pay on the CLK I actually called up my existing insurer to ask them why it was so high. All of a sudden the quote comes down a full grand to £2k, a figure which I hold to be acceptable. The computer must just pluck a random figure out of the air when you ask for a quote online.

[bund]

Not a bad choice for your first Porsche, i hope its manual .

Have you tried confused.com they were coming back with good quotes when i was looking at that car. Im paying £1800 for my car now and im the same age as you. I can give you the firms name but not sure if they deal with porsche.

[Merritt]

ehyouwhat said:

Hi all, As I'm only 25-yrs-old the insurance was always going to be a stinger, although I've managed to get it down to £2k a year. Are any further discounts likely if I join some sort of Porsche Owners Club?

Ann Manning has a good deal for Porsche Club Members and they are also priced very competitively. I got my insurance from them this year.. It beat my previous years insurance by £400 and A Mannings also includes track days FOC (I was paying £135 per day before).

Steve

[s3am]

Tesco did me a good deal on my GT3, less than 2k and I'm 25 too.