Porsche 996??

A

AcroGimp

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AcroGimp
I asked a few months ago about the Porsche 944, which was a dream car of mine from High School but as I started to look for one I am finding it hard to swallow the thought of dropping $12-18K for a 30 year old sportscar, particularly given their difficulty in passing smog here in the People's Republic of Californistan (ridiculous tales of woe and frustration on Rennlist).

So I expanded my search a little and came across the 996 which, like the 944, was not quite as popular with the P-car purists but which was produced in enough numbers to bring the cost of entry into the same range with superior performance, 15-20 years newer tech, and decent mod capabilities.

Any experience out there in POA land with the 996?

Thinking a N/A Carrera (C2) Coupe with the 6-speed, 0-60 in about 5, good brakes, nice lines and, I think, a great looking rear-end.

Thoughts and experience are appreciated.

'Gimp
 
That generation of Porsches has two known issues: leaking rear mainseals, and intermediate shaft issues. Both may have already been dealt with by the owner of the car. You may want to investigate further.

Like any Porsche, they're not inexpensive to maintain.
 
I have a 996tt and love it. The only reason it wasn't accepted right away was the liquid cooling. The only issue I've had with mine is the ignition switch, and tires (if I let my sons drive it). ;)
 
Go to planet 9 porsche. It's all there. Have any porsche gone over carefully by a reputable shop that specializes in them. I've owned three, currently have a cayman. Great car. Be careful.
 
forums.rennlist.com is where all the Porsche info is kept. They have a whole sub section devoted to the 996. I had one for a very short time. It was a nice car, but is considered the rear end version of the Boxter(pretty much accurate). The intermediate shaft issues are for real. They also have some issues with the cylinder liners in some cases.

If you want the in-between car, I still have a cobalt blue 968 for sale. Asking $10k, but I'll take a bit less I guess. Last and best iteration of the 4 cyl front engine rear drive coupes.
 
AcroGimp said:
I asked a few months ago about the Porsche 944, which was a dream car of mine from High School but as I started to look for one I am finding it hard to swallow the thought of dropping $12-18K for a 30 year old sportscar, particularly given their difficulty in passing smog here in the People's Republic of Californistan (ridiculous tales of woe and frustration on Rennlist).

So I expanded my search a little and came across the 996 which, like the 944, was not quite as popular with the P-car purists but which was produced in enough numbers to bring the cost of entry into the same range with superior performance, 15-20 years newer tech, and decent mod capabilities.

Any experience out there in POA land with the 996?

Thinking a N/A Carrera (C2) Coupe with the 6-speed, 0-60 in about 5, good brakes, nice lines and, I think, a great looking rear-end.

Thoughts and experience are appreciated.

'Gimp
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I'd just say don't register it in CA.

I'm more a Vette guy, if I were going that route I'd get a whale tale 911.
 
Also, do remember that the parts and maintenance costs are proportional to the cost of a new 911, which in a fairly basic level of trim is pushing $100,000. Last time I checked the cost of a factory remanufactured engine for this car is somewhere around $17,000 exchange, with the core charge being a similar amount. The engine is labor intensive to work on and required a fair number of special tools, so I'd leave any internal engine work to someone who does a lot of it.

I've not dealt with newer Porsches, my experience was with air cooled 911s. With those. the garage queens tended to give a lot of trouble, while the cars that got driven as intended did much better. After my father died I had to deal with his 911 SC, which needed head studs and new injectors. My sister declared that the "SC" stood for "sucks cash".
 
I've owned two 911s. I had a 1989 Targa with the G50 5-speed, and I currently have a 2006 Carrera 4 cabriolet (convertible), which is a 997.1 series.

Both were/are very reliable cars, but I can definitely vouch for the prices for maintenance being higher. Sometimes much higher.

When I needed a new set of tires (not a maintenance item per se, but still a consumable) it was $2500 for a set of Michelin Super Sports.

The front brakes have hit the wear indicator, and it's going to cost me $1500 to have those replaced because they want to replace both pads and rotors as a matched set.

I've replaced the first two TPMS sensors under CPO warranty, but now the rear two have worn out (as has the CPO warranty). You can't replace just the battery, you have to replace the whole sensor. They're about $150 each, plus labor.

Etc, etc, etc...

They're fun cars, but they do cost more to maintain, so budget accordingly. Being a 997.1, mine is also subject to the IMS (intermediate shaft) issue, so there's always the possibility it could fail and blow up the engine. But I don't worry about it, just drive the car and enjoy it. If it blows, it blows.

The 996 series is probably a terrific value right now, but as others have posted here, ALWAYS have a 911 checked out by a good mechanic who knows 911s, and what to look for. Each series has its own quirks, so be sure and take it to somebody knowledgeable.

Good luck, and have fun shopping! That's half the fun :)
 
I had a 2007 Carrera S coupe. It ran perfectly. However, and it's a big however, this series had engine problems as stated by others. Engines blew that were not tracked and porsche did not stand behind a good many of them. The engine , replaced in the car if it blew , was 30 grand. I sold it with 23000 miles, got a good price and recently bought a cayman. If I were searching for an older porsche I would hunt a late 80s 911. They apparently held up well. Be very careful of rust thruout the body and have an independent shop go over the entire car. After 2009 porsche apparently redesigned the engine and the problems including the rear seal are solved. The 911 is the one I'd buy in a used porsche. If it's kept in good shape you won't get burned too badly when you sell it. It must be driven often( just like flying a plane.) the corvette is an entirely different car to me. I would only consider a mid sixtys rag top ,silver, white top, red interior in perfect condition. Very expensive for what it is. On a back road the cayman would run a circle around it.
 
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Henning said:
You know you can put brake pads on it yourself.
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Yeah, but cars are like plumbing and electrical for me...I don't have the tools nor training to tackle it myself. And most every plumbing, electrical, or automotive thing I've attempted myself, I've broken something and ended up letting a professional fix it, which ended up costing me more in the long run anyway.

I take my 911 to the dealer in Fremont, who has a VERY good service manager I like (guy named Gunter - can't top a Porsche guy named Gunter!), and I'd rather drop it off, hand them my credit card, say "fix it", and know it's getting done right.


Jimmy cooper said:
If I were searching for an older porsche I would hunt a late 80s 911. They apparently held up well.
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I can vouch for that. My 1989 911 was trouble free and rock solid. Of course, there's a lot less to go wrong on them. Air cooled, manual transmission, no power steering, no fancy electronics, etc.

I felt very connected with the car and the road because everything was so mechanical on it. The downside is, the car only had 217 HP, so it wasn't known for great 0-60 or 1/4 mile times. But I spun it up to 120 MPH a few times, and it was solid.

Also, the late 80's cars are probably about as low on the depreciation curve as they're going to get, so a good value.
 
LoneAspen said:
Yeah, but cars are like plumbing and electrical for me...I don't have the tools nor training to tackle it myself. And most every plumbing, electrical, or automotive thing I've attempted myself, I've broken something and ended up letting a professional fix it, which ended up costing me more in the long run anyway.

I take my 911 to the dealer in Fremont, who has a VERY good service manager I like (guy named Gunter - can't top a Porsche guy named Gunter!), and I'd rather drop it off, hand them my credit card, say "fix it", and know it's getting done right.
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Günter,;) If you learn how to say it right as well you might get a better price.:D
 
German engineers have to show you how clever they are and add a bunch of extras that cost big money and cause big problems for porsche and the owner of the car. I agree with the 1980s 911 owner 100 percent. Buy one that has very few ad ons. I have a 2014 standard cayman with very few extras but does have the pdk transmission which is a must. ( if you've never driven one don't embarrass yourself by saying your rather shift manually) the new porsche turbo having the most horsepower is only available with the pdk.
 
kidding me 944 vs 996 lol 944 is a piece of junk and def not as expensive as you are saying.. i;d get a carrera
 
Well, I do prefer to shift manually, but I'm not saying I'm any better, faster, or more economical than an auto. I just started on a manual shift, and prefer choosing my own shift points.

It has a nice secondary benefit of being an excellent anti-theft system.
 
docmirror said:
Well, I do prefer to shift manually, but I'm not saying I'm any better, faster, or more economical than an auto. I just started on a manual shift, and prefer choosing my own shift points.

It has a nice secondary benefit of being an excellent anti-theft system.
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With the pdk, set in manual you use the paddles to select your own shift points. In auto you fan the gas pedal to down shift or just leave it alone. The pdk,once you get used to it is really fantastic. Very hard to steal a modern porsche due to the key type and locks. You will never out shift the pdk. It ain't possible. It's amazing. Try one! ( on top of this, if you leave it in auto and let it select it's shift points, it goes to 30 miles per gallon quite quickly. )
 
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Most modern automatics are pretty good about putting the shift points where I ask for them with the throttle, at least for accelerating, I barely have to feather the throttle at all and whap it shifts. Personally I don't pay attention to stick or automatic unless I'm getting something really low on power, then I don't want to give up the HP to the hydraulics, and even that has gotten a lot better in the last couple generations of automatics (I just can't afford any of those :D). It took me a bit to get used to paddle shift, it's ok, but I'd prefer the same Trans with a stick control. Paddle shift is great for race cars with close ratio, non power steering where you need 2 hand muscle to drive it through the turns, but with power steering and more than 1 turn lock to lock and have different maneuvering requirements, I often find myself annoyed with wheel based shifting whether paddle or button. The option of both controls makes it moot.
 
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Jimmy cooper said:
With the pdk, set in manual you use the paddles to select your own shift points. In auto you fan the gas pedal to down shift or just leave it alone. The pdk,once you get used to it is really fantastic. Very hard to steal a modern porsche due to the key type and locks. You will never out shift the pdk. It ain't possible. It's amazing. Try one! ( on top of this, if you leave it in auto and let it select it's shift points, it goes to 30 miles per gallon quite quickly. )
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Well, I'm betting the PDK is light years better than the Lambo one I drove. It was just awful. I'll check it out sometime. I drove a 968 auto and it was pretty bad, but that was first gen, no paddle just a sport-stick.
 
docmirror said:
Well, I'm betting the PDK is light years better than the Lambo one I drove. It was just awful.
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Gallardo or Aventador? I've read the Aventador's is a lot better, but still brutish, especially in Corsa mode. Some of the videos I've seen make it look like a real neck-jerker on the race track in Corsa mode.

I'd still like to find out for myself, though, LOL.

It'll be interesting to see how the transmission in the new Huracan stacks up. Probably not as refined as Porsche's PDK, but then, I think a Lambo that's TOO refined kind of defeats the purpose of owning one.
 
Gallardo. It was still brutish, and somewhat jerky. The solenoids for the engagement seemed to be very harsh, even in road mode.
 
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