Im doing my usual gonna change cars circle.

I was pretty much set on a 997 911 c2s manual until i googled "997 911 reliability"

Holy crap. Chocolate engines it seems. One rebuilder claims to have done 1000 engines in the last few years.

Still, i will do probably 4k a year, 2 of them in the alps so hopefully not an issue if i get some checks done in advance.

Worth the risk??

22k budget so at the low end of the market.

 

I've looked at these before, was set to leave a deposit on one but buying a 25-30k car that will more than likely need a ~10k rebuild at some point was a gamble that I didn't want to, or could afford to take so I backed out once I realised that my ***** don't swing low or large enough for that.


Cheers,
Grant

 

Biggest car let down Ive ever been in the 997 Carrera 4, lad at work bought a convertible one last year, and I had never been in a Porsche and it was one of those cars on my bucket list, He gave me the keys and let me have a little drive, and I was really let down by the Porsche experience or maybe I was expecting too much.

The car had a Auto box with tiptronic(change gears on the steering wheel) I was expecting a lot for how much these where brand new, Dashboard looks old and for £22k id rather look else where like Audi RS4/M3/C63 AMG of some sort.

Think i need a drive in a GT3/RS/Turbo S to get me excited about a Porsche again!!

 

fair points. i think ive come to the same conclusion. I had the same conclusion with a 996.

Now looking at tuscans.

 

I owned a 2006 Carrera with the 3.6 engine and manual gearbox. Bought it in 2011 with 25,000 miles on it. I had done a lot of research before purchase and agonised over Bore Scoring, IMS failure, RMS failure etc. Ultimately I wanted the 911 experience and took the plunge with a contingency fund in hand should it go wrong. Hence the C2 and not C2S because at the time they were quite a bit more money and a couple of specialists I spoke to stated the 3.6 was a sweeter revving engine and less problem prone. Never regretted it and enjoyed every drive for just over 3 years. Only costs were servicing and new tyres which it needed from day 1. A new Rack due to leak that Porsche contributed towards. Loved every minute of it.
If you have concerns save a bigger budget and aim for a Gen 2 car which came in 2009 ish. The DFI engines are completely different and don't appear to harbour all the previous problems.....yet !
Go to a specialist like RSJ, 911Virgin, Harbour Cars who have good rep and try one and see if its for you.

 

I'm no Porsche expert, but if you want the Porsche experience, instead of spending such a big amount on a low-end 911 C2S that could cost you a lot more to fix, why not buy a nice Cayman? 22k can get you a nice example with reasonable miles and from what I've heard, one of the best driving experiences going.

 

I'm by no means a Porsche expert either, but I also considered these until I found out that the Cayman S engines were prone to failure too!! This was a few years ago though so ~25k is likely to buy a pretty fresh (probably facelift?) example which I'd hope has a later updated engine by now.

Just thought it worth mentioning that a degree of care should be taken when looking at these too.


Cheers,
Grant

 

I've got a 996 Carrera 4 (manual ) - with 3.4 engine. This was the precursor to the 997 engine (it just got bigger through the ages basically) - the 997.1 engine had the same issues (bore score, IMS issues) - EXPENSIVE when (not if) it goes wrong.

I bought my 3.4 with a full inspection and it still ended up with a bore score (v rare for my model), and yes, it was 5 figures to get it fixed.

The only "Carrera" engine that does away with most of the problems is the 997.2 (last gen prior to the current 991)..... or a Turbo/GT car.
This also applies to Boxsters and some (iirc, not sure) Caymans.

That said, get one that's had the Hartech treatment (be wary of steel liners being put in the cylinders - imho not a good option), and you'll get a great car that also has resale-ablility due to the Hartech name.

Don't got for Tiptronic - they suck all the enjoyment out of the car (as somebody pointed out earlier).
The other things to bare in mind are the rads and a/c condensors rot due to the front-mounted design. Installing mesh behind the ducts in the bumper will fix it, but not until you spend £500+ on parts to get the rotten rads replaced.

Brakes can be pricey as are tyres. Suspension will start to be a consideration and can be another 4-figures.

The point I'm getting at is that the cars are relatively cheap to buy now, but still have a super/sports-car running costs.

In the last 12 months, I've had 4 new tires, new exhaust system (not through necessity, just wanted a new noise ), all new discs and pads, coilpacks and plugs, and a major service.
I've still got some arbs to sort out too.
I've done most of the work (not the service) myself and the parts run in to a few £kkkk.

£25k will get you into a Carrera easily, but you need to go in with your eyes WIDE open. An extra £10-15k will get you in to a Turbo (just), but you'd need that as a slush fund with a Carrera anyway.

Personally, I'm glad I didn't get a Turbo. Why? Well yes they are devastating movers, but they lose the N/A sound, and imho a bit boring. I love my C4: it's got a load of grunt as Hartech also fettled whilst the engine was being fixed. New exhaust as given it a great noise and it handles really well. Carreras are also going up in value (well, the 996 is ) as people are beginning to realise that the nails are slowly being whittled out and good cars are commanding a premium. I could sell mine tomorrow for about 25% more than I paid for it 3 yrs ago

Get yourself over to 911uk.com - ignore the beards and the people who haven't actually driven and RUN one. Get some cold hard facts.

FWIW, I was thinking of what to replace mine with. I'm struggling to think of a replacement: aside from a 997 Turbo (big money), not sure. It could end up as a weekend toy rather than a current daily driver.

Dan

http://hartech.org/