Cheeky Jim

Hi All,

Just wondered if anyone had experience of day to day living with a Porsche 911?

I am thinking of investing one as an everyday car, a little bit away from the dull Mondeo/Audi A4 type motorway munchers. I have been looking at Mid 80's 911's in the £12-15k price bracket.

If I do get one, I would be looking to do a 500 mile round trip once a week and then general pottering about in it.

Questions really surround the sturdiness of the car, fuel economy, price to fix for general items. Assuming I get a tip-top car, would those mileages be feasible? Are there any horror items i should be looking out for?

I have tried to find a Porsche BBS but with little success, so if anyone could point me in the right direction, it would be muchos appreciated.

BTW - Still gonna keep the Scoob, I think the Mrs might shoot me if i get rid of it!

Ta in advance.

Jim

carl

You need to find a Porsche specialist who will do the maintenance cheap. One of the downsides is that the oil capacity is 12 litres, so it's going to cost a lot in fluids when you service it.

I'm considering one of these for the missus -- anyone know if a kid (8 yr old) would fit in the back seats (just short trips around the town -- got the Scoob for long-distance stuff)?

Some well-priced ones on www.911virgin.com (the E-reg one with a cream leather interior looks particularly nice)

neilb

i had an old one (911sc) which was an excellent everyday car.
it had 150k on the clock and never missed a beat.

must be serviced at a specialist. I used machtech.

good fun car!

Brendan Hughes

Test drove a 1988 model for 40 mins when I made up my mind to have the Scoob. Hated the 911. This is in direct answer to your question (live with it day to day), I am not a pure race driver and would not have had a Mondeo for daily driving.

I wanted a car to chuck around and live with day to day. Two points stuck in my mind (this was 3 years ago);
No power steering - a total ******* to get round the A-road roundabout.
Utterly crap ergonomics - cockpit designed by Stevie Wonder.

Since then, always wondered if I was odd for hating them when so many others love them. Maybe I just had a bad test drive.

Oh, get the newest model, there was something wrong with the MY85-86 ones, gearbox I think. Must be fixed by now...

BJH

Cheeky Jim

Neil, What sort of costs are the services? Can you remember?

Do you know roughly the intervals?

Carl, I had a look at 911Virgin, good site, like the humour - some nice cars too.. I might give them a bell!

Ta,

Jamie

carl

Found this place too, http://www.jzmachtech.com/. They do servicing. It looks like around 140+VAT for a 6k service and just over 300+VAT for a 12k (for an 84-86 era 911). My mate who's got one reckons he puts 120 quid's worth of Mobil 1 in it every time it's serviced, so those prices aren't bad.

944 looks a lot cheaper to service.

MarkJackon

No power steering, awww

bloody big girls blouse, get down the gym, repeat until you have some muscles and then enjoy the extra feedback available through un tainted steering.

Brendan Hughes

neilb

servicing was about 350-400 every 6000 miles. I used to oil change every 3000 miles which worked out at 125 quid (11 litres synthetic isn't cheap)

Machtech do fixed priced servicing as do a lot of specialists. Only shocks were price of parts (but cars are so well made this didn't happen too often)

neilb

doh!
just read the link that gives machtechs website. Jonas (he is the owner) is a friendy bloke and will give advice (just give him a call).

imho 911 is better than 944. Interior certainly is crap but i have never driven a car that has such a smile factor (including a scoob)
They can be a bit hairy in the wet and parking without power steering is hard work but overall should be reliable. Imagine a ferrari you can drive round town every day, i dont think so....

Dirty_Den

Hi Jim -

It might be worth giving Evo magazine a call on 01789 490215.

Issue 19 had a buyers' guide for LHD supercars - the guide covered the 911 and 550 Maranello.

They'll do you a photocopy of the article for a fiver, as they've sold out of back issues of that issue. The turnaround for article copies is quite quick, I've used them before.

Cheers,

Den

Mufasa

I've got an 89 3.2, and I absolutely love it!

I don't use it every day purely to keep the miles off it.
Get some stainless steel heat exchangers and the only thing you will have to shell out for is keeping up the service history.

If you are not too bothered about keeping that up then as said before do the 6k (& the 12K's if you are a bit handy) services yourself.

I do the 6k's on mine and take it to Steve Bull in Devizes for the 12k's 01380725444.

I've had mine for 4 years, the only things I've had to replace were track control rods (seized), tyres (because of the rods!), oil pressure sender, battery (let it go too flat over the winter ).

I looked at getting an SC, 3.2, C2, or C4.
I reckon the 3.2 is the cheapest to run, pretty quick, with the least potential for agro. And you can supercharge 'em...

The only thing I would warn you about is if you are using it every day then be careful in the rain! I spun mine 3 times in 10 days when I first got it. Got the hang of it now tho!

[Edited to say get a post '87 one, it has a better gearbox]

Muf

[Edited by Mufasa - 5/18/2002 9:15:18 AM]

AbnormalAnimal

Have a look at these guys, they do a lifetime maintenance plan for not so silly money,plus supply porsches too!!

http://www.hartech.u-net.com/about.htm

buyers guide too:

http://www.hartech.u-net.com/guide.htm

[Edited by AbnormalAnimal - 5/18/2002 10:28:29 AM]

Cheeky Jim

Cheers guys,

All this is great - Still wondering really. Me thinks a few test drives might sway me!!! Actually, I don't really need persuading, it's more about making sure that I am not going to invest in something that is going to cost me an arm and a leg to run. The Scoob costs enough and I am not sure if a 15 yr old Porsche is still asking for trouble!!

However, you have to at least have a bash eh!! It'll be a Porsche or an Audi A6 2.4 Tiptronic thingy - they are cheap as chips at the mo!!!

Thanks again,

Jamie

carl

Originally posted by Mufasa:What do stainless heat exchangers do for you? Are these the air-cooling vanes on the engine?Is that the G-50 gearbox? Lots on the 911virgins site make mention of the G50 box, so I assumed it was something special/desirable?


[Edited by carl - 5/18/2002 11:01:12 AM]

ChristianR

iTrader: (1)

the older 911 have a very heavy clutch like the 80/up to i think 93ish......

Mufasa

Yep that's the Getrag G50, quick way to tell if the car has one is where reverse is. If it's top left it's a G50.

Stainless heat exchangers are essentially the exhaust manifolds.
They have an outer shroud to heat up the cabin air.
Mild steel ones rust like hell, shell out for some stainless ones about £600 for the pair, problem solved.

I've got an old Saab turbo I use every day, and that thing has cost me **** loads more to run than the 911!!

Buy one!
Buy one!
Buy one!
Buy one!
Buy one!
Buy one!
Buy one!
Buy one!

Mufasa

Just to add, there's nothing really wrong with the pre-87 box, just the G50 is a nicer and quicker change. And it's proved to be fine with another 100bhp put through it!

carl

My favourite (may cost a bit more to run, though ):
911 3.3 Turbo. 1988 F-registered. If you`ve been looking for a 911 turbo for a while and have been disappointed with what you`ve seen then this could well be the car. Breathtakingly original and as it should be. No stories, lovely gearbox. If we kept a collection of Porsches this one would be going in ! Full main dealer service history from new (although I think we`d use a specialist from here on in). All the usual turbo features including a/c (as usual assume it`ll need at least re-gassing). £21,995

Mufasa

Are all the 3.3T's 4 speed?

and a Porsche forum: Rennlist

Cheeky Jim

Just found this forum and list of over 100 911's for sale.

Some nice late 1990 old shape models - very tempting!!

(sorry - not sure how to link it properly!)

www.911uk.com

Jamie

carl

A thought -- are that era of 911s (84-91ish) carburetted or injected?

Cheeky Jim

I have no idea!!

I suspect the latter '88 onwards are going to be fuel injected.

Jamie

hugh

I've got a '92 964RS as well as the Impreza.

The Porsche is cheaper to run than the Impreza (mainly because of the lack of depreciation), and is a great deal more fun, and challenging to drive. The Impreza is quieter and easier to drive which makes it a better day to day car.

For 12-15k you would get a late 911 with a G50 box or a LHD 964.
Personally I would go for a LHD 964 Carrera 2 if you can put up with the LHD.

MarkCSC

this is a heat exchanger off a early 911



Should cost about £200 - £350 to replace Bloody big aren't they!

carl

Are 911's difficult to keep cool in traffic?

Gastro

Most are fuel injected - the earlier ones have mechanical fuel injection.

A word of warning be *very careful* buy a 964 911 carrera..... MY '92 onwards are OK - but the '89, '90 and '91 MY's are a nightmare - oil leaks mainly - an inherent design fault with the barrel / piston design --> believe me its expensive to fix - circa £3.5K upwards (ask JZ Maztech or any reputable dealer)..... it cannot be simply re-gasketted as this only lasts about a year before they leak again

964 Servicing is the most expensive of all the 911's - the major service takes 2 days - because the exhaust and undertray need removing to adjust the tappets..... oh and the dual mass flywheels are prone to breaking - a snip at circa £1K to be fitted.....

If I were to ever buy a 964 again (very unlikely!) - get it from a Porsche dealer with a decent warranty. THE 911 to have is the 993 - virtually bullet proof and the last of the air cooled flat 6's...
Alternatively pre '89 supersports with the G50 'boxes are also a good bet.....

Good luck,

Gastro

warburw

Hi,
I have a 911SC, which I'm now using as an everyday car.
Up to recently my wife used it as her daily driver but she
now drives the Legacy, as she needs space for the new baby
as well as the dog.
We've put 50K on it in the last 4-5 years. It's needed a
fair bit of maintenance- starter motor, alternator, brake
servicing... that sort of thing. It stranded me once, when
I stripped a driveshaft, and I've had to bumpstart it a
few times when it was going through starter-motor episodes,
so I wouldn't call it particularly reliable.
Servicing is annual/12K. I use a semi-synthetic oil, not
Mobil-1, which I think is OTT for an old engine design.

It is, of course, a wonderful car to drive. I disagree
with comments on the heaviness of the clutch and steering,
which I feel are nicely weighted and well balanced (ie
similar feel to them).
The mid year gearboxes ("915"- early '70s to mid eighties)
are a bit agricultural, but work well enough. The later
("G50") is much better, by all accounts.

Porsche pretty much sorted the handling during the '70s,
so any of the later cars are excellent. You have to be
pretty "brave" to spin a 911 on a public road, if you
ask me: I've only managed it on snow, though I suppose
if you push it hard before you've got to grips with the
driving technique you are setting yourself up for a fall.

Someone asked if they get too hot- the engine doesn't
(at least, not in the UK) but the air-con is weak in
the earlier cars (I stripped it- it's dead weight for
little benefit) so the cabin can get hot in summer.
The back seats are tight for a child seat (and only have
three point belts after the mid eighties, I think) but
OK for smaller kids (up to 10-12ish?).

It's a perfectly practical car as a daily driver, and
generally well regarded by other road users (I find
people pull over to let me pass).
Later cars (early 90s) are more sophisticated and so
more civilised. See other comments about potential
problems, which I don't have experience to comment on.

Fuel "economy" depends a lot on driving style- I get
low twenties most of the time, but if you cruise on
the motorway you can do a lot better. The newer the car
the better the economy, I think, as Porsche have a policy
of not increasing power without also improving mpg.
After a few weeks in the Legacy Judy drove the 911
again and commented on how much better it was to drive,
if that tells you anything, and that was just for a five
minute potter through the village.

There are various quotes ("Porsche- there's no substitute",
"everyone should own a 911 at some point in their life",
"every real driver ... ends up in a 911") that give some
idea of what they are like. The car isn't a legend for
nothing.

Cheers,
W.

Ralf

Try www.Flat-6.net

I think it's american but certainly has some useful info.


Ralf

clarence

I think 911s from the mid-70s are already fuel injected, at least from the 2.7 onwards. The SC & the Carrera are all fuel injected, with the Carrera (post 83) having Bosch Motronic system.
I think the G50 is 5-speed, the previous ones are all 4-speeds. Turbos from 89 onwards have 5-speed gearbox.
Never heard of any overheating problems in traffic, never saw or heard Porsches overheating in the Hong Kong summer heat. In fact, there were many Ferraris catching engine fire in Hong Kong due to the heat, that was during the 80's anyway.
I guess the rear can take a 8 yr old kid.
BTW, I think 911virgin sends their cars to JZ for pre-sale servicing.