Porsche 911 (996) Help

[stats007]

What model was it? I went to see some today to get an idea of what year / colour / equipment / wheels I'd prefer.

I like the idea of a Targa but they didn't start until '02 in the 996 and also it has the 3.6L engine so is 100kg heavier than the 3.4L Carrera 2. Still undecided on manual / tiptronic.

C4S is out as again only appeared in '02 and to be honest they look a bit fussy.

993 just doesn't do it for me so that makes it easier I suppose!

 

[awg454]

hi mine was a 2000 c2 tiptronic s ocean blue savanna full leather pretty much full spec ie sat nav heated electric seats etc etc full porsche history and warranty until aug 2007,not everyones colour scheme but i like it!! i had no problem selling it! so someone else likes it.

 

[stats007]

Porsche do make some hideous leather interiors it has to be said! Then again Mercedes Designo range aren't exactly tasteful in some guises.

Any photos of your old car? I fancy the ruffled leather, heated seats and sound pack - not bothered about a lot of the other stuff.

 

[nickg]

not much to add to what is already here.
but make sure you can live with the far lower standard of interior finish and comfort than you are used to with the SL, before you change.
The interior always put me off the 996 whenever I test drove one.

 

[hawk20]

I'm going to sell my SL in the New Year and am thinking about replacing it with a Porsche 911 C2S. It's one of the only cars I can think of that has decent residuals and offers more than the SL in terms of similar running costs and reliability / performance. Budget is around £28k so looking at a 40k mile '99 car. Not keen on a convertible or the added weight of a C4. Any advice / web resources from people? I imagine a Porsche forum would be a good place to start though thought I'd start here first as I know a few people have had / wanted them.

Cheers

Seems a shame to sell the SL just when it has reached the age for relatively low depreciation.

 

[stats007]

I've had three SLs - don't fancy an R230 unless it's an SL55 so after a change really. I can always come back!

 

[stats007]

not much to add to what is already here.
but make sure you can live with the far lower standard of interior finish and comfort than you are used to with the SL, before you change.
The interior always put me off the 996 whenever I test drove one.

The reason I'm changing is that I want a car that weighs considerably less; you can't have both so I'm happy to forego the SLs 'hewn from granite' build for the performance increase.

 

[Paul Grainger]

I bought a late 1999 C4 996 when I sold my CLK 320 cabrio earlier this year. I actually went out to buy a 993 (I had read about all of the 996 'problems') but after driving several 993's, I drove a 996 on recommendation from a Porsche dealer and decided immediately that this was the car for me.
The 993 does have the 'better' engine - but the actual number of 996 failures is less than 4% with engines up to 100k miles. This is still a lot, but the car is so great to drive that I was prepared to take the risk. The 993 interior is very dated, the controls are heavy and the car is not 'easy to drive'. The 996 by comparison makes a nice car for everyday driving, and the performance is shattering. 996's can now be bought at a reasonable cost, and parts are plentiful on e-bay. These cars depreciate faster than the earlier 993's - but they still hold their value better than MB's........
Dealer sevicing and parts costs are comparable to MB.

If you are a DIY car man, then the 996 is much easier to work on than the 993. I changed my RMS with the car on ramps in my garage - the whole job took 4 hours and that included a good clean-up of the gearbox when it was out.
If you want one, buy one. The build quality is excellent - better than the newer model MB's. The body is galvanised - they don't rust. Porsches don't have the gadgets that the MB's have, but at the end of the day, you will be buying a sports car.

If you need luggage room, go for a C2 over a C4. The C4 front AWD unit takes up 50% of the front 'boot' space. If you want extremely stable handling, and PSM stability control as standard, go for the C4.

Choose you interior colour carefully. Metropole blue (very dark blue) and black look excellent. Some of the other colours are revolting. The entire interior (other than parts of the centre console) is leather - any damage is very expensive to put right.

There are plenty of 996's out there, take your time when choosing. I quickly found that the cheaper ones were tatty - and very expensive to make 'perfect'. I bought a Durametric OBD programmer when I was looking for my Porsche, as well as reading and resetting fault codes, this allows the number of engine run hours to be checked. This is how dealers check recorded mileages - this figure cannot be altered (unlike the mileage). Average speed is taken as 30mph, so 1000 hours should be 30k miles (or thereabouts). Interestingly, some of the 'low mileage' models that I looked at did not match up..........

Paul G
Happy Porsche 996 owner

 

[stats007]

Thanks Paul. I am pretty much decided on a 2001 (2002MY) 996 in black or dark blue / grey with a black or very light interior. I really don't like blue or grey leather unless it's very dark. Am hoping to get a Targa, but don't mind a C2 or C4 - tiptronic / manual. I'll wait for the car that is the right price and ticks all the boxes - no doubt I'll sell it in 18 months for a different one anyway!

 

[nickg]

For me the 911 is one of those cars that I'll just have to have at some stage - just not sure when at the mo'.
I hope the one you buy is good enough to live up to all your expectations - I'm sure it will be.
nick

 

[scotth_uk]

Same for me. I'd like a 997 Carrera 2 or the 997 GT3 RS eventually.

For me the 911 is one of those cars that I'll just have to have at some stage - just not sure when at the mo'.
nick

 

[GregE240]

Andy

After all your help since owning my SL, a chance to give something back at last....

I nearly bought a 996 about 3 years ago, then my wife walked out after conducting an affair for several months. Having to pay a mortgage with only 1 salary was bad enough, never mind financing a 996 as well! Anyway....

I test drove a 3.4 C4 manual, which was a beat to drive. It felt so sure footed and composed, really solid handling car, whereas the C2 I drove immediately after felt a little nervous at the front in comparison. Its true the boot space is a little tight, but there is space behind the main seats if you fold the rears down (which, unless you have small children is what you'll most likely do...)

I also drove a C2 Tip. Didn't like it - at all. As mentioned, the front felt skittish and nowhere near as planted as the C4, and I just did not like the gearbox at all. It just felt, well, wrong. Unless you intend to commute into a city regluarly in it, I really would suggest a manual. I've driven both a "normal" manual and one with a short shift kit, the latter feeling much nicer and at less than £300, a worthwhile mod.

My money would go on either a C4 or a C4S - I rather like the latter, and it has a sports exhaust as standard. The Porsche sports exhaust gives the water cooled flat 6 a lovely bark, something sadly missing on the OEM exhaust cars.

A Turbo would be on my dream list, for sure. I've driven a friends in Belgium and France, and have driven several at Bruntingthorpe in excess of 180mph - all felt utterly solid.

Take your pick, as there are loads out there.

Best of luck in your search - I'm ever so slightly jealous of your predicament.

All the best
Greg

The RMS issue is well documented and easily fixed. What isn't however is the crankcase weaknesses - this is simply down to poor manufacturing techniques. Apparently, it has got better with the 3.6 and also in the 997 engines.

Buy a Porsche warranty. If needed, it will pay for itself many, many times over.

 

[stats007]

Thanks Greg. The 996 C4S has the sports chassis, suspension and Turbo's brakes & body amongst other things - unfortunately it's a bit out of my league at the moment (£35k min) - maybe after this one I'll make the step up!

As yet I haven't driven a tiptronic but will give it a go and see how they fare to a manual - knowing my luck a car will pop up with the transmission I'd rather not have but tick all the other boxes!

 

[scotth_uk]

I also drove a C2 Tip. Didn't like it - at all.

I hate the Tip gearbox with a passion. So bad that I thought it was faulty.

 

[stats007]

Well that's two for the Tip - two against - I'm driving one on saturday (in a 3.6L C4) so will let you know what I think .

 

[High-Lo]

How about this one Stats?

The garage owners are members of the Porsche forum that I'm a member of. Worth a viewing if you don't mind the grey leather?

 

[graeme73s]

In truth Stats you have to go and drive both the air cooled and water cooled variety and then make your own mind up. My other half has always hankered after a Porsche having put up with my addiction and numerous race meetings. She's only been driving for the past 7 years but this was her opinion.
"Yesterday morning I took the missus down to Paragon to look at a metallic black 993 tip (she only has an automatic license) that they have for sale. She has an alpina 3 series coupe that I was looking to part exchange for the Porsche. I know the chaps at Paragon very well and they were happy to give me the keys and for me to take her out on a test drive. Well a long story short she drove the 993 for about 12 miles and we returned to the dealership but did not fancy it as it looked more metallic grey than black. Whilst chating to Jamie (one of the salesman and a very nice chap) she fell in love with a 996 C4 tip, black with black hood cab so we were handed the keys.
In her words, I would like to buy what I want and not what you think I should have. So fair enough I took her out in the 996 cab. Within half a mile she said this is a tinny piece of crap, the build quality is worse than my bloody smart car, she pulled over and said you drive it back. I take my hat of to Kerry. She has never driven a Porsche before but could discern the difference between a Porsche built as a quality product and a Porsche built with profit in mind. Over the years she has been a passenger in a number of Porsche's but has never ever driven one. I know these remarks are inflamatory but I could not resist posting it."
I posted this on Pistonheads with some amusing responses. As I said originally you have to make your own mind up. 996's will always loose money and in my opinion are an inferior product. Post 2000 is important. 993 and previous air cooled are a far better product. Personally a 3.6 965 Turbo is the last and the best of the air cooled Porsche's you can buy. It really depends on what you want but if you can find one you won't stop grinning and it will only go up in value.

 

[stats007]

How about this one Stats?

The garage owners are members of the Porsche forum that I'm a member of. Worth a viewing if you don't mind the grey leather?

Looks nice and the price is sensible but I can't live with grey leather .

Graeme I know where you're coming from - but I have driven a 993 and whilst they're solid I don't want a 'classic' car. I love W124 Coupes but they're too dated inside and ultimately living with a car that's an issue I have with the R129 - I want something modern.

Modern Mercedes are no different - lightweight plasticy materials to save weight and cost but at the end of the day I want the faster, safer more reliable 996 over a 993.

 

[stats007]

Well having driven a manual and a tiptronic C2 (both 3.6s) I'd have to say I prefer the manual. The auto wasn't bad but then it wasn't anywhere near as good as I thought it would be.

The Targa is out as having seen two of them they rattle and shake and have a fair amount of additional wind noise at speed.

Again looked at the 993 - nice but they are definitely classic as opposed to modern.

Just the C4 to try but I have a feeling a C2 Manual is the way to go .

 

[nickg]

Is it worth you driving an SL60 first???
All I can tell you is that after my 24hrs with a 997 C4S manual a couple of months ago I was delighted to get back in the SL60, despite the gorgeousness of the porsche.