Porsche Owners Thread - If you own one or just like or hate them! :)

[Gibbo]

Im looking at a SY 997.1 tomorrow, if I buy it it will be going for a "scoredborescope" straight away.

Just not sure I can pull off the attention a SY 911 would get How do you find it Gibbo?

Fine m8, it gets attention but not bad or over crazy to be honest. People tend to ask how old is it, what is it worth, yeah I know cheeky buggers or just the comment wow nice car, particular if they get to see inside as mine has a very custom interior as the 1st owner went mental on the options list.

It simply suits the car and SY 997.1 cars are holding a vast premium over other colours, as very rare.

 

[Gibbo]

I have no doubt it will look better in the flesh. Got any pics of your interior?

I'm torn between a 997.1 C2S or a return to an E92 M3, this time a DCT.

I loved my Cayman S, not so keen on the 996 C4S I had. I hated my CSL on the road. I'm expecting this to be nearly as raw as the CSL.

Be interesting to see how this pans out.

Raw compared to CSL, depends on spec. I found the CSL always felt raw even when cruising. The C2S on the other hand when cruising feels far better than the CSL much better comfort, more torque, great sound system, heated sports seats, it's a far better tourer than CSL.

When you want to drive spirited or track work the C2S is very close, does the split personality way better than the CSL ever did. CSL is like a 996 GT3, there quite average as a road car, good for a blast and excel on track. A 997.1 C2S is a superb road car, the best car I have ever driven on a blast on some country roads, nothing comes close for me and on track it might not have the pace of CSL though there is practically nothing in it times wise, but feedback and fun the 911 owns the CSL. I know considering I owned a CSL and now own both an M3 and 911.

If I had the money I'd actually turn the 911 into the full blown track car, it would not necessarily be the quicker car but as a fun weekend car or fun factor on track the 911 is in a different league.

Today I did actually think if getting rid of it is such a good idea as I absolutely love the drive and looks and quality wise I've got one of the cleanest unique 911's out there.

E92 M3 all about the engine and DCT, superb. But handling, feel and fun factor as a drivers car the 911 owns it.

 

[Gibbo]

Pretty boring post, but winter is over so had all wheels of, washed them and washed fully under the arches, can see yellow again:

 

[Gibbo]

I have been looking out for a 997.1 S for a while now and have seen this at a good price: http://www.thecarmill.co.uk/used-PORSCHE-911-Blackburn-Lancashire-596610

It has all the options I am looking for (manual, sports chrono, PSE, adaptive seats, nav) and is just down the road from Hartech who I plan to call early next week to see if they will perform a pre purchase and bore scoring inspection. Is there anything that I am not seeing with this car or a reason to avoid even with the proper pre purchase checks?

Looks pretty good to me, quite a bit of mileage though so check for stuff like clutch has being done.

Before you pay for Hartechs time go and view it and get them to start it from cold and watch the exhaust pipes and if smoke comes from only one side for some time then it's got bore scoring.

As it's got no additional cooling and done 75k miles I'd be expecting there to be some scoring, could also be why it's cheap.

 

[Gibbo]

On your point of additional cooling, if you looked at a 996 C4S with the addtional turbo radiators, would this make a difference? I'm going to look at a C4S today, but from a very reputable specialist.

Any additional cooling is a good thing, scoring comes from a flaw in the cooling design of the engine, improve the cooling system and reduce chances of scoring.

 

[Gibbo]

If I can get a 997 GT3 Gen 2 that doesn't pull my pants down I think one of those, finally, but finding one is the real problem. If not and I can get a GT4 then I shall take it, but that is looking unlikely. If I can get neither sensibly, then I am thinking 991 C2S or even 997 Turbo S. I have the option on a C4S 997 Gen 2 at the very right money, from my father, so might take that as a sensible route and short term change. Not my 911 preference but a fantastic incredibly well looked after car for (relatively) pennies. I was also considering a 360CS and Gallardo SL but frankly they are more than I can afford in the current mental market.

The ONLY concern is the cars I am looking at (bar C4S/GT4) are due to take a bath price wise, I just feel it in my water. I could go and spend say 90K on a GT3 and find out next year it's work 55K. Now that is unlikely to that extent, but there were 997 Gen 1 GT3's in the low 50's 6 months back, today they are all 85K.

Remember that stunning grey GT3 997.1 I very nearly purchased, had ceramics, yellow seatbelts and was about 50,000 miles and was about 47k, OH WHY DID I NOT BUY IT. Like you say be worth closer to 70k now.

Still I've had a glorious drive out today, the 997.1 flat 6 with PSE and highflow cats sounds absolutely glorious, far far nicer noise than the newer cars.

 

[Gibbo]

Housey, what's your opinion on the 996 C4S? I am considering buying one. I know the C2 is possibly that little bit sharper, but the wide body of the C4S is the only 996 shape I can get on with (and the Turbo).

C4S was probably the best looking 996 along with the Turbo, still horrid front-ends though but C4S I'd say is a good bet with a 996.

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there

Well I've pretty much cleaned everything on the car, exterior re-waxed in project32 to top up what Autobrite did. All interior cleaned, engine bay cleaned, wheel wells all cleaned. Car is absolutely gleaming and it makes one smile when people say nice new car mate, its not new its 10 years old.

She looks better today than when I picked her up four years ago.

Just a few pictures:

When I think about selling the car, I start getting crazy thoughts of just keeping it along side the Mustang and M3 or cancel the Mustang and just go completely bonkers and supercharge the 911. Had a few hours drive today, I don't think any car will ever surpass the driving enjoyment of a 911 except for another Porsche or something out of the prancing horse stable. Such a sorted car and its how they come out the box.

 

[Gibbo]

Gibbo, have you added the 997.2 rear light clusters? As I thought your car was a 997.1 car. That's the only thing I think that makes the 997 look a little old was the rear light clusters.

Yes. Dectanes as OEM would need a new bumper, but they are superb, they look OE and completely transformed the rear of the car.

 

[Gibbo]

Very few cars can pull of yellow but the 997 does it well.

Out of curiosity, is the rear wing standard/part of a spec pack? Briefly toyed with the idea of a 997 before buying the M3 and thought they looked so much more balanced with a rear wing, but very few seemed to have it.

Porsche O.E. aerokit option when ordering new. Very few Carreras have the option and those that do have increased in value substancially, especially if the car itself is a good specification and in good condition.

Will be selling mine soon, be interesting to see what I get for it, no idea what to advertise it at, was thinking around 30k.

 

[Gibbo]

Not having a good day. Few personal items gone wrong and then....

Snapped a front spring on the pork. 2x new springs, dampers and 4x new tyres alongside the service and MOT. Ouch.

I was fortunate when one of my rear springs snapped, was still under warranty so they changed the pair on the rear.

Shall be putting on a pair of new front tyres soon, current ones are down to 3-4mm and cracked so gonna make sure its got fresh MPSS all round before I sell it.

 

[Gibbo]

Yep, loads of tread on the fronts, but cracking around outer edge. Doesn't inspire confidence. Rears are almost to wear indicators.

Bridgestone Potenzas on at the mo, asked him to chuck MPS n2's on.

Do you use OPCs for servicing Gibbo, or indies?

OPC for the official service intervals to keep the book stamped and on top of that I use local indy for anything other than service work where the OPC price is stupid.

I see your in Cheshire, so look up Sports and Classic, ask for Mike and tell him I sent you, absolutely top guy and he knows these cars better than any OPC, he can rebuild you an engine, gear box or diff or fix a fried ECU, that is how good the guy is and he has employed OPC master techs.

I also change the oil on my car every 6000 miles as well, do that myself, very easy.


Also do not fit Michelin PS2 N2 to your 911, just buy Michelin Pilot Super Sports from Tyreleader or Openeo, far cheaper, last twice as long and offer more grip in all conditions. As your not using Porsche warranty why fit N Spec tyres?

 

[Gibbo]

It's with Mike already . I'm in Macc, so didn't fancy driving on a broken spring further than I had to this morning...

He is your man, and another Macc lad, I am from Macc originally also.

Say hello to Mike for me.

 

[Gibbo]

When buying a 997.2 from a dealer is it worth getting a pre purchase inspection? I rang the porsche dealership closest to the car I linked in my last post and they will only do 111 point inspections on site, if an inspection is worth it then can anyone recommend a company that would inspect the car at the dealers location?

Ask the dealer to drive it there for you, the specialist I got my 911 from did this on the provision I paid for the inspection even if I decided to not buy the car. Fair enough!

 

[Gibbo]

This is where I am with the spec for a GT4, colour I need to think about, but don't think Ceramics make sense for track/road use. Outside of that I don't need extra lights or suchlike so this seems a fair spec.

Spoiler

Ceramics would be a must for me so unless this is a dedicated track car I'd be choosing them

 

[Gibbo]

Gibbo,

Any pics of your interior? The level of care you take is epic mate and the car looks absolutely spot on.

Here is a few mate:

How it looks now with alcantara steering wheel and gear knob:

 

[Gibbo]

Really loving the your yellow interior detail Gibbo. Sadly I think if I'm ever in the position to get into a 911 it'll be whatever I can afford rather than holding out for something a bit special.

996 turbos seem to be holding their value really well, in fact they've gone up a little. I think we're close to the point that the mere mortal won't be able to get near a 911 turbo any more. The 996 is going to be out of sight soon as the ropey examples are written off by chavs and the minty fresh ones are left.

All 911's have appreciated even the 996 models which was the most unloved with 993 and 997 variations seeming to be the favourite and most sought after.

Still I remember 996's dropping to as little as 7k yet now all 996 911's are back over 10k with the nicer ones around 15k.

Like you say a real nice example of a 996 is the well spec'd C4S examples and they still fetch good money, just like aerokit 997's are now fetching very good money.

 

[Gibbo]

The 997.1 must be nearly at the sweet spot now with plenty of decent looking examples about. Nice 996 C4S's are almost the same money as them. Also trying to find a decent manual 996 C4S cab (my poser's dream car) is very tough. If only I had a spare £20k hanging around. Ho hum...

On a side note, passed a lovely black 996 turbo cab on the way home from work. Also hard to find and prices are rising!

Not really a nice 996 C4S examples are around 20k. 997.1's at 20k are high mileage, poor spec of feature the dreaded tiptronic slush box.

Clean, lower mileage examples of 997.1 with good specification (manual) are in the 25-35k region.

In short

996 C2/C4/S
10k = Bottom of market pile of junk
15k = Get a decent example
20k = 996 C4S in excellent condition
20-30k = C4S in perfect condition or 996 Turbo

997.1 C2/C4/S
20k = Bottom of market or very high miles
25k = Nice examples
30k = Low mileage with very driver focused specification
30-40k = Perfect exceptionally clean with top spec and low miles

997.2 C2/C4/S
30k = Bottom of market and very few cars to none or a previous written off/stolen car, AVOID!
35k = Around starting price, some OK examples, tend to be higher mileage.
40k = Better spec, lower mileage etc.
45k = Clear great examples here.
50k+ = Special edition cars, though GTS still over 60k

 

[Gibbo]

I have it on my car and I like it most people seem to recommend it.

Also the C4S is the sweet sport on the 991 and the C2S on the 997.x

This surprisingly all the reviewers seemed to prefer the C4S in the 991 as a drivers car, the C2S in the 991 is extremely fast but for whatever reason it seems a bit unloved.

 

[Gibbo]

So then......**** load more GT4's on there way to the UK

Now....R8 V10 or GT4....decisions decisions

Now that's real hard decision, that V10 is delicious!