996 c4s to 997.2 c4s

Hello, I have taken a deposit for my 02 c4s, and was thinking of going on to a 09 c4s. I ve seen one in great condition, all services to Porsche dealer, with around 45k miles. Usual PSE, PSM,PASM etc. a bit bland though , black on black car with black turbo wheels (original on build). Seems though this car was missing some charisma, i mean it was not feeling like an occasion when inside of it. And makes me think of keeping my 02 996, which was excellent condition, manual, sports cats, designtek exhaust, kw v2; every engine hose replaced, ims, rms clutch changed 10k miles ago. And a rare pts flamenco red interior on arctic silver with all aluminum build options. Mileage was 45k miles as well. The price difference is 'just" 11k pounds, but am not sure of how much of a upgrade it is in reality. Anyone made some change. I guess not having ims nightmares helps in the case of the 997.2.

Drive one first then decide. I have seen 997 C4S with flamenco too lifts the interior.

I had a similar dilemma and decided to keep the 996 4S, and bought a 987 boxster s for some summer fun. As you say the 997 whilst a great car, felt too modern for me, the 996 had more presence.

my bro in law has one and i have a 996 c2, his is lovely and does the job! however i agree that it lacks a sense of occasion. mine has the aero kit, where as his is standard and i know its taste but i do think mine looks the part, i suppose a similar looking 997 would work? his is very very good at doing everything, you need to work mine and excuse the rawness. the clutch, gearbox and the steering all feel mechanical, his is PDK and would be a delight to cover ground in. I know what you mean and i dont think i can put my finger on it! His is an excellent everyday car and while mine could be, i think something more modern would be better for that job.

I have driven 991.2 GTS and 992 C4S, but while there are the best cars i have driven, and ridiculously fast for me, i felt that they are very modern for me. Eventhough I am a young guy (36). Here we do not have a big pool of cars to choose from in second hand market, and with this Brexit thing, means that imports from UK will not be that much of a goof deal anymore. In general, most of the cars here are safe bet optioned out (usually black on black, or silver on black.

Depends what you are looking for, and how you want to use the car. Both great cars. 997 more modern, more tech & toys, more refined. 996 more analogue and more of an occasion, plus also becoming more of a modern classic (and rarer sight). Most likely you will probably need to add some extra maintenance costs to the 997 as sounds yours is already up to scratch. Grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, but doesn't taste the same.

It's all relative. The 997 felt more like a Jag compared to my 996. Compared to my modern Merc, the 997 feels like my old 996 used to.

If you're intending to use the car an £11k 'cost to change' for a car that's 7 years newer seems like an obviously change to me. If you're not panning to use it much (and 45k on a 2002 car implies that you're not) I can understand your dilemma. However if your concern is about long term reliability and the possibility that an unexpected big bill might come out of the blue it's a whole different matter. It was the main reason why (in 2013) I changed my 996C4 for a 996 Turbo. My view then was that I'd rather spend £8k-£12k to get into a newer. better car than possibly having to spend a similar amount to fix my existing car. In my experience, peace of mind always costs money. :wink:

And there's the reason older cars reach classic status & become increasingly desirable. Newer (faster & bigger) isn't always better. Just depends what you want from a car. On the 997.2, the new DFI engine is well known for lacking excitement & sound, whereas 996 C4S is oppositie. Just something to consider as sounds like you like more of a driving event looking how you spec'd your current car. My guess is you will get bored of the new one if driving like-for-like. The 996 C4S is an all-time great. The 997.2 4S isn't. But end of day, still a great car in the scheme of things.

Keep 'your' 996 C4S. Shortly after buying mine my wife managed to get a 997.1 4S on a 24-hour test drive for my birthday. On that one day I drove them back to back and I preferred mine. I have a sneaky suspicion that values of the 996 C4S will rise higher than the 997 C4S over time. I preferred it to my 997.1 Turbo, which I've now sold. Don't let it be the one that got away.

Ooooh this sounds like a real bad dilemma. My money says if you get rid of your 996 you will have a little cry to yourself at a later date. If you love your 996 and the though of selling it troubles the pit of your stomach.........well, I think you know the answer.

I've not made the change in ownership from one to the other, but I've driven a few examples of both back to back. I do get what you're saying if you're comparing a red interior car with a black one, I find black on black dull in any car frankly. But are you comparing a manual 996 to a 997 with PDK? If you are I think you would find the 996 more fun to drive, I know I did. Unfortunately the 997.2 are hard to find in manual but back to back I thought it a more entertaining car all round than the 996 and the only area I preferred in the 996 was the sound. But that is easy to fix as I've now done on mine with a switchable exhaust. The interior quality of the 997 is also much better than on the 996, and its just a nicer place to be in. On mine a DSC controller instead of the original PASM controller plus lowered springs and a geo set-up to close to GT3 settings have all moved the driving experience between the two cars even further apart.

Yes, i do compare a manual 996 to a PDK equipped car which i believe moves the scale to the 996 side. I understand that if it was an everyday car i would love the PDK more, but as it just for occasional joy drives then i like the feeling of manual. I can see the difference between the 2 interiors, but am nmot sure if it is quality i wouuld say it is better, eventhough the plastic parts on the centre console seem harder wearing on the 997.2. On my 996 thhough are still good as new. I think it helps that my carf has the aluminium pack as it seems harder to scratch. Thought all cars that have PASM came lowered? As the car i saw has the M030 option listed, which seems it is Sports chassis (lowered -20 mm) . Seemed low enough for me, compared to a 997.2 targa a friend of mine had which looked a bit like a tractor. Yes this is what I am afraid of, i have lost my sleep from the time i took deposit for the car. I started crying inside from the moment the person who viewed it, said was interested in it! Regarding Maintenance costs as tob_today mentioned, bar the mods, i guess the normal servicing and maintainance is more expensive on the 997.2. I get the point of more reliable cars, and the prices as theys tand now, I can get into a tip 996 turbo with almost the same money as my c4s, a manual turbo for 9k GBP on top of mine but both with 80k miles, which for a turbo is not much but makes me think that mine has almost half of that. So i wanted to leave out other options on the same platform, eventhough the manual 996 turbo , would more probably be the best option out of 3, for appreciation in the future, and fun/reliability. And as a post is useless without photos, I have attached some of my car so you can understand my dilemma

Ooooh that's a bit special mate. The though of selling mine makes me feel a bit Ill. I think you will be making a mistake by selling it. Sell in haste, repent at leisure!!!

I sold mine in 2006 and I'm still looking for it 14 years later. I tried the dealer i sold it to but no luck. It's an easy one to spot as it was a 02 black Manual and I fitted a three speaker customer door enclosure. If it's out there please do get in touch.