Moving to a 996..

Hi all, First post here on the 911 forum! Looking forward to experiencing a Porsche for the first time - the trail that led me here has been from an E85 3.0i Z4, to 3 Jaguar F Types (including a RWD V8, which I've just sold), and have been missing something with a manual gearbox and a bit more of a drivers car. I was doing 20k miles a year before coronavirus, and have a company car (I work for Jaguar Land Rover in engineering) which I'd just pile the miles on. Now that I'm working from home a lot more, I'm wondering if it's a realistic thought to get rid of the company car, and move to something a bit more fun and affordable to replace it - which has led me to a 996! I love the idea of 4 seats in a compact sports car, with a manual gearbox, and the 911 is something I'm really growing to want to experience. I'm looking to get a car with reasonably high mileage (around 100k miles), so if I do 10k a year for a few years, it won't be the end of the world. My big question is, is it realistic to rely on a 996 to do that sort of mileage a year? Or will it be unlikely to be that useable on a daily basis? I've done a good amount of research on the key things that "can" go wrong, and I'm a fairly handy home mechanic so I'm not afraid of a bit of maintenance. If so, what are the key resale features that people look for in a 996 now? And what's the most popular variant (C2, C4, cab, convertible etc..)? As I'll be doing a few motorway miles, finding one with cruise control will be important (although I believe a retrofit isn't impossible?). Apologies for the long post, looking forward to contributing a bit more to the forum in the next few months. Thanks in advance for all your help! Chris

Hi Chris, You're in the right place! I've had mine 6.5 years now and it's my daily......in fact it's beyond my daily - where I go, car goes. I've done multiple trips to the French Riviera in it, used it everyday for work, various trips in the UK, etc. I've now racked up in the region of 60k miles. Price will be mainly dependant on whether you want trouble free motoring or something you're constantly throwing money at. If you're a dab hand with the spanners parts are cheap so they can be a reasonably great sports car to run on a budget. Only yesterday I fit a new heater matrix as it was leaking - took me 3 hours and cost me £55. When looking at these, remember the 3 major things to look out for: condition, condition, condition. Also worth noting, most experts on these reckon once you're hitting 100k you're looking down the barrel of an engine rebuild as the main bearings will be well worn. I'm currently on 146k and engine's not had any major work. 3.4 is the more robust of the 2 NA engine variants. These cars are excellent to work on and even more fun to drive. Enjoy your hunt! :thumbs:

There are plenty of buyers guides on the 996 though Alex's comments about condition are 100% right. A car of 15-20 yrs old, regardless of whether it's 60 or 100k miles will have things that need replacement due to age & although most parts are available it's better to buy one that's had all the big work done already at some else's expense e.g. engine rebuild & suspension. If you want to carry 4 ocassionally, the coupes have slightly more back seat space and then it's whether it's a '2" or a '4" and narrow body or C4S version? '4"s seem more plentiful in supply & you've also a choice of aero kit (I.e. fixed wing on the back) equipped cars or standard with more standard than aero cars in the market.

Hi Chris, I am not an expert as am also new to 996 ownership. I have a C4 3.4 cabriolet tiptronic which i find very smooth and comfortable to be in as well as quite quick enough. Mine has a hardtop so it is really 2 cars in 1 being a cab and a coupe. Having said that the basic rules of older 2nd hand cars apply, buy on condition The best bit is that mine it is old enough for classic car insurance .

Some of your questions have been answered already so I'll address some different ones. Regarding resale: If you're planning on buying a high mileage example you won't have to worry about resale as you'll be buying at the bottom of the market and will always have to sell at that level. Depreciation, other than the difference in £££s associated with buying from and selling to a dealer won't be an issue. Buy and sell privately and you'll probably not lose a penny. Spec' won't make a 1/2pth of difference to desirability at entry level price point although the colour combo might. Try to avoid a beige/sand/brown/red interior - stick to black if possible. Regarding the model you choose: - Again it won't make any difference. The C2 is seen as the purists choice but many prefer the C4. Coupe or Cab' is down to personal preference - there's always a healthy market for both. Happy Hunting and :welcome: to 911uk. Well done on finding us before buying a car. :thumb:

You've spelt appreciation wrong. :grin:

Thanks for all of your replies! Some really useful info there - interesting that experts say that the engine is likely to need a rebuild around 100k, are there any obvious symptoms of that I should look out for? I'm definitely looking for one in good condition, just at the higher end of the mileage spectrum (80k+ I'd imagine!). It seems £15k ought to be able to buy me a fairly tidy car from what I can see. Thoughts? There don't seem to be a huge amount of Porsche specialists selling 996's at the moment, but I'll keep my eyes open. Great tip on the engine/suspension build if I can find a car like that - I know I want a blue car (picky I know!). A couple of other questions - if I buy a car without a modern infotainment set up and choose to put one in, it seems the new screen would replace the air conditioning controls - does it? And if so, how is the air conditioning controlled? It doesn't seem obvious to me! Did 996's ever come with cruise control as standard? What's the typical cost to retrofit from experience on here? It seems around £300 seems the going rate but I've not found it all that easy to find out info. All this information is really useful, thank you! It seems buying on condition and a black interior is key in that case! Thanks again, appreciate all your responses in the early stages of my 911 journey. Chris

Cruise control is possible to fit. I believe easier on the later models with DBW throttle. I was quoted £650 from Sports & classic to fit to mine. The price has gone up a lot recently as the stalk has more than doubled in price! DIY option https://www.mdbdiagnostics.co.uk/cruise-control

:floor: It didn't even come as standard on a 2007 997 Turbo costing over £100k when new. A lot of people spending that sort of money obviously thought it would be as many didn't see or tick the £294 option box. As a retro-fit it's a lot more expensive.

To fit dbl DIN satnav you move the AC controls down the console in place of the cubby. Alex did a write up a while ago on his.

I paid £380 for cruise control by a specialist.

Was that with them supplying the stalk? The price of new stalk with cruise is about £350 + VAT now!

With regards to a double din head unit, you might want to take a look at mine: HVAC relocation - the standard Porsche layout/easy option is with the HVAC in the lower cubby hole. I didn't want this as the gear lever gets in the way when adjusting the HVAC so I relocated mine to the upper cubby: http://911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=125168 Double Din Head Unit install: http://911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=125771 USB sockets installation: http://911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=126102

Yes it was........and they let me have the old stalk back to flog on eBay, which I got £80 for. Here's there online price list: https://www.revolution-porsche.co.uk/upgrades/retrofit-cruise-control-and-on-board-computer

Thanks again for all the responses! It seems I might have been a little naive with the old cruise control.. Cost doesn't seem too awful, but it's a must have for me if I do 130 mile journeys on a weekly basis. Really appreciate the links to the write ups! Very helpful, thank you. Maybe I'm asking in the wrong section of the forum, but my eye has started wandering to 997's as well as 996's.. Have many of you bought 996's over 997's for any reason other than cost (although prices don't seem to be too distant really), and has anyone moved from a 997 to a 996 for any reason? Which of the two is perceived to be the more comfortable cruiser? Thanks again for helping the newbie on his 911 journey.. Think I need to get test driving a few and see what floats my 911 boat! Just useful to gather some user data along the way. Chris