Newbie Shopping has a few questions

Hi everyone, I am new here and don't yet own a 911 but I am hoping to fix that soon. Shopping around for a 911 replacement for my E39 M5 and I have settled on two possible choices. I found two 911s that are almost exactly the same except for a few minor options here and there. They even have the same mileage. The main difference is that one is a 2003 and one is a 2004. The 2004 is $8K more in asking price. My big question is this.. is there any big changes made between the 2003 and 2004 MY to justify spending the extra money on the 2004? I'm probably going to go look at both cars this afternoon so I will probably give an update later. Thanks, Scott in VA 2003 E39 M5 1985 Ferrari 308 GTS QV 1971 DeTomaso Pantera

IMO they are the same car just one is newer. Same body style 996. Just look at both and pick the better one. Unless someone knows about a typical problem with one or the other. Have fun with your search. If there is an $8000 diff, there is a reason. Miles, options, engine, or condition, C2 vs. C4.

Scott: My understanding is that there are no differences between MY 2003 and MY 2004. I'm not sure there are any differences in the 2002-2004 model years. The big update for the 996 was made for the 2002 year and included a number of changes, most notably increasing the displacement from 3.4 to 3.6 liters, headlights from the turbo, and interior upgrades. I own a 2002 996 C2 and I am absolutely thrilled with it! Good luck in your search. Since there are no differences, the 2003 probably represents a better value. Gary

I think an $8000 difference could be explained by model year and mileage alone. But there could be that kind of variation across sellers even for the exact same car. If one is offered by a private party and another by a new dealer, or one by a wholesaler and one by a used dealer, you could get that much variation on exactly the same car. Buy the 2003 and keep the $8000 for the next time your Ferrari needs an oil change. ; )

Well, if they have the same mileage and are 1 MY apart, then the 04 has more annual mileage. Personally, I would NOT put a 8K premium on the 2 and would easily go with the 03 and save the cash. However, the major deciding factor could easily be 2 crucial items. (1) Have a THOROUGH pre-pruchase inspection done including examining the service history and history/paperwork and carfax, etc. (2) would be any warranty remaining/available (4/50 remainder or CPO). Are they both near you or would you have to travel? Depending on your location relative to the cars threre might be several people here avialble to go take a "once over" for you.

According to kbb.com, the $8k difference is not out of line, if everything other than year is identical. Note that an 04 car could be anything from almost two years to just a few days newer than on 03 car though, depending on when in the year each car was manufactured. The condition of each car will depend on who owned it as well. If everything IS equal, I'd be tempted to pocket the $8k, as it's a good start towards putting a supercharger or other goodies on it once you've got used to having it around. G

I'd put the 8K toward a used TT that has the WHOOSH already built right in

Thanks for all the input.. there is now a 2003 C2 in the driveway.. I am beat so will try to post more info tomorrow. Thanks again for everyone's input. Carpundit - I said it was a Ferrari 308 not a Testarossa so the oil change is slightly less than $8K. :-) Scott 2003 911 C2 1985 Ferrari 308 1971 DeTomaso Pantera

Let's see those pics!

Must have pics...sleep is over rated!!!

Atta boy, Dell! Glad to see you were "covering" for me while I was letting the Ocean Course at Kiawah kick my *** again, twice!

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Congrads on the 03 purchase and I'm sure we all look forward to pics of the beauty!

Since everyone wanted to see the new addition.. here are some pics.. (fingers crossed they show up) Two outside shots and one of the sport seats. The sales guy really made a big deal about the seats. Since I hope to track the car some I can see where they will really be a benefit on track days. Thanks again for all the help. Scott 2003 C2 1985 Ferrari 308 QV 1971 DeTomaso Pantera

Scott- Beautiful car! Congratulations! Sorry about the Ferrari joke. Funny, though, no? If you get a second, please drop me an email explaining how you got those images in your post. I couldn't figure it out myself. CP

Nice car! looks great! Thnks for posting.

Scott - welcome and congrats on getting a very nice looking P-car!

CP - ask and ye shall receive! Here are my "can't miss" instructions for posting pics. These instructions have NEVER failed to help someone post up pics, so the pressure is on you to keep my string goining. There are also instructions to re-sizing the pics if they are too large. All words shown in BOLD indicate buttons. If you are just doing a "Quick Reply" you will have to click on Go Advanced button. Then follow the steps below: Down below the part of the screen where you type the text and below the Submit Reply and the Preview Post and Spell Check buttons, there is a Miscellaneous Options section followed by an Attach Files section. In the Attach Files section, click on the Manage Attachments button. You will now get a pop-up window. There are 3 buttons Browse , Upload , and Close this Window . Click on the Browse button and now (in a new pop-up window) you can search on your PC to locate the pic you want to attach. Click on the name of the file you want and then click the Open button. Now click on the Upload button. After the file has been uploaded, you can click on Browse button and repeat the process to upload another pic or click on the Close this Window button. After you click on the Close this Window , you will be back to the original "message" screen. Your pic file should be listed just above the Manage Attachments button. If you are finished typing the text, you can click on the Submit Reply button and everyone will be able to see your great looking P-car! If your pics are too large, you can resize them with MS Paint, or PhotoShop software, or you can do it online at this web site. http://www.resize2mail.com/

Thanks for all the kind words.. I am having a blast with the new (to me) car. Yeah those instructions above should get you posting pics in no time. The biggest problem I had was resizing them to the right size to get them to upload. I think they are limited to 147K per picture. No biggie I resized them to 320x240 and all was good. Scott

Let's see if this works. Following to the best of my ability gota911's helpful instructions: [I uploaded a nice photo here of my BMW by mistake, but I figured out how to remove it. Thanks to gota911 , I know how to add photos and edit my posts.]

OK, I consider that a partial victory. The instructions were perfect , but I uploaded the wrong file. Please don't ban me b/c I posted the wrong car. I was aiming for this one:

First mod should be Clearbra. Nice car. How many miles and can we ask how much? Just comparing because my '03 was bought in Apr w/5k miles and for 60k. Mine has the seats too but I'm sure other options may differ, just curious how my resale is doing!

You are welcome! Nice looking P-car!

Doh, I forgot to post that.. my car has 15K on it and I paid 56K for it.. it is a CPO from a Porsche dealer so I don't know if that factors into the prices..