£25-30k Porsche 911 as an occasional daily? - Page 1 - Porsche General - PistonHeads UK

I've just binned off my Stelvio lease as I am doing very few miles now I work from home full time. Come September I will have no regular school run to do as my youngest has moved up to secondary and is taking the bus. The Stelvio was the family car but the wife has just collected her new iPace which will take over all 4 of us duties. I was considering a cheapo Golf GTI, S3 or similar but the idea of a 911 was floated and got tacit approval from the wife. I've had a Cayman previously and a couple of 912's. The Cayman was viable as a daily. I'm assuming a 911 equally so, the kids are pre-teen so occasional rides in the back would be viable. I'm thinking 997 std Carrera or S. I'd be planning to keep it for a good while and hopefully into the last days of ICE. What do I need to consider, I'm vaguely aware or some of these had engine issues (bore scoring, IMS/RMS?) still a problem or one that would have manifest by now?

Long story short: second-series 911s from 2009+ are nearly safe borescoring-wise but are way beyond your budget. First-gen 911s from before 2009 are within your budget but are not safe. Just how unsafe they are is a matter of epic debate.

You could get a very nice 996 C4S for your budget.

kith said: You could get a very nice 996 C4S for your budget. Yes was just thinking that, see my post in the other thread. Find a good one and enjoy. Hard to beat the rear end looks or sound. Great package, surely safe money as well.

kith said: You could get a very nice 996 C4S for your budget. Having had both, I would definitely go for a 997.

A 987.2 boxster with the 2.9 none DFI motor is the safest bet .To take you into the 2030 s as your last ICE . No IMs , no rms hassle , no bore score or 0.0001 % if you want a figure . Ok no rear seats but as you say your kid(s) will not want to be with mum + dad as they teenage up .A cab for your self + spouse high days etc . Ok for you to use for work .Cheap as chips relatively to run by pork stds . £15-25K so within budget .

Fiammetta said: A 987.2 boxster with the 2.9 none DFI motor is the safest bet .To take you into the 2030 s as your last ICE . No IMs , no rms hassle , no bore score or 0.0001 % if you want a figure . Ok no rear seats but as you say your kid(s) will not want to be with mum + dad as they teenage up .A cab for your self + spouse high days etc . Ok for you to use for work .Cheap as chips relatively to run by pork stds . £15-25K so within budget . Bottom of the range Boxster vs 911? I think most would have that lingering nagging feeling and would end up in a 911 pretty soon after. No offence to Boxster owners!

Mankers said: Bottom of the range Boxster vs 911? I think most would have that lingering nagging feeling and would end up in a 911 pretty soon after. No offence to Boxster owners! We obviously interpreted the OP s requirements differently? Coming from previous 911 3.2 ,968 CS - yes a new one back in 93 ! , a Testarossa, a 360 M F1 , the gen 2 987 is a peach to drive , smiles per mile , involving and reliable as a 2nd / 3 rd car for the usage pattern the OP described…..for the £ . But I appreciate a lot on here are obsessed by the perceived value and seem to place that higher up the leader board in-terms of enjoyment.Never understood why ? There’s no way I will be returning to the 911 folks particularly the last decades irritations because they are too lardy and have a unusable performance envelopes on U.K. roads going for a paper on a Sunday morning or driving to a one off work event .Lastly frankly there are better places to store cash right now than metal of a occasionally used car . The 987.2 boxster / Cayman might be at the bottom of it depo curve FWIW . So if the financials bother anyone esp the running costs then as said safest engines .

Open deck pre 2009 blocks designed in conjunction with Toyota mid 90s for a more automated production reducing the parts inventory by 50 % .Porsches first foray into the waster cooled ICE world . See the unsupported bores which ovalise , and rely on 99% water flow efficiently.It’s inevitable the water flow drops below what’s required and cylinder 6 gets overheated = scores / ovalises .= A trip to Hartech with open cheque book …..join the queue btw . Post 2009 below .A closed deck block for the 2.9 , which they bored out 3.4, 3.8 etc . Note the distance between the bores decreases as the displacement inc = the bore score spectre re appears ( heat management) as the diss increases . The early DFI motors the post 2009 3.4 , etc can suffer from “carbonisation “ if a lot of low temp , low rpm running .Ie not thrashed .Needs the inlet valves cleaning= bigger running costs . The “ base “ 2.9 from 2009-2012 is port injection not a DFI . Hope it all makes sense ? Remember we are talking cars 10 yrs + old ish so in a pass the parcel kiddie game the music eventually stops .Do you wanna be holding a flat 6 with bore scoring and ovalisation of the bores ? Or carbonised inlets ? Edited by Fiammetta on Wednesday 20th April 11:02

Thanks for all the input fascinating. A 911 is an always wanted one situation. Without kids to consider I could defiantly have gone for a Boxster or Cayman (As I did previously) lower entry costs, smaller package is a better deal. This needs to be a minimum 2+2 though. I think I'm going to put this idea back in the box for a while and get a bigger budget.

Fiammetta said: The early DFI motors the post 2009 3.4 , etc can suffer from “carbonisation “ if a lot of low temp , low rpm running .Ie not thrashed .Needs the inlet valves cleaning= bigger running costs . The “ base “ 2.9 from 2009-2012 is port injection not a DFI . Theory makes sense. In practice, you'll have a job finding a specialist who has experience doing inlet cleaning on the early 9A1 DFI engines. There simply hasn't been much call for it yet. Also, on a Cayman / Boxster, it's not a hard job and can be done for £500 or less. So, not actually a big deal - not remotely comparable to an M96/7 rebuild. Trickier to address on a 911, think it may be engine out. You may really be right. But certainly, there is not a lot of 9A1 inlet cleaning going on, while it is a fairly commonly referenced thing for, say, the DFI lump in the early R8. Can't claim to have the foggiest idea why it seems to be a common issue on the R8 but not widely reported on early 9A1 cars.

Bullett said: Thanks for all the input fascinating. A 911 is an always wanted one situation. Without kids to consider I could defiantly have gone for a Boxster or Cayman (As I did previously) lower entry costs, smaller package is a better deal. This needs to be a minimum 2+2 though. I think I'm going to put this idea back in the box for a while and get a bigger budget. I would keep looking for 997.2 pdk, they do come up in budget with higher mileage, which if it’s a long term keeper is less relevant as you are not looking to sell

sparkypups said: I would keep looking for 997.2 pdk, they do come up in budget with higher mileage, which if it’s a long term keeper is less relevant as you are not looking to sell Why pdk?

Man-maths your way into a 996 Turbo. I use mine all the time (it's got a tiptronic box, mind, but I love it).

celica88 said: sparkypups said: I would keep looking for 997.2 pdk, they do come up in budget with higher mileage, which if it’s a long term keeper is less relevant as you are not looking to sell Why pdk? Cause you'll be paying £50k+ for a manual, if you can find one that suits.