£15,000-£20,000 911 as a daily - realistic? - Page 1 - 911/Carrera GT - PistonHeads UK

Is it realistic to be able to purchase a 911 for the £15,000 - £20,000 mark AND run it as a highly reliable daily drive, for around 1,000 miles a month? Obviously it's far easier to enter the Boxster world at this price. Thoughts please as to the most reliable option if so?

I'd suggest a cayman/boxter DFI engined car at that price. For that sort of mileage you want a nice strong engine e.g. meztger (out of your price range) or DFI. Cayman/Boxter parts will be cheaper too

I'd buy a 996 C2 or 996 C4S. Budget about £2000 per year inc insurance, tyres, servicing to run it or put it on a monthly maintenance plan with indy like hartech. Just borescope a car before buying. Fantastic 911s.

IMIA said: Budget about £2000 per year inc insurance, tyres, servicing to run it or put it on a monthly maintenance plan with indy like hartech. I don't think that is sufficient based on 1000 miles/month. More like £3-4k on average in my view

newboy997 said: I don't think that is sufficient based on 1000 miles/month. More like £3-4k on average in my view I'm not sure what mine costs. I don't want to think too much about it as I'm sure it's "a lot". Hopefully this year ill be cheaper as I've got many things sorted. But for starters: 4 new tyres and an alignment, including the replacement of some ruined suspension components, cost me over £1k last year. Insurance is dependant on many personal factors, but mine is £400 which I thought was pretty good. Tax is £220 ish (?) Servicing costs can be found on your local indie's website. MOT Petrol. That's well over £2k there already, then factor in the additional expenses of the inevitable suspension refresh, tensioners and VarioCam solenoid that you're likely to suffer at some point. Better than driving a Golf though.

I recently bought a 2003 996 Targa with 34k miles. Ok, it was no bargain but an independent inspection gave it a spotless bill of health so I went for it. And so far it's been a dream daily driver and the 3 year warranty covers most major issues I might encounter. Insurance £500, tax £285, serviced at an indie for £250 and no reason to think I'll have anything else to pay except fuel for the next 12 months. It isn't costing much more to run than my little 1.9 BMW Z3. I know that there are many dud 996s around but really, you get what you pay for. Spend the money, get a decent one and save yourself the hassle.

I'm very tempted by this also, but not as a daily and instead a weekend fun car. Currently have an e46 m3 but thinking now is the time for a 911..... I suppose the most important thing is to get the inspection done and this will dictate the price you pay for the car.

newboy997 said: IMIA said: Budget about £2000 per year inc insurance, tyres, servicing to run it or put it on a monthly maintenance plan with indy like hartech. I don't think that is sufficient based on 1000 miles/month. More like £3-4k on average in my view I've had a 2007 997 turbo from new and only serviced at Porsche. Thats only cost on average £2000 per year inc and for first 5 years was doing 12k miles per year in her. Surprised if its £3-4k per year to run a good one.

The only real downside to 996 ownership is the niggling doubt that you may end up with major engine issues. You can minimise the risks to an extent but they're always going to be there unless you can find a properly Hartech'd car to start with. If you can live with the (small) risk & stomach the usual bills that a £65k sports car throws then a 996 is a great choice, had mine for 5.5yrs now & still love it. Think tax is £285, my insurance is about £300, average service cost is about £400pa, stuff like condensors/rads/tyres/brakes etc may add £1000+ pa. Think I budget about £200pm exc fuel on mine but it only does 2.5k mls pa so tyres/brakes etc last far longer & they are expensive to replace. Edited by LordHaveMurci on Thursday 2nd April 12:56

newboy997 said: I don't think that is sufficient based on 1000 miles/month. More like £3-4k on average in my view You shouldn't be spending £3-4k per year if you buy a good car. If you buy a car which needs work you're going to need to get it up to standard (which may cost you more) before you have your £1,500-2,000 costs. I'd always suggest having a fund for unexpected expenditure.

Thanks for the feedback so far guys. Budget would get a circa 2002-2004 from what I can see. Are there likely to be lots of niggly problems or do Porsche not tend to suffer from these so much?

PompeyPaul said: Thanks for the feedback so far guys. Budget would get a circa 2002-2004 from what I can see. Are there likely to be lots of niggly problems or do Porsche not tend to suffer from these so much? rads/condensors/coolent leaks also seem to be a common issue but apart from this they're pretty good. I think a bog standard 996 C2 manual or C4S are just about one of the best sports cars ever made. The IMS and RMS are well known issues and can be modified to be trouble free

PompeyPaul said: Thanks for the feedback so far guys. Budget would get a circa 2002-2004 from what I can see. Are there likely to be lots of niggly problems or do Porsche not tend to suffer from these so much? Yes they do. If you want to come to the table.....bring money.

PompeyPaul said: Is it realistic to be able to purchase a 911 for the £15,000 - £20,000 mark AND run it as a highly reliable daily drive, for around 1,000 miles a month? Obviously it's far easier to enter the Boxster world at this price. Thoughts please as to the most reliable option if so? Yes, totally realistic. Buy a good one in the first place, and a 996.1 (3.4) is arguably a safer place to place your money.

monthefish said: Yes, totally realistic. Buy a good one in the first place, and a 996.1 (3.4) is arguably a safer place to place your money. Thanks for the response. What makes the 3.4 an arguably safer option in your opinion please?

PompeyPaul said: monthefish said: Yes, totally realistic. Buy a good one in the first place, and a 996.1 (3.4) is arguably a safer place to place your money. Thanks for the response. What makes the 3.4 an arguably safer option in your opinion please? Both the 3.4 (996.1) and the 3.6 (996.2) engines have their own specific problems (there are also some issues that are common to both) and I understand that, on balance, the 3.4 is less prone to a major catastrophe, but there are far more knowledgeable chaps on here than I, and I'm sure one will be along shortly... Nevertheless, even if, on balance, the risk is the same, the 3.4's are earlier cars and are likely to be a bit cheaper and therefore more change from a £15,000 budget to save for a rainy day.

I ran a 2002 (facelift) 996 C2 for 2 years in 2010-12. Yes, but ensure that you understand what you're getting into. Did 40K as a DD, rain snow etcetcetc, never missed a beat. I had some big 'routine' bills (suspension + tyres + rads + service + brakes + exhaust - £4500) but as long as you go into ownership with your eyes open and remember this can happen (and it might). If you buy around the 60-100K milage range stuff is going to wear out and you'll be holding the baby. However, I eventually succumbed to the naysayers and lost my nerve at 90K (at the 10y point when Porsche said 'no' to renewing the warranty), that if it went pop I'd get an even bigger bill. Not sure I made the right choice (wife says I didn't), but if it's any consolation I still search the adds for the right Black, manual 997 Turbo (ideally with PCCB) and will eventually (probably post boarding school fees.....) will get back into a 911. It might even 'have' to be a 991 Targa 4S, with PCCB which keeps winking at me with it's lovely roof.....I even harbour plans to run it as the long-distance car alongside a 993 C4 as a DD (cant quite stretch to a Singer), but have you seen the prices....... My 996 C2 was just fantastic, I loved it. Just remember whilst it can make a great deal of economic sense vs enjoyment, particularly if you buy a good one and then sell on before the big bits need replacing, it was originally an expensive car to buy and if things do go wrong it might be expensive. I would buy again tomorrow if it made practical sense (commute now 150miles a day - 430d Cab MSport is that sense.......it's fast, tight and agile(ish) but it's not a 911).

I reckon that with your budget it would make more sense to buy an early 3.4 996.1 for something in the £10k range and sit on the rest in case a spend becomes appropriate (maybe it will, maybe it won't, but the money will be there anyway). The interesting part about the early 996 is that it is currently the cheapest 911 there is and - frankly - I just can't see them ever getting cheaper. As cheap cars go out of the market these should start to get rarer and prices ought to go up a bit too (drawn that way by the spiralling values of older cars). Future classic? Not a big money car, but I think so. The design is ageing much better than I expected and I saw an immaculate Lapis blue example at the chunnel the other week that frankly looked far lovelier than any 996 that I ever remember seeing this side of a GT3. The early car is a very clean shape, the most aerodynamic 911 IIRC and is actually quite light too. There isn't much not to like and while they have weaknesses they are quite serviceable. Even the risk from the (often overstated, but nonetheless real) IMS and bore scoring issues is somewhat alleviated by the recent news of the availability of brand new short engines from Porsche for around £3k. The reason to look at the bottom of the market is of course that if you have near zero depreciation then as a total cost of ownership you can spend quite a few thousand in the medium term and still have a 911 for the combined real world value proposition of a new Focus. Edited by DiscoColin on Friday 10th April 18:34