Soon to be new owner - Page 1 - 911/Carrera GT - PistonHeads UK

Hi all, recently had the pleasure of my first up close and personal encounter with a 997.2. I was initially looking at a c.2015 cayman but the wife kiboshed that in favour of 4 seats so upped the budget and added a few years. I was worried it would feel dated inside (not the looks of course) but to be honest it felt great...probably helped that my previous car was a 2010 and the family wagon, whilst new, is pretty standard fare. So, sold on the 911 but my budget caters for a fair few 997.2s and even maybe a 991.1 at a push. My main issue is pinning down a model - whilst I'd love to drive multiple variations (PDK/manual, 997.2/991 etc), test drives seem to be reluctantly given until the last stage...which I understand to a degree. That being said, it'll be a base or S. Manual or auto doesn't really bother me as it is a weekend car with occasional daily duties but light traffic conditions. I'm fairly certain I would jump in to any model and love it so it's going to be a win regardless. Anyway, no real point to this but hopefully I'll get my hands on one in short order. After we'd been to have a look, my wife got a notification of a potential perfect (read expensive) house which would have ruined everything but I've negotiated that obstacle now

And the question is ?? I personally would go for the 997.2 in whatever variant floats your boat ... with the best service history you can find. Great cars ...

ChrisW. said: And the question is ?? I personally would go for the 997.2 in whatever variant floats your boat ... with the best service history you can find. Great cars ... as I wrote this out I did think it was pointless but I got to the end I didn't have the heart to delete it.. thought it might be a nice reminder in years to come. 997.2 now tops the list. Will likely hunt out an S to start with, just to whittle the list down more than anything. If I don't find one I like then will look at the base. Was fairly happy with a manual, though further reading seems to report that it's fairly notchy 1st/2nd from cold. I can see me using the car more regularly than planned and my commute does have its moments of stop/start locally. So might look at PDK initially, though by no means a showstopper. But yes, have a list of potentials to call tomorrow and hopefully can get a very shortlist once established history!

I have had a 997.1 C2S and now a 997.2 C2S and the gearbox was a bit reluctant to do 1st to 2nd and a tiny bit 2nd to 3rd in the 997.1 but only for the first 2 miles or so and I think it was compounded by the factory short shift kit, The 997.2 does have the issue but to a much lesser degree.

In my 355 I usually went 1 to 3 on cold mornings in commuting traffic. I vote for a 997.2 manual If I wanted PDK, I think I’d probably go 991 although I have not driven one of those so just assume they are good/fun

Just got myself 997.2 C2S ( full PSH and recent 12k mile service which with some extras was £4K!) with PDK, sports Chrono, PSE etc it’s really nice, the PDK holds the gears really well in sports mode. Manual again will be great if you want to get involved with the left foot too… I didn’t test drive before purchasing, but purchased from a reputable dealer with decent warranty. Happy hunting, loving mine! Edited by Gregmitchell on Sunday 6th February 22:02

Gregmitchell said: Just got myself 997.2 C2S ( full PSH and recent 12k mile service which with some extras was £4K!) with PDK, sports Chrono, PSE etc it’s really nice, the PDK holds the gears really well in sports mode. Manual again will be great if you want to get involved with the left foot too… I didn’t test drive before purchasing, but purchased from a reputable dealer with decent warranty. Happy hunting, loving mine! Edited by Gregmitchell on Sunday 6th February 22:02 Thanks, it's an exciting process but sometimes I wish there were less options! I'm pretty lucky that there are a lot of good specialists in the reasonably local vicinity so I'm starting my search with them. Got to try and not be impatient!

Patience is an absolute must. Sometimes you’ll be lucky with the first car you see, sometimes the search might take months. Apart from patience a good inspection is another key thing. If the vendor isn’t happy then walk away. I’ve had a vendor getting really angry when I brought up the subject of inspection. “I inspect every car I sell, don’t you trust me, all my cars are in fantastic condition.” I walked away immediately. A good seller, confident of his stock, will always say yes to an inspection. The top indies will already have done a lot of the groundwork by weeding out the lemons. They have a reputation to keep. I bought one of my cars from RSJ unseen and without a test drive. It was a fantastic car. Happy hunting!

Yup bought mine from RSJ too, they stand behind their cars from what I’ve read and have some really nice cars, although there seems to be slim pickings at the moment as cars are selling fast!

Gregmitchell said: Yup bought mine from RSJ too, they stand behind their cars from what I’ve read and have some really nice cars, although there seems to be slim pickings at the moment as cars are selling fast! The first car I bought from them was great and their service when it had a fault was fantastic. I was more than happy to buy from them again, even without a test drive. All the major indies - RSJ, RPM Technic, JZM etc will have extremely good buyers working for them and can’t afford to sell lemons. OP, have you looked at Friends Green Porsche? They seem to have some interesting stock. Their reputation seems to be ok too. I agree there’s not a huge amount around right now but that should pick up in the spring.

I'm lucky as am close to RSJ and Ashgoods. There's one at each that fit my bill so will have a look and get an idea of history etc. Both 997.2 S. There is a beautiful 997.2 4S even closer at a Indy dealer. One owner from new, full OPC service history and a month or 2 left of the extended warranty. It's currently at Porsche getting some minor warranty work done. Tempted to stick a deposit down and ask them to get a 111 check done whilst it's there but feels a bit rash

Don't discount a 997.2 3.6 Carrera...great engine, hardly any real world difference on the road, lower tax (almost half that of the 3.8). They do need PASM though to get the dropped suspension, can look a bit gappy between the tyre and wheel arch on non PASM cars. Also need PSE as they're a bit quiet without it. Brilliant sports cars, I'd recommend Ashgoods to buy from if you're looking. Have a word with them and let them know what you're after. They are very fair with their pricing, have bought and sold with them previously. Also JZM and Cameron Sports Cars near Bath are decent guys to deal with.

MrVert said: Don't discount a 997.2 3.6 Carrera...great engine, hardly any real world difference on the road, lower tax (almost half that of the 3.8). They do need PASM though to get the dropped suspension, can look a bit gappy between the tyre and wheel arch on non PASM cars. Also need PSE as they're a bit quiet without it. Brilliant sports cars, I'd recommend Ashgoods to buy from if you're looking. Have a word with them and let them know what you're after. They are very fair with their pricing, have bought and sold with them previously. Also JZM and Cameron Sports Cars near Bath are decent guys to deal with. I second the base 997.2 with PASM. Sweet engine. Make sure it has 19s.

Forgot to say….make sure you get the underside of the car locked at, preferably up on a ramp. It’s easy to get caught out having to replace exhaust brackets, heat shields and suspension components purely through being heavily corroded. None of which will be covered under a warranty. It’s easy to get caught for a £2k bill for replacing everything and that’s at an Indy! These cars are at that age now so definitely keep this in mind.

Henz said: I'm lucky as am close to RSJ and Ashgoods. There's one at each that fit my bill so will have a look and get an idea of history etc. Both 997.2 S. There is a beautiful 997.2 4S even closer at a Indy dealer. One owner from new, full OPC service history and a month or 2 left of the extended warranty. It's currently at Porsche getting some minor warranty work done. Tempted to stick a deposit down and ask them to get a 111 check done whilst it's there but feels a bit rash The white 997.2S at Ashgoods looks nice (if you like white). Seat backs are white and I assume the centre console is too but no photos showing it. It can lift a dark interior IMO. No PSE and maybe you don't want it but a Carnewal mod to the back boxes can fix the noise end of things. It was showing 'Reserved' a few weeks ago but that disappeared. Edited by Andyoz on Monday 7th February 18:17

MrVert said: Don't discount a 997.2 3.6 Carrera...great engine, hardly any real world difference on the road, lower tax (almost half that of the 3.8). They do need PASM though to get the dropped suspension, can look a bit gappy between the tyre and wheel arch on non PASM cars. Also need PSE as they're a bit quiet without it. Brilliant sports cars, I'd recommend Ashgoods to buy from if you're looking. Have a word with them and let them know what you're after. They are very fair with their pricing, have bought and sold with them previously. Also JZM and Cameron Sports Cars near Bath are decent guys to deal with. I wouldn't discount a 3.6 for sure. At the mo there a fair few in my budget, and a couple of S at well regarded dealers (inc Ashgood!) so figured they are as good a starting point as any. JZM are very local but their stock is sadly out of my price range. PASM is a must on the list.

Andyoz said: The white 997.2S at Ashgoods looks nice (if you like white). Seat backs are white and I assume the centre console is too but no photos showing it. It can lift a dark interior IMO. No PSE and maybe you don't want it but a Carnewal mod to the back boxes can fix the noise end of things. It was showing 'Reserved' a few weeks ago but that disappeared. Edited by Andyoz on Monday 7th February 18:17 Not usually a white fan but after seeing one of these in the flesh I'd make an exception. Have got my eye on that one...;)

Could do with a day to do the rounds. Bloody work, always getting in the way...

I was in danger of talking myself out of this so after spotting a new arrival on the RSJ website, I nipped over there (a handy 15 miles away), checked it out and dropped the deposit down. It's a black, 997.2 S, PDK. Hadn't been fully prepped but to my eye was pretty immaculate as was, so looking forward to seeing it in all it's splendor on collection day. A pretty chilled experience - they're very confident in their cars with seemingly a rep to back that up which helped. All qs answered including the stupid ones. They've serviced the car themselves for what looked like the last 3/4 stamps which I found reassuring as well. 2 week turnaround which is fine as I'm off on hols next week so no counting down the days

Henz said: I was in danger of talking myself out of this so after spotting a new arrival on the RSJ website, I nipped over there (a handy 15 miles away), checked it out and dropped the deposit down. It's a black, 997.2 S, PDK. Hadn't been fully prepped but to my eye was pretty immaculate as was, so looking forward to seeing it in all it's splendor on collection day. A pretty chilled experience - they're very confident in their cars with seemingly a rep to back that up which helped. All qs answered including the stupid ones. They've serviced the car themselves for what looked like the last 3/4 stamps which I found reassuring as well. 2 week turnaround which is fine as I'm off on hols next week so no counting down the days Great news! I’ve always been so impressed with RSJ. No nonsense dealers who stand by their stock. I also like the fact that they go for pretty much the same kind of spec, same mileage and price range and have done for years. They know exactly the sort of cars they want to buy and present them really well - the two week prep time though is a killer if you’re impatient like me! I remember buying my last car from them - a 997.2 Turbo - I was pacing up and down for a fortnight until I could go and pick it up!