Need a little forum love

Hi! Yesterday I bought a 2004 Porsche 911 turbo cab Tiptronic with 42K miles (am I in the right place?). My previous cars: 79 Honda Accord (yes I�m old), Saturn, VW GTI, Mini Cooper S, VW Jetta diesel (bought for ecological reasons, go ahead and laugh), Mazda CX-5 (current). So this is a huge deal for me, feeling kind of shaky and needing some forum reassurance (yes I�m female). Before you slot me too quickly on the cab/Tiptronic front: my dearly beloved dad always wanted a convertible, and I autocrossed for ten years (Philly region SCCA) & two of my daily drivers were manual, it hurts my back to shift around town (probably changed too many tires during those ten years). I have admired 911s for many years. Always wanted one sort of in the impossible dream kind of way.....now all of a sudden it�s sitting in an easily accessible storage space (we have to build a garage for it, our one-car garage is full of my husband�s tools). The car is in gorgeous shape cosmetically, and as far as I know mechanically too - the cosmetic part is intimidating because I am a naturally messy person, and my cars have never been pristine. The shakiness comes a little from that, but mostly from driving it around all day yesterday. Except a few times in a borrowed car driven gently, this is my first time in a car like this (well, ok, I did get to autocross a couple of amazing cars once or twice, but that�s different). The cornering is purely yummy. But that acceleration, dang. That is SERIOUS. Serious business. I was not after the turbo, but definitely wanted AWD (and the no ims thing was a bonus). Got to the top of an entrance ramp before I was ready to be there, and to 100 while passing as I started thinking � Gee, I might be at 85, better slow down�. So, three areas of immediate concern: 1. Must not kill/ injure anybody including myself 2. Should not spill anything in the car, or drop chocolate on the seats, or get door dings or highway stone nicks or curb rash 3. Need to enjoy myself while doing #1 and #2, because if not, what�s the point? Please, be kind.

First things first! You have to post photos of the car or it didn't happen! Second, you're in the right place. Many of our cars are simply depositories for all of our junk - all you can do is try to keep it clean! It seems like your husband is "the mechanic" in the house... ask him to start reading everything possible about these cars - it'll save you both a lot of $$ and may save the car as well. It sounds like you got a good one - if you stay on top of the scheduled maintenance and don't let any problems languish, it should stay that way. Generally speaking these are extremely well made and reliable cars but leaving issues "for a rainy day" can turn into a very expensive proposition. Good luck with it and do post up those photos!

Congrats on your purchase! Let’s see some photos! You’ll get used to driving the car once you put some miles on it. And you will get stone chips. It’s inevitable because the car sits so low to the ground. Paint protection film can help, but many people don’t like it. I suggest that you join PCA and do some driving events. Try an autocross in this car and see how you like it compared to your previous experience.

Congrats! I obsessed at first as well over rock chips, door dings, etc. and finally realized I just need to enjoy while mitigating those things where possible. I agree pics are needed!

CT - first off, welcome. Second, as dporto said, pics or it never happened. (we like pics) Third, there is a 996 Turbo (996tt) Forum, but many of the guys hang out both there and in this forum because they are basically the same car other than the engine. Fourth, these cars are made to be driven - wear the rock chips and door dings with pride. Fifth, join your local PCA. Autocrosses and the Panorama magazine alone are worth it, plus there's so much more. Sixth, find a good independent (non-dealership) mechanic who knows these cars well. For example, there are many stories in the 996tt forum of people taking their cars to mechanics that don't know there are 4 oil drain plugs on the engine in your car. If they only remove the main drain plug, they will overfill the engine and basically ruin it.

At least you have no IMSB issues to worry about! Good luck with the car and go enjoy. Remember leather wipes clean!!

Thanks all! I just have this crappy photo now to make it real, more later. The steering wheel here (cracked burl) is now replaced with black leather.

Welcome aboard! The turbo forum will give you some more specific information geared towards your car. That said this forum is much more active, and as kc said many of us visit both regularly. Think about adding your location to your signature it will help when you are looking for local help. IE “Where is the best place to get tires mounted?” Etc.

do you/husband plan to work on the car yourself?

No, no plans to work on it ourselves. Though we already watched an oil change video (my husband announced “We’re not doing that.”)......We live in the boonies but happen to have an independent guy who works on Porsches less than three miles away, so we’re lucky. Also where I bought it from (half hour and also independent) is willing to work on it (only cars they sell) and at a sort of reasonable hourly rate (all things considered). Actually I might not have bought the thing if we didn’t have those options.

Welcome, and congrats on the beauty! As other said, wear the chips and signs of time with pride! These beauties are really well made, if taken care of. And having the turbo engine, a lot less to worry about there as well. You can go two ways with this (from what I can gather having read a lot on here and other places): - Try to keep it pristine as the Turbos might rise in value long term. - Boring! - Drive it and enjoy the heck out of it. It sounds like you and your husband aren't in dire need of another piece of investment going well, so disregard that part of the equation. It'll just make you wince at any mile you put on it. Drive it often, drive it with gusto, don't put a cup holder in it (or don't use the ones you have) and put your phone away: this way you'll always give it the proper attention while driving. But yeah: I got into a hail storm 7 days after purchase of mine (admitted it's 'just' a C2) with no place to find cover, was on dirt roads two days later, over 9000FT passes, on the lowest point in the US just a few days after that. It never left me stranded. Plus, most things can be repaired. Enjoy the heck out of it. Don't be afraid to ask. Enjoy the extra HP and aim for 500'000 miles!

Hey there Corded! I get what you're saying about feeling like you don't belong in such a fine automobile, but do me a favor and go take a look in your garage right now. It's ok, I'll wait. YOU OWN A FREAKING 911 TURBO! You belong Its your car now, so if it gets dirty, who cares? Do you? We don't. (Well, someone probably does but tell them to go wash their car if they give you any lip.) It may be your first time driving a car "such as this," but in a few weeks it will be your 90th time, and in a year, your 365th. This is is the first car I've ever owned that I've felt more connected to every time I drive it. In time you'll get used to it and you'll figure out how to keep it somewhere between 25-125 mph :P Remember that there's a time and place for speed - in any car you drive. Though it's true that there is a Turbo forum, please do stick around. It may not always be a love-fest in here, but you still owe us more pictures of that gorgeous Cab. That, and, there are some really great people here you can learn from. Happy motoring!

welcome pretty car nice work on not being afraid to join the forum now enjoy the turbo!

In regards to your first point: 1. Must not kill/ injure anybody including myself That's why I didn't get a turbo. I still manage to scare myself s***less in a NA 996. Enjoy your car!

Welcome! I often just stand at the top of the stairs of our garage and stare at the two Porsches, pondering the triumphant menace of these legendary autos. Get smart about the car. Rennlist, Renntech and Pelican Parts are great places to fill your cup of knowledge. My wife and I went down to PCNA in Atlanta last Valentine's for a couple's one-day driving course...worth every penny! And like the Dr said, "YOU OWN A FREAKING 911 TURBO!", so embrace and enjoy.

Welcome nice car

Welcome. We could use more females in this hobby, and please don�t apologize for a Tip Cab. I�d rather be in a Tip Cab 911 Turbo than most any other car. If you want to reduce injury and/or death rates, maybe a couple of safety classes would help. Get to know how to handle your car in panic stop, slides, etc. You�ve done autocross, so you already have some experience - that�s good. Car looks excellent, but remeber, it�s an old used, beautiful car, and a little ding is just a little character. welcome.

Nice Ride!!! Congrats!!

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Thank you (and others with similar fortifying comments). That sounds like great plan. With another afternoon on it, I�m slightly less shaky. Tomorrow I get to see if the roof leaks and how gentle I have to be on the throttle in the rain. Can�t wait 😲

Welcome, Convertibles leak, it's in the manual. but personally mine never did. keep up on lubing the seals to help mitigate. As far as throttle in the rain. the PSM will help in that regard. that and good newer tires. I have Continentals on this one, but my experience is that the Michelin's are tough to beat in the wet. Your user name, does make me wonder though Great looking car, Hope to see you as a regular contributor, use the search engine, and ask if you don't understand anything replied or posted.

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Thanks Mike. oh the username 😊. Well, it really wasn�t my fault. My co-driver, husband and I all did a one day autocross school one weekend at the end of the season: them on Saturday, me on Sunday. This was in a �78 Scirocco that had a certain percentage of Bondo on it, and the sticky Hoosiers with the holographic tread when new (ie, for you nonautoxers, not slicks, but barely). By end of Saturday, the fronts were well corded - they had great swaths of metal showing - though the rears had a bit of rubber left. My co-driver (the car owner, and one of the club�s central figures at the time) swapped fronts to rears and worked some kind of backroom deal to get me through tech the next day (at least I assume he did, normally the guys doing tech would never have let something like that through). So I ran the school that way. It was quite instructive 😊😊. Of course by the end of the day the fronts were corded too. Ah, my mis-spent middle age. The new car has brand new Sumitomos on it. I had no choice in that, but they look decent from the Tire Rack reviews.

There is a turbo forum, and might be good to visit over there for specific turbo info, but you are in the right place. As for the car, yes - compared to your previous vehicles, this will be a handful. One good place to sort out moderate performance driving is on a local track. You don't need to be in the race group, you can and should be in the beginner group with an instructor. This will not only give you some feel for the car at speed, but will also let you learn the limitations of the car, and your driving in a safe enviro. Honestly, you don't need to be going 140MPH to get the feel for a hi power car, it can be done from 40-100. No need to test the limits, but a way to feel how the power is applied, the brakes, the chassis, and the steering and shifting(if you choose to). A word of caution on financial aspect. The purchase price is just the entry fee. In order to live with, and keep up the car(messy, or not) will require regular outlays of cash unlike a 79 Honda, or the Saturn. a ticking noise on startup may just be a exhaust flange gasket, but could run a $4-600 repair bill, maybe more as the exhaust on the turbo runs generally hotter than non-turbo. This is just an example, but you get the idea. Enjoy, and be safe. Ask questions, we have a lot of very good pros on this forum willing to help.

Well you had a good history of cars before the 911 - gti and Cooper s are also nice drivers cars. Yes turbo has a lot of power .. but also stability and traction control . Sign up with your local pca chapter and do an autocross school with them to explore the handling limits of your car and instructor led DE day. Then sit back and enjoy ! (And invest in michelin stock to offset the cost of rear tires on a regular basis

Welcome to the club, beautiful turbo. I'm only a little jealous.

Thanks again. It does not leak! How nice. And it was placid in the rain, back roads and highway, eastern PA yesterday, bad rain. I had to consciously try (on a deserted wet back road from a stop) to get the traction control to turn on, and it was completely satisfactory. I might autocross it once or twice, and maybe a DE event - does DE require a current helmet too? - probably not till next year though if at all. I do recognize how good those suggestions are.

All events now require a helmet, except maybe a poker run type thing. I was gonna mention about the top. It's best to keep it in perfect fettle because fixing it is one of those unicorn jobs, that 11 people on the planet know how, and only 2 of them are in the US! I don't own a cab, but my experience with other cabs(Ferrari, Triumph, Fiat) is that the top is not exercised enough to stay smooth. I would suggest, and will defer to anyone who knows better - that the top be raised and lowered at least once a week. If there is a service schedule for the top, follow it religiously. Traction control, or PSM(please save me) is a double edge sword. It has gotten people out of trouble, but there is a growing sentiment that the automation is also letting people without the needed driving skills get themselves into situations where reliance on the stability management becomes a crutch. At some point - they have a bad 'off' by using the automatic stability, and do far more damage than would otherwise be the case without automatic driving assist. I'm guessing that you were exploring the system in the safety of a known situation, and that's fine - but I would caution to not rely on it, as it might someday not catch up enough and cause a Bad Thing to happen. YMMV, objects in mirror, contents have settled, and may cause - leakage.

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OMG - you actually took it out in the rain and let it get wet!!! For God's sake, don't mention that over in the 996tt forum. (Just kidding - well, kind of. About 2 years ago, had you mentioned that over there, you would have gotten instatnly roasted by a couple of the guys in that forum. However, it isn't nearly as bad now - those two are basically gone and it's a good group over there as well)