New to the group....considering this car at RAC

Hello everyone! I'm new to the group and considering upgrading from my CLK 430 to a 911. I drive about 30 mi a week tops as I have a work car also. I have to cram a six and an eight year old in the back for short trips but I think the driving experience will be worth the space issues. I want a fun car that I can enjoy for 5 to 10 years. I grew up riding in my uncles 86 turbo and always wanted a 911! I've poured through all the forums on the issues and am really just looking for a fun (mostly reliable car) for a daily driver. I'm considering this car: http://www.racperformance.com/2003-P...ton-TX/6195620 Any thoughts or advise would be appreciated. jim

For what it's worth, that's more than double what I paid for my car 2 years ago. Granted, mine is a lowly Carrera and at the time had 70k miles, but still... If money's no object for you, or if this car has exactly the specs you require, this might be a great buy, but if you just generally want a 996 there are MUCH cheaper options out there. I personally think the prices on the 4S are artificially inflated; it has no extra performance potential over a base Carrera other than better control in poor weather. On dry pavement it will be slower since it has more weight and drivetrain drag. I can't see paying 2x the cost of a solid 2WD car just to have fender flares and red brake calipers. But then again I am cheap

looks like a nice car - when I was shopping for a 996 back in 2014 the prices for nice low mileage C4s manual coups were 35K and up with some outliers in the 30k to 32k range - but that's was just asking prices . if you could get it for $32K to $34K I think that would be about average I would try to contact the shop that did the IMSB replacement to get all of the info about the shop and the car that you could. With these cars if you get the right one you will be very happy if you get the wrong one you will be very unhappy. As far as the kids in the back you should be ok for a few years but its pretty tight back there. There is a lot of detailed information on this forum about what to look for when buying - best of luck with your search, don't be in a hurry there are a lot of great examples for sale - the 996 911 is a really great car once you get the right one you will love it.

thanks for the reply. I would like to have the awd as my current car does not and it is terrible in weather. This car would be my primary car but would still be low mileage. I put about 60k on my current car over 11 years. I am really interested in finding a sorted car with lower mileage that will give me another 10 years of fun without major issues. I'm in NJ so as horrible as it might be, the car will be subjected to a few miles in nasty weather every year. Id love to get a deal and am in no hurry. I'll take any an all recommendations, but Id like to keep the cost in the low to mid 30's

For what its worth...AWD is not like an SUV. It is 5% front until you start throwing it around in corners. There are those who say throw winter tires on it and drive it. Not me! Also starts in cold weather allegedly can affect piston/liner interface which can lead to problems...read $$$$. I have one and love it, but it is a fair weather car! Besides all the above I would hate to have some 19 yo-texting-no winter driving experience punk slide into my car on snow/ice!

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This is where we really have to watch carefully what people write on the internet. What gets written as fact, is really only an opinion. In fact the C4S was faster than all other 996s in factory tests on the Nurburgring (except GT3/Turbo/GT2 of course). Maybe dkraige doesn't think that is important to him, since it probably means performance at 125-150 mph which most of don't do. But it performs better in dry weather (safer), in inclement weather, on dirt, it performs better in looks (ok, my opinion), performs better in the stability category that AWD provides in all conditions. If 996 prices ever go up, it will perform better as did all other Turbo-look 911s. It definitely performs better in the "cool" factor. I am quite sure they all came with PSM which provides very much higher performance in safety. There is no reason to expect it to perform better in drag racing. Sure the weight of the AWD can be a factor, but if that is important then don't get a Cab or Tiptronic or Targa or Turbo since those features add much more weight than AWD. In other words, at a simple evaluation level a C4S Coupe with manual trans will perform better than all C2 Cabs and all C2 Tips, and I suppose with the 320 hp Mk.2 engine one could argue that it will outperform all Mk.1 versions.

Link is not working for me so I can't comment on the actual car in question. However I can touch the point of having the kiddos in the back seat. I absolutely love it. My twins are a big part of why we go on PCA driving tours in the area. That being said...how tall are you? I am 6'6" and what's worse, I have a 40 inch inseam. I have a 2001 C4 Cab and 12 year old twin boys. I bought the extendmyseat.com rails because I am almost all legs. It was life changing. With Mama in the front passenger seat there is plenty of room for a minion behind her. With me driving however I have to move the seat way up to accommodate the minion behind me. Makes driving less enjoyable for me but guess what, that's not all it is about. I figure I have about a year until they can't fit in the back seat behind me. At that point, Mrs. Debo can drive (she loves a 6 speed) and I can ride in the passenger seat moved further forward since I don't have work the pedals. Or I can run one in the front and one in the back with Mrs. Debo at home for about another 4 years most likely. Regardless, having your family in the car enjoying it and being equally passionate about your time together is worth it in spades. Even if that ends as they grow into teenagers because they can't fit in the backseat anymore. D.

Geez I need to revise the listing for my '04 C4S. I have just under 90k on the clock and an original sticker of $107k and am asking considerably less. But buying from RAC should give some piece of mind since I hope they went over the car and took care of any issues found.

RAC is a great place for any Porsches with good & knowledgeable mechanics there. I took my car there for 3rd radiator install, 4-wheel alignment, etc... when I used to live in Dallas. One day, my Soft-top couldn't open so I took it there for inspection and 5 min later my car came out & they told me "you are all-set, issue was with the rear open engine lid", Oops... They did not charge me anything & sent me on my way, great guys, thanks Mark. Cheers,