Buying advice

Considerering my 1st Porsche. 2 possibilities: 2001 Carrera 13000 miles, looks mint, certified for $48,000. 2003 Carrera 4S 24000 miles looks mint, certified for $67,000 Both are similarly equiped, This will be a daily driver and I assume the S4 will be much better in the snow (I realize I will need winter tires). Clearly I like the S4 better. Think it's worth 19K more? (a financial stretch for me) Any opinions appreciated.

4S is clearly better.

Fess: Looking at both I'd go for the C4S if you need to drive in the snow. If snow is no issue I'd go for a 2002 or newer C2. Regarding the C4S you're looking at certified with 24K miles at $67K, I'm sure you can do much better than that, considering the discounts out there & end-of-year sales slowdown. Make them an offer for what you think is worth, you have nothing to lose. You'll be surprised what you can get sticking to your guns. Good luck!

Go with the C4S. There were significant improvements to the 911 in '02. But the price is a little high. What options are on the car?

The options are Bose, full leather, sport exaust, heated seats, chrome tips, Xenons. They are asking 67K but I am trading a BMW 540, so it's difficult to really say what The cost of the cars is. I was very excited about these cars until I started to read this damn board. It seems like I have to expect RMS leaks and tranny failures at least once a year. I hope this is like the BMW K1200LT board, where all everyone talks about is rear drive failures, but supposedly the real failure rate is about 3%.

Fess, Sounds like a nice car. As a point of reference, I purchased my '02 C4 Cab exactly one year ago this week. The original sticker was $104K and I paid $65K plus $1,595 for the Porsche certification. As a Cab will generally be a bit more that a coupe, you should be able to get a few more $$ off the price. You're at year end and month end and I sure that they would really like to move the car

I know what I'd do!

Buy an '02 or later, much improved over the earlier cars. So in this case, get the C4S!

Fess: Don't be dissapointed about what is placed on the board. RMS? yes it can happen... but not necessarily to your car. A tranny a year? Not sure where you got that from?... You're thinking of getting a certified car, for the '03 you should have no worries until sometime in '09!!! The C4S seems very nicely equipped... but try to get a better deal. With regards to the price: separate trade-in value of your BMW from the asking price of the Porsche. Negotiate the price of the Porsche first, and then talk about the trade-in value of the Bimmer. These are tough negotiations since you don't want to get dinged twice, but you have to be firm. Don't give-in... Is there a way you may be able to sell the Bimmer on your own? Cheers.

C4S - no question.

The cars are simularily equipped. Cant be. In a base C4S you get the wide body, 4WD , PSM, big red brakes, special C4S springs and shocks, turbo front and rear bumpers, metallic paint, full leather, full power seats, digital stereo, and the 01 must have the 3.4 engine but the 03 will have the 3.6 Does that C2 have all those options?

Aside from the golden rule "buy the newest porsche you can afford," the 996 coupe is very cool. The C4s is HOT, if you go for the 2001 you will hurt every time you see a C4S or Turbo.

The C4S is a nice looking car, has the larger engine and if you have to deal with snow and ice would be the way to go. If your inclement weather is seasonal and limited to rain a C2 would be OK. If you're prepared to spend $67K for a car, unless having AWD is an overriding concern for weather conditions, I'd skip the extra weight and look for a 40th anniversary 996. Nice paint, nice nose, uprated 3.6 engine.