The 996 Carrera is the very reason the 911 has kept on motoring today.

I was checking out the Porsche crew lineup for the 24 Hours of Le Man and ran across this article. Says a lot about our 996's http://www.total911.com/in-praise-of...e-996-carrera/

Great article, thanks for the share.

Yup, good read! It's been posted a few times before, but it's nice to read every now and then!

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+1

Great article but did you notice the 996 designer himself was the first to comment.... interesting indeed.

Another British Mag, '911 & Porsche World', in issue #249 has an article on the 996 that is fairly positive. That being said, my 996 had over 40,000 miles on it when I bought it, no bits in the oil, had a catastrophic engine failure due to the IMS bearing coming apart. The car is a 2002. Supposedly, if an engine [996] has over 40,000 miles, it is much less likely to have IMS issues. Except for those of us who it happens to. At that point, the failure rate is not 8% but 100%! Don't get me wrong, I am having the engine rebuilt and some other things 'while in there'. What I like about the 996 is that the 'buy in' price is attractive and these are the last of the 'analog' Porsches; much less electronic gadgetry to go wrong down the road. What are enthusiasts going to do when a huge electrical issue confronts them after they buy a used late 997 or 991? I think the 996 will start to look a lot better! Less driver safety nets, a real spare tire [no run flats], no tire pressure monitoring systems, no very high pressure fuel pumps [plural] to replace and the myriad of sensors to support all of the electronic gadgetry. I am happy these cars have been maligned. It has kept the price down enough so as to replace the engine with something better and still feel I have a nice Porsche for relatively realistic money.

The only folks I feel for are the original owners who got the serious beat-down due courtesy to the Internet and, to a lesser extent, the class-action settlement. All large-production luxury and near-luxury-class cars take a big depreciation hit, but a couple of the 996 prices I've seen are awfully low... It is a shame that the gushingly positive reviews - you know, the ones that say the 996 was the best 911 ever - are eclipsed by the bad press. At least those of us who drive and really enjoy the 996 can appreciate what was said back in 1998/1999/2000 when the 996 was getting into the hands of reviewers who could enjoy the car without the payload of crap currently directed at the 996 by the clowns at Jalopnik and others... Even Jalopnik is a bit psychotic about its 996 reviews... when I google for Jalopnik articles about the 996: * How To Own A Ridiculously Cheap And Reliable Porsche 911 * The Ten Worst Cars Of The 1990s M96 paranoia and funky headlights made it possible for me to get into this amazing car for $30K a few years ago. Maybe (someday) it will be more universally appreciated, maybe it won't. Even at $30K, I think my 996 was a great deal and has been a phenomenally fun car. Not since I was a dopey 10-year-old, when I named my bike "Street Hawk" (I was inspired by the eponymous and equally dopey TV show), have I enjoyed a vehicle as much as the 996...

got mine for 10.900 euros, with the catastrophic engine failure, repaired it, replaced all the needed bits and the car runs fine (it had done 380k km) and it was not the IMS that killed it, but a spun bearing which is a maintanance item. this car is such a fun to drive and amazing experience while ressurecting it. and getting insight to the porsche engines. just finished converting it from tiptronic to manual box, what else can an enthusiastic driver/mechanic want

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Yes indeed and what a comment ! Especially at the end

At least our Porsche's don't have Takata air bags! That being said, this is what got me most about the article - "the 996 can take the credit for being the car that saved Porsche." So we can be proud of our lowly 996's in the long lines of Porsche history and heritage. I think credit should be given where credit is due!

Is this the ugly kids forum where we all try to embrace our pimples/glasses/braces/etc and comfort each other? I don't care what any magazine says and I know what I have and don't have. With that said, I really liked the fact that the original designer was able to chime in. I would personally like to ask him all the changes he would've done if he had a higher budget to work with and less constraints.

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Meh. For those that didn't hang on to them, thems the breaks for all new car purchases. For us, the thought of a $103k purchase now being worth less that $20k is painful, but I don't linger on it since we've had 15 years and 70k of near flawless service. We got so much of our money's worth out of it that we bought a second new Porsche (12 years later) which I will hopefully have a similar view of in 10-15 years. I don't think that really had much impact on the value of the cars. We were already pretty much at the bottom when that finalized. The big hit was initially the RMS and later the IMS hysteria.

I was very upset initially when I first laid eyes on the '99 996. Hated the headlights (still don't love 'em, but they've grown on me) and when I realized the dash and everything forward of the A pillars was the same as the Boxster, I was really discouraged. But then I drove one. And then I discovered how these design similarities were necessary for Porsche's survival at the time, so I eventually cut them some slack. Today, I feel that if that's what they needed to do to produce the car I have today, then I'm fine with it!

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Yes. Group comfort. Remeber, most of pimple glassed braced faced kids are running everything now.

So really the problem isn't that there's anything WRONG with the car from the doors forward - except the headlights - but that it's similar to a cheaper and less prestigious car. Heh. You just described Cadillac from 1970 through 2000, Saab from its merger until its demise, and countless other brands that shamelessly stick new badges and maybe a sheet of tin or two onto an existing model and sell it as an up-market make.

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So what you're saying is that the 996 is gonna be THE car to have in like 20 years?

this article made me very happy after my recent 994 C4 purchase.