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Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHAm I crazy? '03 996 Targa as a Daily Driver
Leading reported evidence
Replace e46 3 series
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I replaced my old E46 3 series with the 996 as my only car last year, then six months later ended up buying another 3-series (2013) as a more practical people mover.
Leading evidence: 'Replace e46 3 series' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, The most frequently discussed action is 'Install some o2 sensor extenders' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 1 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Repair cost in the thousands result in catastrophic unrepairable damage
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Suggestion
- Would an unexpected repair cost in the thousands result in catastrophic unrepairable damage to your finances?
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Suggestion
BUT, you can get around most of these using rental cars, Lyft/Uber, friends.
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed
I replaced my old E46 3 series with the 996 as my only car last year, then six months later ended up buying another 3-series (2013) as a more practical people mover.
Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
34 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Rennlist: 1 discussions
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Generation: 20261026T205155Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
Looking at a 03 targa, automatic listed for $22k. Am I crazy for considering this a daily driver? If a PPI checks out, what price should I shoot for. Car has 66k miles. Thanks.
Our Murano gets more DD utility for logistical reasons (dog, shopping) and traffic (even a short commute in stop-and-go traffic can get old when your clutch knee has a dead guy's body parts in it), but the 996 still winds up being the commuter vehicle a couple of days a week. There is no reason I WOULDN'T rely on my 996 as a daily driver...
I DD my previous 88 Targa for 2 years, my '00 Boxster S, and now I plan to DD my '99 Cab. It can be driven Year round, but plan for maintenance and repairs, depending on how much you drive. I only put less than 7,500/yr on my cars, and only usually have to buy brakes, tires, and the occasional failed part.
I put 16k miles on my 02 C4S in last 7 months. Stop and go traffic can get old, otherwise its really fun to DD. It snowed today and I still drove it. Main roads are clear but a few inches in the driveway.
I Daily my 2003 C2 in the nicer months, but it is garaged in the winter.... I also have a new pick up truck for when family duties or dog duties call.
I could not just have a 911 as my DD, I would have to have a back up car that handles more people/dogs ect...
I DD my '02 C2 with 105K miles on it now, even through the winter. Although, I live in SoCal, so that's sort of like cheating weather-wise. Apart from stop-n-go traffic and a manual transmission getting old after a while, there's no reason not to DD one.
I replaced my old E46 3 series with the 996 as my only car last year, then six months later ended up buying another 3-series (2013) as a more practical people mover. Might as well have just kept the E46 to start with...
You can get away with the 996 as an only car, if only just - it's not /that/ much less practical than something like a Fiat 500 (but definitely less practical than a Mini). But it's just nice to have a car with more space for when you need it.
I agree with this. My wife's car is a Mini Cooper S, which is only mildly more useful than the 911 for things like groceries, Costco runs, etc. I do wish I had another car or small truck with a little more carrying capacity for those times I need it.
I like the idea of something like an E46 wagon or similar.
I had an R56 Mini in college, that was an incredibly useful car I thought. Much more livable as an only car than the 996. Not a lot of room, but it really maximized the volume it had. Between the folding rear seats and the square roofline, you could fit a lot more stuff than expected. I helped multiple friends move with that thing.
Hey John, slight thread highjack... love my Fabspeed setup... sounds fantastic and beautiful work. I have the full system, headers, X-pipe, cats, mufflers, etc. But I am still plagued with CEL's from it (P0420/P0430). Any suggestions? I installed some O2 sensor extenders that you guys provided to me, but it didn't help.
Feel free to PM me. Thx!
I DD my 996 and, aside from occasional issues shoehorning my son's hockey gear into the back seat it's perfect. I did contemplate a targa mostly for the added practicality but I wanted a C4. Perhaps a 997 C4 targa is next ...
Being able to pop the hatch on the targa is really awesome for loading it up with stuff. I certainly appreciate it for hauling groceries and road trips. Have yet to run out of room inside the car in nearly a year of ownership, but I haven't bought a TV in a while either.
Hi Mike! Appreciate the kind words on the system, very happy to hear you are enjoying it as much as we do
It is a very rare occasion I hear of a CEL with our HJS cats on these cars, and cannot recall any with the O2 spacers. Some ECU's seem to be more sensitive than others, but this is crossing the line! haha. PM heading your way, lets see what we can figure out
Crazy would be to dismiss the idea as impractical without doing a bit of research. Too many people avoid getting/doing what they want to because they're stuck in the mindset that it isn't practical or not possible. Sucks to be them.
A few quick questions, if you answer yes to any of them it may not be a good idea:
- Are you in a situation where a breakdown could result in catastrophic unrepairable damage to your career or personal life?
- Would an unexpected repair cost in the thousands result in catastrophic unrepairable damage to your finances?
- Do you enjoy the idea of driving a front wheel drive economy car?
No to all 3? My vote is go for it.
I have a C4. I could drive it everyday, but choose not too. It's just not piratical. By practical I mean, I can't really store a lot of stuff in there and getting my golf clubs in and out of the rear seat is a pain.
Charlie brings up good points. Aside from the finances, I would say it does 90% of what a "normal" car does.
Things I use the wife's car for:
-Transporting bikes (pedal and petrol)
-Trips with wife + child, and/or dogs
-Heavy trips to Home Depot, Costco, Target
-Snowboarding trips
BUT, you can get around most of these using rental cars, Lyft/Uber, friends.
Things I can do fine but people stare (I honestly don't know why) ...
-Transport a toddler
-Go to the range with my rifles
-Light to medium trips for groceries
The car has generally been reliable, but it's not a Toyota or Honda and that car is 13 years old. It'll be helpful if you can random do small fixes & maintenance yourself...e.g. I just cleared my drain plugs before it started raining.
What might be helpful is if you specifically list something you're concerned about, then people can chime in.
Good luck.
Gratuitously piling on in favor of daily driving the 996. I have a 03 C4S with 80k miles and drive it every day, rain, snow, or shine at 8000' on the **** roads of the Colorado foothills. Lowered, customized, roof rack and all. The 958 Turbo stays parked but for big road trips or trips to Home Depot. I DD the 996.2 C4S, wife DDs the 986.2 S.
Door dings? Yeah, unfortunately. Road chips? Yeah. All are marks that these babies are getting the attention they deserve. And I've found that the 996 is a GREAT platform for DIY. I've owned over 30 cars in my 50 years of life. Many have been lame, some have been sweet. None have compared to my 996.
I really like your seats. I'm considering a 99 C4 as a daily driver. I drive about 30k miles a year though for work. That seems kinda crazy since my current 2018 Civic Si fills that role very well. My wife has a 22 Tahoe (expensive but family car), and I have a 2000 Miata (sunny weather car) I could use as a backup when needed. I have a crazy idea for a 99 C4 but am not sure I could use one as a daily too.
I wanted to give you a hard time for replying to a six year old thread.
But then you went and posted some pictures of your beautiful (Lapis Blue?) car. Nice!
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