advice requested: '99 c2/4 or new bmw 330coupe????

hi all, first time posting here. planning on buying a car at the end of the summer and was hoping for the boards opinions. my 2 choices are a new bmw 3coupe or a used c2/c4 ('99 or maybe a '00 should be in my price range). here's what im thinking....i plan on keeping the car for a long time (10+ years) and am mainly worried about reliability...as a current bmw owner i know they can be a handful when it comes to maintenance. ive heard porsches are generally bulletproof and was wondering if this is true; as we all know if something does go wrong, we're looking at big $$$ to fix. the new bmw would have a warranty so that takes 4 years of worries out of the equation though. as i dont drive during the week, the car would be mainly driven on weekends...so i wont put many miles on it. both of these cars are gorgeous in my opinion but a porsche is, well, a PORSCHE!!! but i dont want to go bankrupt if something major does happen. what would you guys do in my position? thanks for all your advice!!!

They are really two very different cars. If you buy a new 330, you get 4yrs/50k miles scheduled maintenance paid for. Schedulled maintenance now includes brake pads as well. The 330 is more a gt car. Handles well, is fairly quick, has nicer interiors and a usable rear seat. With Porsche, you pay your own schedulled maintenance and you won't have much warranty left on a 1999 0r 2000 car. So the brain will tell you to buy the 330........But, the heart says Porsche. A porsche is a porsche no other manufaturer can say that. When you say Porsche you think sports car, performance, heritage, etc. It really is a much different vehicle in driving dynamics, performance, etc. The Porsche will definately draw much more attention as well. I gues my best advise judging from your needs and current pricing on 1999-2000 C2's is to buy an M3. It seems to me it will give you all you need. -Lou

Lol, ya think? LSM is right, you only live once. Porsches are generally reliable, and as long as you find a well maintained example you will have absolutely no problems with a 996(it's a pussycat). However, you may want to opt for a 2000 model, just to ensure all the bugs have been ironed out and you don't have any unexpected bills. Of course though, have a $K or so for unexpected occurences. And as I have heard others say, don't buy a porsche unless you can afford to keep it pristine....

having owned a bunch of both P and B cars, my vote goes to 00 996. you can buy ext. warranty on that.

Seems you are looking more for a fun car than a daily hauler. the Porsche is definitely that. durability and longevity, thats also part of the Porsche heritage. Beauty...... you think the 3 coupe looks good? I assume you mean the M coupe based on the Z3. It's "cute", but not timeless like the 911. Pricing... the used car market sucks if you own a Porsche, but great if you are buying a used one. Lot's of great specimens out there, a lot of car for not a lot of money. Performance......996 all the way. Remind me....Why did you want a BMW 3 coupe again?

I currently have both the 996 and 330- lemme just boil it down for ya... my wife drives the 330, period. I avoid planting my azz in that thing as much as humanly possible. Call me an elitist and vane, but I truly hate driving down the street and seeing twenty cars that look just like the one I am driving, sometimes even in the same color. Nobody ever does a double take at the Bimmer becuase its "just another one" but I always get "NICE CAR" looks and comments on the 996. Besides, that 330 Bimmer is always BROKE! We were able to get an extension on the maintenance ag from BMW NA because we had so many things break on the car we lost count- busted sunroof, mysterious water leaks into the car interior (the carpet remained wet through most of the winter), failing a/c in the summer, waterpump failure, cantankerous brakes lights that keep blowing, windows stuck in the down position during the winter rainy season here in the PacNW and a two week wait to have it repaired- so we drove around with plastic trash bags taped to the window on our brand new 330 until BMW could make room on their long maintenance appointment list... what a drag this car has been. When my wife contacted BMW NA- during her tirade she made this incediblly fabulous statement- "Why can't you make this as dependable as my husbands Porsche, he never has these problems!!!" That is the honest to god truth, she really said that. As much as she despises being a "Porsche widow" she acknowledges that the 996 is a more dependable car. By the way I posted this a few weeks ago- For three years JD Power and associates has been evaluating the most reliable automobiles in various classes. Once again the Porsche 996 gets an award- This year it is- "The Most Dependable Premium Sport Car". However, it does not stop there- if you look at the JD Power and Associates study and stack ranking of the 2003 Vehicle Dependability Study Porsche Cars North America had the least problems per every 100 vehicles it manufactured. The industry average of problems per every 100 cars is 273 and the stack ranking is as follows (if you have not visited the link above)- Porsche Cars North America- 193 Toyota Motor Sales USA (Lexus inclusive)- 196 American Honda Motor - 215 Nissan Motor America- 258 BMW- 258 GM Corp- 264 Subaru of America- 266 (Below Indusrty Average) Ford Motor (Jaguar included)- 287 DaimlerChrysler (Mercs Benz Included)- 311 Mitsubishi Motors N.A.- 339 Hyundai Motor America- 342 American Isuzu Motors- 368 Volkswagen of America- 378 American Suzuki Motor Corp- 403 Daewoo Motor America- 421 Kia Motors America- 509

Listen to your heart! Good luck in whatever you decide to do...

thank you very much for all your replies.....looks like im gonna start looking at porsches!!!! yippee!!!!