Hard to warm up to 997s

It's been less than a month since I sold my '99 Cab that I've been with and loved for nearly 7 years. I've been looking at other cars for a replacement and can't decide what to get. I drove an '02 mint Seal Grey Turbo CPO at the dealer that was nice and tight but I felt confined knowing the top wouldn't come off, lol. I also nearly stepped up and bought a Mexico Blue 997S coupe yesterday that was advertised here but hesitated a bit to long and it sold minutes before. I've looked at a lot of 997s and am having a hard time warming up to them. It seems several years ago, I realized, newer is not always better. On the 997 forum I read about what peple don't like about them and I never experienced any of these things with the 996. The 997 interior looks more cutting edge stylish than the 996, but it also looks cheaper and may look dated and like a flash in the pan soon. The seats look cheap as does the steering wheel and I've seen the paint rubbed off the plastic on the door panels by the window switches on more than one car. The kicker is, the colored crest hub caps have really become cheap looking, like what you would get with wheels from Checker Auto. I can't shake that image. Now every time I think 997, I think cheap hub caps. With Porsche, I believe they are following Harleys footsteps, with each successive model/year, do what ever is necessary to increase the bottom line. Charge the customer more/give them less, have marketing promote it in such a way to keep'um happy. Just my take.

I think you heart says 04 turbo cab but your brain says look around.

I was in the market for a 997 when I first started hunting, and after getting into a couple of them and seeing all the rubber falling off the climate and window button, I could not help think of my 1996 VW Jetta, where all the button coating was pealing like crazy. This is such a bad move form the german automaker. Everyone did it. When new the button feel soft and the matte look is great, but after a few years it peals off. Almost as if they wanted to remind the initial owner that it is time to buy a new car ! BMW, Auci, VW and Porsche did it... Look at the 997 steerign wheel airbag, for pit sake you can see where it is gonna open up. with a 'buldge line' right in the center. Still I love the 997 exterior design. But with the same engine problem as the 996, I think the Turbo is the way to go for the 996 lovers. It is just hard to fork more money for the exact same interior I assume you have to let the impulse shopping guide you

I have nothing bad to say about the 997, but it's true with most products that when you take out the flaws you can end up taking out the character. I'd be tempted by a 996TT, too. If the 996 had been built with the quality of materials Porsche was able to afford for the 997, it would be a 911 for the ages IMHO. Our curse will always be that the 911 that saved Porsche did it by being cheap to build.

wow, I can't say I've heard the 997 interior called cheap compared to the 996. The 996 has one of the cheapest interiors I've ever seen in a 70K+ vehicle. The buttons and trim also peel on the 996. I'd say 993TT or 996 GT2

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Sorry... that's the opposite of what I'm saying. I think the 997 interior is far superior in terms of material quality. It just lacks the personality of the 996's. I'm saying I'd love the interior I have, executed with 997 quality.

996 TT is the best bang for buck hands down. But I can’t argue the 997 exteriors are awesome. I drove a lot of nice, 05 and 06 997's before getting my 02 cab. They were nice but not that much nicer than the 996, for me I’d rather have the extra cash for mods and maintenance.

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no need to be sorry as I was referring to the original post, not yours. However, I don't care for the styling of the 996 interior. too much of a departure from the traditional 911 for my taste.

I feel like there's a significant improvement with the MKII on the 996, interior and otherwise. Cars continue to get more sterilized and easier to drive. This didn't start with the 996, and is not going to end with the 997.

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+1 exactly I'll be posting pics of my 02 cab soon - +$20K less than the '05 997 with only 22,500 miles on the clock.

awww not this **** again

+1 again, 05-06 ( & possibly 07) 997 owners still have to worry about IMS issues; PAG hasn't addressed it. Our fellow RL'rs in the 997 forumare addressing rattles and noises in 997 interior areas and even some interior finish issues AND electrical nuances and/or gremlins, which are turning me away from looking at 997's. Real world, I would consider 04 TT before a 997 NA; There are already a few 997 owners pondering the 991 and I can see them getting out of their 997's first chance.

OK, to be fair, my 996 was full leather, with 19 options from the Exclusiv Programe, leather covered seat *****, steering column, ventilation slats and *****, visors, etc. No painted plastic anywhere except the console and sports seat backs. Too, my 996 was over $95 msrp before freight and taxes. Maybe that's part of the problem,lol

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Umm....me too...but I have to be honest, the full leather 997 interior is much nicer than the 996 full leather interior

GTX/Turbo or bust. There's really no point.

Hmmm, I could warm up to a c2s 997.... but will take a 6tt but prefer a 6gt3 over a 7c2s.

one advantage of 996 is that you can remove the console in front of the shifter (GT console delete, Suncoast) to give one more room to let your right leg drift outward. cant do it in a 997 without major surgery. and put in a short shifter while you are at.

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That clears up the birthday gift dilemma.

at this point in the 996 lifecycle , especially after already having owned a 996, I couldn't imagine you'd want anything less than a turbo cab. but drive them, it's a very different experience, i.e. 2nd gear is probably all it will see 95% of the time. hardtop buy a gt3, if i had known how "streetable" they are I'd have done the same. i think about this every few months when I see how low the 997tt and C4S are trading at auction. Then I realize my car is already far, far too fast for the streets of new york, and it's just the bargain hunter in me. I think I'm going to buy something small and silly to keep alongside the 911, something really impractical, a good 356 speedster or maybe an elise.

Go for 996TT, GT2 or GT3 have fun shopping.

Nick.....you know I have recently been down this road. Based on my budget, I kept trying to convince myself that the 997C2S was a better buy dollar for dollar than a 03-04 Turbo. After sitting in both and driving both, the C2S feels slooooooooooow even though it still has something like 355hp. SUre the interior was nice but after driving them both, I realized that I didn't give a damn about the interior. At the end of the day, did I want a car with less horsepower, a M96 or the GT1 based motor with over 400 horsepower and plenty of room to increase that number as my desire for more speed comes? NO FRICKIN BRAINER. If I had to sell my CAB and my Turbo, then I'd get a Turbo CAB S. Oh yeah, the reason I chose the Turbo over the GT2 or GT3 was that I had to be able to have baby seats in the back.