Hi, I've been loitering on this forum for a while but thought that now I've taken the plunge into 993 ownership I should introduce myself and my new car. 
First of all, a thanks to all the regular contributors on here as, without the advice and knowledge base on here there is no way I'd have the balls to spend this sort of money on a 16 year old car.
I've wanted a Porsche for years – nearly bought a classic 911 seven years ago but the buyer pulled out after I had it PPI'ed which I took as an omen and bought a cheap-as-chips MX5 as a weekend car (which has provided a lot of low-cost fun over the years).
Having spent a while loitering on DDK and, more recently, 911uk I took an interest in the 993 as being the last of the development line from the classic 911 – still the heritage of the old cars with the benefit of 30+ years of technology, rust-proofing etc.
And with the car being a garaged weekend car replacing the MX5 I opted for a Targa, manual as being my preferred option. I enjoy the top-down driving in the MX5 but I wasn't keen on a convertible 911 due to the attention a Porsche gets. I've read about the leaks, wind-noise, targa-roof cable issues etc but I'm prepared to live with those on a weekend car. My daily driver is BMW 5 series auto so I guess that also pushed me in the direction of a manual for the 993 despite the price premium over the Tiptronic.
I was keeping an eye out for cars for a few months – test-drove a few privately, visited 911virgin, Portiacraft, Northway and even Hendon Way Motors and saw a number of cars which I ruled out for a combination of either scuttle or other cosmetic problems, gaps in service history etc., poor colour schemes (what was it with all the blue and grey in the 90's?) or they were tiptronic. Basically, every car I saw always had something that made me feel the purchase wasn't right for me. I've now ended up paying more than I intended but I'm hoping I've saved myself a few pounds and aggro and got the spec I wanted.
Eventually, I saw an advert on Autotrader for a car at Alexander David in Ascot (Sambalee on here will recognise the car as he spotted it too). I'd not heard of these guys before but so far the purchase experience has been ok - I guess I'll be able to comment further in a few months if any warranty issues occur – seem to sell a lot of Porsches and other sports marques. I'm not sure if they fall in the Porsche-specialist category though? With them not being a Porsche specialist, I did consider getting a PPI after I put the deposit down (I didn't want to miss out on the car) but I'm putting my faith in the dealer and their warranty. Even after a few hundred miles trouble-free driving, and despite spending a lot of time reading up on issues, I've still got that fear in the back of my mind I've bought a lemon though. I guess when you buy any car you're always taking a bit of a risk – you do what you can to de-risk but you always carry a bit of risk.
So – more about the car...
993 Targa (1997) manual – Arctic Silver with a boxster red leather interior
Option codes:
033 – lowered chassis
09991 – manufacture from the exclusive-programme (I think this refers to the leather-covered dash)
373 – Left sport seat with Power height adjuster
374 – Right sport seat with Power height adjuster
425 – Rear wiper
445 – Wheel Rim Caps with Porsche Crest
567 – Windshield green graduated tint
602 – Third brake light 'High Mount"
C16 – UK LUX spec: tinted windows, metallic paint 'and a few other goodies" – not sure what this refers to really – stereo and cassette storage maybe?
X54 – Oval chrome exhaust pipes
Not listed on the options codes is a Sony cassette deck and in-boot CD changer which I believe was dealer-fitted when new.
The car had a few things which needed fixing as part of the sale price – I saw it as soon as it was advertised so have the benefit of knowing what needed preparing. The list included wheel refurbs, scratch repairs, hoop spoiler damage where I think the motorised spoiler had over-deployed, driver's door check strap (not a perfect repair), scratches to the leather dash and door card, faulty horn switch (which resulted in the comical situation that the horn sounded whenever momentum carried forward – i.e you hit the brakes and the horn sounded!) and a few scratch repairs. These were all agreed as part of the sale.
I have started a to-do list of minor things that need sorting that maybe I'll go into another time. Mechanically, the car drives fine to me but I guess an experienced 993 driver will identify work that needs doing however I don't think there's anything that can't keep until the 1st service. Hopefully, I'll get to a forum meet at some point and get the benefit of some more experienced minds on mechanical condition. I'm also planning on booking in for the free OPC healthcheck – tried book on Saturday but seems the line is only open weekdays.
The car came with a number of documents so I've pieced together some of the history as follows:
12/07/1997 - Upholstery company director, Birmingham – Reg no LPK 111 / P737 JRY
? - Fitter/director of window company? - Wolverley, Derbyshire - 1 WSN
01/12/2000 - Pharmacy company director, Chipping Camden, Gloucestershire - Current number
22/01/2011 - Same keeper but car registerd personally
20/04/2013 - Me, Ealing
Service history (hopefully these dropbox links work :? ):
I guess it's time I posted some pics so here goes (I hope this works..) By the way – how do people feel about posting reg numbers on photos? I've removed mine but it ruins the pics and I can't help but feel it's a paranoia-thing to remove them?
First of all, a thanks to all the regular contributors on here as, without the advice and knowledge base on here there is no way I'd have the balls to spend this sort of money on a 16 year old car.
I've wanted a Porsche for years – nearly bought a classic 911 seven years ago but the buyer pulled out after I had it PPI'ed which I took as an omen and bought a cheap-as-chips MX5 as a weekend car (which has provided a lot of low-cost fun over the years).
Having spent a while loitering on DDK and, more recently, 911uk I took an interest in the 993 as being the last of the development line from the classic 911 – still the heritage of the old cars with the benefit of 30+ years of technology, rust-proofing etc.
And with the car being a garaged weekend car replacing the MX5 I opted for a Targa, manual as being my preferred option. I enjoy the top-down driving in the MX5 but I wasn't keen on a convertible 911 due to the attention a Porsche gets. I've read about the leaks, wind-noise, targa-roof cable issues etc but I'm prepared to live with those on a weekend car. My daily driver is BMW 5 series auto so I guess that also pushed me in the direction of a manual for the 993 despite the price premium over the Tiptronic.
I was keeping an eye out for cars for a few months – test-drove a few privately, visited 911virgin, Portiacraft, Northway and even Hendon Way Motors and saw a number of cars which I ruled out for a combination of either scuttle or other cosmetic problems, gaps in service history etc., poor colour schemes (what was it with all the blue and grey in the 90's?) or they were tiptronic. Basically, every car I saw always had something that made me feel the purchase wasn't right for me. I've now ended up paying more than I intended but I'm hoping I've saved myself a few pounds and aggro and got the spec I wanted.
Eventually, I saw an advert on Autotrader for a car at Alexander David in Ascot (Sambalee on here will recognise the car as he spotted it too). I'd not heard of these guys before but so far the purchase experience has been ok - I guess I'll be able to comment further in a few months if any warranty issues occur – seem to sell a lot of Porsches and other sports marques. I'm not sure if they fall in the Porsche-specialist category though? With them not being a Porsche specialist, I did consider getting a PPI after I put the deposit down (I didn't want to miss out on the car) but I'm putting my faith in the dealer and their warranty. Even after a few hundred miles trouble-free driving, and despite spending a lot of time reading up on issues, I've still got that fear in the back of my mind I've bought a lemon though. I guess when you buy any car you're always taking a bit of a risk – you do what you can to de-risk but you always carry a bit of risk.
So – more about the car...
993 Targa (1997) manual – Arctic Silver with a boxster red leather interior
Option codes:
033 – lowered chassis
09991 – manufacture from the exclusive-programme (I think this refers to the leather-covered dash)
373 – Left sport seat with Power height adjuster
374 – Right sport seat with Power height adjuster
425 – Rear wiper
445 – Wheel Rim Caps with Porsche Crest
567 – Windshield green graduated tint
602 – Third brake light 'High Mount"
C16 – UK LUX spec: tinted windows, metallic paint 'and a few other goodies" – not sure what this refers to really – stereo and cassette storage maybe?
X54 – Oval chrome exhaust pipes
Not listed on the options codes is a Sony cassette deck and in-boot CD changer which I believe was dealer-fitted when new.
The car had a few things which needed fixing as part of the sale price – I saw it as soon as it was advertised so have the benefit of knowing what needed preparing. The list included wheel refurbs, scratch repairs, hoop spoiler damage where I think the motorised spoiler had over-deployed, driver's door check strap (not a perfect repair), scratches to the leather dash and door card, faulty horn switch (which resulted in the comical situation that the horn sounded whenever momentum carried forward – i.e you hit the brakes and the horn sounded!) and a few scratch repairs. These were all agreed as part of the sale.
I have started a to-do list of minor things that need sorting that maybe I'll go into another time. Mechanically, the car drives fine to me but I guess an experienced 993 driver will identify work that needs doing however I don't think there's anything that can't keep until the 1st service. Hopefully, I'll get to a forum meet at some point and get the benefit of some more experienced minds on mechanical condition. I'm also planning on booking in for the free OPC healthcheck – tried book on Saturday but seems the line is only open weekdays.
The car came with a number of documents so I've pieced together some of the history as follows:
12/07/1997 - Upholstery company director, Birmingham – Reg no LPK 111 / P737 JRY
? - Fitter/director of window company? - Wolverley, Derbyshire - 1 WSN
01/12/2000 - Pharmacy company director, Chipping Camden, Gloucestershire - Current number
22/01/2011 - Same keeper but car registerd personally
20/04/2013 - Me, Ealing
Service history (hopefully these dropbox links work :? ):
I guess it's time I posted some pics so here goes (I hope this works..) By the way – how do people feel about posting reg numbers on photos? I've removed mine but it ruins the pics and I can't help but feel it's a paranoia-thing to remove them?
