BK911 said:
@harv
@marky911
I see your points about aircooled nostalgia and they also needed rebuilds (mine had a £5500 jzm topend) but the point was they did this after plenty of use..
I'm interested in finding out about things outside the engine.. I looked at a car last week that was mechanical sound. It's bodybwork was also excellent but it's interior squeeked over every bump and looked well soiled!
The 964 didn't squeak and it's seats, plastics etc etc all aged really well. It felt bomb proof to me, the best car I've ever owned! It was solid.
The mechanical clunk of a door shutting or the way the dash just wouldn't rattle in my old car left me with an impression that Porsche are robust, you pay for it but it delivers.
My brother ownes the car below... it's lovely and feels amazing but gets driven in the dry for a couple of thousand km a year! Hardly a test of its build quality. EVO demonstrated with the 458 that it could be used everyday and rack on the miles without any bother.
Can you do this in the 996 & 997?
Before my current daily M3 i had a Lotus Evora.. Lovely thing but after 20k miles (30k miles in total) was showing signs of fatigue all over. Shocks squeek, Water ingress, Headlight lens peeling, seats dye fading, rubber seals looking grey and numerous other minor snags like the sat nav freezing. Sold it and bought an M3 that has been faultless and just hasn't aged a day aesthetically in 2.5 years and 20k miles.. it's solid and built out of quality materials! Great car but not me, I don't love it like the Evora or the 964.
Is the 996 and 997 a quality product? Will it do 150k miles and still feel good?
(Off topic - I know about the ims etc but will it last? I'm looking at 2004/05 996's and 2006 997's :thumb
Evenin' BK,
It sounds like the car you looked at last week just maybe hadn't been looked after as well as some.
The interior of my 996 is light grey so shows up grime if there is any. My grey 964 interior was exactly the same albeit it had 90k on but they aren't poles apart. Grimy gear knob, steering wheel a bit shiny etc. All easily rectified.
My 964s ( I had a C2 manual coupe, then a 964 Turbo) weren't problem free in the interior department either. Broken window switches, my sunroof panel headlining used to buzz and the leather dashboard on 964s always shrinks, which in turn makes both ends pull up where they meet the doors, pulling the vents out of shape and fitment.
They did feel like they were produced slightly better and they probably were, as it was before the bean counters took the reigns at Porsche. Having said that, boy can 964s rust!
I've never got the door clunk thing and have commented on it before. The old cars make a "clack" sound which I think is bloody 'orrible.
Add to that the fact that you can usually hear the heater flaps under the car rattle too, as it rocks from closing the door and I never thought of it as a sound that said "quality". I appreciate that I am in the minority here though, especially amongst air-cooled guys.
A 996 sounds solid and sealed in comparison, but either way I don't base too much of my enjoyment from listening to my door close. :grin:
A good 996/7 is totally usable as a daily and barring a major mechanical failure will definitely last in exactly the same way a 964 would. They'll need a suspension refresh to be tip top and other general items such as rads and condensers, but they are still very well made.
I love the Loti but think of them the same as TVR. Great for a summer car but not built to last. Your M3 on the other hand will be superb, as you've said. I'm a massive BMW fan.
If I was you I'd search for a Gen 2 997 which are from 2009 onwards. DFi engine with almost no reported failures, in comparison to gen1 cars. A Gen 2 GTS would be a great daily car. My neighbour had one and has just changed it for a 991GTS.
Nice 991RS your brother has there. Awesome cars.
I'm at Silverstone in a couple of weeks time drive the Gen2 GT3. Looking forward to it. I was there last year driving a Macan Turbo and GT4. Great fun.
The halo models are the only new cars that interest me. :wink:
Anyway, good luck with your search. :thumb: