Porsche 911UK Forum

Welcome to the @Porsche911UK website. Register a free account today to become a member! Sign up is quick and easy, then you can view, participate in topics and posts across the site that covers all things Porsche.

Already registered and looking to recovery your account, select 'login in' and then the 'forget your password' option.

Advice re buying Carerra S vs Carrera 4S please

goalc

Member
Joined
29 Jan 2007
Messages
5
Hi, I hope that some of you good people can give me some advice as I am looking to buy my first 911.

I am looking to buy an early 997, and have narrowed my choice down to a tiptronic Carrera S or a 4S (I would love a Targa, but they seem incredibly rare and dont seem to hold their value as well??).

Can you please give me some advice re the pros/cons of one over the other? Will I really notice the difference between the two (I cannot find any dealer with both in stock to compare back to back)? What about servicing/running costs - is there a substantial difference?

Also, I know two people at work who have or have had 911's (one a 996, the other an earlier one from about the late 90s) and both have had to have new engines once the car got to around 35K miles! Is this a common occurence? I plan to keep the car about 5 years and do about 15k miles a year, so dont want to be worried about the engine failing....

Also, for my first 911 would you say I am best to stick to main dealers (in which case, which are good? I live in between Reading and Guildford but dont mind travelling for the right dealer) or are there independants that would be trustworthy and provide me with good impartial advice?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.....

thanks
 
Hi goalc :thumb:

Welcome to the forum. :welcome:

With regards to your question, its been asked many times so its probably worth doing a search.

Regards
EliteDetailer
 
Welcome to the forum

Is a difficult choise between the 2S and the 4S. Some say that the 2S is more rewarding to drive but the 4S gives you that extra grip when you need it.
Any reason for the 4S. Also why are you going for a trip ? What about the budget you have.
My advice is to give OPC reading a visit and you might be able to see a lot of different cars; usualy they have a big stock.
Important things to consider is level of equipment but the S should come with a lot anyway...
 
Welcome, speak to Mark Pearce (www.stirlings.co.uk) who'll give you impartial advice, he did for me when I was buying my current and first.

Re the difference. The stalwarts will tell you the 2S is the genuine drive. Don't be worried about grip as it has loads and has some gadgets (PASM) to help get you out of trouble. The 4S will have a different feel from the front end as the extra weight wil be felt through the steering wheel.

To be honest if you have a choice of 2, a 2S and a 4S, go for condition of car/milage and especially options level as these imo are more important.

Why don't you post the options/milage/cost and we'll give you more informed advice. Some options are a must!

Whatever you decide when you buy post us some pics please.

Pete :thumb:
 
As has been said, you can only really decide by driving both.

I would also advise against the tiptronic, but then I'm an :eek:ld: traditionalist
 
Thanks for the advice......

I'm after a tiptronic as I do a lot of driving around town and have just grown lazy I guess (I havent had a manual car for about 15 years!).

I called in Guildford Porsche today and they were helpful, but wanted a £1000 deposit to have a test drive (on a carrera 2s that they dont have yet) - is this normal? I couldnt believe it that they asked for that....!!?!!
 
goalc said:
I called in Guildford Porsche today and they were helpful, but wanted a £1000 deposit to have a test drive) - is this normal?

As there is a large queue outside most OPC's every Saturday of people looking to buy a 911 it is completely normal behaviour.

Unless you arrived in a Corsa wearing a shell-suit it is quite an unbelievable way to treat a potential customer.

Just go elsewhere, hopefully you will be treated in a better and more appropriate way. Alternativrly, trya good indie, there a plenty in your area, I'm sure someone will be along later with recommendations.
 
Bubbles said:
goalc said:
I called in Guildford Porsche today and they were helpful, but wanted a £1000 deposit to have a test drive) - is this normal?

As there is a large queue outside most OPC's every Saturday of people looking to buy a 911 it is completely normal behaviour.

Unless you arrived in a Corsa wearing a shell-suit it is quite an unbelievable way to treat a potential customer.

Just go elsewhere, hopefully you will be treated in a better and more appropriate way. Alternativrly, trya good indie, there a plenty in your area, I'm sure someone will be along later with recommendations.

Lol it must have been the Corsa and my shell suit combined with my dole cheque I was waving :lol:
Yes, I'll try another dealer and hopefully get treated a bit more seriously.

On the issue of options, what are the "must haves"? I was thinking the navigation module and possibly rear wiper (?) - is there anything that I really should look to get, and equally anything that is not really worth bothering with?

Thanks agaion for all the advice.
 
When I was buying my 997 S - and speaking to Peter Morgan...the 2 things that were "key" to holding value was Satnav & Bose

For me...I wanted sunroof, bose, wiper...and ended up getting one with these plus sports seats, heated seats, 4 CD player, Sat nav, phone module, phone handset.

If I was going to buy again I would get I would forget the rear wiper & get sensors instead...and sports exhaust would be the icing on the cake

(oh...and an engine that didnt go pop after 3 months of ownership :eek: )
 
Bubbles said:
goalc said:
I called in Guildford Porsche today and they were helpful, but wanted a £1000 deposit to have a test drive) - is this normal?

I bought my C2s from Guildford OPC and got treated very well, they never asked me for a deposit for a test drive and if they had, I would of told them where to shove it.

maybe if you come on one of our meets you can sample mine for £1000 non refundable deposit !

:floor: :floor: :floor:

only kidding you can have pax ride in mine for a coca cola ! and maybe a drive for a fosters shandy :thumb:
 
Not sure about the 997, but on the 996, the additional kit to drive the front wheels significantly reduced the size of the front boot. Not necessarily a make or break consideration but may be more important if this was to be your main or only car.

Similarly, the Targa offers a huge benefit for carrying stuff in the back, having a rear hatch which none of the other models come with. Just a shame that Porsche decided to only produce the Targa in 4wd.

I have noticed with the 996 that Targa values do seem to get softer than the coupe models but not significantly if you are considering longish term ownership where the glass roof and hatch, in my opinion, more than off set minor financial considerations.

Peter
 
Finally getting round to writing my views.

I am on my third 997, my first was a Gen I C2S my second a Gen I C4S and I now have a Gen II C4S.

I am based in Germany and the car is my daily driver.

Probably also relevant is that my previous car (before the Porsches) was an Audi RS4 (previous model Twin-turbo V6).

I did not get on with the C2 for a number of reasons mostly related to the varied conditions in which I drive. The C2 was completely undrivable in snow even with winter tyres on (we get a lot of snow where I live) but more significantly on the autobahn in the wet it was a real handful at anything over about 120 Kmh and would aquaplane everywhere. As I say that feeling might be because the RS4 was unbelievably planted in all conditions.

I switched to the C4 as the C2 had so many faults that eventually porsche agreed to trade me for another (new) car. For me the C4 was a complete transformation. I like the fact that the front end feels a lot more planted - for me that gives a lot more confidence (I am not one to drive around with the tail hanging out anyway). In addition, the driving experience is really enhanced in variable conditions (including snow!).

From a practicality point of view there is a loss of boot space but TBH if you are buying a car like this for practicality then you're probably buying the wrong car.

I have a few options on the car (doesn't really need them), such as sports seats, sat nav (had that on all cars). I had the sports exhaust on my last C4 which I think also enhances the experience (wasn't available when I ordered my Gen II). I have PDK on my current car which I would give a miss.

So ....I like my Porsche but I don't love it! I thought about an an Audi R8 and test drove one when they first came out. They are slightly more expensive but in my view feels a bit more special than the Porker - if I had the decision again I would go for that.

:twisted:
 
Cap_Scarlet: Is your C4S behaving itself now? Did you know that one click of the handbrake on the PDK C4S and you have got your C2S back? I didn't believe it at first but it is the case.....

To answer the original post, I also went from a C2S to a C4S and much prefer the 4 wheel drive car. It does feel a lot more planted on the road and the reduction in boot space some people have mentioned is pretty minor.

I don't believe the difference in running costs would be significant between the two cars so I think it comes down to which one you would prefer so I guess you will have to drive both and see.
 
goodethernet said:
Cap_Scarlet: Is your C4S behaving itself now? Did you know that one click of the handbrake on the PDK C4S and you have got your C2S back? I didn't believe it at first but it is the case.....

Yes behaving at the moment but I still feel a little disappointed with the PDK - I think I need to try another model to see if "they all do that guv".
 
Don't do what I did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In my experience one thing to avoid is unless you want to be hung draw and quartered then the phone slammed down on you by a jumped up salesman... DON'T test drive at Reading then have the cheek and down right audacity to then purchase at Guildford! Oh heaven forbid! I did, I thought the sky was about to fall in when I gave a courtesy call to Reading saying I had bought at Guildford. I got a torrent of B.S. The attitude of the guy was unbelievable. You'd have thought I was a glam rock star chatting up his pre pubescent daughter!!! :judge:
 

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
124,354
Messages
1,439,461
Members
48,713
Latest member
3sp1f8
Back
Top