86 v 911 (1998 - 1999)

[whaap]

The few fun cars I've had in my life were a '67 Mustang GT, '71 Corvette, '87 911, '99 Miata and an '02 Miata. I will say that my FR-S has given me more fun/pleasure than any of those cars. I will also say that if you have the Porsche bug the only way to get it out of your system is to buy one. When I sold mine I didn't turn my head any more when one drove by.

[ZDan]

996? Do a search on IMS bearing...
http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/9...-replaced.html
http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...ft_Bearing.htm

Apparently the accepted fix is a different bearing. $600 plus installation.

The risk with the failure-prone stock bearing is total engine destruction!

I was looking at 2002-2004 996s a few years ago, this was one issue that steered me in another direction...

[blu_]

Originally Posted by Turbowned

The 928 is a piece. The 1st gen Boxster is a piece, and the 996 911 (non-turbo) is also a piece.

924 too

[dem00n]

Originally Posted by Turbowned

The 928 is a piece. The 1st gen Boxster is a piece, and the 996 911 (non-turbo) is also a piece.

928 is different, i'll leave it at that.

1st gen Boxster are going to be future Lemon classics. (You can buy them for 2k!?!)

Can't comment on the 996, i never see them on the road anymore nor driven one.

[dem00n]

Originally Posted by blu_

924 too

No, this i disagree, 924 is a great car for almost the same reason the FRS is.

Cheap, RWD. Sure, they were slow and a bit ugly but oh boy could you have fun.


Good starter project cars, if the car didn't rust from the inside of the engine...

[ZDan]

Found interesting info on the 996 and Boxster IMS bearing issues: http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Porsc...946.S.95837230

Towards the end is the good info from the class action suit. Apparently '99/00 Boxsters and 911s had a double-row IMS bearing, and failure rates well below 1% (not that 1% failure rate is "good" for an engine-destroying problem). They went to single-row in 2001, failure rate was 4%-10%. That's a LOT of cars! Failures in 2001-2005 cars are covered in the class action settlement, up to 10 years from new or 130k miles, retroactively. I.e., if a 2001 car had a failure before 2011, the repairs have to be covered by Porsche, but prorated. If bought new and repairs happened at 130k miles, you still get 40% reimbursement, 25% if bought used.

[n2oinferno]

Originally Posted by norsamerican

Lets not forget that if you cannot pay cash for these cars you 99% percent of the time wont get one. A bank isn't going to give you a loan for a car 10 years or older, especially if you have no collateral.

This is no longer true. There are a lot of places, especially credit unions, that will finance older vehicles. Penfed will do it for vehicles with less than 100k miles. I know that for sure, because I asked them about it.

[NYNOMAD]

I had a 1987 911 bought in 2008 - 3 wonderfull years. Drove it everywhere. Then sold it while i still had only good memories. Miss that car...

[WolfpackS2k]

One reason I didn't pony up for a used Porsche is that if I bought a Porsche it would be all I could afford (currently have two cars). And I drive too much (20k miles a year) to have a Porsche as my only car. Operating expenses are just too high.

dammit why do I drive so much?!?!

[blu_]

Originally Posted by dem00n

No, this i disagree, 924 is a great car for almost the same reason the FRS is.

Cheap, RWD. Sure, they were slow and a bit ugly but oh boy could you have fun.


Good starter project cars, if the car didn't rust from the inside of the engine...

It wasn't cheep. It cost twice as much as the Japanese sports cars of the day.

[dem00n]

Originally Posted by blu_

It wasn't cheep. It cost twice as much as the Japanese sports cars of the day.

Did some quick googling, assuming your talking about Datsun and Toyota, the prices are pretty damn close.

[Orange86er]

Thank-you all for your comments. Opinions about the 996 are divided which is really interesting, but the points about maintenance and ongoing costs is SO helpful. I can afford all the repairs, but SHOULDN't i.e. have a million other more "responsible" bills to pay... Which brings me back to why I looked at an 86 in the first place... reliable fun, for a little more than the cost of a dreary sensible second car...

I am thinking I should wait until I have too much money and free time (ie semi-retirement) and think about porsches again then, until then.... 86/FRS/BRZ might be enough fun...

[Djratrap]

Originally Posted by Orange86er

Thank-you all for your comments. Opinions about the 996 are divided which is really interesting, but the points about maintenance and ongoing costs is SO helpful. I can afford all the repairs, but SHOULDN't i.e. have a million other more "responsible" bills to pay... Which brings me back to why I looked at an 86 in the first place... reliable fun, for a little more than the cost of a dreary sensible second car...

I am thinking I should wait until I have too much money and free time (ie semi-retirement) and think about porsches again then, until then.... 86/FRS/BRZ might be enough fun...

I also faced this same predicament when purchasing my BRZ it was down to the BRZ and a 2003 C4S. I could also afford the Porsche and the maintenance, but i decided ultimately that BRZ would give me the same thrills and excitement for a fraction of the price. The Porsche has a lot more frills/oooos and aaahhhs and is an amazing machine. I feel a new Porsche will be my next toy. Personally i'd just rather spend those maintenance costs on other things. Only had the brz a month and loving it, we'll see how it fares in the winter.

[EAGLE5]

Another reason I didn't go for the Porsche was the awful seats. Maybe newer models are better, but I felt uncomfortable, had no leg clearance under the steering wheel, and couldn't adjust them lower. It was awful.