[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by WolfpackS2k

911s are very reliable cars (always rated very highly in all durability tests) but naturally if something breaks it will most likely cost a lot to fix it. And then if you take the car in for any type of preventative maintenance that won't be cheap. But they are such well engineered and hardy cars. A 10 year old 996 seems like a fantastic track and DD car. 320 hp and 3,000lbs (Carrera 2) makes it faster than a Cayman S while costing less. I love love love the Cayman Ss but until they're in the mid to high 20's I can't think about buying one. Like Dave-ROR I won't spend more than $500/mo on a vehicle. My S2000 is in immaculate shape (and has a 100k warranty) which leads me to believe I could sell it for $20,000 which would be ideal considering I currently only owe 12k on it. Having $8k to play with could make getting an older vehicle (i.e. Porsche) easier to get.

On the flip side I'm considering buying a house in a year or so and flipping cars around the same time only complicates things

I should buy a house, but I'm not sure how much longer I'll be in Florida, and with the housing market, especially here.. it's not really a wise move :P

911s can be reliable, but the M96 does have it's issues (especially earlier ones). Maintenance doesn't help with IMS failures. Leaking RMS can be replaced, and eventually (assuming the crank is still centered) you might even get one to seal up. 997s have the RMS problem too though, I've seen more than one leaking on the showroom floor :P

I love 911s also though, and Caymans, and would deal with their issues if it was my 3rd street vehicle. I would not go with an Air cooled 911 anymore though, I love 964 RS Americas and all, but they are just not what I want out of that kind of car anymore. Rebuilding the air cooled engines is a lot easier though from what I've heard (I've never rebuilt a water cooled one though, but the air cooled 911 SC motor we rebuilt was cake).

I sold my 06 S2K with ~18.5k miles in Oct 2008 for just over 20k in great shape as well (front bumper had a slight indent about 1/4" around and a paint chip or two from a PVC pipe flying off a truck on the interstate). Have values gone up?