Am I mad? Starting too look at 911s! (996) as my next car

[MAT ED30]

i know i got that wrong i know it had a bill for over 10k

[Jk911]

I ran a 1989 3.2 Carrera for a couple of years and loved it, I'm also considering a 996, as long as you get one with good history it shouldn't be any more problematic than any other car to run, parts can be pricey but a good independent specialist for servicing should bring the cost down. Engine failures only affected a small percentage of early cars (3.4) so if you do go for an early car look for one that's covered around the 80k mark as if the engine was going to let go it would have happened by now. They are great cars to drive and at the end of the day it's a 911 ( you know you want it) lol

[MAT ED30]

i test drove a few  the best was a Carrara with full tech art mods i.e. springs and induction and re map and loads of other little bits and it was awesome 

[no golf clubs at all]

I fell in love with the 996 and really wanted one as my next car. I drove a couple of c4s' and two things stopped me buying.

1) the engine failures, financially ruinous for me.
2) the brakes in both scared me and whilst people say you get used to it. I actually felt they were dangerous.

I ended up with a 330d. Lovely but it does lack a little passion.

[Hurdy]

The brakes can be easily sorted as there are quite a few Porsche brake upgrades available for the 996.

Statllers are primarily a Porsche independant specialist and he always has plenty of work in with them, which for me isn't surprising as most 996's are over or approaching 10years old. I see some beautiful examples as well as some seriously abused ones. A well looked after Porsche 996 Turbo would be a gem, but I've also seen the opposite end of the spectrum with blown turbo's and fixing those ain't cheap!

It is like buying most second hand cars. A good example with all the receipts and owned by an enthusiast is probably a safe bet, but beware the mingers that have missing service schedules and are owned by people who make Scrooge look generous.

Steve keeps asking me if I want to buy his modified 997 Turbo and if I had the spare cash I'd bite his hand off.

My last piece of advice would be, when viewing a 996 to take someone with you who has a lot of experience of them if you are seriously contemplating buying one. 

[Hedge]

There's an article in this months EVO about buying this kind of car for hot hatch money.