Gonzo911

I see that Santa has been good to many of you this year by delivering a new Porsche to your garage. I have owned my MY03 Cab, 47k miles when I got it, for all of 5 months now, so as a very new owner, I thought I would save you some time and share some things I have learned from the awesome experience of owning my first 996. By the way...99% of this came from these great Porsche Forums!

Please feel free to add on.

1. They smell funny. Whether it is bits of burning tire on the exhaust or cosmoline (look it up), they smell like burning oil/rubber even after a short drive. The consensus is this is perfectly normal (some even call it "Porsche Perfume") so you can quit worrying. Your engine is not about to blow up.

2. After a few weeks you will begin to think something is wrong with your car. It is not as quick as it used to be. Is it a major engine problem? Do I already need to replace the plugs, coils, throttle body etc? Probably not. You are just getting used to the car. It only feels slower. You will now start thinking about getting that turbo.

3. IMS, RMS. You will no doubt read all about these two common failures. Without jinxing myself, it can happen anytime. But...it doesn't appear to be as prolific as you would be led to believe. There are things you can do to add peace of mind (replace the IMS bearing, install the new IMS Guardian) etc., but remember, all cars have been known to have engines blow up. Ours are just more expensive to replace.

4. If you have a 6-spd (mine does...so no tips on tips here), you will up shift at a much higher rpm than that old Honda you used to drive. Shifting at 3000rpm will spoil your P-car experience.

5. Tires are expensive and don't last as long as the tires on your old car. 10k-15k appears to be the average life. Remember that when you are buying a new set.

6. There appear to be a lot of great, dedicated and fastidious Indy shops out there. I have an extended warranty and took my car to the local dealer to get some non covered items taken care of. The estimate was almost $3k. My Indy fixed everything that actually need to get fixed for under $500.

7. Speaking of money, everywhere you go to get something done for your car, from the paint and body shop to the audio installer, they will attempt to charge you more since "after all, it is a 911".

8. A lot of Porsche enthusiasts don't like the 996. They have their reasons, but you now own one. Love it like its one of your kids.

9. If you drive around town with your spoiler up, most P-car owners will call you a poser. Best to let it do its own thing at 75mph. And yes, it is very cool to look at your reflection in that panel van you just passed to make sure your tail is actually up.

10. Your friends and relatives think you paid a lot more $$$ for your car than you really did.

Capt. Obvious

11. Despite being a "high performance car", it gets pretty darn good fuel mileage if you can keep your foot off the happy pedal.

roadsession

Gonzo - what a fantastic summary!

Barn996

Well done Gonzo911, you covered many of the quirks that our 911s all have in common.

dennis hiip

One more: Parts cost more. Sometimes I think it's just because it's a Porsche.

hpuck

Thanks for the update. Great advice to look forward to ...... in the spring.

wyovino

Nice job.

12. Many routine maintenance tasks are very easy to DIY, even for the least mechanically inclined. Bulbs and filters for example, are much easier to change on your Porsche than on most American or Japanese cars.

wyovino

13. If it's nice and shiny, most people will think it's a brand new model.

pesuazo

"2. After a few weeks you will begin to think something is wrong with your car. It is not as quick as it used to be. Is it a major engine problem? Do I already need to replace the plugs, coils, throttle body etc? Probably not. You are just getting used to the car."

The statement above is soooo true.....this is what I do: drive the "other car" for a couple of days, then come back to the Porsche.....

14.- It may be "intimidating" to work on the car because it is a Porsche, do not be intimidated. Get the manual (free online), and acquaint yourself with the car....it is not that hard to do maintenance; and many of the repairs are DIY....

Jacks911

"2. After a few weeks you will begin to think something is wrong with your car. It is not as quick as it used to be. Is it a major engine problem? Do I already need to replace the plugs, coils, throttle body etc? Probably not. You are just getting used to the car."

Acually... That is how I feel when I drive tha old A6 Avant 2.8 again after every day use of the Carrera 4. And the C4 gets about 2 - 3 MPG better as well. So unless we are in for deep snow & Ice - the C4 is the Daily Driver... :-)

Down South

Great write up, Gonzo.

Thanks for the effort and to help out the new guys!

Black_on_black

15. When you tell other people how "old" your car is (in my case 9 years) they go "really?" because to them it looks nearly brand new and then you loose them trying to explain 996.1 differences to 996.2 vs 997.1 or 2 etc (you know what I mean...).

carcster88

Nice post. I love when people think my car is brand new, and it is almost 12 years old. The design is classic. Been a great car for me and I can deal with the tire replacement on the rear. Just got my IMS upgrade done and a new clutch so I am good to go for quite a while. Love the car!!! For the price you can get them used, the 996 is a great deal if it was taken care of and has low miles like mine.

SSST

On item #2, even if you have the turbo, it starts to feel slower after a while. The only cure I have found is to drive my truck or my wife's SUV for a few days.

vange_c4s

well done.

my wife was asking about #1 just the other day!

16. you must ignore the idiot in a (fill in the blank) that wants to race you on public streets.