ChrisB

My wife said it best when she drove my '94 Vette convertible - "it feels like someone cut the steering shaft in half and welded in a pillow!" The lack of steering feedback really takes the fun out of driving it. By the numbers the vette does a great job cornering on the racetrack, but who cares if it's just not that fun? I sold the vette and now my wife loves the 911's feedback and build quality. The car is 28 years old with tons of miles and zero squeaks and rattles. Sure, it's not as fast but it's so much more enjoyable to drive. Of course, the public's reaction to the car is amazing - not that we care about that, of course!

Now I do have to add that the vette was extremely reliable, except for the time that the distributor fell apart at 20,000 miles leaving us stranded.

Happy choosing!

Mein 14

Two thoughts, probably unrelated

1) I find it amazing how many of us have owned both a 911 and a Vette, given the fact that both camps seem to be so loyal, and given the fact that, other than being "performance cars" , they have little in common

2) Perhaps one fact lost in this discussion is the relative value of these cars when compared new vs compared as used cars around a common price.

New: Corvette C4s and C5s were consistently rated a great "bang for the buck" value vs a 911 (think Z06 vs base Carrera as the current example)

Used cars at around a common price: The 911 has better engineering, fit & finish, materials, wear patterns, etc. For say, 15K, you can get a 120,000 mile SC in great shape that feels tight, or a 92-93 Vette with 60,000 miles that feels somewhat worn.

My conclusion? Unless you are going to keep it for 20 years, the Vette is a better new car value. However, for a set price, an (older) 911 is a better value than a (newer) Vette. Strange, but the lower the price point (within reason!), the greater the win in favor of the 911!

deadlyhunter

would i be able to use either for a daily driver, i'll drive about 60-80 miles a day. (I know a lot!) if i bought a 1979 p-car with 120,000 miles on it, what would you guess would be the bill for 3 years of owning it? (i know most will tell me not to buy a porsache then but i just need to know the real $$$ money value for the repairs).

Chris Blum

a honda accord is much cheaper to operate. or maybe a toyota camry. My point being; buy the 911 if you like it better, buy the vette if you like it better. Neither is a "practical car" and neither is an exotic that is gonna cost you a buttload of money. Which car speaks to you??

Tinton

Deadlyhunter,

Great idea to take a trip to a specialist porsche mechanic and have a chat to a few of the guys there. Describe what type of car you are contemplating, ask them what they think of them and how much they charge for servicing and the like. They can tell you what they have seen typically go wrong and how much it generally costs. I don't think it should be too much of a problem, but then again there are always horror stories. If you find a nice car with preventative mods such as a blow off valve for the sc's and carrera tensioners you shouldnt have too many problems. You can probably do a bit of work on it yourself if you wanted to learn, maybe you would need some tools.

You really have to take all the cars you are thinking of for a drive. Whichever one appeals to you and your needs, thats the one.

Price insurance for a 911.

Seriously, a trip to the mechanic and a test drive is in my opinion better than 1000 replies on this board, so if you are fairdinkum, do this.

Anthony.

RANDY P

Very true. There is no definitive answer to that question. Depends a little on the car and more on the person who owned it before you. Rule of thumb, if a $1500.00 surprise repair is going to put you out, then Porsche is not your car. To Illustrate my point, I purchased mine which passed a PPI with flying colors only to put $3k more into it within 60 days, and it's still climbing. The advice was given to me beforehand to expect at least $2k after the fact, so far everyone's been right. The other adage is that Every Porsche is a $20k car, either up front or later. Seems true enough...
I
f dollar issues are at hand, buy a Vette. Cost less to obtain and easier(read: more common) parts wise to deal with, however you will be busy nights and weekends with that thing. If your time is worth nothing, well then there's your car... A Porsche on your limited budget will cost you more than you're willing to spend.

rjp

RANDY P

OBTW -

Assuming you're not counting on the Bank for a loan, Seek out an 85 to 87 Vette, A/T preferrably. Seeing them all the time in the paper w/ rebuilt motors under $8k.

There's your car.

rjp

deadlyhunter

$1500 wouldn't put me out but how many $1500's should i expect in first 3 years? i will have 2k in the bank for repairs like you said. just don't want to buy a porsche just to find out it's going to need repairs all the time and get huge bills. Thanks for you advice

Ed Bighi

Since I use to buy and sell cars, I have had plenty of Vettes through my hands. A lot of 80's and 90's Vettes. Well, they all had rattles, squeaks, and broken plastic trim everywhere. Come to think of it, I have always found them to have too much of a plastic feel. I have spent plenty of money on them. I had to have a couple of digital dashes fixed and one was a nightmare that left me feeling very light in the wallet. I also had an 84 with cross-arson injection that melted the hood. The whole time these things went through my hands, I drove an sc as a daily driver. I still drive that same car today. What does that say. As far as performance, they are all torque which never turned me on. I can get that on a Ford F150. I prefer European finesse with working brakes, fine handling, long-term durability, style and dare I say, class. The other issue is my wife never liked me be driven around in the ones I had for sale. She thought they were very tacky. How can I blame her. To my wife, cool is driving around in an Austin Healey, 550 spyder, Lotus Super 7, 356, Ferrari Daytona, Mercedes 280sl or any air-cooled 911. Not a Vette. My wife actually finds any newish sports car that isn't a classic tacky. I agree with her all the way and appreciate having a wife with good taste. To me it always seemed that Corvettes appeal more to these "buy American" meat and potatoes types who never cared to think outside the box or national borders for that matter. The type of people who upon hearing the name Ayrton Senna say "who?" While Porsches appeal to more worldly type. I don't mean to upset anyone, but that is how I have always seen it.

Ahmet

I'm sorry but what kind of answer do you expect on a 911 board? Go to a corvette board and I'm sure they'll tell you the opposite of what you'll be told here...

I say get the corvette just to have variety in this post!
Ahmet

RANDY P

It seems like your mind is set. Just whatever you choose, don't buy the first thing you drive, do some research and don't buy a POS.

Get it checked out, spend the money on pro inspections, and take care of it. Don't beat it to death drag racing, stay on top of the maintenance. Check and change your oil ($65.00 every 3k). It's not a Honda, and it's not new. It will not forgive you for treating it as one. It will be finicky time to time. $180.00 Valve adjustments annualy, or 10k miles. Tune up parts that cost 2 to 4 times more than a domestic car, (OEM plug wires for example $300+) and parts that your local Shucks/ Checker / Kragen won't have anyhow, and if you're shopping there, you don't deserve the car anyway. A transmission that is $1300 just to replace the clutch, and if you beat on it and miss a gear, it gives you s $2k fine to pay every time. And if you're really lucky, yours will break a headstud or two, then you can pay the man $4k. And don't forget about the endless Oil leaks. Earn and save, be ready for failure. The scary part is this can happen ALL AT ONCE.

Like stated before, check the car out end to end, buy from a caring owner, not a flake.

If you are insistent on a hard number, I'd say $10k over 3 years would cover it.

Have I scared you yet? If not, get your checkbook.

rjp

deadlyhunter

10k? that's more then what i thought it would be i'll say that.

RANDY P

That's a worst case. Assuming you buy a borderline basket case. Only the headstuds would be a potential threat down road, and clutches are routine maintenance.

When you inspect, make sure your mechanic checks all 24 headstuds for failure. The problem is supposedly worse where cars have a tendency to rust. But, it's a pretty rare occurance.

Just maintain the car, don't thrash it,and keep an eye on things, and you won't have even a 1/3 of those problems.

Also, hang out at the BBS at pelicanparts.com to see what else can go wrong, it's a wonderful resource, just like here. You'll get a feel for ownership there too.

rjp

RANDY P

And did I stress this point enough?:

BUY A NICE, WELL KEPT, CLEAN CAR, FROM A GOOD OWNER, WHO HAD PRIDE IN OWNERSHIP, NOT A FLAKE.

That, besides routine maintenance, is the secret to a happy and low cost relationship between you and a Porsche.

happy hunting, good night.

rjp