einreb92

Good evening fellow enthusiasts. I am still trying to tap dance my way through the minefield of choices for a p-car to buy. I am in my third month of looking and am slightly overwhelmed at the choices available in my budget ($20k). On the whole, given very little mechanical experience, a limited budget and a strong desire to own one of these before I go to that great-big-garage in the sky (LOL), of two cars equally cared for, which would you choose and why: 1987-89 or 1999 911?
By the way: Go Phillies!!! We ARE the champions!
Bernie

holy911

I've been researching just like you. Talked to plenty folks here, a P mechanic, owners. Big difference between those two vintages you listed.

The G50 is probably one of the best 911s. Great tranny, reliability, less cost to repair, classic looks. Just a solid car.

The 1999 to me doesn't look like a P anymore. No offense to those that own one, but I think they're just shapeless. And first of the water-cooled engines, they have problems. The engine bay is ridiculously tight. Can barely get your hand in there to do work. The maintenance costs on these is significantly higher than the G50s. Crazy high in fact.

If you look at my threads, I've been back and forth, and now back again to the G50 as my choice. These cars are much more DIY-friendly.

There's a reason the 1999s are so cheap and there's TONS of them on the market. The G50s are more rare. It seems like for every G50, there's about ten 996s.

rnln

holy,
I am, sometimes, very confused when it comes to this topic. I feel that it should be straight forward but there are always 2 different sides. Some said 911 carrera is more reliable, some said 996. At least, I got advices from 3 different people who own both very happy with their 996. They said their 911 carrera cost a lot more to keep it run right, while the 996 is more reliable. Maybe 996 cost more on a particular job done but it has less problem since it's newer?

holy911

I believe from what i've read that the 996s, esp. the early years had many problems. and my P mechanic says they are among the most expensive to repair.

i'm still a newbie at this too, but from what i've heard so far, the 996s are overall much higher cost of ownership than the 911 carreras. plus with the 911s, someone like me with mod. mechanical skill can do many routine maintenance tasks, such as oil changes, spark plugs, test pipe changes (if you want to run w/o cat, then replace prior to smog tests). and the parts are much less bank.

Cajun

I think an important question to ask you before you can get a good response is: What are you going to be using the car for? Daily driver or toy?

The later model cars are going to be better DDs than the older cars with their more modern feel, AC, etc. But personally, NOTHING beats the older cars...

David in VA

Drive both and decide for yourself. They are great cars regardless of which you choose, one just may fit what you're looking for better. My personal experience (I own an '87 and a '00) is that the '87 requires much more maintenance, mostly due to being over 20 years old. The 996 has had almost no problems, just replacing the coolant tank, they are both tracked quite a bit.

David

Brett San Diego

I completely understand that this is a very difficult question to answer even for yourself when you are looking at your first Porsche purchase. I can almost guarantee you that what you think you want out of your Porsche and Porsche ownership experience now, is not going to be how you feel after a couple years of ownership with whatever you end up buying. At least it wasn't for me. I think you need to be very open to the idea that this will not be your first and only Porsche purchase and that you very likely won't get it right the first time.

My story: I bought a new Boxster in 2001 as my first Porsche. Brilliant car. Joined PCA, started attending some club events, went on driving tours with fellow enthusiasts, went to concours events. I found I really loved the concours scene. I began to long for an "interesting" car to show. When I received an unsolicited offer on my Boxster, I turned it down but kept the phone number. Three weeks later, I called back and did the deal. I took a huge loss on selling the car. Lived and learned (I was young. LOL), and decided that that really sucked, and I didn't want to make that mistake again. So, I went classic Porsche shopping and found a 1978 911 in a very striking original orange with orange interior color scheme that is now a concours class winner. This was the 911 that I knew as a kid and whose rare siting always made me wish to have one. I've become an old car freak now, sort of. I only want to drive old cars. I have my 78 911, and I recently acquired a 1964 356C coupe, which I intend to restore and daily drive. A few years ago, I never thought I'd have 2 Porsches in the garage, and I certainly never thought they'd be 30 and 45 years old. I'm all about the value of the classics now. Both of these cars are increasing in value (perhaps less so this year), but they are good value propositions (CD's that you can drive, so to speak). I never ever thought about cars that way before I got deeper and deeper into the Porsche experience.

Anyway, that was a long winded way of saying you probably shouldn't overthink things now nor agonize too much over the decision because the game will change once that first Porsche is in your garage. My obvious choice would be the 87-89 Carrera solely based on long term value and classic coolness. And, you'll notice that I haven't made any reference to maintenance costs. One reason is I do all my own work, and the other is that it simply doesn't make sense to me to buy a car based on that factor. I'm not going to buy a car that is less expensive to maintain if I'm less interested in owning it. And ultimately, it's a crap shoot that you cannot completely predict, so in some sense, why bother. Certainly you can minimize risk by having a very good PPI done. But, to be sure, you can buy an 87 that will be more expensive to maintain than the 99 996 or vice versa. Opinions and real experience already varies in the couple of posts so far in this thread.

Good luck shopping,
Brett

88911coupe

Sort of apples and oranges but I've been looking at the same choice, after owning 2 G50 Carreras and wrapping up a total rebuild on the '88 coupe I still own. The people I know who own 996s have all owned air cooled 911 (some STILL own air cooled 911s) and they feel the 996's are a bit more reliable, probably b/c they are a LOT newer. This is excluding the well documented problems that plague the 996 engines. Two of the three guys I know well have had to replace the engines so it's sort of a toss up. Basically 996s are reliable...unless you need a new engine!:-)) A long time Porsche mechanic I know LOVES 996s and feels they are basically very reliable. Not sure I agree that a G50 is more expensive to maintain since I was quoted $8-10k for a top end rebuild alone and you can get a 996 factory fresh engine for a little more than that. Although I hear prices are creeping up. There are definitely a ton of 996s on the market though so that's making them fairly cheap.

rnln

2 more on 996 is more reliable, regardless of other factor such as age. I have no personal experience but have heard 996 is totally DIY-able. Oil change on 996 cost more but easiler to do.

88911coupe,
Regarding 996 engine replacement cost, I have read as high as $12k and as low as $6k (either here or PP.com), while 911 carrera is around $15k for a complete rebuild. Anyone know the true story?

Tippy

I have owned both, well a 2000, but whos counting?

My old 996 never left me stranded from 55k miles to 102k miles. (the time I owned it)

My '87 has probably 300k miles + but had the motor rebuilt over 4 years ago with unknown mileage currently. It has never left me stranded either. (except for my self-induced "money shift")

I spent a total of $1000 if I remember for the 996 in broken parts in 2 1/2 yrs ownership and 47k miles of use.

I have spent nothing on the '87 but there are some things are not properly working like the gas guage, finicky door lock switch, and finicky windshield wiper stalk. But, nothing has left me stranded.

The kicker is this, the '87 still has the original ignition coil, CDI box, and all electical components from the factory. I can tell because they are untouched and no tool marks on anything. Pretty impressive.

Can't go wrong with either but since I do my own work, labor is not an issue.

dshepp806

a well wrung 87-89..in tip-top rebuild condition......she's your high!

Best,

Doyle

LUCKe27

Can't speak much to the newer model, but you can't go wrong with a G50 911. With the economy slowing and winter drawing near, you should be able to get a great deal in any cold winter market. I bought my '89 last December for just over $20k in New Jersey. Now, I'm looking at a Boxster as a daily driver ... got the bug.

butzip

You know who to call for a mint <85k mile 88 coupe blk/blk......... in N.J............

pjc

I think it depends why you want to buy a 911 in the first place and what your long term plans are. If you want an everyday runner then a 996 is going to be easier to live with and have all the creature comforts.

If you plan to keep your 911 really long term - say 150K+ - then the 3.2 comes into its own - it will be far the cheaper car to run and maintain. If you can't DIY (and the 996 is not so easy for this) then the 996 will cost you more in the long term. Even if you do DIY the parts costs are way up on the 3.2 - just look at the cost of a set of rotors, and they need replacing much more frequently on the 996. I run a 2.7 and a 993 and know how much more the 993 costs to run - you are just moving up one generation on each basically but the same rules apply. There is so much you can repair on the 3.2 and so much throw away and replace on the 996 (all those electronic gizmos!)

Just depends what you want.

PJC

911vet

I purchased my 87 911 just over a year ago with 113K miles on it. It has 121k now. It's my fun car and sometimes daily driver. It's also my track car.

I ask a lot of this baby, and it always delivers. Does fantastic at the DE events. And it's a blast to drive.

The car is solid as a rock. Easy to work on. Purrs like a kitten. Drives like nothing else. It will never be an "easy" car to own. But that's probably not why you're buying any 911.

I won't speak badly of the 996 - it's just not a 911. I learned to appreciate how cool this 21-year-old classic is when I got it on the track and started pushing it to the limits. Wow. It is a driving enthusiast's dream machine.

Could a 996 beat me on the track? Without a doubt. Could the driver have more fun than me? No way.

You can't really go wrong. I sure did NOT go wrong buying an 87 Carrera.