tminus3

Guys,

I am a new member to the Rennlist and I know this is the wrong thing to say, but I'm not a Porsche owner yet!

I am still looking for the right car.

To make a long story short, I lived in India until I was 10 and I dreamt of driving a Porsche from the time I was 8. Driving a Porsche in India can only be a dream, atleast for me. I am 27 now and I live in the US. I got a chance to drive one finally, an '86 911 coupe.


The owner handed me the keys and I got in the car. Funny thing, I jabbed the keys into the dashboard on the right hand side of the steering, the owner started laughing so hard he almost fell out of the car.

I got the car started and it felt a bit strange to have the pedals come up from the floorboard, giving the pedals a very unique feel. Didn't like it at first. I put the car into 1st and like any good first time Porsche driver, I stalled it! LOL Well 2nd try I was off and going. Shifted it to 2nd no problem, but 3rd was a problem. I couldn't find it, its not like my Prelude, you had to actually sort of find the gear. I grinded it into 3rd.

I was starting to think, what is all this hype about this car...so far my opinion was that this car stinks. Is this what I've been waiting for, for 19 years??? So I pulled over and just wanted to regroup. At which point, the owner quietly said "You need to learn how to shift properly.". At first I was offended and I quickly said, "I know how to shift". But a moment later I realized what he was saying and what a Porsche is all about.

A 911 is the great equalizer. It puts everybody on a level playing field and readily exposes a good driver from a bad driver. You might think you know how to drive a car, but you don't know until you can efficiently and proficiently drive a Porsche 911. If you are capable of driving a 911 to its limits, you are light years ahead of any other driver on the road.

Well I turned the car around and we headed back to the owner's house. This time I concentrated on driving the car and didn't talk much. Made sure all my shifts were decisive and my clutch work was perfect. All of a sudden I was so in tune with the road and what was going on in the car, I felt like I had hit Driving Nirvana!

Did I say "To make a long story short"?!?! sorry for all the verbage.

Well my fate is sealed, I HAVE to HAVE a Porsche 911. I will, SOON. My budget is $20,000 and I'm sure I'll find a good one for that price range. I now realize that "There is no substitue".

Best regards all,
Abhi

GrantG

Congratulations and thanks for sharing (welcome to the club). $20k will definitely buy a nice Carrera (84-89). You might want to drive a 87-89 model which has a different transmission, just to see which you prefer.

-Grant
73 911S
88 944 Turbo S

Stuttgart951

Congrats - my first time in a 911 was equally "emotional."

For $20K you can find an excellent example that will give you YEARS of enjoyment.

Good luck in your search.

<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

Ian964

If you look hard enough you might be able to get a nice 964. The best looking of the classic 911 if you ask me.

Fahrvergnuugen

My first 911 driving experience was so almost exactly the same...except I noticed a lot of people staring at me...and then I remembered why

Driving a 911 is actually a challenge...and I think that's why I love mine so much.

Good luck with the search!

tminus3

Ok I just talked to a Tim from Holt Motorsports today about the cars he has in stock, the prices and Porsches in general.

He has made me very very nervous about purchasing one. I am looking for a car less than $20K and he is saying a good example without problems is going to be more than that. We're talking about 84-89 Carreras.

I still am going to buy one, but I don't want to spend more than $20K, I need to have about $5k left over for any repairs.

Is it truly possible to get a good condition, reliable 911 for under $20k or am I just fooling myself???

Please help with any personal experiences.

NTI 911E

Yes, buy an SC or an earlier Carrera. You can get a perfect SC for well under 20k.

TheOtherEric

Abhi,

YES, you can get a great 911 for under $20,000. I just did it myself! ('86 with 50k miles).

You'll find 1984-1986 with less than 60k miles within your budget, and also higher mileage, &gt;90k miles, 1987-1990 as well.

In my search, I talked to Holt as well and was misled by his claim that a descent P-car must cost $30k. NOT TRUE! Mine is wonderful so far.

tminus3

Phew! I am so glad you guys chimed in so quickly. I was going to lose sleep over what Holt said.

GrantG

No offense intended to Holt (don't know them), but I've always found much better deals on used cars from private owners.

Adamred1908SC

Abhi:
I live in central NJ also (Scotch Plains), where are you? Anyway I found a nice SC this past summer in the midwest from a private owner for $15K with 56K on the odo. Had a blast driving it home on my birthday!

Have since had to deal with a few minor things but that's inevitable with a 20 year old car.

Adam

tminus3

I'm from Howell...just south of freehold. I am really itching to get my car. Can you tell me more about what you looked for when you found your car? criteria/condition/etc

Thanks,
Abhi

Adamred1908SC

Everybody has slightly different criteria but basically mine were:

1) SC or later Targa
2) Standard upgrades done (tensioners/popoff)
3) Less then 80K miles (random number selected to make the wife feel like I wasn't buying something "too used" Ha!
4) Less then $16K (its a 3rd car so didn't want to break the bank)
5) As original as possible so that one day I can do the fun upgrades, didn't want someone else's project, which is getting harder to find.

Goes without saying a satisfactory PPI and no rust!

I feel I got lucky, got it from an older gentleman in the midwest who only drove it on sunny days, but enough so that it wasn't underused. He got it from original owner in California.

I saw it originally on ebay but didn't bid, waited till the auction expired with no purchase and emailed him. My folks live in the midwest so arranged a visit with the PO that corresponded with a family trip to grandma/grandpa and the rest is history.

Since the snow started its been in the garage, but had a great summer and fall putting on the miles!

BTW I bring her to Autohaus in Chatham, Gene was a great resource while I searched and he's a great mechanic, He also tends to know about locally available cars that he's serviced...
just a free plug for Gene.
Adam

layneo

Good to hear from people in NJ. I know this is not the 996 board, but I'm picking up a 996 C2 on Saturday.

Got a great deal from Cars on 18--almost too good to be true! Went with a lease for business reasons.

I am really looking forward to the driving experience. I plan on driving in the winter and am already looking for snow tires.

Maybe I'll see you around town.

Roamer

Abhi, a perfect early carrera can be found for $20k or less, I purchased an 86 Carrera Targa, Silver over black 89k miles in PERFECT condition for less than 20. You just have to look. Also on milage, a 50k car would be nice but forget about the milage and go with condition first. I have seen numerous ~60k mile cars that are nowhere near the condition that mine was when I purchased her. Remember that when you are talking about a 15-20 year old car a differnce of 30k-40k miles is only 2k per year, not much. Also, you still have big maintenance issues to come while a car with over 75k may have them done already (mine did). A great running 911 with 90k is a better bet that an ok or good running 911 with 60k. In sum, don't overpay for milage, pay for condition.

Good Luck!

p.s. I always wonder about 20 year old porsches with 50-60k, that means they were only driven an AVERAGE of 2-3k per year through their entire life, a little fishy unless a one or two owner car.