sklarge

Hi, guys. I'm fairly new to these forums and I was recently looking to buy a porsche. I was just wondering

1. What kind of options should I be on the lookout for with a 993?
2. Are there any general maintenance or repair costs that should worry me?
3. What other cars compare to the 993?

And other general information and tidbits i should know before I make my purchase. I would greatly appreciate this. Thank you!

Scott 1996 993c2

There are really a lot of things to consider. Let me be the first to say though . . . you're at least thinking right to be looking at the 993 . . . though perhaps I'm biased?? Anyway, I've had mine for just over 6 months and am still loving it . . . will likely keep her for a long time. This place is great and there's tons of info. As a new user, you can't use the search feature. I joined Rennlist as a member and found tons of info. You could just sort of page backward and check things out . . . but membership has helped me a lot. Whatever you do, read, read, and then read some more. Good luck with your search . . . these cars are great.

Scott

Dan V

1. Depends on how u primarily use the car.
2. Worn out valve guides, req. top end rebuild, is expensive and hard to detect unless valve covers come off and ur tech checks them for play. Otherwise high oil usage is the first indication.
3. Other non-water cooled Porsches.

This should give u something to think about until someone who knows what they're talking about chimes in

sklarge

lol... i was thinking that this was going to be used as a semi-daily driver. Is the valve problem common among 993's? How much does it cost for a repair? Oh, and I was also wondering if there were any significant changes between the years of the 993. Thanks again

Ray Calvo

1. Whatever your dopey lazy little heart desires. Thoughts are Limited slip/ABS/ABD differential and Euro M030 suspension.

2. Anything and everything. Oil/filter changes, air filter changes, spark plug changes etc. are not easy - search the archives, lazybones. However, car is reliable (based on 91K miles on mine and purchase in '96).

3. To me - nothing. Now, you might get a different opinion on the 996/997 board or a BMW or Corvette forum. Jeez - get a brain!

Bottom line - do a long detailed archive check before asking such questions. Drive a bunch of 993s - see if you like them. And keep in mind that answers to such questions as yours are VERY loaded with personal opinions! Have fun with your shopping.

csertich

Start test driving as many as you can.

Some people compare the 993 to the E46 M3. It's hard to find same vintage comparisons to the 993 (at least for me). It's different. Still somewhat raw for the mid-90's. But when you drive it, you know what Porsche focused on. Maintaining the original 911 experience.

I've had people in my car from work who I can see are sitting there with the firm ride and the noise, are wondering if I'm a lunatic. It's really amusing. They just don't get it.

But I do.

chuck

Monique

Hello sklarge,

You have PM with a number of points to look out for. BTW, welcome to RL and Ray Calvo. Most of us like his attitude. Takes getting used to... but his knowledge is undeniable.

Hey Ray,

Give the poor schlepp a break.. Most of us like your no nonsense approach but the poor newbies.... ???

993Maineiac

Welcome to Rennlist. As Jean-Pierre said, much like escargot, Ray is an aquired taste.

If you use the search function you will find the items of concern with our cars. There is also a great little book by Peter Morgan on purchasing a 993 that covers all of the models and years and most of the things to look for. As with any motor vehicle there are problems that come up, but almost all of them and the remediation for them is well documented. If you get a good example and have a competent prepurchase inspection (PPI) then these cars are relatively bulletproof. Do get the model, color, and options you want. In the north? then heated seats are nice, open, closed, or semiopen (Tagrga) roof ?, whide body or narrow? those are personnal choices. Many on the board use their car as a daily driver with minimal difficulty. Just remember that these are high performance, expensive, cars with all that implies for maintaining the vehicle. With that in mind you should not have many disappoitments in 993 ownership.

Al

TheOtherEric

1. Options? Meh, get whatever you want. Don't worry about anything in particular like LSD/ABD if this is not a track car.

2. ALL maintenance & repair costs should worry you. Set aside at least $2000/yr, maybe more, for maintenance, tires, repairs. PO of my car spent over $3k/yr.

ZombiePorsche44

My 993 is a daily driver and I'd have it no other way!

You are looking at the best Porsche ever built, the 993. I personally believe the 1995 is the best of the 4 year run for various reasons, but there are some who might disagree.

Some people can't understand our love of these cars but then again, I can't understand peoples love of NASCAR, so I guess to each his own.

I looked for a very well maintained CA or AZ 1995 with Limited slip and factory 17" cup wheels as my two main options, it took me close to 6 months to find it, but when I did, I bought it on the spot!.

Do some searches here on what to watch out for and also go to pcar.com and research what Robin has posted about maintenance. I have to agree that $2k per year is what you'll need to spend to take really good care of it.

They can be expensive to rebuild(6k to 10K), but, if you find one that was treated well, you will have many thousands of uber fun miles ahead of you without a big investment in a rebuild.

FYI, My last Porsche went 200,000 mi before I did a total rebuild of the engine.

Welcome, good luck & good hunting,
ZP44

Father of 3

First off, welcome to Rennlist. I'll echo Ray's comments but in a slightly more user friendly way. The best thing to do is to read old posts. Look up some of the posts and replies by mrsullivan (don't remember his exact username spelling). I recall when he was looking for his car there were a lot of excellent posts covering most of the basic topics. Before I bought my car I went back and read through tons of pages of posts.

There aren't many options that are truly performance enhancing. In fact, probably the only one is LSD/ABD. That's the good news/bad news. There isn't that much you can do to the car to improve its engine performance.

Have fun with the search and good luck.

dhicks

Welcome....I bought mine in March this year as a daily driver and have loved every minute of ownership...had lots of p-cars before but never a 911....make sure you have 2-3K per year for repairs and general stuff, then make sure you have another pile set aside to grease the slippery slope of upgrades!!! If you read the past threads you will soon learn about this slope!!!

Seriously, if you are really considering a 993, its a great car, take somebody along with you that knows these cars and what to look for or ask. Big issues are valve guides and CEL. Dont know where you are from but on this board you will find somebody local.....oh and by the way JOIN RENNLIST !!

sklarge

thank you guys a lot..I appreciate all the feedback

fbfisher

Get an extended warranty. Takes the risk out