When I was a kid, many moons ago, Porsches were stuff of dreams. We all knew we'd never own one, yet we all knew exactly what we were going to buy when we won the lottery. Over the years we gathered information about our dreammobiles, found out they were aircooled, had a funky engine arrangement thought up by a guy who wears his glasses upside down, and celebrated their racing successes.
Some of us grew up to actually be able to afford one. But now they're water cookers, have amenities like indoor plumbing and gps, and what's most important : they just don't look like the dream on the wall any more. I've bought the dream on the wall, and no matter what anyone says or how goord they are, they just don't connect me to the dream anymore.
Kids that have the 997GT3RS on the wall right now are just the same. The few that'll grow up and will buy their dream you'l never get into a 1217 (by then). And you'll never convince them the 930 turbo is hotter.

Peter R.

 

Heretic.

 

again, i owned a 996 as well, i thought it performed tremendously. i have also owned a 997, no comparison to the 996 in many facets. the only thing "I" didn't care for the 996 was its exterior and interior when comparing it to either 993's or the 997. "I" think that the market feels the same way, just look at the prices of those cars available for sale.

regards

 

One night I put a 12 pack and a Computer Science degree from 1982 to work and that web site was the result. I can't read it either. I'd fix it if I could remember how.

One of these days I have to get serious about selling both my race car and my GF's 84 911 cab. Too damn many toys gathering dust.

 

Bingo. Thats kinda what I was thinking. Get a cheap 996 (with Aero kit and suspension mods) and have at it. Keep it close to $30k all in and I think I can get most of my money back if I want to move on. I see the rapid depreciation starting to slow soon- I can't see them falling in price too much more- maybe to $25k or so.

Would someone be good enough to summarize the liner and transmission issues?

 

In summary: play a game of minesweeper with 100 cells and 90 mines.

 

Seriously, we all fret about cleaning out SAI ports and premature wear on the valve guides. Owners of early 996s worry about their engines going poof and spending $10,000+ for a remanufactured one.

I've driven a 2001 and thought it would be a fine daily driver.

 

It is my understanding that the RMS failures and transmission issues were resolved after 01. I would be interested in seeing ACTUAL numbers of failures from 99-01 and then after until the 997 came out.

Can any 996 guys comment? The constant failure correlation is getting to be so rampant that it seems to be exceeding the reality of the numbers-at least I would hope so. There cannot be an entire generation of cars that contain this issue i.e. all 996's.

 

Ask that one on the 996 board.

 

and don't mention the name Bob!

 

As an ex-996 owner and very frequent member of the 996 board, I've gotta say that I don't know where this hubbub about the transmission going is. There are certainly some claims about RMS leading to a new engine, but most cases just require a new seal. The number of complete engines that have gone is not 0 but certainly not an epidemic - if you search the 996 board somebody compiled a list. IIRC, 17 engines were replaced on a forum with several hundred 996s. Not exactly 90% as the ever antagonistic pcar964 said.

The 996 is certainly a much more modern and comfortable car to drive and out of the box is definately a better performer. Looks, well that's personal. And certainly not going to hold its value as well as a 993, but that being said, some 996s are hitting a price level now where I cant see them dropping much further. An early 996 coupe for low 30s wont ever drop below 25k in any time soon.

Good luck with your decision.

I think you should sell your 993 and buy the 996 GT3

 

I agree with Mark. I've driven and raced 996s for 8 years and I really haven't heard of any transmission problems other than a sycro here and there. They are pretty bullet proof. And the concern about them being throw-away went away years ago. Many shops are capable of rebuilding them. I've heard they share a lot of parts with the G50.

The RMS problem is a joke. It seems like every series has them. But, it's an $800 fix so not the big deal everyone makes it out to be. I have two 996s. One that I've driven for 8 years and raced for 4. The other is coming up on 5 years old although it only has 12k miles. I've had 1 RMS issue and that's it. No blown engines or broken trannys or any other problems.

Between Grand Am Cup/Koni and the different club racing groups the 996 has a huge number of racing miles and they seem to hold up to abuse pretty well.

BTW, I stopped reading anything written by pcar years ago. He speaks for effect. Apparently sometimes it works.
Jim

 

You're right, I do speak for effect - The effect I've been looking for, is for Porsche enthusiasts to demand more of Porsche and stop drinking the Porsche kool-aid. Unfortunately, it's like Jonestown around here.

 

HERETIC!!!!

 

Good old BG...forgot about that....