996 competitors?
 

Are there any other cars out there for under $25k that can compete with the 996 in terms of fun and excitement, and general joy?

I've had a 2001 C4 for about 6 months and love it, but the dealer is buying it back. Before I dive back into another another 996 I'd like to take a look at some other cars that might provide a similar experience for the price. I'm looking at the 987 of course, and the S2000. Any others worth considering?

Wait, what do you mean by the dealer is buying it back after 6 months?

E46 M3
Nissan 370z

Depends upon what you are looking for in a vehicle. There are tons of amazing vehicles in the sub $25K range.

Are you looking for something to take to the drive in, daily drive, autocross, DE, road race, go on long tours, tear up mountain roads, haul the family, go off roading, etc?

It is hard to put my finger on it, but if there was a measurement called "overall driving experience", I'd rate the 996.2 911 C2 coupe at the top of the heap for under $25K.

But then again, for me it is a fun car, we have SUVs and a wagon for family hauling, towing, long trips, camping and daily driver use. The 911 is a nice weather car that I can take out when I want a performance oriented ride or to do a driving event.

When I had one car, the Audi S4 worked well (we have to deal with snow/ice in our daily drive, so the AWD is a necessity in my book). I don't see a location for you, but if you live in more moderate climate, the BMW M3 might be a nice option.

To me, it all depends on personal preferences and intended use, I can see how other cars might check your boxes if you had different criteria.

Lotus Elise. I will say the two happiest days of my car life were the day I bought my Elise and the day I sold it. But it is in that price range.

I would recommend the Subaru BRZ except for one problem: no torque. I test drove a new one and loved it generally, and it even has more trunk and rear seat space than you'd think, but it really feels like it has no power unless you rev it very hard. On paper, it will do 0-60 in 6.1 seconds, but it really feels like it does that in 9 or 10 seconds in normal driving. A BRZ with a turbo or supercharger added, however, would almost certainly be pretty damn awesome (and a very nice car to drive daily like the 996, though not as nice as a 996).

I'd recommend an e46 m3, but be forewarned they need chassis reinforcement even if you don't drive hard and don't plan on doing events. Also, if rod bearings haven't been done budget doing them, and the VANOS as well. Great platform once you put $5kish into it to address the critical failure points.

I'd suggest an 09+ base cayman in that price range. Porsche experience, solid motor, entertaining performance.

I'm surprised to hear this. Although Lotus certainly had a long history of reliability issues, I actually thought the Elise's were pretty reliable. Totally impractical, of course, but I thought mostly fairly reliable.

If you want to go a little older, maybe the pre-1990's BMW 635CSI's. My brother had one in period and it was great to drive -- though I'm not totally sure how it would feel today. His had the European close-ratio 5-speed and that transmission I think was a big factor in making it fun to drive (don't think an automatic would be as fun). The M6's from that period have gone up a lot, but the 635CSI's can be had at very reasonable prices. This autotrader search is for manual transmission cars only -> https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/BMW/M6/New+York+NY-10109?zip=10109&startYear=1981&numRecords=25&sortBy=derivedpriceASC&firs tRecord=0&endYear=2001&modelCodeList=M6%2C635CSI%2C633CSI&makeCodeList=B MW&searchRadius=0&transmissionCodes=MAN

The settlement is not final yet so I don't want to say much about it, incase they want a confidentiality or non-disparagement agreement.

I'm considering a Cab. There's been a few on Bring a Trailer recently.

My 911 is the best sports car I've owned since my E30 M3.
Get another, IMHO nothing comes close for the money.
The E46 M3 is close but still..........