Hmm...not sure about the 997 as 'the ugly duckling', but I have both the 997 and 996. Love both cars, but to me, the 997 has the superior styling in my opinion. Just like I love the 996.1, way more than the .2...again, my personal taste.

 

I agree, would have been in a 997.2 if the deal didn't fall through. Then picked up the 996.1 on a whim because the aero made it stand out and changed my perspective a bit. If anything the 996 is the ugly duckling just because it's different, but I've never had ill feelings on any aesthetics in the 911 world.

 

I come from the Jeep world.

There is a similar effect I have observed with the Jeep YJ model. They are similar to the 996 in a couple ways, they are the first of the Jeeps that can be considered 'modern', they also are the only model with square headlights.
They were very much maligned and lots of 'Jeep people' hated and still hate them.
But, their values have been steadily increasing, and the square headlights (and the Jurassic park movies) have made them cool.
A comparable YJ will match a later TJ (similar to a 997 as it returned to the traditional round lights) in price.
I remember being able to pick up a YJ for 1/5th the price of a comparable shape TJ.... This is no longer the case.....

Just a thought, as it mirrors the 996/997 comparisons in so many ways.

 

I'm sure this has been mentioned earlier, but are we only talking about water cooled cars? I feel like it is somewhat likely the 996 surpasses the early '80's 911's. Maaaybe not the turbo, but what about a standard 1982 911 SC is really more compelling than a base 996 C2? Almost everyone that dreamed of having the early 80's Porsche has one and the prices aren't that high relative to a 996, whereas us 30/40 somethings that are finally able to make the dream come true were eyeballing the 996.1 and 996.2 during our teens and early 20's. We're the ones likely to keep driving the market on these, and though I very much would like to own an air cooled Porsche as part of what eventually will be a collection of more than 1 car, the 996 (and specifically a 996.1) was my initial ownership target due to that being what I lusted over when I turned 16, it was the first Porsche I ever drove, and then on down the list it happened to fall into the budget I had once I was ready to take the plunge. I think there are others out there like me, and there will be more of us in the next 5-10 years. The 996 is a really compelling value proposition, and I think it will continue to be as it overtakes some pre 964 body types.

 

I would be surprised if the 996 passes up the 1980’s N/A coupes. Stranger things have happened, though.

 

There is some very strange self-delusion goin on in this thread

 

I don’t think it’s likely, but I do think it’s possible.

 

Greetings, traveller!


You know, I have never travelled to your land but I have thought about this square-headlight jeep a lot lately - with regard to the 996. Very interesting to see you bring this up here. Thanks.

 

Yes. The M96 motor will always be a liability and hold prices down.

 

I gotta respectfully disagree on this one. All the engines manufactured by Porsche have warts. Just so happens the 986/987/996/997 have the same warts.

More importantly, there are more than sufficient solution to remove the warts. Just like the RMS was a huge wart in the early 2000s, there was a fix and nobody talks about it anymore. Just like the IMSB was a huge wart, there was a fix and it's become mainstream. Aos, oil starvation, etc.

In 10 years, everything will end up like the RMS and the go-no-go tool. An after thought.

The real issue is still borescoring, but all of us know what to do to prevent it. Same issue that inflicts all post 2000 engines compliments if the greenies.

 

Look at the 991.1 GT3 versus 991.2 GT3 prices. The former's motor, even with Porsche's 100K, 10 year warranty on replaced engines, has not done much to help alleviate the stigma (regardless if it is valid or not).

 

Yep, they all have issues. 991 and 992 "throw away" engine program is alive and well.

One thing everyone needs to take into consideration is the technological mess we have with the new cars. The simplicity of the 996 is such that it isn't a techno box of confusion. All and I mean all of the issues have been defined and can be easily prevented with bolt on solutions. Unless you haven't taken car of your bores or you bought a car with borescoring, you got nothing to worry about as long as you properly service and maintain it. All we are waiting on are two more inventions that will be release soon. (1) UIDS and (2) LN Oil cooler.

In contrast, we don't even know yet what the 991 and 992 will truly suffer from. And who the he'll knows what the eventual cost will be for all the solutions that will need to be developed. As such, they will follow the standard depreciation model that all 911s before them.

Folks, the 996 has been there and done that. Every issue has been defined, every preventative solution has been discussed and has been manufactured or in the process of being manufactured now. Couldn't ask for a better situation.

Hello!

 

I've been thinking about GC's point a lot lately. For a classic sports car up to, I dunno, let's say a 2013ish sports car, all you really needed for a home garage was a full set of tools, something to prop the car up with, and maybe an OBD2 computer.

Keeping a car 2020 MY+ in the same timespan as we have between the "new" 996's and today - let's think about this more like keeping an ancient computer alive vs. keeping an ancient car alive. I agree - people will wish they had only bore problems.

 

Mezger engine has signed into the chat:

No.

The M96 motor suffers from many ailments other than the IMSB failure and we all know it. Bore scoring as you mentioned, cylinder ovaling, cracked heads, D-chunking, chain guides, etc. We have to be honest here, the M96 was a disaster of a design. The 9A1 in the 997.2 was a solid design and will hold their values up well unlike the M96/97 motors which will always be the achilleas heal of the car. Think about how often we see grenaded motors here. They pop up all the time regularly.

 

9a1 engines are not immune to bore scoring, and since they are 5+ years newer than M96/97 engines, I think we need to wait a few more years before we know to what extent the issue might be.