rpm's S2

Asked what he would get for $60K he had this fascinating answer... Which was a long darned way from $60K.

Read his full blog post to understand how he got there. I'm just glad he did!

http://jalopnik.com/what-car-would-y...000-1758700445

FRUNKenstein

Hmm, well said. Sometimes Jalopnik articles can be, well, how do I say it, full of ****. Yeah, that's it, full of ****.

zirrah

Interesting. For 60k I would buy a 997.2 4S. Period.

groovzilla

"If I couldn’t afford a 1 Series M, or if I could afford a 1 Series M and something else, I would get a “996” Porsche 911 – the scorned-by-enthusiasts, fried-egg headlights, IMS-bearing-exploding 911 manufactured from 1999 to 2005. I would not get a GT3. I would not get a Turbo. I would get a standard, naturally-aspirated, two-wheel drive model that’s already had the IMS bearing replaced, probably a Cabriolet, which is something you can now buy for around twenty grand."

he states paying $20K - i would much rather purchase a 996 C4S in the low $20's - great car that won't depreciate like a narrow body 996

Rvca3112

I was going to post this earlier today when I read it. I was genuinely surprised reading that. I felt like a proud dad for a quick moment.

tomc_mets

Isn't this the same dude who chronicled his owning a Ferrari for a year?
T

zirrah

There was a book about it, but I don't think it was this guy. Think he does or did own one though.

Dinicod

Isn't he driving an Aston Martin right now that keeps self destructing on him? It's been in the shop more than he's driven it?

Rvca3112

Yes it is. He had a 360 Modena and daily drove the car. He did a lot of videos showing the short comings of the car and its strengths in a really funny way. Check him out. He lets his readers pick the cars he buys for the year. After the Ferrari he had a r32 skyline. Then a big yellow h1 hummer, and now he got a Aston Martin vantage with a "full bumper to bumper warranty." Haha (for those that get that joke of his)

Milehigh981

Yup

DTMiller

I read most of his stuff. He used to work for Porsche North America (I think, definitely Porsche something) before quitting to be a writer/journalist. He's pretty entertaining and he doesn't give two ****s if you don't like his stuff. Not everyone cup of tea but that's what makes the world go round.

He also famously bought a land rover with a carmax warranty and he documents that religiously. Spoiler: The warranty company did not come out ahead.

porsche951

I read it, thought it was pretty entertaining but a BMW M1 as his dream car??? For $60k I'd buy the newest 911 Turbo, GT2, or GT3 the $60k would get me. But his logic for a $20k 996 makes sense. It really is surprising more people haven't woken up to the fact that after you've invested $1,500- $3,500 to eliminate the IMS issue what you have is a kick *** 911 that you've got under $30k into.

dgjks6

The one think I have noticed it the only people that bash 996's are "porshophiles". Everyone else seems to think it is a great car.

porschemikeandnancy

I've owned exactly 1 Italian car and have never owned a British one.
My funniest story about British cars was a good friend owned a Series II XKE convertible. He was invited to a Jaguar owners club meeting at the largest local Jaguar dealer in the Boston area.

The dealer "did up the meeting in style". There was actually a small string quartet playing background music. They served up some excellent pastries and coffee. During the introductory remarks, the tour guide remarked about how much the Jaguar QA had improved (as at the time, Jaguar and virtually all British cars had this unsavory reliability reputation).

So the tour of the facility (including service) was done. There in the service bay was a relatively new Jaguar XKS Coupe with the dashboard missing. So I casually asked the tour leader why
was that car in the service bay without the dashboard. He casually answered:
"oh, some electrical problem, under warranty, they're fixing".

Enough said about British electrical nightmares. As they say: "why do the British drink warm beer?. Because they have Lucas refrigerators". Lucas, Prince of Darkness.

Re Italian Cars: I owned an Alfa Romeo Spyder Veloce (for about 4 months). Easily the most
unreliable piece of crap ever made. There was so much wrong with the basic design let alone
the factory QA I can't even start to write them here. Here is just one. The battery was in the trunk and held down by a rubber strap. The strap broke while going around a corner (I can only surmise this as I was not riding in the trunk). The battery then tipped over and acid ate its way through the bottom of the trunk. Fortunately, it never got into the gas tank below the floor or "kaboom".

johnireland

The Alfa design for securing the battery was not a rubber strap. So chalk that one up to the previous owner. However your problem has to be chalked up to you for not having properly inspected the car to make sure that such a situation did not exist. And if the battery sat on its side for so long that the spilled acid ate a hole in the floor...well that again points to your own negligence.