Erik 9142911

Hello, my first post --so be kind ;-)

I want to buy a 911 to use as a daily driver around the suburbs of Boston.

Had -- based on budget of $45K -- thought C4S with tiptronic (the c4s for snow, the tiptronic for all the stop/go traffic of Boston), then started looking at the TTs. Suddenly drunk with the added power and all the great things the members of this forum say, am leaning towards the TT but here are the concerns:

1. Scared of added repair expenses on TT. My budget precludes any CPO and most forum threads seem to say extended warranties are fine...except if you want to fix anything with them.

2. Mechanically, which should be more reliable? Everyone talks about the TT as 'bullet proof' (what about pot-holes, and morons--both more likely than bullets, in my experience)? Do the C4S and TT both have the same tiptronic? I like the comments people have made that the TT with tip probably wasn't bought for track use and probably is free from over-revs.

I expect year wise I am looking at 2001-2002 TTs or up to 2004/5 C4S. Not really thinking investment wise, just want to have the ability to turn my commute into some moments of joy...hopefully for a long time.

Thanks for all your help!

Erik
--------------------

Porsche 914 2.0 (sadly gone for a long time)
then a whole string of embarrassing/practical cars

Brenton

Go the tt.
If you are going to have the downsides of the 4 wheel drive you should have the up side of the tt power.
Also the differance in the running costs is insignificant compared to the depreciation that you will take a hit on if you buy the c4 and then decide to change to the tt

TheBucketOfTruth

Yeah if you're going for the Turbo running gear anyway you might as well get the turbos themselves. If we're talking around the same price it's no contest.

03911TT

Turbo is the way to go, and the Tiptronic is really makes the car a great driver in heavy traffic situations.

jumper5836

Turbo has a much better engine and more power that can easily be upgraded with a chip.
If I had a choice now I would go with the TT but at the time I got my C4S the tt was 50k more and that was totally out of my budget.

I do love the look of the C4S better, red reflector and lack of tail but considering the problems with the m96 engine the TT would be a much better to keep for the long haul. Plus with a chip and some weight reduction it could keep up with any of the newer TT's and GT3's at the track running on the same tire compound.

Kevinmacd

996 TT uses a differenet engine than the 996 C4S. The early 996 non turbos thru early 997 years have some isses as it relates to IMS and RMS. I had a few 996s and ontwo except one had the IMS retrofit kits installed, since the bearing itself was starting to come apart. I caught both in their early stages. This is not to say you will see the IMS issues, but it is something to beaware of. I now use a 996tt for daily driver and love it. Even though some of my driving is on the highway, a lot also is on city streets, and have no issue with it being a daily driver. Don't get me wrong, the 996 coupes I had were fun and enjoyable also.

scottrx7tt

i just bought my 996TT tiptronic car, and plan to use it as a daily driver. I am thinking that the TT prices have bottomed out for the earlier cars. I picked mine up for $32,000. with 68k with some mods. So i vote for the TT.

SSST

For 45k, you should be able to find a nice 03/04 TT coupe with 40k miles or so. Much better motor than the c4s in terms of both reliability and power.

Seattle996

If you dont get the TT.. you will always question your decision.

If you go w/ the C4S, you will love it. However, DO NOT test drive a TT because you will curse yourself into the "should I have gotten the TT instead" daydreams and nightmares.

jury_ca

I currently own both a 996TT (manual) and a 996 C4S (tiptronic) and have used both as daily drivers.

When I went to grad school in Boston last year, I pretty much used my 996 C4S there as a daily driver during summer and winter months when I commuted between Back Bay and Cambridge. I also made many trips to the Cape and to NY for fun. My C4S is a pampered West coast car and I was not used to how bad the roads are in the North East. I have the ROW MO30 suspension on my C4S and the X73 suspension on my Turbo. The ride is firm enough that you do have to consciously take evasive action around potholes, ruts, and the like.

Here are my comments from owning both cars.

If budget is an issue, get the C4S. I have found the C4S to be much more reliable, and much cheaper to run. The turbo is a very complex car, and thus statistically more prone to failure. The issues about RMS/IMS on the NA cars are overblown and statistically insignificant. Let's just say, repair costs in the last 10 months in my turbo have been more than 10X the repair cost of my C4S in the last 6 years. All the problems I've had in my turbo are considered to be common problems (I've just been unlucky enough to have just about all of them) and they are unique to the turbo.

Around the city, I average between 10-12 mpg in my TT and about 25% better mileage in the C4S. The TT has a smaller gas tank than the C4S so I find myself refueling every 150-200 miles, whereas the C4S would need to be refueled every 300 miles or so.

IMO, the C4S is a prettier car, and also sounds better. You can really wring the engine out in the C4S and listen to that joyous flat 6. The turbo sounds a bit like a diesel off idle (IMS chatter), and a big Dyson at full bore. The fact that the NA engine responds instantaneously to throttle inputs is also gratifying. In the turbo, due to lag/boost levels etc, there is not such a linear relationship, and it is annoying.

The Turbo gets you more respect from the car enthusiast community and will blow the C4S away in acceleration. On public roads, the C4S is fast enough; however, you do have to rev the engine as it does not have the low end grunt that the turbo has. For this reason, I think a manual transmission suits the NA car better.

Having owned both, if I could choose just one car as the daily driver, I'd go with the C4S.

Kevinmacd

Not so sure the IMS is overblown. Out of the few 996 coupes I have had, I had the IMS retrofit kit put in 2. I caught the IMS failure early. Metal in the oil filter. The 996tt in all honesty has not cost me a lot in repairs or mainteneace. I had new divertor valves replaced. The IMS replacement in the 996 coupes cost me $2400 per replacement because while I was at it I had the RMS replaced and the clutch. Maybe I wouldn't have lost the IMS, but both when removed were full of metal shavings, and were starting to get loose.That was a risk I wasn't going to take. One member on this board has 300K miles on his 996tt, and his list of repairs is not that extensive.

MechanicalEng

TT

jumper5836

I think scored 6th cylinders and ovaling are way more prevalent then the IMS. Though the V8 Cayenne engine seems to also suffer from it as well.
The GT1 block engine is way more dependable.

Kevinmacd

The cylinder issues were mainly 1999 and early 2000, the IMS has plaged the 911 thru the early 997's,
The new engine in the latest 911 actually resolved the IMS issue. Heres an article on the issues.

http://www.autofarm.co.uk/pdf/Total911_July06.pdf

jumper5836

It just happened to a friend of mine in a 2003. The issue is still there and I actually believe mine may also be slightly scored in a 2002. It not mis-firing but I have very heavy oil consumption and there is a noisy tick from maybe a lifter.