88911coupe

Air cooled lurker here, have owned an '87 cab and an '88 coupe for about 12-13 years, about half of which the Porsche was my only car. Recently had lease expire on an Audi which had been my daily driver, leaving the 911 for weekends. Problem is here in Dallas, it's hotter'n'hell about half the year and the HVAC on old Porsche 911 truly sucks. It fogs up on cool rainy days and you sweat your *** off on hot days.
So...looking at selling the '88 and going with a 996 Turbo to avoid all the drama of the 996 N/A engines(LN Eng. seems to have that licked though). Any comments from Turbo owners who use it as a daily driver? I know my friends who have moved to N/A 996s say they don't need another car any more...the water pumpers are excellent year round cars.
Finally, from a maintenance perspective...do the 996 Turbos nickel and dime you or are they pretty reliable?
Thanks,

DaveK

Mine has been my daily car for the last 2 years, and does an excellent job. I can't claim it's my only car - but it nearly was. My 964 (which was a weekend car) soon became pretty redundant since the turbo did everything I needed - so I decided to sell it and just have the one car. But then I got seduced by the Italians, so I do still have a weekend car. But - the turbo still does some weekends too, since it really is superb.

Mine had a number of minor issues in the first year - the downside of a low mileage occasional use car I think. But it's been fine for the last year. General maintenance of course, but I think it's an excellent all rounder - trundle along at walking speed if you want, go ballistic if you want, very good mpg on long runs - it really does do everything very well.

Carlo_Carrera

As a daily driver my '01 has been the same as any normal daily driver.

I do almost all the required maintenance myself. I change the oil every 6k or one year which ever happens first. Doing the plugs is not difficult it just takes a lot of time. The other maintenance stuff is easy. The AC blows like ice and the heat is hot. It is important to clean and hose out front radiators often. The acids in leaves eats the radiators.

The only trouble I have had is both seat belt buckle sensors failed and buckles had to be replaced.

I owned an '85 911 and my '01 Turbo feels different yet familiar. The water cooled cars are a nice evolution.

Macster

While I use my Turbo a lot -- since June 09 I've put 60K miles on the car (it started with just 10K miles) -- it is not my dailer driver. To try to keep the miles down I have a second car which I can and do use... but the Turbo she beckons me... sigh.. from long distance because I park the Turbo a distance from my living area's front door and can't see the car unless I walk around some buildings.

Servicing is not cheap but not real expensive. Remember though these cars cost $120K or more new.

Some of this servicing you can do yourself, though the damn oil tank drain is so messy I have the Turbo's oil/filter done at the dealer. I supply the oil but that's it.

But I plan on doing the brakes as soon as they need doing but the warning light has not come on yet with almost 70K miles on the brakes.

Tire life -- at least for me -- is pretty good. I just did the math and the tires (Bridgestones) have over 23K miles and still the rear tires are not to the wear bars yet.

Unless the car exhibits problems you just gas it, drive it, and change the oil/filter every so often (I like 5K miles) and of course other filters and fluids and consumables (spark plugs for instance) when due on time or miles, and replace the tires when they wear out.

Regarding tires I get 20K or so from the rear tires and twice that from the fronts. (Currently I'm running Bridgestones.) But I'm pretty **** about alignment.

If tire wear looks uneven or even if the dealer service department offers me a goodwill alignment sprecial price I'll have the car aligned.

(In looking through some records I found one time after I bought new tires at this dealer my car received a full alignment with the before/after computer printout and everything for $100. I noted a well regarded indy alignment shop charged me $300 for the same alignment.)

Another bit of a sore spot is gas consumption. My driving has the car delivering 20mpg though it doesn't take much hottrodding of even the mild sort to drop that pretty quick to 19mpg or even lower.

On the open highway the mpg jumps to 24mpg or even higher but no higher than 27mpg to 28mph and for this 28mph there's got to be a tail wind or a downhill grade. (For instance driving west on I-40 from Flagstaff to Kingman which is about 140 miles the car can get near 28mpg but that's the rare stretch of road that I can drive 75+ mph on and get that kind of mileage.)

Anyhow, find a good car and I think you'll be wondering why you waited so long.

Sincerely,

Macster.

88911coupe

OK, not too bad from what I can see. BTW, I get about 17 mpg combined...
Cost for repairs, from what I can see on a few other "rebuild" threads seem to indicate it not any more expensive to work on the newer water cooled cars than my old '88. As I pointed out on an older thread here, I was quoted 8-10k for a top end ONLY on my '88. That's when I decided to just rebuild the whole thing down to the crank. Point it, I'd like to drive a car for 40-50k miles before I did another rebuild...and maybe just pay someone to do it.
Bottom line...looks like the water pumpers aren't that bad to take care of...and they have good ac!

JG 996T

I've had mine for 18 months, two oil changes brake fluid flush, getting ready to do the plugs. Not a daily, but search for T2, he drives his daily - he's over 300k miles!

03911TT

The Turbo is a great, reliable daily driver and overcomes the issues you have currently with the air cooled 911's while providing you with a true Porsche super car feel. I LOVE your era air cooled cars and will own another in the future, but as a weekend toy vs. a daily driver.
The real answer if your wallet and garage can handle it is to keep the 88 and add a 996TT. If you let the 88 go, you will regret it...

Mikelly

I"ve had mine since 2007, and it's been the best sports car I've owned. I have put 22K miles on it, about half that on tracks as a DE student and then instructor. My car hasn't nickle and dimed me, but mods to it to "make it better" aren't cheap.

I'm selling mine within the next two weeks, but I know I will miss her when she's gone...

Mike

ltc

My 01 is still waiting to hit 6K miles ... I am the opposite of Tom (T2) who I believe is the highest mileage 996 Turbo owner on RL (his Cayenne Turbo should also have 250K miles IIRC).

djbeachem.ii

since November '10 I have put 30,000 miles on my '01, She's held up great and have only had to replace a lower ball joint and a window motor. Now with 105000 miles she still gets driven every day

"02996ttx50

i'm racking up serious miles daily, also in serious heat and it's remarkable how strong these cars are at mileage and even in 100+ temps. no problems. i also have had some earlier 911's but the tt's are where it's at. do it.

as to cost of reliability, and whether or not they nickle and dime you. they don't, really, provided the known trouble issues have been resolved, and those won't be fixed cheaply. but replacement part costs don't really decline ( not oem at least ), in spite of the age of the cars. porsche's, what are ya gonna do. i would say they are both, reliable and costly, but well within reason, given what we get.

mine just hit 77777k miles and i'm feelin' lucky.

T2

88911Coupe,

I've had my 2003 996 Turbo X50 for over eight years and our 2004 Cayenne Turbo for over 8.5 years now. The 996 Turbo has just a hair under 312,000 miles on the ticker and the Cayenne Turbo has about 226,000 miles on the ticker. Both daily driven and both very reliable vehicles. One of the best times to drive either is in the snow or of course the 996 Turbo on the track. Buy it, write the check, drive and enjoy it - in that order!!

T2....continues to knock on wood!!

"02996ttx50

Macster

Amen!

Just returned from a weekend in Las Vegas and of course drove the Turbo there and back. Google maps says its 530 miles one way. So over 1K miles.

Great car. Can't think of other car I'd prefer to make the trip in.

Oh, odometer now shows over 71K miles.

Sincerely,

Macster.

ONAFLYER

after reading these comments I want to sell everything, bikes, boxster, truck, and get a TT stat!