Calculate your all in budget and price first. Warranty if you're conservative or can't absorb expensive repairs or groups of repairs - a 6yr/60k mile warranty bumper to bumper can be $6-8K, sales tax can be $3-4k or 0 depending on where you live, undone maintenance milestones, new tires, these all add up and should be considered for every car you consider - worst case scenario on an otherwise good looking car these could be $10k at a dealer, 6k at a good indy. Buying is easy... buying well is an art.

 

very good advice. if these same guys went out and leased a $60k car for the same thing they can finance a non-depreciating $40k 997, they would be significantly poorer for it.

as for maintenance, I consider my car very reliable over the last 20k miles, however if I had taken it to a dealer for all the maintenance I could have easily spent $10k. my recommendations:

1. if you arent mechanically inclined and want white glove service at the dealer, buy a fidelity warranty for $3-5k and enjoy the piece of mind.
2. do your homework and find a well respected Porsche indy. it will save you thousands to build a good relationship with these guys. many are true enthusiasts and take care of your car like its family. however, they run a business and will categorize you into three camps pretty quickly: the frugal details guy, the impatient cayman mom, or the race enthusiast. they will optimize their service to each audience and it will show in your bill. make sure you tell them your expectations early on.
3. or lastly, do the work yourself. ive dont pretty much every job myself with a lot of coaching from my local indy and this forum. my last project, replacing the starter/alternator cable, would cost $3-4k at a the dealer. it cost me $85.

ive found my car to be incredibly affordable. when its not, I ignore it :-)

 

great advice from all. I agree that the 997 is better looking than the 991.1, although i think the 991.2 is pretty attractive too!

 

Ignoring the 911 SCs I thought I was interested in in the early 1990s when I was not in the best financial position to become a Porsche 911 owner even though I had dreamed of Porsches from an early age, my first Porsche bought 9 years ago was supposed to be a used 964 or a used 996 (they were both selling for about the same prices at the time). But a used 993 local to me came up on the radar that cost an extra 10k. At the time it seemed like a bit of a risk to spend the extra money, but I was sold on the fact that I was buying one of the last air cooled 911s and now it appears to have been a good choice. I am sure that a 964 wouldn't have been a bad purchase either, but I am happy I bought the 993 over a 996 (and don't get me wrong 996s are not bad cars).

We always need to keep our finances in mind as it's important to have some sort of "Rainy Day" savings available to us. But we also only live once and I pity the people who are on their deathbeds wishing they did more in life. My life is not perfect, there are plenty of places where things could be better. But I won't be one of those people who wished they did more in life. I have made over 1600 skydives, have BASE jumped off of all 4 different object types, I am a licensed private pilot (don't fly these days though since it is so darn expensive), I own not one but two 911s (though I will be trying to sell the 993 soon), I have tracked my 993 and have raced a Rotax DD2 kart, I have climbed mountains, ski patrolled, ski raced, etc, etc, etc. I have done a lot ... though I have not scuba dived yet ... D'oh must have fallen asleep at wheel regarding that activity. But no regrets.

Now my dream 911 is still a GT3 RS and given the prices of the GT3s let alone the GT3 RSs, it is possible that they will always remain a dream because my latest 911 purchase made last month a used 2010 997.2 3.8L C2S will just have to be the backup to the backup to the backup of my dream car since I cannot really afford my dream car at this time. So in summary, as long as you have some sort of rainy day fund, buy the best Porsche you can afford. We only live once and you never know when it will all end. You don't want to be one of those sorry sacks facing their deathbeds wishing they did more in life.

 

If this a dream car, why compromise your dream. Treat drive many, and get the one that floats your boat the most. Just keep funds in reserve for maintenance, and repairs...T

 

Lots of good opinions here. After a string of nine BMWs (last was an E39 M5) I got my '09 997.2 Carrera last December on a Private Party sale ($42k) from second owner. 35k miles at purchase, 6MT and very few options other than upgraded wheels, Bose and universal audio. Since purchase I've added Fister mufflers and the GT3 shifter. I'm doing nothing else to this car; it's visceral pure Porsche, perfect for this owner to learn on. Doubtful, but should I want More Porsche I'll sell this excellent example and move up. Jes' sayin'.

 

As others mentioned, it depends on your goals. When I got my 1st 911 06 C2S in 2010 I stretched a little and didn't enjoy the car as much as I should have. It was my only car and the beauty of it got lost in the daily grind of commuting. Sold it a year later

Now years later I'm in a 06 C2S again this time a Cab, hat I got a great deal on. It's no longer only car and I'm loving it this time around. I've driven the 991s and while it is not as fast, the porsche experience is fully intact. When I want to go real fast I drive my M5, but since I got the 911 I'd almost always prefer the 911.

For me it wasn't about having the latest and greatest, or the highest specked model (i.e GTS), but the driving enjoyment. This hits it on the nailhead, especially in cab form.

good luck

 

It's just a car. Buy what makes you happy. If you got the itch and you got the scratch to spare, get what makes you happy.

 

Go all out. The so called best deals can also turn out to be the most expensive, biggest headaches.

 

Doug H, couldn't agree more. I once had a Mercedes C124 that was cheap to buy, but I would've spent less overall if I had just bought a better one to begin with. Should've known better as I did the same thing with a BMW E30 too, but I'm always a sucker for a low purchase price for my "fun cars".

 

Right on. Luck and timing helps too. One thing that's not mentioned often in these "buy threads" is whether or not the buyer is into mods or not. If he or she is, then what's already on the car can be a big deal. When I was selling my previous -09 launch C4S I knew my next 997 had to have the same GT2 carbon fiber bucket seats. Just loved them but they're $10K from Porsche or if you're lucky you may find a rare used set for $7K. I also don't care much for stock wheels and exhaust and I don't buy cheap after market wheels or junk parts from muffler shops.

I wanted a GTS but as others have said, the premium seemed on the steep side for what you got (until you looked closer) so I was looking at 2011 and 2012 C4S's too. Then I started talking to a RL member with a 2011 GTS that had the GT2 buckets, hot as hell top quality Forgeline wheels with custom offsets and a Sharkwerks exhaust bypass on the car. All the things I wanted and was ready to add to the purchase price of the next car but he would leave all this on his car if we agreed to a deal which we did.

So I bought his GTS for very close to market price for a stock 2011 997 GTS with the mileage at that time but I got about $17,000 worth of after market mods as part of the package. These were all mods I would have paid for no matter what car I bought so I think it's safe to say I have less money in my GTS than I would have had in a 2011 C4S had I bought it stock and paid for those mods myself.

 

I sold my airplane Skyhawk 172 and bought my 2009 Turbo Flying was way to expensive and getting worse every year. I keep thinking ill get my medical and rent but every time I rent a plane it makes me miss mine to much better off just walking away or driving away very fast.