signature65

Hey all, this is my first post but I have been lurking for a long time.

I'm currently looking to buy my first 997. Looking for an 05 as the prices are amazing right now. They pretty regularlly go for right around 35K with about 50K miles.

So here is my question......to all you out there with your 997's, which Options can you NOT live without......sport chrono, bose, heated seats, etc etc????

I see these low optioned cars for sale all the time but whats been worth it and what is just a "nice extra"

Thanks
Darren
73 911TMFI

MAPC

Darren- this is a great post. I am also looking at some of the mid $30K 997's out there and am wondering if the time is right for me to step into 997 territory....and your question is a great one.

From what I have read so far, PASM is one of the must haves.

PM me if you want and let's compare notes on what we are finding out there.

PS- I had a 73S Targa (noticed your TMFI signature block!)

Edgy01

For those looking at the 997s for the first time, you might do a search that goes back several years. Back in 05-06 time frame those of us on the 997 forum were swapping notes routinely on what we thought about options. From that, we were then about to more reasonably order what we wanted.

Some basic guidelines: The 997 wiring harness is the longest lead item in the production of these cars. If you don't order an option, most likely there is no wire in the harness to allow a future retrofit. They did it to save money, and to save weight.

That being said, if you are interested in a used 997, then know that you may find everything you want in a car, less one or two options, but know that the chances of retrofitting something is nearly impossible without it becoming cost prohibitive.

As an old-time Porsche guy the sound from these engines is important to me. Porsche failed with the move to the 996 water boxers in that they toned them down too much. Thus, the 997 PSE or Porsche Sport Exhaust is a must-have to me. It can be added later, but the wiring (to turn it on and off) can be a little bit of trouble.

Short-shifter. Very nice. Improves upon the shifting.

With a cabriolet, the heated seats are a must have. The only cars that don't have them are cars that are stripped, or that came from Florida. Even coupes benefit from these.

Leather. I personally appreciate the higher quality these cars ooze when fitted with a lot of leather. This is going to be N/A for you if you want a 997 cheap. You're going to get high miles, and little leather.

***. The Adaptive Sport Seats are quite nice. I like the amount of adjustments that they can go through.

Auto-Dimming mirrors (all three). Many buyers were shocked that this doesn't come for free on a $100,000 plus car. Welcome to Porsche -- a la carte pricing.

Navigation. Personally, I like it a lot. But it works better (to me) when you have the Multifunctional steering wheel. I think most didn't order that, but I like it a lot. It also allows you to mute the stereo with one motion. I have the Extended Nav which is much rarer. It allows me to create or essentially drop breadcrumbs on my route. Also takes over when off published roads.

Early MY05 cars have crappier PCMs. They aren't capable of running MP3 recorded CDs. I consider that a big deal. You can pack a lot more on a CD with MP3 decoding. Skip the remote CD player in the trunk.

S vice stripped 3.6 models. The S with th 3.8 litre engines seem to be the most ordered. The Bi-xenon lighting is the best lighting available for a car today. It is critical to have. The straight 997 Carreras have Halogens, unless Bi-Xenons were special ordered.

PCCBs. Love them, and they are the BEST brakes made today. You most likely will not find them in a car priced in the $40s, even. These things, when driven by a competent driver, will last you in excess of 200,000 miles. Even the PADS go a long way. Maintenance is basically NIL with these brakes.

Sport Chrono. This gets all sorts of interpretations. I find that its little clock thing is pretty worthless, but the ability to make some e-throttle changes is nice. I generally leave it on all the time (because it also turns on the sport exhaust).

TPMS. Essential for a car without a spare. It was optional until it went mandatory in MY07. I ordered it for my MY06 car and monitor it all the time. It has saved me countless times.

My general advice is to WAIT. Avoid the first year cars as they had some growing pains. Not many, but some. The MY06 cars are that much better. Remember the classic Porsche advice. Buy the newest Porsche that you can afford. If you can just barely afford a MY05--wait until you can afford a MY06.

In general, these are well sorted out cars. Even with higher mileage, you have a reliable vehicle. But if you are pushing the envelop to get a high mileage 05 997, then you need to take stock of what you're doing. Will you truly be able to afford putting the correct tires on it when it needs it? Or will you go to some off-brand to save a buck? The car does perform at its best when it is properly shod.

rijowysock

my first 997 was fully optioned out to the gills... my second i didnt go overboard and i still love it,

i learned after my first i did not like caring for the "full leather" interior.. and the sport chrono was not useful to me..

its hard to say what u would and would not like... i would suggest going thru the online configurator.. and actually thinking about each click.. then at the end print out what u have and u got a baseline of things you really need over things you barely want..

i have heated seats/steering now.. if i did it again i would have bumped to the ventilated as well!... oh well.

dimming mirrors are a must for me, but if your going to tint your windows then they wouldnt be so much for you..

its all too personal to ask others imo.

ozcav

I would have to echo Edgy and we come from different perspectives since I am not a big fan of many of the Porsche options. For example, my wife has the nav in her Cayenne and if I had that POS option in my 911 I would have already purposely wrecked the car or died of an anneurism. However, a few of the little detail options can be what makes the car personal to you. If you get a car without the ones you really want, you will always regret it.

As a price point, my low option 27k mile 06 C2S was just taken as a trade valued at $40k. And, it is in desperate need of new tires on all four corners. The Mk1 S cars have a lot of desirable "options" PASM, bigger brakes, and xenons that the base C2 does not have. I actually consider the 3.8L motor one of the less important pieces of the S package.

signature65

I would obviously love the C2S, its really the car that I want. Sounds like I will be waiting a few months for a 40k mile C2S to come into my price range.....which is right at $40K.

Edgy thats a great write up...thanks for the info. I'm a simple man and dont require much. I'm just looking for the advise of all you guys who have lived with your cars(lucky guys) for a few years so far.

Rambler358

In my 911 search, I found a lot of '06 997s and S models that were optioned out to the max. However, these had more mileage than I wanted - between 30k and 50k on the odo. And they costed more ($55-$65k) than the '07 I found with 13.3k mileage at $50k. Yes, my '07 has less options on it, but enough for me. I almost pulled the plug on a '06 911 S, but I felt that the lower mileage and longer warranty car was best for me. Everyone is different though. Good luck!

SARGEPUG

[QUOTE=Edgy01;7059145]


Sport Chrono. This gets all sorts of interpretations. I find that its little clock thing is pretty worthless, but the ability to make some e-throttle changes is nice. I generally leave it on all the time (because it also turns on the sport exhaust). [QUOTE]

I have the Sport Chrono, when you turn on the clock it changes the exhaust????
What bout the throttle responde, does the clock need to be on for that as well?

russo

I think Edgy does a superb job in giving a comprehensive list of pro and cons.

PHDX2

Agreed. Great job, Dan!

Nugget

On cars equipped with sport exhaust and sport chrono it is necessary to engage the "sport" mode in order to activate the louder operation of the sport exhaust. Activating sport mode also relaxes the stability management (on PSM cars) allowing more rear end siip before the stability program intervenes. It also makes the throttle response more twitchy, but not not change the performance of a manual transmission car in any measurable way. On PDK or Turbo cars, though, there is a performance improvement with sport mode.

On cars without sport chrono there is instead a PSE exhaust button which controls the exhaust noise.

Whether or not you're using the dash-mount timing clock has no impact other than spinning the dials on the clock and, if you have PCM, enabling the PCM access to the timing data.

While opinions clearly vary on sport chrono, I think it's worse than useless and an embarrassment that Porsche continues to sell cars that have the feature. Ferry Porsche would hate the thing. It's not a useful tool for lap timing and doesn't make the car perform any better. I've owned two cars now that have sport chrono and I've been able to put it to productive use exactly zero times.

PDK or Turbo? You should suck it up and get sport chrono. The performance benefit makes it worth the money despite the ridiculousness of the timing feature and dashboard wart.

Manual transmission? Skip it. You'll never use it.

dD/dt

It depends on what you want. The only must have option on a 997.1 (for me) would be heated seats. The other must haves on my new ride (ipod adaptor and bluetooth) weren't available, but can be retrofitted.

Self-dimming mirrors and xenons are pretty nice too. In the used market, the tough spots come up when people add thou$ands of personal touches (deviated stitching, full leather, sport chrono, painted interior bits and headlight washer nozzles) and think that's going to add significantly to the resale value. It really doesn't. Neither do extensive aftermarket mods.

I was also looking at used 06-07 models, and figured a base price for each, and considered the options to be worth 10-30% of their original sticker price on top of that, depending on their utility.

w00zie

Strangely after buying and selling a couple of these the questions I always got were;

-does it have sport seats?
-does it have sports chrono?
-does it have Nav?
-does it have xenons?
-do you winter drive it (and i do every year! )

Since i have a bad car habit, resale is always something i think of before buying a car

Now that said, here's what i acutally can't do without;

-heated seats
-self dim mirrors
-Nav (i get lost a lot)
-thick leather steering wheel
-xenons

The sports chrono is nice, but other than the throttle response improvement and some minor lock/wiper adjustments it's not a necessity. The throttle response can also be improved w/an ECU upgrade or the Sprint Booster

Personally I had a '05 and didn't have any issues, but i still feel better having an '06 after hearing so many '05 stories

That said, option or no option, S or non S, you'll love the car no matter what you get

w

DRJMK

I have to agree with Nugget about the sport chrono...it is useless with a 6 speed, but with the PDK, it turns the car into what it is supposed to be. I have it and don't use it all the time. I just enjoy the manual shifting with the PDK and when in sport mode or sport plus, the ride can be jarring especially on a concrete highway. For me, the full leather is a must in the price of the car, the multifunction wheel, the heated/ventilated seats, nav is optional. I have it and I have only used it once in the 6 months I've owned the car. I can buy an iphone nav app for 4.99. Also, the $440 option of the universal audio interface is a waste for since I now have to buy a $30 cable so my iphone can charge and connect. Why is it 440 for a USB cable??? Bluetooth is a must, although when the phone rings in the car I about jump out of my seat. The power seat option is ok with multiple drivers, but not worth 1500 plus dollars in my opinion.
So, for me, full leather, the Bose, heated/ventilated seats, the Bluetooth and the PDK with scp and also xm (which can not be retrofitted).
Good luck with your purchase!

Rambler358

+1