Advice sponge joining the "hobby"
08-16-2011, 09:31 PM
#16
Nordschleife Master
As a long time Porsche owner (my Porsche attraction started when I was about 18--and bought my first at 19), I think that you're going to get a lot more Porsche for the money with a 997, than a 993. Here's the facts--993s are artificially higher due to some notion that the 993 is more of a 'collector' car due to less of them being made. However, one reality of a Porsche that must be faced straight on is maintenance costs.
Porsches are today, much less expensive to maintain than ever before. The service intervals are longer, and less things require service. The 993 is, frankly, a 13-14 year old car, at best. That's usually the place where the expensive stuff starts to break on a car. As such, you must budget accordingly, if buying a 993. However, many sellers of 993s will not factor in your expenses of about $5000 to get it up to speed. They will demand every cent they can extract from you.
On the other hand, there are many slightly used 997s out there that are much less of a maintenance chore.
I've had my share of air-cooled, oil-cooled, and coolant-cooled Porsches over the decades. I don't know where you live, but between you and I, if I am traveling across the USA in a Porsche and want to turn the air conditioning on, I want cold air to make the trip more comfortable. The older air-coolded cars are not truly ducted for such air movement nor is the air going to be cold enough by modern standards. Sure, they're going to tell you that a true sports car doesn't need a/c. However, when you're in stop and go traffic on the Eden's Expressway in late August, let's talk about that again!
Please go visit the 911, 964, and 993 forums and lurk there, and ask a similar question--just to get a fair and balanced answer.
Best of luck, John.
Porsches are today, much less expensive to maintain than ever before. The service intervals are longer, and less things require service. The 993 is, frankly, a 13-14 year old car, at best. That's usually the place where the expensive stuff starts to break on a car. As such, you must budget accordingly, if buying a 993. However, many sellers of 993s will not factor in your expenses of about $5000 to get it up to speed. They will demand every cent they can extract from you.
On the other hand, there are many slightly used 997s out there that are much less of a maintenance chore.
I've had my share of air-cooled, oil-cooled, and coolant-cooled Porsches over the decades. I don't know where you live, but between you and I, if I am traveling across the USA in a Porsche and want to turn the air conditioning on, I want cold air to make the trip more comfortable. The older air-coolded cars are not truly ducted for such air movement nor is the air going to be cold enough by modern standards. Sure, they're going to tell you that a true sports car doesn't need a/c. However, when you're in stop and go traffic on the Eden's Expressway in late August, let's talk about that again!
Please go visit the 911, 964, and 993 forums and lurk there, and ask a similar question--just to get a fair and balanced answer.
Best of luck, John.
