ELUSIVE

In those pictures I must say that i like the seats and the carbon fiber. The dash and steering wheel are terribly ugly though. Just my opinion.

Mike in CA

The 997 is nicer no doubt; too much plastic trim in the 996. I just don't think it sinks to the level of horrible or terrible. Just my opinion.

Zeus993

I personally like the 996 C4S when ever I see one. Beautiful. And the interior I could learn to like. Hell, the door arm rest even looks like the 991. It's a classic and having had a nicely optioned 997.1 for some years now, I would chose the nicely optioned, low mile 996.

rsabeebe

i agree with cibergyspy, the best color for a 996 interior is black. any of the lighter colors - gray, tan, etc. - all the black plastickyness stand out too much. At least with the black, it all falls into the overall background. The center pod and 'eyelash' pod just don't mesh well to me. The 997 interior is far cleaner and linear and it's obvious the designers knew they made a mistake, as the interior only last one generation. If you don't mind it, all the better. it was a large factor for me, though. although, so were the headlights and the softer, tapered body of the 996 C4S. i also love the 'drop down' rear lights on the 997 (from the body line) versus the 'upward' lights on the 996. love that angled body line on the 997. the 991 has some gorgeous details too - the increasingly recessed rear window as it trails down, the rear taillights sculpted into the rear fascia - nice touches.

USMC_DS1

Or stretch the financial budget and get this 996TTS.

utkinpol

Only 996 cars worth buying now are gt3 and turbos imho.
I have posted my car for sale but it is a track oriented build and not a best option for DD only. It takes a lot fo time to find something that will 'work'.

svb

I just spent months cross shopping 996C4S and 997C4S. In the end I got the 997 but I think the 996 is a fantastic looking car and it was actually a tougher choice than I thought it would be. Imho I think the widebody w/o the turbo aero looks even better on the road.

utkinpol

pretty funny stuff, i just saw 2006 C2 base car with 36K miles on a site of westwood porsche, and they sell it for $54K. on their own website if you enter in this car`s data into their KBB trade-in calculator it shows $38,274.00. not a bad margin.

Mbiondo

While not a fan of the 996, I also have to admit that the wide-body 4S gave it a stunning ***, and a little hips on those sides, too. With the red reflector going across, I would rate the rear of the 996 4S higher than any other model, 997 included. All other tech arguments made here notwithstanding.

rsabeebe

These numbers do not sound accurate, unless they are 'fair' quality, wholesale numbers. My '05 S, run under NADA, came up at $45k and change with 60k miles. An '06 S, with 23k miles, I ran came up at $54k in NADA for retail. The '06 C2 in question should come in around $48-50k, imo.

svb

Agreed, especially when lowered on Ruf springs.

SacTownGuy

I am currently in a similar debate. Lower mileage '04 C4S cab v. higher mileage '06 C2 cab. Plus the 997 is a few thousand more. I do vastly prefer the headlights of the 997 but overall it's tough....

BTW, what's the clutch and seal cost to fix? Roughly.

otto06

SVB you might have just picked my first Mod - the ruf springs. After driving both cars - I am going down the road of the 996 4s. I have found a few other examples - so I am looking at them all carefully. I had to stop my budget from notching up again as I found a few 997 4s's 5-6k more but I gotta draw the line somewhere!

otto06

oh and in reply to the interior comments - my current DD is a 'loaded' Subaru outback - so the 996 or 997 with full leather packages are both vast improvements!

SacTownGuy

I agree about the Ruf springs. That looks great. Roughly what's the cost for something like that, installed?