sradick

Hey everyone - been stalking these boards for a couple of weeks now as I gathered information to help build the case to my wife that we could/should get a 911 as our next car. We live right in the city here in Chicago so we technically don't even need a car as I walk to work and she works from home. BUT - we have a two year old and want to have a car for schlepping her around, running errands, drives back to Pittsburgh to see family, etc., and don't want to deal with Zipcar. I'm currently leasing a c300 and that's up in February 2013 so I'll be looking to buy sometime in the next 3-5 months.

Here's what I'm thinking - since this will be our only car, I'm ideally looking for an AWD, automatic 997.1 in the $40-45K range. She wants a cab - I'm indifferent, but we both think that AWD is more important than the ragtop (we live in Chicago/drives to Pittsburgh, etc.). I've found a few on cars.com and ebay that might be candidates, but they're all pretty far away. Never bought on a car on the Internet before, but long-distance buying seems pretty common among this community.

Any recommendations of things that I should be looking out for when scouring the Internet for my perfect 911? I'm not much of a DIYer so a CPO would be my preference, but I don't know if I'll be able to get that and everything else I want at that price. Anyway - just wanted to drop the obligatory "hey everybody - I'm here" post!

wwest

The C4 aspects of 911's are NOT for the purposes of wintertime adverse roadbed conditions.

Buy a NEW Toyota Venza F/awd.

Little Green

Ww, that was useful.
SRA,
I have not used my C2 in the winter yet but there are a lot of folks on here that DD their 997's in the snow belt. That being said they put appropriate snow tires(which would mean 2 sets of tires) and realize that a car as low as ours is not best suited for deep snow. For plowed roads with that lovely 1-2 inch layer of packed snow the C4 cars are supposed to be terrific. I am sure others will chime in that have experience.
In your price range you are looking at 05-06 and a C4 maybe be a little hard to find at that price with CPO but I strongly recommend getting a CPO if possible. Read alot on this forum and educate yourself. You have time. Make sure you get a PPI in any car you are interested in as it's cheap insurance.
Good luck on your search

Rocco07

"Perfect 911" is hard to come by as it's defined differently by all of us.
You will read many stories on here about how it's taken months and, for some, years to find the perfect car. If you're willing to be flexible on color, options, wear, mileage, price etc, it can get easier, but based on current inventories it will still be a challenge.
My biggest advice would be to remain flexible on price. Do not let the "perfect" car get away from you for a few thousand dollars. It may be a long time before you find another and you will learn the hard way that you should have just bought the one you loved the first time. We all have stories like that.
Good luck.

stefang

If you're set on CPO then look on http://porscheusa.com/ Even there, not all will be CPO, but most are.
You'll be hard pressed to find a CPO C4 or C4S cab in that price range. 911s work just fine in the winter. Winter tires are key.

wanderingwheelz

I can't fathom having my 911 be my only car. I agree we all have different needs in a vehicle, but IMHO a 911 is nowhere even comes close to the gear-hauler youre going to need for a young family. And each scratch and ding that it receives is going to be costly... much more so than a more suitable family car.

zanwar

I know a 4S on winter tires works just fine year round in Chicago. Your budget probably limits you to a base Carrera with Tiptronic. If it's your only car, luggage space will be an issue for road trips. The cabs have a bit less space in the back so check the fitment of your child seat.

rodsky

I agree. You have a 2 year old and your only car is going to be a 911 cab. as much as I am a die hard 911 fan, that seems "crazy". where are you going to put all the stuff you need to take when you go on atrip with the kid?

If you "have" to get a 911 at that budget. I'd get a 2006 C4 with CPO and no cab. Less of an IMS issue than an 05. I wouldnt get a cab with a kid.

Little Green

I have two daughters in their teens and thankfully they are small but we take my 911 alot of places. I added a roofrack and the thing looks ridiculous with 2 canopies for soccer games on the top, or 2 surfboards strapped up there but I don't care. I love my car as do my kids. Realistically you can strap your baby crib for that twice a year trip to Pittsburght you are going to take. My wife has a benz C300 which is better suited for traveling but we prefer the 911. When we drive to Florida once a year I just rent a big truck and put the miles on someones elses car. Travel light my friend. It sounds like for 95% of your driving your 911 would suit you fine. For that other 5% rent a car. Life is too damn short to not drive what you want. Oh and don't get a cab. For no other reasons than: Can't put a roofrack on a cab and morons in inner cities will at some point try to cut your top.

2005997carrera2

If I were you I would get a good used Subaru impereza wrx for daily driving and long trips, and maybe a 996, or Boxster for your weekend car.

Mumbles

Sounds like common sence..........not too sure if thats gonna work tho ?

sradick

@rodsky @zanwar - I've got a c300 now and don't see any reason why we can't fit the same stuff in a 911 as we do for trips now. For long trips, it would just be lugging clothes - we've got a pack-and-play, separate car seat, high chair, etc. already back at the grandparents' place where we'd be traveling to. For any other trip, the only other thing we'd take is the pack-and-play and that thing folds up and could be put in the back seat.

sradick

A Venza or a Subaru? Am I on the right board here??

Seriously though, if the 911 won't work, we'd likely give up on "my" car and instead get her her LR2 or something like that.

sradick

So it sounds like CPO is more important for a first-time buyer than AWD then? I'm not entirely sold that this is a "smart" idea either, but I figured if we could easily go sans car and rent a car occasionally when needed, we could go with a somewhat impractical car just the same.

zanwar

Sounds like you have a plan. There's plenty of space in a 911 for squishy luggage. A coupe with a roof rack sounds like a great idea, gives you the option of carrying a bike or some extra luggage one day.