frankyluis23

Suppose you have two 911s same year, options and they both have the same amount of engine operating hours on the clock. Price for both are adjusted to reflect market value based on condition and mileage.

Porsche number 1 - was driven daily in the city, spent hours stock in traffic and drove relatively short distances and had 30k miles on the odometer.

Porsche number 2 - was driven daily on the highway typically 40 to 50 miles round trip each day and had 60K miles on the odometer.

Which 911 would you buy and why? Explain your reasoning.

Bruce In Philly

You know the answer to this one.... you probably have cognitive dissonance over the mileage.

Highway of course.
1 - These cars can eat control arms.... highway is nothing on the suspension
2 - Less starting cycles.... if owners both drove them hard before warmup, worst case here, then the highway car is least damaged
3 - If year of cars is "old" the higher mileage car is less prone to failures (my opinion here, no science)
4 - 50K is nothing...... anyone who thinks this is high mileage is crazy.
5 - Highway mileage is virtually no stress on all systems.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

mreloc

Curious- what was the avg speed on the highway miles car? Mine had an average speed of 40 mph but only 9800 miles when I bought it- I figured it was highway miles for the most part even though there weren't many.

Macster

For me it would have to come down to my gut feeling I guess.

It would depend upon the service records. If the low mileage car had servicing that was commiserative with its usage that could tip the scales slightly in its favor, maybe.

Still it would be mostly a gut thing.

Rocco07

30k city or 60k highway? Which is a better depends on your priorities. Bruce is correct in that city driving is more mechanically stressful on the car in many ways to include the cars environment, potholes, turning, starts & stops. But, 60k is twice the mileage. Were the 30k miles twice as stressful than the 60k miles?
Also, 60k could produce more cosmetic wear. more seat wear, stone chips, etc. It's not linear though. We can't assume the 30k driven took less time than the 60k. They're the same year car. In the end, they will both speak to you in some way.
I've recently been to a dealer in NYC. After seeing the car in person, I didn't want to waste his or my time with a test drive. It wasn't "clean" enough for me. I didn't like how the car presented itself. Like you said, "gut."

KNS

An engine fully warmed up to temperature cruising along at 75 mph on a long highway stretch will exhibit almost zero wear. City miles, particularly short winter commutes, are brutal.

golfnutintib

look at current owner, condition and service history very carefully

this city vs highway mileage thing is a red herring

i have 100k+ mileage cars that are in better shape and more trustworthy than 30k miles cars that were not cared for/put away wet all the time, so to speak

platinum997

30k difference in miles is not alot. Try to put the millage aside. Drive both and interview the owner. You want to determine the type of person they are.

Are they a car enthusiast that spares no expense? Are they a DIY person that doesn't really know what there doing? What does there garage look like, other cars, history of how they decided they wanted a porsche. What are there hobbies, job, etc..

Seems silly but outside of the car speaking to you, the owner should too. If either doesn't feel right, walk away.

If there dealer cars, service history and winter history are key.

Rikky001

Good one - service records of a 30K car, there will be not a lot of the book is followed.
Bruce mentioned all of it already.
If you want a low mileage car; just buy a new one so you have your virgin.

Petza914

If early 997.1 generation cars, the highest stress on the IMS bearing is when the car is at idle. Also short city trips where the engines in NE doesn't come up to full temp and evaporate out the condensation is worse than the highway car. The highway car at twice the mileage is still the better car.

dc2000

My 997.2 C2S had 57k miles in 4 years when I purchased it. Given the annual mileage, I assume those were mostly highway miles. Car has 66k miles now and still feels like a new car. Depending on what city the car was in, city driving can be at least 2x as stressful on a car. Think of a city like Boston with potholes everywhere, tons of lights and stop signs... That's going to beat up a car very quickly. I'd say drive both and see which one feels better.

Rikky001

My first Porsche in 1993 was a Porsche 944 turbo with 420 000 km when I bought it as a 23 years old guy. This was a German car, first owner, highway driven, otherwise you don't come to this mileage
Story short, car in as new condition except heavily stone chipped. I have had a few Porsches, most of them > 100 000 km when I bought them and all with documented maintenance history. With > 100 000 km there is a history, for garage queens in general there is very little history due to the low mileage. We all remember the CGT story when Paul Walker died, very low mileage care with tyres 8 years old... I always say that an "old" car is like and older woman, she might look young, but at the end of the day she is still old. (don't tell your wife too often)

Think for a 997.1 there is very little advantage to search for a low mileage car as all 997's are relatively cheap. On the contrary, statistics prove that risk of major engine failure is on low mileage cars. The 997's I see coming in on a regular basis are the lower mileage cars which are driven sporadically and gently to church or the coffee shop. The cars which are driven daily, tracked, call it abused if you don't know how to drive a Porsche, but these cars seem to have different, minor issues.

When people ask me to have a look at a 997.1 with low mileage the report is most of the time disappointing as there is most of the time a reason the car has low mileage. The owner mostly don't like it, is scared to drive it or is afraid to collect miles as she/ he thinks this is a gem to be kept inside. Most cars show a neglect of care and love on these low mileage cars. Exemptions aside.

The high mileage cars have 2 kinds of people; the people who like to drive a lot and take care of the car and the other group of drivers who just drive and don't care... and drive till eventually sometimes break.

I judge cars in general by opening the drivers door. If the interior has scuffs, cracks, dirty, stinks, I don't spend anymore time in opening the hood and walk away. If the interior is already garbage, the rest is garbage too, simple as that. Till today this worked with every car I have owned.