Hello everyone! First time post here. After being the proud owner of an E92 M3 the past few years, my husband and I have decided that it is time to get a bit more focused sports car. This will be my daily driver for seeing clients, as well as the weekend car. He has a large truck that suffices as the family vehicle when we need room.

Upon doing some research, it seems that the most desirable car would be the 911 between 2009-2012, which is the 997 I believe. Hence my reason for posting on this board. My local dealer has zero of these in stock; they do however have a 991 manual 7-speed in stock, used. I drove it, but it felt big, comparable to my BMW in size. Back in the day, a good friend had a 2006 911 I believe, and that car felt more like a "sports car". It is exactly the feel I want. I can't seem to even find a car for sale around my area, and therefore will look nationwide and having something shipped back to me. I will not be able to test drive.

I am leaning toward a newer, not crazy mileage car. It has to be a manual. I like the idea of a coupe. From what I have seen, they tend to be quite reliable with this generation.

Questions:

1) what model? My price range is up to $70k, although I certainly don't need to spend that much. It is my understanding that there is a base model, a C2S, a C4S, and then a GTS? I see the differences in power: what is the difference on the road? Are any of the models destined to "hold value" more than others? I see that thrown around here quite often, especially when people are contemplating buying an "S" car vs the "Base", although looking at MSRP vs used prices, it doesn't seem to be the case. Most everything seems to be selling at around 50-55% of MSRP with, say, 30,000 miles.

2) Assuming the above is true, that each model more or less costs the same in depreciation, which provides the most bang for the buck? Is the "S" worth $10k more than the "base"? The GTS worth $15k more than that? I just want a fun car, and have never had "badge envy". We ladies tend not to use engine size as a proxy for other measurements With that said, if a certain model is the "sweet spot" for daily drivability (useful power), then I would like to know.

3) mileage: a good friend of mine is dating a longtime Porsche mechanic who specializes on air-cooled cars. Speaking with him, he said "buy a one or 2 owner car that has been driven. Do not fall into that trap that lower mileage is always better. Not true on these cars. Find something that has a good 3,000-4,000 miles/year on the clock, and has been maintained. The decade-old cars that have 10,000 miles a year are not only more expensive, but will give you 5x the problems going forward. Everything is designed to be taken to operating temperatures regularly on these cars; the problem cars are the garage queens". This makes a lot of sense; is it still true for this generation? I want' the car to be reliable: it is going to see 15,000 miles a year.

4) some cars have "sport seats" with big bolsters. Coming out of an M3 with side adaptive bolsters, is this a "must have"? Or are the stock 997 seats as good as the M3 seats? I don't see many cars with that option.

5) best time of year to buy is later in the year, I presume? Are 911's sold year round, or more of a summertime car? People daily drive M3's, but it always seemed that they were cheaper in the fall and winter.

Anything else I should know? I plan on getting a good PPI, DME report, all of that. I also have looked at exhaust options. My M3 had an Akrapovic! I hope to recreate that sound on this car.

 

There are others on the forum that will be better at answering your other questions but with your price range is there a reason that you are not looking at a Turbo?

Also, another option is a Targa (either a base or S). Targas seem to be a bit of an acquired taste, but it was the only model that I wanted. I like it because it is, in my opinion, the best of both worlds in terms of a coupe and a convertible. Just something that you might want to consider.

 

A turbo? I just figured that a turbo would be unreliable. In the BMW world, it seems that N54 engine had plenty of turbo failures at higher mileages, not to mention tons of turbo lag. I wanted to stick with a naturally aspirated engine if at all possible due to that. Do Porsche Turbos hold up better, without as much lag? A friend has a 2015 Turbo S, he loves it, but that is beyond my budget, and not a manual either. It's a crazy fast car.

If a turbo is in that price range, and not going to be breaking down every 3rd month, then certainly I would consider it! They are only AWD, correct? Does that make for a lazy car?

 

Turbo will likely be more reliable. I used a long string of turbos as daily drivers from around 89 to 2015. They were bullet proof. The NAs have historically been more of a head ache.

 

Having to purchase remote doesn't have to equate to not doing a test drive. It's not a zero sum game.
You can do the deal, place a deposit, arrange PPI, fly out to the car for a test drive and PPI, then sign. That's what I did. Smallest amount of risk for a long distance purchase. The only risk you have there is the cost of the flight.

If you're looking for sporting feel, something without extra weight and extra drive wheels will get you there the most. That means no Targa (extra weight, and weight thats up high, which is the worst location).. no turbo (because AWD + weight) and no Carrera 4 because weight + AWD. The most sporting spec in that case would be a manual gearbox 2WD car. Thats going to be the lightest most direct configuration.


Turbo muddies the water as the OEM suspension is softer, the car weighs more, and its AWD as well. C4 + C4S also is more weight plus more drive wheels. PDK, same deal, more weight, and not necessarily as direct (according to some).

For the most sporting configuration C2S manual or GTS manual. I went with GTS PDK, since I planned to track the car and I just like the dual clutch more. But any of the cars is a good bet. Sports PASM (sports suspension) really livens things up, in my book and is packaged with limited slip differential as well as slightly lower ride height.

 

Doug is historically correct. Turbos have consistently been relatively reliable 911's.

A decent Turbo 2009+ will run you at least $80K.

The 'S' is worth it because of more HP, suspension, brakes. Kind of how you wanted the M3 over the base 3 series to make up for ....'other measurements'.

A $70k budget will get you a nice C4S (widebody, with more HP, bigger brakes , suspension etc.) with money left over.

 

Sounds like a 997.2S would suit you well. A "nice" 997s should fetch 55-60k with plenty left over to do some minor modifications (exhaust, lowering) and routine maintenance

 

^ I agree a 997.2S sounds like a good fit for you. Regarding the seats, I really liked the sports seats but my car does not have them. My seats suit me fine so I wouldn't let that be a deal killer.

 

get a 09 up, 997.2, 3.8 dfi car, S only

 

Agree!

 

^^^^ I love my '11 C2S Coupe 6 spd. Paid 59K CPO'd at a Michigan P-car dealer in dec of 15. Flew out, signed fri eve, drove home sat sun mon. I would go GTS if i had to do all over again, that said, i bought this car as a "non" special car. In other words, drive it, tour it, park it. If it gets damaged/wrecked/scratched/stolen its a replaceable unit whereas the GT3's and GTS's are getting more and more harder to find.

I haven't drivin a 991, but everyone i've talked too have said they feel (much) bigger (cept the GT cars), but this is just what i've heard

For a daily driver, traffic, and the like, i'd go 991 and a PDK in a heartbeat, but, CPO'd.

 

2009-2012 C2S or GTS.

GTS has 408 hp stock vs 380 on the S, via different heads and intake manifold. Magazine tests show minimal differences in performance so the better "value" may be an S given GTS prices lately.

 

This. Great car. Go for a 997.2 C4S.

 

Forgot to mention that the GTS gives the widebody, even in 2WD form.

It all depends on your preferences if you want 2WD (S or GTS) vs AWD (4S, GTS4, Turbo).

 

(of course I'm biased)

Plus the return of the iconic 964/933 rear light bar.
Plus a standard LSD.
Plus the active electro-mechanical AWD system from the Turbo. The 997.2 4/4S finally dumped the passive viscous clutch from the 993.