wilbury

Hi, Rennlisters!
I've been enjoying this great forum for a few years but I've never "joined the conversation". It's about time! My name is Andres and I live in the greater Seattle area. I recently joined PCA so hopefully I'll meet some of you in the near future! I grew up with BMW's so my first "fun car" if you will, was an '07 335i sedan I bought new in '06 when they first came out with turbos. Needles to say, it was a real treat for me to own that car for about 7 years. It was the fastest car I ever owned. I had only put about 55K miles on it when I realized life is too short to only experience Bimmers! Last comment I'll make about that car is that when I first test drove it (it was actually an '06 330i which has about 45 less horsies, but that's beside the point!) for me it was like that scene in the animated movie Ratatouille where the evil food critic tastes the ratatouille at the restaurant he is rating and he is immediately transported to his childhood when I guess he first loved that plate! That's exactly what happened to me when I left the dealership on my test drive and first heard the sound of that sweet inline 6! I really enjoyed that car to say the least but I knew there were Porsches out there that I had to experience, although I knew it was not going to be that familiar experience I had with BMW's. Really the only experience I had with Porsches growing up, was with my stepfather who briefly had an 80's 930 and I rode in it to school a few times. I forgot the cramped backseat I had to sit in as soon as he opened it up. My buddy to this day, whom we gave a ride to school back then, still remembers my stepdad jokingly saying every morning: "Did you guys put your diapers on? Cause we're late for school!" Those days didn't last too long, unfortunately!
Several of my friends and family went through the "Porsche discovery phase" before me (they have more money than me! Lol) so I guess I'll blame them for giving me the bug! I drove an '04 GT3 and a few 993's that were a hoot! Fast forward to the fall of 2014 and I found the perfect Porsche for me at the time: a pristine 6 speed '06 base 911 with the right options, 38K miles, with service records up to date, and that passed a PPI with flying colors, in gorgeous Seal Grey with a Space Grey? interior (that grew on me), that I've had now for about 20 months. Needles to say, it puts a smile on my face from ear to ear every time I drive it but now I'm in better shape to get into the one I wanted almost all along. When I first started looking, my ideal was an '09 S (they say get the newest one you can afford!) but for awhile now I've settled on a 997.1TT. After more research, in my book that IS the keeper! (Mezger engine, AWD for my weather, and more power than I need!) Which brings me to my title: Is a 50K+ mile 997.1TT a good buy? It seems, from months of looking, that at that mileage point there are some real good deals. I know turbos have more possible maintenance (like plugs every 24K miles, etc..) and are not as simple as my lowly Carrera but my research tells me these are some crazy reliable super cars! I've always done my own maintenance up to swapping suspension parts, oil changes and spark plugs- although I don't feel very confident about the 911 plug replacement tutorials!) (I know about the coolant pipes issue, don't think it's a deal breaker for me). The other "unknown" would be the looming clutch replacement at some point..)
I would appreciate if any of you with experience with these beasts and that are still reading at this point (LOL) could chime in!
Thanks for any insight you can provide!
Andres

Sent from my iPad 4

Matt Danger

I bought my car with 60k miles. Would do it again. But mine was the exact options I wanted and was in good shape.

Other than the coolant leaks I've had to fix twice.

Mileage doesn't really matter. Buy one that is well taken care of and has been maintained.

Quadcammer

I didn't read your novel, but no, it's not crazy if you can afford maintenance and potential repairs

jaycm3

wow thats a long paragraph..i bought mine with 55k and just plan on doing some maintenance all at once (plugs, coils, all wheel drive controller fluid, fuel filter, belts, etc). Other than that mine been a champ.

rayng

i bought mine with 50k+ miles several years ago. it is by far, the most trouble-free p-car i've owned in the past 10 years.
i love my pccbs. find one with a factory aerokit.

i've no issues with normal maintenance. it's pure joy and wife's favorite 911.

mm1

Can I get cliff notes for the OP?

I think many TTs will be in the 50k range soon enough. They are great cars and that's not high mileage in Porsche's world.

A) Can you afford the maintenance potential on a MSRP 125k+ car
B) Go back to A.

atcbi5

That's just 9k per year! Below normal, I am at 55k. No worries man. You want lower mileage get a 2009 or the newer PDK models. If you get a low mileage 07 be prepared to
Replace things since the car has not seasoned yet. I remember a Porsche tech telling me when I took mine in for warranty work. He said drive it or else things will break. He was right.

A418t81

No, as long as there has been appropriate maintenance, there is NO reason not buy a 50k 997TT. Frankly, by then, most of the common failure points will have been addressed. There is nothing on a 50k 997TT than doesn't fail on a 10k mile one. This point seems to go unnoticed by the standard buyer who runs around talking about how they got such a peach of a low mile car and then it needs the coolant pipes pulled and welded a 1000 miles later \

My car just turned 50k this week, and I will guarantee it is the most "gone-through" 997 in the southeast. I've preemptively replaced or proactively repaired about everything common failure point you possibly can.

turbofever

buy the newest car you can afford. keep the mileage under 60k and you will not have trouble selling it in the future.

to save you time researching for a 997.1 turbo 2009 in the newest.

do note that tiptronics are considered the inbreeds of the 997 range.

buy a fidelity warranty and drive it hard but be mindful of routine oil changes to keep it running well.

go with a manual trans

512bb

Double check the maintenance records, talk to the mechanic(s) who serviced the car and get a robust PPI. If all is good, get the car and enjoy it for the next hundreds of thousands of miles :-)

Welcome to the TT world. It's fun :-)

Terry Adams

Mine was barely broken in at 50K miles from when I bought it new.

Maintenance records, PPI, and go drive it.

Mine is at 91K and in the shop for coolant pipe replacement, pinning, and water pump replacement. Did not need the WP, but did it anyway "while we are in there".

Turboslut

I bought at 64k miles. Just do all the maintenance all at once with the savings.

estrellajon

I agree with everyone up above. Mileage is just a number. More importantly, all maintenance are up to par . As everyone mentioned, plugs, coils, belt, all fluids should be current. Being a manual and high powered car, clutch will last average of 50k miles. I'm glad I need a clutch since I wanted a stage 2. Price wasn't bad at $1600. But not sure what labor prices are.

Another weak point is waterpump. Easy fix as well. I wouldn't worry about costs since this IS it as you say. Not much difference from BMWs. I came from that world as well. AMG cars are much more expensive in my opinion.

wilbury

That's funny, Quadcammer!

wilbury