Last week my '99 C2 went over 180 000km. I've had the car for just over 4yrs and put on 80k...every day is a good day in that car...I love having it, love driving, cleaning it, doing minor DIY maintenance...all of it, the whole ownership package, I love (well, expect for those larger repair bills). As a year round daily driver it's performed well with really no big concerns or issues (even the thought of dreaded RMS and IMS).

But with the passing of 180k I started to wonder if it was worth having this particular car as a DD or whether I shouldn't look at getting into something smaller, more efficient and then saving up for some sort of garage queen (oh how I drooled when I saw Ted's 964 go up for sale !)

This past weekend I took out a '10 GTi with DSG. Nice car...fun drive...I could totally see me driving that back and forth to work...moreover, I could see wifey taking it out every now and again (she can't take out the 996 since she doesn't drive 6spd). However...the trade in offer was $10k...which jumped to $13k when I said thanks and good day. I realize the wholesale value is low on these cars with higher mileage...but I am not prepared to give away my car for 10-13...it just doesn't make sense. I know I know...what till spring, sell private...you can ask more and likely get more...I'd really rather not...just a personal decision to not have to deal with general public test pilots.

So...I guess my question to you is...at what point do you look at replacing a 13yr DD that has 180k (all maintenance has been attended to so far...fluids, clutch, coils, plugs, IMS) vs saying to yourself, ok its been a good car and I like it so I'm just gonna fix things as required (cost be damned) and not worry about a thing. The wife is quite happy to keep my car - which was a surprise in itself and in fact told me to find a beater and just garage my car and keep it for a summer toy. To me summer toys are something alittle bit more rare with fewer kms...the generic black 996 is neither of those !

(On top of the mileage milestone, the though of potential replacement has been looming for a while knowing that the suspension is getting soft and should be attended to, the brakes have never been done by me and will need some attention and the big one - there is a whine coming from the tranny that is gonna need to be looked at before long, likely sooner rather then later...merry xmas !)

thanks for the thought and opinions.......Colin

My Baby.....

 

I think picking up a beater and garaging the 996 and only driving it on occasion will be its death blow. These cars do better when driven frequently. Right now you've driven all the residual value out of it, but it should still have several years of fairly reliable and uncostly use left in it. No dealer will want it because finance companies won't touch anything over 170-180k, so they need a cash buyer for it, which, even with a Porsche, is still the minority. So either you're going to sell it to a dealer for under 15k or sell it privately (and deal with the hassle) for 20. Either way doesn't make sense to me to sell it.

Drive it until it's unreliable or unsafe, or until the repair bills start to creep up where it doesn't make sense because the repair is half the value of the car. Brakes and shocks are a fairly easy and inexpensive fix in your driveway (well, I'm assuming shocks are - they are on most cars, but I've never read about the procedure on a 996). Tranny whine could go either way - might be something as simple as low oil level, could be much more expensive. But what's the worst case scenario on that? $5k to have a rebuilt tranny put in there?

 

Best to find a rebuilt mkII trannie. If you need more info ask Tbred911. He just did it in his mkI 996.

Brakes and rotors are not that expensive. If you can do it your self your save a lot of money and they will last forever on a DD.

You've just replaced your IMS and clutch. I think you have could get another 150k on those, at least 120k on new rotors. I would preemptively replace the water pump. I guess I'd worry about cam chain pads. Those can also be replaced without taking the engine apart.

I could have traded in at higher price for my 02, but I decided the money is better off sitting in the garage as a great looking piece like most Ferrari's are kept then letting it go to someone for dirt cheap who won't appreciate the way I have kept up with maintenance and interior. That and the loss of 100k depreciation and that's not including the money lost from financing it for so long. I've got to much of an attachment, something we've DD for 10 years as well as almost lost due to difficult challenges that get thrown at you in life.

if you don't have that much of an attachment. Then let it go. Ted's 964 is awesome, I prefer it over a mkI 996 any day and it will be worth probably very near what you paid for it when you want to sell it.

 

Drive it until the engine pops (probably have another 100K km before that happens) and then sell it to a DIYer like me. This is the only way to get the most money out of any car. DSGs are gloryfied automatics, neat at first but you'll start missing the shifter really soon.

 

Thanks for the input gents....its sticking around for a while longer. It might just be a car but I do have an emotional attachment to it since it is my first 911 and there is nothing so wrong with it that can't be fixed. Ya there are better, newer cars...but not for me...not yet.

 

Better and newer? Newer for sure. Don't be so sure about better. They keep getting bigger and heavier and though they have more and more power to offset that there's a litheness that's being eroded.

you might just find you like the way your 996 drives better.