Buying a Porsche?
 

Hi, new here and thinking about joining the ranks. There are two options in doing this.

1) There is a local used car dealer (seems reasonable, long track record) that has a 1999 Carrera coupe available. It's been dealer maintained and looks well maintained except for some driver seat wear. I would have to sell my current car ('05 Mini Cooper S cabrio) to afford it. Big questions are - would a car this old (and with 75,000 miles) be reliable enough for a daily driver? Would I be crazy to trade a three year old car for an 8 year old Porsche?

2) Get an older 911 (69-74) or 912 as a weekend/ mechanic tinker car? I grew up on old british sports car but not many of them have a back seat for my 4 year old.

Thanks for any input.

RE: Buying a Porsche?
 

You come to the right place, I am sure you will get a lots of input from the 911 owner, I don't own a 911, Most likely, our memebers will recoment you to do a independance check up, cannot just take the dealer's word. Maintenance cost is high on Porsche for sure.
But one thing I am sure of......
YOU ARE MOVING UP THE CLASS when you drive a 911. Nothing like a Porsche. Good luck.

RE: Buying a Porsche?
 

Any other comments?

RE: Buying a Porsche?
 

Having a back seat was important to me too, when I bought my 1999 996 coupe (sold my Vette with no back seat). My 9 year old still fits back there quite comfortably. My car has over 100k miles on it and it still runs perfect. There is a technical service bulletin on the coolant res. tank. Was about $1100 dollars for me to fix last summer, so I would make them prove it has been done, as well as you can search that year caron edmunds.com to see other issues. My car is my daily driver, and has been very reliable.

Good luck,

Kevin

RE: Buying a Porsche?
 

Well, I ended up not getting the used one that was available locally. I'm leaning towards keeping my Mini another 3-5 years and just getting a new 911 then. The option of getting an old 911 or 912 is still out there though.

RE: Buying a Porsche?
 

help me out my 996 brother, i have a good offer for a 1999 carrera with 80,000 miles, should i entertainm the thoufht?

RE: Buying a Porsche?
 

I'd go with option 2, for several reasons. Yes, the 75K miles recent model Porsche would be reliable but expensive and occasionally a hob of service dollars. The mini will do you a better job as a dependable and inexpensive (as opposed to just reliable) daily driver. The older Porsche will be fun - just watch out for too much rust.