Babalouie's 911 - start on p7

[Boxer]

- you won't buy a manual 993 coupe for $50k

I thought so too, and wonder what must be wrong with this (besides the high mileage for a marque car)

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/...eot=1&__N=1216 1246 1247 1252 1282 4294963765 1633 1557 1622 447&silo=1011&__sid=12DA06E9D2C0&keywords=911&__D= 911&SearchAction=N&YearFromShort=1633&PriceTo=447& __Ntt=911&__Ntx=mode matchallpartial&__Qpb=1&__Nne=15&__Dx=mode matchany


So the 996 are cheaper because of the whole new to water-cooled part, or the fact they had some reputation (rightly or wrongly) for engine troubles?

[Uncle]

HAHA Good to see Babs! Great looking car. If you have some time and want a drive pop down to CHE in the AM if you can. I would love a look and a chat while Dale hurts his ears and tunes the Datto for me.
We had swapped a couple of P.M's today just mucking around and loling at the general wild accusations and jumping to conclusions in true P.F style.

[Q]

I thought so too, and wonder what must be wrong with this (besides the high mileage for a marque car)

Its $60k ....not $50k.
and it is adventurine green [kiss of death for resale value]
....which is why it is $60k ....not $70k.

[Q]

So the 996 are cheaper because of the whole new to water-cooled part, or the fact they had some reputation (rightly or wrongly) for engine troubles?

No, because they are ugly. [seriously]
Cars with good resale are always good looking cars.

[Sebstar]

i must be the only one who likes 996s... mind you, i only like the 996.2

[Stix Zadinia]

Actually can anyone recommend a decent evolution of 911 book incl limited models, differences in parts each year, problems and advantages etc?

buy this too:

[Ben Wilson]

I the misfortune of looking through the Streather 993 book the other day. If that is the guide to Porsche buying it's a bit of a worry.

It features deep insights such as "measure your garage to see if the car will fit" and mentions that the Porsche is such an exotic that it doesn't have a separate chassis and body like 'normal' cars..

[Nafe]

No, because they are ugly. [seriously]
Cars with good resale are always good looking cars.

I could go a 996 GT3 Cup..... any colour really :D

[trent from punchy]

Love it.

[Babalouie]

geez, just saw the ad - did you get it for less than asking price?

Yes, but not much. A couple of weeks ago, I was going to go and check out a white 993 (I think the ad might still be up, actually), which sounded as clean as my car is. The ad appeared on Thursday, I spoke to the guy that evening, but by the time I called him on Saturday morn to arrange to see it, it was sold.

What seems to make a huge difference with 911s is the spec. The stereotype of a 911 is that they are all Grand Prix White or Guards Red with black leather interiors, but the opposite is actually the case. There are an awful lot of 964s and 993s out there with really weird colour combinations, like green, blue or grey interiors which look hideous. Prolly seemed fashionable in 1992 tho...

I've been looking for a 911 for maybe 3mths now, and I've noticed that cars which look good on paper and have low mileages but have a purple interior, can often stay unsold for yonks. White, silver or red cars with black interiors seem to get snapped up quickly. So yeah I did pay an awful lot for the car, but I'm hoping it'll pay me back by being easier to sell one day.

Yes, yes, yes, but what's it like to drive?!

Well, firstly it isn't as fast as it looks. The Hako is faster in a straight line, and in fact it would seem that a G6 Turbo with three people on board will leave it for dead too It's quite easy to drive, but feels quite cammy and flat below 4000rpm, when it has a definite kickpoint in the power band.

Main initial impressions are the solidity of the thing, it really does feel built to last decades and even though it's 20yrs old and has stiff coilovers, there are no squeaks or rattles or any subjective impression of flex of any kind. It mainly just feels like you could drive through a brick wall unscathed with it. A lot of this subjective impression is due to lots of little things, from the wonderfully solid way the doors shut, to the really precise way the handbrake feels (it feels like there is no stretch in the cable at all, and then 1mm later you feel the pads bite).

Other impressions are the driving position which is weird. The centre of the steering wheel lines up with your left nipple, and the pedals are all shoved to the middle of the car...the accelerator is where you'd expect the brake to be, and more than once, I jumped into the car and instinctively stomped on the throttle instead of the brake. It does take some time to get used to, which adds to the intimidation factor.

Also adding to the intimidation factor is the handling, which is also strange. Oh, it FEELS great, with wonderfully tactile steering and brakes which are top-of-the-pedal keen with zero slack. But the front end feels light and bobs about in the course of a corner, and a couple of times, I yanked the front end into a tightening corner and the nose just pushed wide. If you're committed and brake and turn in properly it seems to be fine, but get lazy with your technique and it seems to take pleasure in telling you to get lost. I dunno if maybe this is a sign that the tyres are a bit old and hard (they have 80% tread Michelin Pilot Sports but are dated 2006).

So from a handling perspective, I'd say the Hako is a friendlier, more approachable car. But the overriding sense is that it's not the car, it's you and you have to take the time to learn how to drive it.

..which I'm gonna do

[Babalouie]

I thought so too, and wonder what must be wrong with this (besides the high mileage for a marque car)

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/...eot=1&__N=1216 1246 1247 1252 1282 4294963765 1633 1557 1622 447&silo=1011&__sid=12DA06E9D2C0&keywords=911&__D= 911&SearchAction=N&YearFromShort=1633&PriceTo=447& __Ntt=911&__Ntx=mode matchallpartial&__Qpb=1&__Nne=15&__Dx=mode matchany


So the 996 are cheaper because of the whole new to water-cooled part, or the fact they had some reputation (rightly or wrongly) for engine troubles?

Its $60k ....not $50k.
and it is adventurine green [kiss of death for resale value]
....which is why it is $60k ....not $70k.

This. There is a very nice 993 with similar mileage at Hamiltons, it's Speed Yellow and $72k.

996s (and Boxters and Caymans) are relatively a lot more common too. There are only a couple of 993 manuals at any given time for sale, but dozens of water cooled cars.

[Beavis]

Engine bay pic Babs?

[matt b]

There are an awful lot of 964s and 993s out there with really weird colour combinations, like green, blue or grey interiors which look hideous. Prolly seemed fashionable in 1992 tho...

Congrats on the purchase mate.

Are the cars with ugly interiors cheap enough to make a quality re-trim an option? Or would doing this simply kill resale even further?

[3gig4me]

Great comments Babs - I look forward to hearing more about it. My dad bought an 88 Carrera back in 95 and it was exactly as you describe (albeit a few years older than yours). He drove it daily for maybe 8 years before turning it into a dedicated track/tarmac car. It has ~200,000km on it now and is still as solid as the day he bought it with 70,000km on it.

[3gig4me]

i dont know how to embed, but im just going to leave this here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuIV7...eature=related