911 Carrera Variations

Depends on what you're wanting the car for. A pure race car: GT2 or GT3 would be appropriate.; Flat out fast car: Turbo or Turbo S; Something comefortable, fast, and can handle most weather conditions: Carrera 4 or 4S; and finally, just something fun: the 911 or Carrera works great. For Green Bay, I'd go for a 4S. Fun, all-wheel drive, and still a Porsche.

 

So these would all be 996's. What do you like & what's your budget. Could run anywhere from $50K to $125K (2002 base Carrera to 2005 996 TT Cab or 2003-04 GT2).

Early non-TT cars have a rear main seal leak problem; there's some dispute about whether Porsche really fixed the RMS issue even in later cars. Porsche ceramic brakes are good performers, but seem to wear early when tracked contrary to P's advertising and they are pretty expensive to replace. The cabriolets are very usable, but the later ones have a glass window rather than plastic in the early ones. Lots of stuff like this. Narrow done the selection a bit or head over to Rennlist.com and start doing searches.

 

I'd recomend the 4s.

They came out in 02 and a cab was added in MY 04. As far as I know, aside from colour changes, there weren't any significant changes during the model run. There were no 05 Carrera 4(S) as they started the 997 model.

 

The C4 is a bit heavier than the C2 and so is slower. In the extreme, if you got a C4 Cab Tiptronic, you're stacking up a bunch of 1/4 sec penalties. The liveliest would be a C4S coupe w/ 6-speed. I don't recall any fundamental changes between 2002-2004; there might be some colors or minor options that were available in some years vs others; otherwise they should be essentially the same car and your decision would be miles/condition vs price (though 2004's might have a bit of warranty left).

 

get some seat time.

i owned a RWD 996 and i owned an AWD 996. the RWD 996 was really a freakin' blast to drive. all that rear-end weight was a lot of fun in the corners. i got kinda tired and bored of the AWD nature of the other 996 - by the time i got it to cut loose i was usually in over my head, as it were.

doody.

 

Get the newest one you can afford.....and at the best price that you can, negotiate hard as there are a lot of these around on the market....these cars are dropping fast and don't exactly move out of dealer's lots unless they are priced accordingly. 993's sell for more than 996's in quite a few cases.

Avoid ceramic brakes.....

 

I would recommend a C4S too.

Prancing 12 is correct in that there were no significant changes during the C4S model years, however, he is incorrect when he says there were no MY05 C4S' in the 996 body-style. There are. The 997 C4 and C4S' are MY06's.

I have an 03 C4S and I love it. Traded in my 355B for it.

 

I think what you meant to ask was whether it is a problem with the 996 AND 997 body styles (the 997's were introduced in August/September 2004 as MY05's).

Yes, there RMS problem was an issue for the 996's up until the end, although from what I understand the problem generally seems to be related to C2's much more than the other variants. I have heard that it also continues to be an issue with the 997. However, the frequency of these complaints is much, much more limited (have only heard of two instances)...but then so are the number of cars.

FWIW.

 

I stand corrected. I was unaware of this. I guess I should confirm some details before I type. Thanks.

 

What Ghost boy said. The C4s make great GT cars. I don't care what Doody sez. I drove one all around the Adirondacks one summer. Very, very cool. I could actually feel those front tires clawing their way around a wet sweeper.

Dale

 

My friend just traded his '05 996 C4S in for a new 997 cab. Both 6 speeds. The cars feel very different. The 997 is almost too refined. BTW for reference, the dealer gave him $72k on the trade in.

 

RMS is a NON-ISSUE for the most part...........

It's a $50 part and 6 hours labor time to swap one out.....996's and Boxsters were afflicted with it.

I don't know when and/or if PAG updated the machine work on the engine case to correct the issue.....but there's no reason to get twisted in a knot if you suspect the car you want to buy has that problem. The clutch, brake pads and rotors will cost you much...much...much more.

 

wow, that made me a little curious, so I just looked up some Gt2 prices, they all ranged from 130k to 160k. For some reason I was thinking they were ~200k

 

Those 996's will keep depreciating, and with them the GT 2. I owned one of the latter for almost a couple years (kind of my personal limit with any of these cars) and found it to be an utter blast to drive, an event, a noisy, extreme, sometimes a bit of a handful, all out funfest. (Ya, i had ye ol high performance exhaust system, racing seats, rollbar and other accessories, so it wasn't really the car to take grandma to the knitting club). Wouldn't think of it as a snow car (just go get yourself a Subie), nor would i want to be crawling up too many curbs, driveway ramps or the like (the low front spoiler piece is replaceable, but when you start carrying the spare with you at $300 per, you get what i mean). Sitting next to any other 996, including a Turbo, they all look like SUVs.
If you want a Porsche that will light up your life, buy the GT2, or go out and get theyself an 89 930 Turbo, and stick the change in your pocket, or buy yourself a couple other cars, too boot.

 

Actually, there are a few '02 GT2s out there with 10-15K miles for 110-115K. Purchase one from an authorized dealer and you get a 6yr/100,000 warranty to boot!

 

Sadly Porsche GT2 values didn't keep up very well even though they are great cars. IIRC, their MSRP's ran $160-180K or so, but they are valued more like TT Coupes with performance kits (X50, CCB, etc - and even these options usually net less than 50% of their original price) on resale. E.g., I just saw this ad on Rennlist today:

2003 GT2, warranty until 6/11/07, 15K miles, any offer above 108k (vouched for as in "immaculate condition").

Their production numbers declined rapidly as a result so that there were very few (<100?) sold in 2004 and almost none in 2005 (may have been a few special orders).

 

i like the 2002 up (320hp) targas.

when the 997 TT bows the gt2 will take a hit imho.

i almost got 993 TT bout 3 yrs ago. resale on the aircooled cars are solid.