Just thinking, 308 vs. 996

Instead of a 996 I would go for a new Boxster... I dunno if it's out of the price range (I haven't read the thread sorry )

 

Keep the Ferrari. I am keeping mine and on the lookout for a 996TT . There's no harm in having a Porsche. It is an excellent sportscar after all BUT a Ferrari is a must have ...JMO

 

which year boxster and what model did you drive? the new boxster s has been described as one of the best handling cars in the world with the quickest steering around...in fact i enjoyed driving it better than the new 997s, which was also a great car..both were much better than my old 996 and 993 porsches in everyway...a sebring? a z3?

 

Keeping with my love of unloved cars, take a look at the 964 too if you like the narrow bodies. 107k miles and its still strong. And you can find a nice one for ~$20k.

 

I had a 99 Boxster, currently have a 1996 993 and just bought a 308.

The Boxster is a great car well balanced, well behaved, but lacking power unless you go with the S. Stay away from pre 99's they had multiple issues.

The 993 is a great all around car, very reliable, a little harder to handle than the Boxster, but fun with plenty of power.

I have never driven a 996, but was warned by several mechanics to stay away from the 1999's.

I love my 993 and would not trade it for anything, but it dosen't hold a candle to the 308 when it comes to looks and the smile the 308 puts on my face when I hear the engine.

 

Couldn't agree more. I have an "82 SC and find myself wanting to update to a later 92 and 93 964. They are solid cars and make good daily drivers. They had coil springs instead of the torsion bar suspension, power-steering and more effective A/C, better instrumentation lighting, etc. Better daily driver than the SCs and Carreras, but still had the classic bug-eye look of the 911. If I had to do a 993, it would be a 95 as they did not have the OBD-2 issues as the 96-98s have. 996s have the rms issue, although I've been told if a 996 has more than 40K miles and it hasn't leaked, it never will. If I had to have a 996, it would be a later one and only have a Porsche CPO as they can get expensive if you have no warranty and the RMS issue arises. Ferrari 308/328 is the prettiest car ever made in MHO and my "must have" car is the 288 GTO.

 

Let us know what happen after you sell your 308... Will you miss it? Will it be worth the Porsche??? I am sure many of us would love to hear from you experience....

 

My .02:

Keep the Ferrari.

If you must get something else, get the 993.

If you want 2 cars get the BMW for your wife and skip the Boxter and get an MR2 Turbo. It's faster, cheeper and more reliable even with 100,000+ miles on the odomiter. Then take the 10K you saved by buying it over the Boxter (which is decreasing in value) and apply it to your new Ferrari.

Also MR2 Turbos are increasing in value at the moment. It's getting very hard to find a good 93 or later for under 8K. You could sell it for the same money you bought it for in 2 years if not for more. You won't be able to do that with the Boxter.
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But you can't buy beer with no shirt on.

Ken

 

There ya go!

 

Alright.....

 

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You too, eh?

 

Feelin' like a fool... (hit of the 70's on AM radio)

If you haven't already, pull the Ad.

You're keeping or selling like a strobe light right now.

Keep the 308. At least for a few years until you get the 355 of your heart's true desire. Otherwise, you will chalk the sale (as in *poof* gone) up to the ol' lifetime-of-regrets category and will lose sleep.

In the meantime, Get her the BMW she desires.

Otherwise, you will chalk the look up to the ol' lifetime-of-regrets category and will lose sleep.

The Porsche and the funds to complete the hat-trick will happen in unforced time.
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A little secret monkey wrench to throw into the whole mess:
A 2.0 - 2.2 911S Targa or Coupe of late 60's and early 70's is indeed an "A." Collectable and driveable. FWIW - TSpringer has one, and he loves it. Since he's one of many, many, many F-Chatters who offer sage advice on a regular basis, that says a lot in my book. Regardless, should you decide to do some track time too, they're HSR or SVRA vintage racing eligible, to boot. Values aren't on their way down. Buy, have, hold, "upgrade" later to something you feel is an update, though it won't be an "A" - just as you're planning to do with the 308-355 transition.

 

It looks like Saturday is going to be nice weather... let's do it!!

 

Still, everything you say about needing a daily drive is still true. I realized this after swapping a 2001 996 C4Cab Tip for a 94 F-348 Spider a year ago, mu first F-car. I love this car but also quickly realized the limitations of use of the F-car as you noted and while I may never give it up (or at least until 360s depreciate a lot) I yearned for a daily sports car experience and so searched for and found a nice clean 01 996 C4 coupe stick at a dealer in Delaware (C4 for the snow up hear). 99-02 996s are in a great sweet value spot right now and dealers will sell them "certified" so you are protected up to 100,000 miles (and two additional years after the original 4-year warranty runs out) against the engine failure and RMS problems noted frequently and greatly overblown. The 996 is a fast, responsive,dependable and user friendly sports car and while it shares some body panels with the Boxter, the 996's internal components are a definite step up in quality over that of the Boxter. As for the "air-cooled" afficinados, I see the universally acclaimed 997 needs the antifreeze as well!. I would keep my options open.

 

They are indeed mostly 2-lane back country roads. I often go in the early mornings before there's traffic and before kids and pets are out and about; it will be a little slower if we go in the afternoon, so you should have no trouble keeping up with me, especially since we've got essentially identical cars.

When we go to our next track event, though, I might be a bit faster than you!