997 911 - kids, to replace an unused estate...

997 911 - kids, to replace an unused estate...

Author
Discussion

VeeReihenmotor6

Original Poster:

2,341 posts

182 months

Monday 4th March
quotequote all
Hi,

In summary - Dad wastes money on a modern estate car and life is too short, surely those rear seats are useable and can be used in a "get out of jail" type scenario for a couple of kids.

More detail...

I work from home and have an Audi A4 Avant I never use, it's done 1500 miles in 8 months. My wife has a Q2 which I take the keys to whenever I go out as it's manual vs my A4s auto which I find more pleasureable to drive.

I want a 911 but the only thing stopping me is 1 or 2 days a week i need to put my 2 kids in the car for a school run. One is 10 and the other is 8, I really only need to put one in the back as very unlikely my wife will come for pick up. The trip is 6 miles and will increase to 20 miles when at secondary school. I'm 5ft 10.

I've looked at pictures and feel it is now or never given the ages of my kids. I want to use the 911 as my everyday car and use it for trips I currently run around in my wife's car with, which is usually just me or 1 or 2 kids. Rarely all 4 of us.

Anyone do something similar to me? Does it work? How small do you have to be to run a say 20 mile round trip in the back? I have a VW Corrado as well but they are bigger in the back and my kids would fit well into teenage years in that.

Cheers...

Scrump

22,939 posts

165 months

Monday 4th March
quotequote all
My children when similar age to yours did not take to well to the back seats of a 996 and it only got worse as they got older. My 911 is teamed with my E class estate to cover such journeys.

Henry Fiddleton

1,588 posts

184 months

Monday 4th March
quotequote all
We have a 991. Kids are 10 year old and a 8 year old.


For 6 miles, even 20 its absolutely fine. With 3 people in it, there is plenty of room. One kid in the passenger seat, and one sat in the rear.

4 up, it does not really work (i'm 6ft 1) and the seat needs to be all the way back for any comfort, which doesn't work for any one sat in the rear.

Ideal time for a 911 before the kids shoot up in height.

Good luck.

VeeReihenmotor6

Original Poster:

2,341 posts

182 months

Monday 4th March
quotequote all
Cheers Scrump, that brings me onto my other thought - get a Cayman and, say an electric car/cheap car for school runs if a 911 can't do it all. The price differential would mean i spend the same on Cayman+a another car or a single 911. Budget is c25k.




guyvert1

1,976 posts

249 months

Monday 4th March
quotequote all
Most 911's will fit small kids in back, even the 993 !

I'd say take said kids down to your local OPC for a fact finding mission, they'll love it...

braddo

11,253 posts

195 months

Monday 4th March
quotequote all
Do it!

Even if for 2-3 years you'll be glad you did it.

You might need to consider the daily realities for when the weather is wet etc. Bags in the boot, get some extra floor mats for dirty shoes, perhaps some protection for the front passenger seatback. And no food in the car.

Dadof2

133 posts

139 months

Monday 4th March
quotequote all
11 and 9 year olds here and just me, absolutely fine for the school run and other short journeys, not every day etc,, school bags fit in the boot fine, violins etc have to be slotted into the rear. Double bonus is you never get asked to give any one else’s kids a lift!
996 coupe, all cabrio rear seats are too compromised
My only regret is I didn’t buy one sooner, 5/6 years to 10 the rear seats are absolutely perfect. Younger and it would get difficult with car seats,
I was hoping a 991 might be a justified upgrade with larger back seats, if that isn’t the case then I’ll keep my 996 or swap for a Cayman down the line and add a cheap EV for the occasional school runs I need to do
4 up we have a Skoda Kodiaq which gets most of the use generally (tip, beach, holidays).

PomBstard

7,109 posts

249 months

Monday 4th March
quotequote all
Not a 911, but I’ve been doing this with a 928 and now a 968 for the past 8 or so years. I’ve 6’2” so even in the 928 the seat behind me wasn’t much use, but for carrying two others, both have been great.

My kids are 16, 14 and 10 with the tallest currently being about 5’9” - any combo of the three works fine. It’s one of the reasons for getting a 2+2 rather than a 2 seater - it becomes something to use everyday rather than a garage ornament.

Oh, and the kids love it!

VeeReihenmotor6

Original Poster:

2,341 posts

182 months

Tuesday 5th March
quotequote all
Cheers for the answers everyone, seems on balance it is do-able if I am prepared to put in the effort to make it work.

I could always add a reasonable EV later down the line too. My wife's Q2 is a 1.0 and is currently seeing nearly 15k per annum with our local trips, it would make sense for her to have something bigger, in time, that covers off what seems to be an annual trip where my estate is useful and an EV to take the petrol cost out of the local trips.

I shall start looking, quite partial to 996s as well but they come with old car problems however seen a couple with engine rebuilds that make them even more attractive and a well prepared one should give me a few years trouble free motoring on c5/6k per annum.


Orangecurry

7,534 posts

213 months

Wednesday 6th March
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Do it - as above, they even fit in a 993. They also love being in the smaller space in the rear when they are smaller.

My two also used to laugh when the brakes came on in the dark - the third/high brake light lit them up like two devils....


timberman

1,335 posts

222 months

Wednesday 6th March
quotequote all

My wife and daughter used to fit in my 991, one behind the other just fine and we did a few longer journeys (probably up to 100 miles round trip) without issue

they aren't exactly tall ( wife's just over 5 foot and daughter is about 5' 3") but certainly bigger than your average 10 yr old.

WD-40

116 posts

139 months

Friday 8th March
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I have a 6 year old and an 8 year old (admittedly both quite small) and they love it in the back of my 996. Perched up high on boosters, light from the rear screen, they get loads of visibility and know it's a bit different and more fun than the SUV they usually travel in.

VerySideways

10,243 posts

279 months

Tuesday 12th March
quotequote all
I have a 997 coupe, and a 12 year old (4'7") and a 7 year old (3'10").
The 12 year old usually sits in front but there is enough room in the back for both my kids to be comfortable for an hour or more.

Life is too short to drive boring cars.

Venosta

91 posts

14 months

Tuesday 12th March
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Having shoehorned my 2 into a variety of cars over the years (they are now 18 and 21) I can attest that a lot depends on your kids' tolerance/indulgence/bribes to them, etc. And also your other half.. My kids drove 10 miles in the back of a Taycan and had to get out and refused to get back in because they felt sick; meanwhile at the same age (14 and 17, average height) they tolerated my birthday tour of the Cotswolds in the back of a 991.2 Turbo S with a few jokes about being folded up but no real complaints.

If they share even a bit of your enthusiasm for cars they may be happy to feel cool and less comfortable...not unlike us, in fact.

It only got harder when they went to uni, when the school run stuff you could cram in, turned into suitcases etc which just don't fit. So they take the train and I drive up to meet them.

Venosta

91 posts

14 months

Wednesday 13th March
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...I would also agree with the poster above, from personal experience, that a 911 or similar is absolutely fine for a driver + 2 people, specially if one or both are kids, and most certainly for 20 mile round trips.

It's also v easy to forget that kids have different parameters to us. We may think they expect adult levels of comfort as they approach adult-ish size. But they are carted around in school buses and vans, crammed into uncomfortable school dining areas, made to sit on the floor in drama or gym, spend their spare time on benches or walls or whatever, and are fine sitting on swings or seesaws made of hard plastic..they don't have the same comfort expectations as us. I was the same height as I am now when I was 18 but wouldn't now dream of travelling around the world for fun in economy class and long distance buses etc as I did then, when it felt fine.

They may even be more excited by travelling folded up in the back of a Porsche than in a SUV.

Wives, in my experience, are different.