What do-it-all 911, up to £60k-ish

[blueovercream]

It's been an expensive year running a Golf GTI and an Elise (which I'm not using enough to justify keeping really) so I'm thinking of chopping in both for a Porsche. It will be a keeper for a long time hopefully. Realistically it's a 911 or else I'll always have that itch.

It needs to fulfil the dual purpose of getting me to work on my 80 mile/day round trip, as well as being fun to use on the twisties at weekends. Will be used year round, in Scotland and plan to have a set of winter wheels/tyres. I'd like to be able to take it to Europe in both summer and winter, and to put skis on the roof if needed.

I have use of another vehicle to keep the mileage on the Porsche half-sensible and for especially bad weather

Must be a manual

Centrelock wheels are a definite no. Sadly this pretty much rules out a 997 GTS which would otherwise be ideal.

I don't love the >£700/yr road tax of 997 Turbo and 997.2

4WD possibly better than 2WD but with winter tyres maybe less of a concern

I'd really love a 996 GT3 but I fear too raw to use daily and too vulnerable on salty roads? Could get it properly undersealed? Also rapidly disappearing out of reach. Ashgood have a nice looking silver one.

I'd consider anything from a 993 to a 991. Definitely prefer the smaller more analogue cars but I guess a 991 benefits from newer tech for daily use, and potentially lower running costs at least initially. £60k budget is not a target; absolute limit is £65.

I appreciate there will be lots of potentially suitable options so lived experience along the lines above would be most helpful.

Thanks!

[KittyLitter]

Do all 997 Gen 2 models succumb to the £700+ road tax?

[KittyLitter]

blueovercream said:

Must be a manual

Centrelock wheels are a definite no.

4WD possibly better than 2WD but with winter tyres maybe less of a concern

I'd consider anything from a 993 to a 991. £60k budget is not a target; absolute limit is £65.

Thanks!

Buckets, PCCB, 4WD (as you mentioned)
Just improve the Number Plate position - whats not to like - a unicorn spec.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202407111...

Or to your max £65 budget
another 991 unicorn....

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202410225...

[blueovercream]

KittyLitter said:

Do all 997 Gen 2 models succumb to the £700+ road tax?

Right enough - only S/4S. Base Carreras seem to be lower according to Autotrader

[blueovercream]

KittyLitter said:

Buckets, PCCB, 4WD (as you mentioned)
Just improve the Number Plate position - whats not to like - a unicorn spec.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202407111...

Or to your max £65 budget
another 991 unicorn....

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202410225...

Both very nice! Unsure about PCCBs, mainly due to cost of replacement if a disc gets chipped or damaged on my commute

[BlackTails]

This one.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202403187...

[Ed.Neumann]

blueovercream said:

It needs to fulfil the dual purpose of getting me to work on my 80 mile/day round trip, as well as being fun to use on the twisties at weekends.

Will be used year round, in Scotland and plan to have a set of winter wheels/tyres.

How good are your roads for the commute? In fact for both?

Where in Scotland? Is it just wet or snowy? Are the roads main roads on the commute always clear of snow etc.?


The AWD cars are 95% RWD biased, it only really kicks in when needed.
You can make the cars feel more planted, tail happy with different geo. I was always one that had to have RWD, but after owning a C4 was surprised how similar they are, you are hard pushed to tell if you know how to set up your geo.


I think with your budget and mileage I would be looking for as late as possible car as possible. The problem is you are doing around 25-30k miles a year by the sounds of it?
You maybe better to spend say £40k on a slightly higher mileage car and no worry about depreciation.
I just think with £60k you are looking at a low miler, but in 2 years it will be fairly high miles anyway.
These cars can put serious miles on them, just the market doesn't seem to realise that.

There have been a few early 991s for around £40k recently with 50k miles on them. That would be where my money went.
Leaving a slush fund to keep it like new.

A £60k 997 is still a 15-20 year old car and could arguably be low mileage and about to need everything changing.


I suggest you try a 997 and 991 and see what you think. I have a manual 997 Carrera S and love it, but would happily have a 991, C2 or C4. In fact, my wife keeps saying I should have bought a 991 pdk. I would probably love that just as much.

Try them, see what you think.

[Koln-RS]

blueovercream said:

Both very nice! Unsure about PCCBs, mainly due to cost of replacement if a disc gets chipped or damaged on my commute

That would be covered under your insurance.

Agree the 997.2 C2 manual is a nice choice but, personally, I’d be looking at the 991.2 C2 or S as there were quite a few improvements, especially the manual gearbox. I wouldn’t pay extra for C4.
And, standard sports seats are generally favoured for everyday use - even on GT cars more people seem to be choosing sports seats over buckets.

[blueovercream]

Ed.Neumann said:

How good are your roads for the commute? In fact for both?

Where in Scotland? Is it just wet or snowy? Are the roads main roads on the commute always clear of snow etc.?

The problem is you are doing around 25-30k miles a year by the sounds of it?

Commute is mainly A-road, Edinburgh/Borders and quite high so there's normally at least a few snow days but the roads are generally well gritted and cleared. Weekend use a mixture of everything; I go to the Highlands a fair bit where the "driving" roads are great.

I work shifts and thankfully the reality is lower - probably around 12k/year

Was thinking along the lines of something with a higher mileage to start with

[Orangecurry]

Get a 100k miles 996 C4 for 12k GBP and spend the rest on cocaine and hookers.

Lapis Blue would be a nice colour. Maybe for sale nearer to you than West Sussex or Surrey. No association with any such seller.

I'm actually tempted by that. Thrash it every trip - never care about value.

[maz8062]

BlackTails said:

This one.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202403187...

/close thread.

[popeyewhite]

Assuming the 2WD is lighter than the AWD I'd go for something of that ilk. They handle well, but are not particularly quick IIRC.

[KittyLitter]

blueovercream said:

KittyLitter said:

Buckets, PCCB, 4WD (as you mentioned)
Just improve the Number Plate position - whats not to like - a unicorn spec.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202407111...

Or to your max £65 budget
another 991 unicorn....

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202410225...

Both very nice! Unsure about PCCBs, mainly due to cost of replacement if a disc gets chipped or damaged on my commute

you'll be fine.

[KittyLitter]

BlackTails said:

This one.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202403187...

could that be any blander?

[IroningMan]

PDK drops a Euro 6 991.1S down to the £400 VED bracket - must admit I didn’t realise it made that much difference.

[rlw]

If you're going to do 400 miles every week, look forward to some considerable running and maintenance costs.

I ran a 996GT3 as a daily car for about three years. It was fine for day to day use and I had no worries about rust as it was all undersealed etc etc, but that kind of mileage won't do any good to your pocket.

[stuckmojo]

I had a similar brief and ended up buying a base Carrera PDK 991.1 with all the important options, mint and with OPC warranty for £37k.

It now has 83k miles. I do 12k miles per year so I am discounting the mileage "tax" when I factor what I will sell it for, eventually.

VED is below £400 for sure.

[Ed.Neumann]

blueovercream said:

Commute is mainly A-road, Edinburgh/Borders and quite high so there's normally at least a few snow days but the roads are generally well gritted and cleared. Weekend use a mixture of everything; I go to the Highlands a fair bit where the "driving" roads are great.

I work shifts and thankfully the reality is lower - probably around 12k/year

Was thinking along the lines of something with a higher mileage to start with

I wouldn't pay more for a 4S then.


I would also try a PDK, don't write it off, they are very good and in many ways add as much as a manual does.

How far are you from these guys?

Might be worth a trip and test drive. You might even like that car.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202409144...

[IMI A]

This has just been refreshed for you. Looks fantastic if still for sale with all the major work done. You can use guilt free and depreciation should be minimal.

https://911uk.com/threads/993-c4-manual-coupe-non-...

[blueovercream]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. To address a couple of the points

PDK - I'm really not a fan of the idea. I guess I should try one.

Running costs I'm prepared for. With insurance and tax though I'm not expecting it to be more than two semi-interesting cars put together... That is after all part of the reason for the change.

Basically I need to drive a few on the shortlist.