What to buy??

[Manners]

Hi all,

In the lucky position to be on the hunt for a new car and Wife has given the green light on a Porsche or Aston Vantage.

So looking at the Porsches specifically, I am yet to narrow my search down to one model just yet and wanted to opinions from you all.

Contenders are

964 anniversary/ celebration
993 C2S/ C4S
996 GT3 mk 2 / Turbo
997 C2S

Some considerations are that I will be driving the car daily and doing in the region of 4k a year.

If I am being honest with you my favourite based on looks only, is the 964 anniversary/ celebration. The trouble I have is I cannot find one for sale.

My other preferred option is the 996 turbo as perfect all rounder. So given the choices what would you buy and why?

[mrdemon]

I guess you have 37k to spend.

all cars have plus and minus points, and as we do not know how you will use the car, only you can decide.

The Vantage is a great buy atm also.

[anonymous-user]

i'd hold out for the 964 celebration - they look so good and as rare as hens teeth

[V8KSN]

Manners said:

In the lucky position to be on the hunt for a new car and Wife has given the green light on a Porsche or Aston Vantage.

I was in exactly the same position last month, have you driven either of them yet?

Your mind will be made up on the drive I think.

[MrCooke]

V8KSN said:

I was in exactly the same position last month, have you driven either of them yet?

Your mind will be made up on the drive I think.

I agree.

The Aston sounds spectacular but has no steering feel, no delicacy to the controls and the worst gearbox since the smart car.

I'd have one if all I wanted to do was park and polish.

[BertBert]

First question is whether how it drives is important to you? If so, you have to go and drive the shortlisted cars. It's daft to even comment otherwise.

If it's just looks, then go and decide by er looking at them and ignore the views here!

Do you have any other specific usage or criteria in mind?

bert

[neilcoker]

for me it would have to be the turbo it will do all you want it to and more good luck you lucky man

[MrFreight]

Hi

Looking at your list and intended usege I think you should go for the 997.

With the 997 as opposed to the others mentioned you shouldn't have many issues (Paint/Bodywork/Mechanical) to worry about.

You say use daily - 4K / Year - that's low for a year but that said for a daily driver regardless of mileage then 997 all the way.

Most of the other Porsches mentioned will need to be "kept on top of" much more and that might detract from your "Drive it and go" daily use

Have considerable Porsche experience having owned many many assorted models over the last 20 years so this is my take on the Porsche range only.

Aston ??? No idea never had one - Had clients who've had them as daily drivers from DB 7 onwards - NOT happy bunnies!!!

MF

[khushy]

my advice - drive as many as you can - buy the one YOU like - dont listen to anything we say!

khushy

[erics]

993 C2S has the best compromise of desirability, good drive (not 4wd as some cited), aircooled, future values.

Good luck finding a good one in the right colour combo.

[Catpuddle]

Not 993 C4s 'cos I want one and could do without the competition.

[andye30m3]

I went for the 996 GT3 because it's the one I've always wanted and I'd have kicked myself in 10 years time if I'd missed out.

Things which attracted me were the performance and handling, reliability of the major components and strong residuals, I also wanted a car that could live outside as I made the mistake of parking my old E30 M3 in the garage and never really getting round to using it, which did it no good at all.

Edited by andye30m3 on Tuesday 21st February 15:44

[Manners]

Hi all thanks for the advice.

andye30m3 noticed that you used to own a s2000. I will also be moving from one of these to one of the shortlist above.

How does the gt3 compare to the s2000? I appreciate they are massively different cars...

Driven a 964 c2 and a friends 993 c2S. Felt a bit under whelmed in the 964 and hence walked away from the sale. To be fair it was not the best example and needed lots spent on it to bring it up to scratch. I figure the 964 anniversary is likely to be similar but the rarity makes it more special to me.
This is also part of the problem as I cannot see any for sale.

[andye30m3]

Manners said:

andye30m3 noticed that you used to own a s2000. I will also be moving from one of these to one of the shortlist above.

How does the gt3 compare to the s2000? I appreciate they are massively different cars..

difficult to say as I've not driven an S2000 for quite a while, I never found the S2000 to be as much as a handful as people said it would be and if anything a little bland.

I went from the S2000 to a CSL which was a fantastic road car that you really could quite easily find yourself driving at silly speeds. And was easy to recover from stupid situations on track, like in my case trying to turn into levant at Goodwood at about 20-30mph faster than I should have. A very forgiving car.

I've only owned the GT3 for 2 weeks and so far I'd say it needs you to concentrate when driving (a bit like the S2000 in the wet I suppose) It might be the way mine set up but it feels very planted when on full throttle, braking, cornering but if your just pottering along it really seams to get dragged around on the uneven road surfaces where I live.

I think I need a little more time in the car in order to get used to the way it drives but so far absolutely loving it and a real sense of occasion every time I take it out can see it being quite rewarding once I've spent a bit more time behind the wheel.

Edited by andye30m3 on Tuesday 21st February 16:56

[911Thrasher]

Manners said:

Contenders are

964 anniversary/ celebration
993 C2S/ C4S
996 GT3 mk 2 / Turbo
997 C2S

Some considerations are that I will be driving the car daily and doing in the region of 4k a year

air cool for me out all of these because they sound the best and are so much smaller than the water cooled GT cars above (except RS which isn't really GT - but not to my liking, dislike 996s in general, but entirely personal)
- 964 anniversary/ celebration
- 993 C2S/ C4S

note: my bro bought a brand new V8V last summer, kept it for 10days it was so terrible (nothing more than a AMG he said), sold it back taking the hit in the chin!! and jumped back in a 997S (targa if you must ask)

note: saw a silver 964 celebration driven by a lady sunday afternoon in SouthKen - looked/sounded superb

note: both my 993 carrera and 993 turbo where dailies, never missed a beat

Edited by 911Thrasher on Tuesday 21st February 19:05

[cayman-black]

Buy the Aston, at least you might have the only one on your street.

[911Thrasher]

cayman-black said:

Buy the Aston, at least you might have the only one on your street.

depends where he lives here in Central London you see them at every corner, def not special (Vanquish and DBS however are much more special, total diff league though)

[Captain James T]

For £35,000 you can buy a DB9 and it'll look great all the time it's working

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

[BertBert]

Honda and GT3 are like chalk and cheese. S2000 needs to be wound up to have fun. GT3 exudes it through every pore (well it would if it had pores).

I'm using my 993 daily about 2k miles per month. I love it. Not as much fun that a GT3, more fun than a turbo, not as fast as a turbo, not as refined as a 997.

[g7jhp]

MrFreight said:

Hi

Looking at your list and intended usege I think you should go for the 997.

With the 997 as opposed to the others mentioned you shouldn't have many issues (Paint/Bodywork/Mechanical) to worry about.

You say use daily - 4K / Year - that's low for a year but that said for a daily driver regardless of mileage then 997 all the way.

Most of the other Porsches mentioned will need to be "kept on top of" much more and that might detract from your "Drive it and go" daily use

Have considerable Porsche experience having owned many many assorted models over the last 20 years so this is my take on the Porsche range only.

Aston ??? No idea never had one - Had clients who've had them as daily drivers from DB 7 onwards - NOT happy bunnies!!!

MF

The 997 C2s would be my last choice due to the well documented engine issues.

All your choices will easily cope with 4k miles per year.

The biggest decision for me would do you want any older aircooled 911 (964/993) or newer water cooled 997/996, they feel quite different.

Personally I'd go for the 964 or 996 turbo depending on new or old.