First 997 Turbo Purchase...

[Chad_Hugo]

First Porsche of any kind for me in fact

I sold my PPP+ C63 this year, and after owning several AMG's over the years (clk 55, cls 55/63) am now looking for a nice gen 1 997 Turbo. I am far from an expert on these cars despite admiring them and wanting one for some time, so any help/advice from current or past owners would be much appreciated.

I am looking to buy a 07-08 car, tiptronic, silver/possibly black, black leather, sub 50k miles. The car will be mainly weakened use as I have a 5 series for work, will only do about 3k miles per year but that's largely down to working overseas a lot of the time so opportunities to drive will be more limited. The plan is to keep it long term, so at the price point I will buy at depreciation is not a concern.

Options wise I know the sports chrono is considered a must have, I would also prefer a car with heated seats and parking sensors. PCCB not essential, very few gen 1 cars have them due to cost to spec new I assume. I would be happy with the steel brakes. Any other options which are good to have?

I am planning to see some cars over the next two months and hopefully buy before the summer is over- is a PPI essential and if so any recommendations? I am aware of 9 excellent from these forums but am not sure if they travel for inspections?

I am not aware of any underlying issues with 997 turbos generally apart from the radiators, service interval is 2 years/20k miles so they should be quite robust cars but nevertheless any tips on what to look out for/check for myself?

My other question is regarding warranty. Is it possible to get a Porsche warranty on a 6-7 year old car? I've read warranty cost is about 2k- worth it? I wouldn't bother with after market warranty.

Finally, any thoughts on gen 1 vs. gen 2/S pdk gearbox? The performance doesn't seem to be worlds apart, of course the gearbox is better/smoother and probably power delivery is better at low revs. How different is the driving feel/acceleration? I am at the moment thinking of a gen 1 car but would be interested to hear how much better the pdk/Turbo S cars are and if they are worth the premium of about 20-35k as I could potentially go for the later car?

Thanks in advance for any help...

[IMI A]

997 turbo at circa £40k-£50k is a no brainer in terms of performance/£. They're not as reliable as their reputation though. Electrics seem to be a common issue as do clutch accumulators and slave cylinder (design fault but not an issue for you as you're buying a tip), popping coolant hoses also an issue and expensive to fix as its an engine out job (another design fault as the hoses are only glued in). Tiptronics need to be checked for gearbox oil leaks too which seems to be an issue on them from time to time. Personally I'd only buy from an OPC as you get a two year warranty but a reputable indie (RSJ, Paragon, 911 Virgin, Portiacraft) also worth considering if they have nice car which matches spec you want. Not so much of an issue on tipronics but check for rev range data. If the cars had any rev ranges in 4, 5 or 6 general rule of thumb is to walk away. On spec turbos come with most things as standard. I wouldn't buy a higher mileage car with PCCB as £10k to replace but you can replace PCCB with a steel set up so not an issue. If I was buying an auto and money no object I'd definitely stretch to a gen 2 PDK car if at all possible as its far better than a tip when wanting to press on or on track although nothing in it whilst you're in normal day to day traffic in fact if anything in traffic the tip is a bit more refined than a PDK. You'll miss the C63 in my view as the turbo is a far too quiet, too refined and grown up for a weekend car. Worth considering a gen 2 C2s or C4s or run out GTS models too - all the design faults of the earlier n/a cars ironed out and they're a blast to drive.

Edited to say you can have OPC warranty until the cars 10th birthday or less than 100k miles.

[Fezzaman]

As has been said PDK is completely different animal to the tip. I'd imagine the early PDK cars would have the buttons on the wheel rather than the paddles behind it - think this can be retrofitted though. Go drive some and enjoy the search! If you settle on the pre-facelift tip, IIRC the very last ones had the Gen2 interior with PCM 3 as well which may help futureproof it in terms of ICE compared to the earlier nav units.

Also IMI A - after what I said about the GL63 being rare, I saw a white one in the flesh at the gumball yesterday, on a '14 plate!

[av185]

Quite a few gen 2 pdk turbos had the gearchange on the steering wheel as opposed to the flappy paddles under the wheel because they had the optional multifunction steering wheel......imo looks worse, the gearchange 'buttons' are awkward and most people prefer the standard sports wheel with flappy paddles......can be changed but not cheap...

[s2000db]

If you can stretch to it then an S everyday !
No brainer imo..

[IMI A]

Fezzaman said:

Also IMI A - after what I said about the GL63 being rare, I saw a white one in the flesh at the gumball yesterday, on a '14 plate!

I think they'll sell more of them than we both initially thought here in the UK. May be 50 cars a year? there was a supply problem with engines in 2013 which has now been resolved.Apparently some dimwit at MB requested 500 engines for production rather than the 5000 they needed for year 1!

[Chad_Hugo]

Thanks for the input, much appreciated.

1-2 of the cars I am interested in are Porsche approved used, so come with 2 year warranty, at the gen 1 price point though 2 cars are not OPC and are being sold by independents.

One is a Porsche specialist with around 20 Porsches, all their cars appear to be Porsche, the other which is the car I prefer is at a garage that has various sports cars and also quite a few lower value cars- it's the only Porsche they have in stock and probably the only one they have sold for quite some time.

Would Porsche carry out an inspection on a car I was interested in if it was taken to them (and any idea roughly how much £), and if so is it then possible to buy a Porsche warranty should I buy the car?

If not Porsche then anyone else recommended for inspections? I have never had a car inspected before, AMG's which I have had in the past I just checked the service history was in order, drove the car, paid and drove away never had any problems other than small electric faults which were easily fixed by local indie merc specilist (e.g. electric seats malfunction/command system fault/parking sensors etc).

I haven't looked at service history yet, but both non OPC cars are low miles 1/2 owner cars (around 40k or less miles) and look like nice clean cars so I don't expect any nasty surprises.

Re: the Turbo S vs. Gen 1- I could stretch to a 2010 S, I'm really interested in hearing from anyone who has owned or even just driven a gen 1 and then a gen 2 or S? Just how much better is the newer car? Noticeably faster up to 60 mph?, is the pdk dual clutch really that superior to the older tip box? I have read that the engine is better than the older one as far as turbo lag too.

I'm just trying to figure out (I will drive both as soon as possible) if it's worth the very big premium and also bigger depreciation. It is 30k-35k price difference after all.

A mint 996 Turbo S seems to be close to 40k though, so considering what 997 Turbo gen 1/2 list as perhaps the S does not have that much to depreciate. It's already lost close to 50% of it's value and is 4 year old car? Or is that just the man maths

[andyglos]

I drove the Gen 1 and Gen 2 back to back last year when I was in the market for one. I couldn't really justify the huge difference in purchase price so in the end went for the Gen 1. Oh and there was the issue that I really wanted the Mezger engined car. Gen 1 with PCM3 would have been a good solution but I couldn't find one at the time. But as the car is just a weekend drive and I usually just listen to the radio, PCM2.1 is fine for me.

[Adam B]

Chad_Hugo said:

A mint 996 Turbo S seems to be close to 40k though, so considering what 997 Turbo gen 1/2 list as perhaps the S does not have that much to depreciate. It's already lost close to 50% of it's value and is 4 year old car? Or is that just the man maths

I was looking for a good 996tt but found it hard to find my ideal spec and low miles. I realised that for 10k more I could get a 997tt which had the far nicer interior (and so didn't need the Ali pack and other bits that were a must for me on the 996tt, and being that bit younger the mileage is lower. No debating a 450PS X50 car when standard 997 came with 480PS. Plus I prefer the front end of the 997.

Would love a PDK S but funds did not allow, well they did but I could not justify it and part of the aim was to buy a car that had done most of its depreciation. Would not consider a tip as I am not a fan so personally I would stretch to a PDK if you don't want a manual.

In the end it suited me well, I got a nice 997tt with manual sports shift and the Mezger engine which I think will hold value better when enthusiasts look for a turbo. I have also been pleasantly surprised with PCM 2.1 and BT from. Mobridge works well.

Spec wise I wish I had rear park sensors and leather rear console, but can recommend the adaptive sports seats, sports chrono is a must on turbo, and I like my heated seats on a cold morning