I'm a Porsche guy though and though. I became a car guy when I was 20. Not sure why, but
I did. My first love has always been the 911. My favorite 911 is the 993.
Back in 2005 I could have bought a 993, but instead I bought a C6 corvette. Why? Well for
two reasons, maintenance on a 993 is REALLY hard and I could get a brand new corvette for
just a little more money then a used 993.
When I look into buying any car, I check to see how easy it is to maintain. I prefer to
maintain my own cars because I know the job gets done right and I don't have to pay the
dealer big $$$ for an oil change. As I was investigating the 993, I learned that you need
to remove a wheel to do an oil change (!). what? That's weird. I estimate that it would
take me about 12 hours to change the spark plugs on the 993. You have to pretty much
disassemble the whole rear of the car to get to all of the plugs. And even after all of
that it is still very hard to get to two of them. And it goes on and on. Anyway, I
decided not to get one.
Then I got addicted to Craig's List. I would seach the car listings 50 times a day. The
first 911 I spotted that I could afford was in Tulsa Oklahoma. $15,000, 1999 seal gray
cabriolet. After e-mailing the seller, I found out that the a/c was not working. I was
temped but decided not to drive the five hours to go and see it. After that I NEVER
thought I'd see another 911 for that price.
Then there it was. In Fort Worth Texas, just down the street from me. A 1999 black
cabriolet for $11,500. Yeah, $11,500 for a 911. That's Boxster money. I thought, well it
must be trash. The car had a 6-speed manual transmission and 130,000 miles on it.
Now I had been driven in a 911 (a 964), but I had never DRIVEN a 911. It was on my bucket
list, so I decided to test drive it. WOW! What a revalation! I've been dissappointed by
driving many cars. I would work a car up into my head as being awesome, drive it, and
then realize that it was not as good as some say. The Ferrari F430 comes to mind as does
the Mercedes W124 wagon. Not the 911. What a car. Even though it only had 300hp (100 less
then the Corvette I owned), it was fantastic.
So i decided to move forward with this 911. I took it over to Mayo's Performance in Hurst
(a well known Porsche shop) to have a PPI done. When I got there all of the mechanics
came out to see the $11.5k 996. They looked it over, hooked it up to the computer, poked,
prodded, and test drove it. Then they told me to buy it, so I did.
and I'm glad that I did.
What a car! Everything the automotive writers say about it is true. It is the best sports
car. Period. (and I'm not biased either)
I bought the car at a "Buy here, pay here" lot, and one of the first things the
salesperson said to me was, "we just spent $800 on it getting a new key and ignition
cylinder". So after I paid for the car, I asked if he had any of the maintenace receipts
for it. He gave me what he had. When I got home and looked at the receipts, they weren't
for a new key, they were for a new a/c system! Installed about a year ago (April 2012),
and inclduing a new a/c compressor and evaporator! Crazy! Later I confirmed with the
dealer that a new ignition cylinder and key was installed in the car.
I had to sell my BMW Z3 and Mercedes s320 to pay for it but it was worth it.
When I bought it, it had 18" Turbo Twist chrome wheels on it, I have since sold them and
bought 18" Sport Classic II two piece BBS wheels. I really don't like chrome wheels and
the Sport Classic II wheels are my favorite 996 wheels. I got them off of ebay for $500.
I also picked up a set of the stock 17" wheels with tires off of ebay for $150. I got a
hardtop for $725. I also installed the three spoke 996 sport steering wheel. Cost about
$500 for the steering wheel and airbag. Well worth it.
The car has some nice options as well, including a full leather interior, power seats,
manual transmission, CD Player, Hi-Fi sound, the Porsche crest in the headrests, and
colored Porsche wheel crests.
After I got the car I had Mayo's change the coolant, the power steering fluid, the fuel
filter, and re-seal the oil pan. I changed the transmission fluid, brake fluid, engine
air filter, cabin air filter, spark plugs, and ignition coils.
The maintenance on the 996 is much easier then the 993. Oil changes are pretty normal.
Jack the car up, undo the oil drain bolt and oil filter, and then let the oil drain out,
fill it back up. The spark plugs are much eaiser as well. I had to remove the muffler,
but it was very easy. Took about 4 hours and I think I'd be able to do it in 2 hours next
time. It seems as though this car was designed with maintenance in mind.
I just love this car. I drive it about twice a week and enjoy every moment of it. It is a
real sports car. Similiar to the Z3, but a little bigger and almost double the
horsepower. This is an all-analog car as well. The only computer controlled parts of the
car are the engine computer and ABS. It has a throttle CABLE, not an electronic throttle,
and no traction or stability control. You screw up, you pay the price.
The car is not perfect, the rear spoiler does not work, the rear cabriolet window is a
little foggy, and there are some scratches in the leather on the rear of the seats.
Original MSRP on this car was about $82,000. I paid $11,500 which works out to be a 86%
reduction in price in 14 years. So it held 14% of it's value after 14 years.
I'd like to compare this depriciation hit with that of a Porsche 993. If the original
owner purchased a 1998 993 instead of a 1999 996, the car would be worth about 50% of
it's original value instead of 14%. Crazy!
I've owned a C6 corvette and this 911 and I say that the 911 is the best. The base price
on the new C7 corvette is $50,000, the base price on this 911 was $75,000. Is this car
worth $25,000 more then a corvette? No way. The corvette I owned was an execellent car. I
paid $43,000 for mine. Was this 911 worth $11,500? Yes! Like I said it's the best sports
car I've driven. But it's not worth $25,000 more then a corvette. Comparing apples to
apples, the new 911 is $85,000, or $35,000 more then a corvette. Is it worth it? I doubt
it, but I have not driven a new 911 or a new corvette.
I've become obsessed with what options the car came with, as well as adding more leather covered items to the car. Below is a list of the options the car has. I've added several leather covered items to the car including a leather covered rear center console (in grey, that accents the black interior nicely), a leather covered ignition switch surround, and a leather covered hazard warning light switch surround. I have a leather covered central air vent but it is for a 2002 car and I'm not sure if I'll be able to retrofit it. I've also listed what exactly is covered in leather with the full leather package. I'd really like to get a leather covered fuse box cover. I was also able to pick up a set of fitted leather luggage for the car. It's made out of the same leather as used in the car's interior (997 actually), and in the same color (black). $100 each off of ebay.
1999 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabrioletbase price: $74,460destination: $765Option Cost Code options:black full leather interior BL $3,215rear center console in leather XMZ $1,260(deviating color - graphite grey)3 spoke sport steering wheel 436 $255power seats w/driver memory P15 $1,520porsche crest in headrest XSC $208floor mats M6A $110CD player696 $345 incl. CD storage 424hi-fi sound 490 $600windstop551 $245 colored wheel crests 446 $17018" sport classic II wheels XRB $2,656(18" turbo look wheel 413 $1,190)6-speed manual transmission 480 n/chardtop550 n/c black exterior color A1 n/cblack soft top
Full Leather Interiortotal options: $10,584total: $85,809($82,828 as delivered, turbo lookwheels, 4 spoke steering wheel,standard rear center console)86% reduction in price in 14 years17/25 mpg
1.0 windscreen frame trim2.0 switch panel (upper and lower dashboard)2.1 instrument panel cover and passenger airbag cover2.7a steering wheel rim3.0 door trim3.1 door panel3.2 door handle3.3 door storage box cover3.4 side airbag cover4.1 lid of center console storage bin4.2 front center console side trim4.3 rear center console side trim4.4a gear lever4.4b handbrake lever5.0 rear side trim panels7.0 front seat centers7.1 front seat lateral supports and head restraints7.3 rear seat centers7.4 rear seat lateral supportsRear Center Console in Leather4.0a rear section of center console4.0b window switch trim and ashtray4.0c handbrake finisher
Additional Leather2.4b hazard warning surround2.6 ignition lock surround
No comments:
Post a Comment