A 911 Newbie
OK , now I've gone and done it.
After numerous performance VWs and Subarus and a few wilderness years in a Mercedes, BMW and even a Smart car I have leapt into the unknown or, in other words, I have bought myself a Porsche 911 "" an early 997 Carrera S to be precise.
In late 2008 I came to the conclusion at 42 that I wanted to try to get back to loving my current car as much as my first, a Dolomite Sprint, and the only way to achieve that was to "go large" in McSpeak. If this sounds like a mid-life crisis you are quite wrong it's just the desire to be like an 18 year old again"¦
My eight year old son James and I went to my local VW dealer to try the new Scirocco which I thought might do the job and represent a more sensible purchase than would a supercar. Unfortunately I found the DSG equipped car disappointingly bland and when I mentioned this to the salesman he gave me a withering look as much to say; well if you will turn up in a AM DB9 (my brother's) you're likely to be disappointed with a car that new costs a third of what the one you are driving cost at 3 years old, which was fair enough I suppose.
We went directly from there to Porsche Hatfield, looked at several 997s, all of which were prepared to perfection, and was offered a test drive there and then (which surprised me as I had to book a week ahead at VW which I guess was some kind of qualification procedure) by the very helpful Russ and from then on nothing but a 911 would do.
I had thought that a 996 C4S was going to be the car for me given budgetary limitations but as there wasn't one available at Hatfield the first car I drove was a 997 Carrera S with the Tiptronic gearbox which was appealing, of course, and suited the expected mix of driving including use by my wife. A week later Russ arranged for me to drive a manual car and it reminded me how much more in control you feel when you have to use a clutch.
I established a wish list with Russ who promised to keep a lookout for me. As several weeks passed and the financial world descended into disaster, I found myself looking at and test driving a 30,000 mile 996 C4S in cobalt blue at just under £30k which I kept it in mind until I saw what was to become my 997 advertised with 40,000 miles, service history and new tyres all round at an unnervingly sensible sounding £34,995 on the Autotrader website. It had the Sport Chrono pack and hard backed sport seats which were the options that I wanted and though it wasn't cosmetically perfect the substantial saving over an OPC sourced car left me with plenty of change to deal with those issues.
At this price I expected some issues and I wasn't dissappointed in that respect. The oil pressure gauge had moments of madness but this was cured at JZ Machtech by fitment of a new oil pressure sender the cost of which was largely covered by the warranty.
I had noticed from the outset that the starter didn't seem to crank the engine very quickly as though the battery was on its last legs. The battery was replaced but not much changed as regards starting. From cold it seems fine, but if you should stall it or switch off and restart soon after the starter scares you by cranking very slowly at first only to speed up after a few moments - thus far it has never failed to restart - but it seems like its only a matter of time before I find myself stranded and its reluctance to turnover causes several moments of panic every time even though I am expecting it.
I am tempted just to buy a new starter motor but thought it worth checking in to see if anyone else had this issue or even whether its normal.
A couple of other things you might help me with by commenting on are:-
Many thanks
JFK
OK , now I've gone and done it.
After numerous performance VWs and Subarus and a few wilderness years in a Mercedes, BMW and even a Smart car I have leapt into the unknown or, in other words, I have bought myself a Porsche 911 "" an early 997 Carrera S to be precise.
In late 2008 I came to the conclusion at 42 that I wanted to try to get back to loving my current car as much as my first, a Dolomite Sprint, and the only way to achieve that was to "go large" in McSpeak. If this sounds like a mid-life crisis you are quite wrong it's just the desire to be like an 18 year old again"¦
My eight year old son James and I went to my local VW dealer to try the new Scirocco which I thought might do the job and represent a more sensible purchase than would a supercar. Unfortunately I found the DSG equipped car disappointingly bland and when I mentioned this to the salesman he gave me a withering look as much to say; well if you will turn up in a AM DB9 (my brother's) you're likely to be disappointed with a car that new costs a third of what the one you are driving cost at 3 years old, which was fair enough I suppose.
We went directly from there to Porsche Hatfield, looked at several 997s, all of which were prepared to perfection, and was offered a test drive there and then (which surprised me as I had to book a week ahead at VW which I guess was some kind of qualification procedure) by the very helpful Russ and from then on nothing but a 911 would do.
I had thought that a 996 C4S was going to be the car for me given budgetary limitations but as there wasn't one available at Hatfield the first car I drove was a 997 Carrera S with the Tiptronic gearbox which was appealing, of course, and suited the expected mix of driving including use by my wife. A week later Russ arranged for me to drive a manual car and it reminded me how much more in control you feel when you have to use a clutch.
I established a wish list with Russ who promised to keep a lookout for me. As several weeks passed and the financial world descended into disaster, I found myself looking at and test driving a 30,000 mile 996 C4S in cobalt blue at just under £30k which I kept it in mind until I saw what was to become my 997 advertised with 40,000 miles, service history and new tyres all round at an unnervingly sensible sounding £34,995 on the Autotrader website. It had the Sport Chrono pack and hard backed sport seats which were the options that I wanted and though it wasn't cosmetically perfect the substantial saving over an OPC sourced car left me with plenty of change to deal with those issues.
At this price I expected some issues and I wasn't dissappointed in that respect. The oil pressure gauge had moments of madness but this was cured at JZ Machtech by fitment of a new oil pressure sender the cost of which was largely covered by the warranty.
I had noticed from the outset that the starter didn't seem to crank the engine very quickly as though the battery was on its last legs. The battery was replaced but not much changed as regards starting. From cold it seems fine, but if you should stall it or switch off and restart soon after the starter scares you by cranking very slowly at first only to speed up after a few moments - thus far it has never failed to restart - but it seems like its only a matter of time before I find myself stranded and its reluctance to turnover causes several moments of panic every time even though I am expecting it.
I am tempted just to buy a new starter motor but thought it worth checking in to see if anyone else had this issue or even whether its normal.
A couple of other things you might help me with by commenting on are:-
Intermittent squeak (I can make the sound better than I can describe it) from what sounds like the n/s/f suspension.![[FONT=verdana,geneva"]](/forum/styles/default/pcgb/space.gif ". [FONT=verdana,geneva\"]")
Heavy, squeaky clutch which doesn't slip or judder.
Oil consumption of 0.5 litre approx every 1000 miles.
Many thanks
JFK
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