Big headache sell or keep

[timmyturtle]

I would knock my mortgage down personally.
The problem with really fast modern cars is the license losing ability,so easy to go fast.
That was entirely the reason my friend sold his GT3. After racing a motorbike upto 185mph,he got home and just said " what was i thinking?" The car was gone within a month for an 89 911.

 

[zcacogp]

ORIGINAL: PAUL RUDDY

996T, doesn't do anything for me, looked at those that you sent me, can't see what the fuss is about, interior is awful and if it drove passed I wouldn't look twice, Jak says you'd just look like another flash Harry instead of a classic car enthusiast.

Do the sensible thing, chip the mortgage.

Hope this helps []

Wise words Mr Ruddy. If you have a mortgage then settling it has to be the most sensible long-term option. Whether you buy a 996TT is your choice, but it wouldn't be my choice of poison by some margin.

ORIGINAL: Masher

The classic type of decision us petrol heads face frequently.
For me, if the car you have is fun, feels special, puts a smile on your face and gives you a sense of satisfaction then it is probably a keeper. If your current car always leaves you with niggling doubts or issues and you are constantly wanting to change things to make it 'just right' you might have a dream to chase elsewhere.

More wise words. How you choose your car is a very personal thing, and while a 996TT isn't my choice it may be other peoples'. However I am firmly of the mindset that if you are always after a faster car, you will never be satisfied. A good friend of mine summed it up by saying that "A car that is 'Fast enough' will never be fast enough". Pursuing fun has to be a better mission; a fun car will always be satisfying in a way that a fast car can't be. Is a 996TT more fun than a 944Turbo? Well, that's a decision only you can make ...


Oli (-the-old-git).

 

[DavidL]

Jim,
A few quick things from my experience. I might email with more if I get chance.
I bought my 996t last May and I still have the 944t.
I feel how much you enjoy the 996 will depend on your types of journey and the roads and traffic you encounter.
I bought mine to simply replace the 944 as I was in the fortunate place that I could. Nothing wrong with the 944 but you take the opportunities when they come.
But for trips to work its wasted. I feel somewhat impotent in a 500 bhp car tootling along in the morning traffic. It gets a brief blast to about 20% of its ability on a piece of dual carriageway and that's it. Oddly I don't feel I have the same issue with the 944.
On the open road with little traffic its sublime. It redefines fast and means a good journey is epic. Those overtaking lanes up hills are just awesome. Far far more so than the 944 and that is plenty quick really. But certainly down here in the soft south the traffic is usually too much even at the weekends and I have no plan to get up early to drive a car ever!
Its not terribly practical either. Yes its a 2+2 like the 944 but not being able to get into the back from the back is a real pain.
Next time you use your 944 boot with more than a small bag try putting it all in from the front doors and you'll see what I mean.
Oh and its a whole heap more expensive to run - they are 10 years old and there is a lot that can need routine work even with one that had a decent inspection. That's a completely different story and I'm not sure I'd inspect again.
Its lovely to "own" great to look at but mostly unusable to anything like its potential. A 996 na with a Hartech engine would be better. If the 944 goes I'm considering a 996 tip for work and a 928 for family trips. Both could be bought for less than the 996t.

If you can use it for 2 of you for good drives on good roads you'll love it. If you use it for a daily driver in traffic or on busy roads its just frustrating.

I suspect mine will get an MOT and then appear in the classifieds. Shame but there you go.

 

[Frenchy]

Get what you are saying about chipping a lump off the mortgage but that will be happening should i buy a 996t, as at least one and probably both 944t's will be sold along with spare wheels and various other 944 stuff, the money will be going down to the Cumberland BS to take off my mortgage.
The 996t would only be a sunny day weekend warrior so it would not be commuting, in Cumbria the traffic is nowhere near as dense as the crowded south and we can stretch their legs, the M6 North on after Jct 36 on a Sunday evening is deserted.
The 944 Turbo could easily lose your license if you did not exercise restraint []
Not really looking to get a speed fix as the 944 Turbo S with 300 odd BHP can scare you, just fancy getting into a 911 the turbo does not have the engine issues associated with the other 996 models hence the choice, i would also be looking at the C4S if this was not the case, as a said a Hartech engined car NA would be considered.
David if you are thinking of selling PM details, looking at a manual car, colour not too important, sports seats would be nice, oh and a price []

 

[JagdHamster]

Frenchy,
Seriously, the GT2 would be better than the Turbo, if you can stretch to one (or find a good one).
Russ

 

[JagdHamster]

Just to confuse you even more (and to defy the haters):

Harris' favourite Turbo

Russ

 

[PAUL RUDDY]

Well, me and Frenchy went testing 996's yesterday ...and bacon sandwiches, I preferred the sandwich but it appears Frenchy wants two 996's

All the best, Paul

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Really interesting to read through this. I'd have thought the "standard" 220 turbo would be the first to go, and the more hard-core one would be the "keeper". Perhaps there's a lesson there on what cars are more fun, and most useable, in the real world?

Of course, that raises the question of whether a 996T is the best move? Whilst I understand the fears over the engines in the standard 996, the turbo seems to sit in a middle-ground I'm not sure about personally. Reading 912UK's search for a good one only adds to my thoughts that they are pretty rare, have the potential to throw some large bills even without the RMS/IMS issues, and lots have been less than well looked after.

To me, 996s fall in to two camps. The first, the really cheap cars. There are one-owner, low-mileage, pampered cars out there for very little more than the one-step-from-a-scrapyard 996s, and if you stuck £5K in an account to cover any massive failures you'd be unlucky to lose a lot of money. Then, there are the only models that might actually gain some value: the GT3s etc. For me, they are too compromised to be a weekend "fun" car, but that "too fast for the UK roads" fear of mine applies to the 996T as well. Less really can be more fun.

Nice position to be in, though. []

 

[Frenchy]

Yes Mr Ruddy, i do not want 2, but was impressed with the C4S, Turbo still rattling around in my though.

 

[Eldavo]

RPM at Harrogate are a great bunch of guys too.

Frenchy - buy the Turbo. My mate has a 996 C4S that he's had for 10 years and it's on 56k miles. He got it back from Hartech last week along with a bill for £11,800 due to bore scoring and while-you're-in-there jobs.

 

[Hairyarse]

Oh my, not sure I could bring myself to spend £11,800 to 'just' fix a car! I guess you pays your money and takes your choices! []

 

[MarkK]

For the difference in price the Turbo is real value,Mezger =proper engine!!!!
4S is lovely but every time you spanked it would you be waiting for a crunching noise and a plume of smoke in your rear view!!!??
Hartech could sort it though if it did happen[]

 

[924nutter]

My 2.2 penn'orth. Much like overtaking in the 996 where if you think you can you should becuse you will with room to spare, if you are thinking about a 996 turbo just do it. Your dreams, your aspirations. I am never unhappy when I drive the 996. After the 996 which manages your expectations with respect to traffic moving to the nearside line, the 944 just doesn't have that cred any more. You see a Fiat 500 abarth all pavarote and darcy bussel (all singing and dancing) would not even have bothered to self-flagellate himself against the 996 but because I was in the 944 he felt he had to, becuase it is only when you sail past that the "very much looks as if it has been stuck on afterwards" turbo logo can be read. It is all just so much of an irritation to think that drivers now decide to pull back in based on what Porsche you are driving not from any aspirations to be a courteous driver.

 

[George Elliott]

He got it back from Hartech last week along with a bill for £11,800 due to bore scoring and while-you're-in-there jobs.

[&:] That should extinguish any ideas of a briggs and stratton 996, stick to the Mezz

George
944t

 

[Frenchy]

Anyone fitted a Mezz lump to a 944 ? [][][][]

 

[Neil Haughey]

I like what a previous poster said about the 928. If I hadn't of spanked money on a race car and the racing fantasy I definitely would have bought a 928 s4 gt (manual) by now, had them at the back of my mind for many many years. There is nothing as epic as a great sound track and some 928s sound absolutely incredible.