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I've always wanted to own a 911 and I keep looking at a particular (as local to me) 1999 911 Carrera 4 on AutoTrader, 3.4 nice spec just under 50K miles for just over £20K.  I know this is not the hottest of 911's but it could be a start!

If I was to buy this and keep it for say 3 years - and add 25K miles - what do you think the cost of ownership would be?

Loss in value, av mpg, typical insurance and general service ane maintenance??

Would be intersting to get some level headed feedback - to maybe put the brakes on my enthusiasm....Oh, also, anyone have an idea to what age kids could fit in the back of one of these??

I'm far from an expert on such things, but I have heard in the past that the 996 doesn't share the great reliability record of the 993 and 997, so I'd allow some room in my budget for repairs. If you value peace of mind or are worried you won't be able to pay for a major breakdown then you could always buy a warranty. Warranty direct, Warranty works and Warranty wise all offer cover of private purchase used cars, and will always be cheaper than the warranty a dealer will sell you. This may help to give you a concrete budget to work from to decide if you can afford the car.

 I take its a 996?, if so, i managed to get adults in the back of mine no problem. get a sports exhaust though! i doubt it will deppreciate much more. best of luck

This is a difficult one!

The 996 is a good car, in general car terms, it is just not considered by many to be a good Porsche.  It was always going to suffer a backlash from the Porschaphiles, being the first water cooled 911, in much the same way the 924/944 suffered back in the early 80's.  A lot consider the styling to be a bit bland as well.

It has got a couple of known faults, mainly the RMS (Rear Main Oil Seal), which can be expensive to fix and can fail again for no particular reason.  This has sent a lot of people up in arms, but take it as a considered risk and check for history of the problem when buying the car and you should be okay.  Other than that it is a good car, and to be honest a bit of a bargain at the current prices.  Certainly it is an excellent place to start your Porsche ownership experience.

Most "Porsche" people will say the 993 is the car to have, being the last of the air cooled 911's.  Prices subsequently are higher than those of the 996, although as a day to day car they are slightly more compromised.  Older cars such as the 964 are also great cars, but due to their age, you have to be a bit more on top of them regarding maintainence.  Having said that, they are generally bullet proof, and my 968 of the same vintage is just as reliable and cheap to run as my Honda on a daily basis. 

Buying any used car is a risk.  Just follow the key point of doing your homework before you buy and you arn't going to go far wrong.  If I were you, I'd do it.

Best of luck.

Generally very reliable, good blend of performance, economy and practicality.

Fuel consumpton is very good for a performance car- on a steady motorway drive I've seen 35mpg, around town 20-25mpg and if I really let it go 16mpg.

The interior quality is a bit disappointing for a car of this calibre, but functional. I've never had any problems with any of the electrics. 

Mechanically make sure the oil seal work has been done as 996's of this age are know that have this problem ( I think they call it RIMS). If you have to do this work, it costs a fair amount.

Insurance- tends to be expensive compared to some other cars and they might ask for a tracking device to be fitted.

Service- meant to be every 12k but my OPC has told me once a year, generally reasonable- but don't expect it to be as cheap as BMW/Merc.

But be warned if something goes wrong at the end of the day and parts needs replacing these were 65k+ cars and it will cost. I had to have a part replaced this year and the bill came in at 3k- it's certainly not as risky as say a used Ferrari but it's certainly not a 3 series!

 If you can afford it and love the car then go for it.

I've not owned one but I drove a 911SC for a few days and my 13 years old cousin said he was fine in the back seat.

The only thing is that they can be hate magnets and no-one will ever let you out at a junction again - well that was my experience anyway:-(
 

No-one mentioned tyres.

Unless you are going to take it very easy - these are easily going to be the biggest percentage of your consumables IMO.

If my experience is typical then you should definitely go for it.

After dreaming of owning a 911 since I was a little lad I finally bought one in January this year - a 2000 C2 manual, 55,000 miles, FPSH etc. So far, it's been everything I expected and more. It's used as a daily driver... covering short journeys to the office or longer trips to see customers and every time I get behind the wheel it puts a smile on my face.

Only problem I've had so far is a failed MAF sensor, which caused it to run rough at low revs, but the place I bought it from replaced it under warrantee and other than that it's been faultless. It returns high 20's on a run (but I've seen 30+ on the odd occassion I keep it to 75 or so) and low 20's knocking around.

Just put 4 new Tyres on it, and they're not too bad... 265/35/18's on the back and 225/40/18's on the front, correct N rating, £640 fitted.

But at the end of the day you don't buy a 911 for the MPG or because the tyres are reasonable, you buy it for the driving experience. It just feels so different to anything else I've ever driven, partly because of the engine at the back, but mostly becasue the major controls are just wonderful, particularly the steering. OH, and even with a standard exhaust, it sounds fantastic between 4 and 7K.

 Buy the right car at the right price and you'll love it.

Stotty:

If my experience is typical then you should definitely go for it.

After dreaming of owning a 911 since I was a little lad I finally bought one in January this year - a 2000 C2 manual, 55,000 miles, FPSH etc. So far, it's been everything I expected and more. It's used as a daily driver... covering short journeys to the office or longer trips to see customers and every time I get behind the wheel it puts a smile on my face.

Only problem I've had so far is a failed MAF sensor, which caused it to run rough at low revs, but the place I bought it from replaced it under warrantee and other than that it's been faultless. It returns high 20's on a run (but I've seen 30+ on the odd occassion I keep it to 75 or so) and low 20's knocking around.

Just put 4 new Tyres on it, and they're not too bad... 265/35/18's on the back and 225/40/18's on the front, correct N rating, £640 fitted.

But at the end of the day you don't buy a 911 for the MPG or because the tyres are reasonable, you buy it for the driving experience. It just feels so different to anything else I've ever driven, partly because of the engine at the back, but mostly becasue the major controls are just wonderful, particularly the steering. OH, and even with a standard exhaust, it sounds fantastic between 4 and 7K.

 Buy the right car at the right price and you'll love it.

But he's buying to a budget and is clearly thinking about how much it's going to cost to run it. Did you read the original post? It's being bought on a tight budget - I thought it was obvious reading the post.

It's all very well having one and admiring it while it's on the driveway but if you can't afford to run it then what's the point?

£20,000 for such a car COULD buy him a lot of problems.

Insurance, tyres and servicing will cripple him if he's not careful and if you have to be careful, I really can't see the point.

Nom's right, despite the fact the 911 is an every day super car, it will still be expensive to run if things start to go wrong.

It must be remembered that this is a nine year old car, so it is sensible to budget at around £2k per year on running costs.  It might not cost that but by the same count it could.

Its always a nice idea, but unless you are particularly handy with a spanner, its not advisable to buy a super car on a budget.

I don't see SGS1 saying he's is buying to a budget any more than anyone who's buying a new (2nd hand) car is. I can see plenty of comments on mpg/servicing/general running costs in the thread... though perhaps no insurance quote (mine is c.£800 including business cover, you could probably get it cheaper without business and if you were prepared to take low fixed mileage). 

As I said, you need to buy the right car - probably best to buy from a good independant - they tend to be no more expensive than top priced private cars plus you'll get a warantee, and get it checked by a OPC before handling over your hard earned.

All I was trying to pass on was a bit of the thrill of fulfilling one of your lifes ambitions... it's easy to put a value on the practical things, but the emotional side has a value too.

Stotty, you are missing the point IMO.

20G's buys you a nice, fast BMW/Audi et al - 20G's does not buy you a nice, fast Porsche 911 of the vintage described.

20G's sunk into a 911 of that vintage takes a brave man.