Buying a 993

[clarkey]

A friend of mine has sold his Ferrari 308 and is looking for a 993. He has a budget of £30k, and wants a C2 coupe with manual gearbox in silver, blue or black, excellent condition, low miles, etc, preferably within a couple of hours of Winchester.

I assume that this budget is sensible. Do you have any recommended dealers? And is anyone here thinking of selling?

Cheers.

 

[James Shunt]

A 'Rari is fantastic but the 993 is a much more practical car, IMHO. For £30K your friend could get a late 993 C2 in great condition and RHD. A 94-97 model will cost between £26 and £35 depending on many things - mileage, options (full leather, colour, 18in wheels, history...) - so it's really worth doing your homework online to see what's out there, even if the dealership in question is too far away to buy from.

I suggest a search on this forum to find plenty of advice on costs and any dealers you hear about.

As a start, try

http://www.911virgin.com
http://www.autobahn.co.uk

as these are regularly updated and well-known dealer sites.

James

PS Your friend will love the 993 - it's a supercar without the hassle. There's an awful lot of love in the responses people on this forum have about theirs!

 

[bricky]

have a lok in RSJ sports car slough got a nice turbo in 993 rhd

 

[Chris Parry]

Kevin - My two-penneth:

1). Can't advise on dealers - Not my part of the world!
2). It'll be heavier than the scooby, but my wife has no problems with mine.
3). Definitely consider a tip if the wife will be using it a lot around town - the ease of driving will offset the heavier controls.
4). Early or late? - Not important - 'Buy on condition' is the oft-repeated mantra.
5). Watch out for:

a). Recall work should have been done (there was a recent recall due to issues with cab roofs if I remember correctly).

b). Door check strap condition (if the doors click when you open them be prepared for a 600 pound bill from a Porsche bodyshop to do the repairs, although a precendent has been set whereby Porsche will pay 50% as a goodwill gesture given that it is in effect a manufacturing defect - albeit they will insist upon the stamps in the service book relating to the corrosion warranty).

c). Tired suspension.

Golden rule is to get a PPI done by a specialist.

6). Are you mad? - Far from it! - eminently sensible I would say. Stay away from 996's! []

I Hope you find what you're looking for, and I hope others with greater knowledge than me chime in with advice for you.

Chris

 

[Guest]

Go for it! You are not mad. 993s are truly fabulous cars. I love to drive ours (much to hubby's chagrin coz he has to fight me for the keys these days) so to answer one of your questions: no, it won't be too heavy for your wife. Power steering has its advantages ...

I personally prefer tip - it's a tremendous relief when you sit in stop'n go rush hour traffic so if your lady is not a hardcore track day maniac tiptronic is surely an option. And for people like me, who come from a country where they drive on the wrong side of the road, it's kinda weird to use your left hand for shifting the gears anyway. Old habits die hard and all that. I obviously had a field day when the new 997 Turbo proved to be faster with the tip version []

Sorry I can't help you with the techie stuff -- but I'm sure some helpful person will pick this up very soon and get back to you.

Best of luck.

 

[968er]

The one thing to keep in mind is to buy on condition, if you do that you will end up with a very sound car that will not depreciate the way the rest of the Porsche range are currently losing money.

The losing power issue is a bit of a red herring as to date have not heard of any cars that have actually suffered from this. The issue came about from an article on an engine conversion being carried ouut by 9M about 2 years ago when it was mentioned that the 993 had gone to an interference fit rather than locked in place as was in the 964 and could result in a 10 bhp loss. Run the aircon and you suffer the same loss.

Things to look out for that will cost money are clutch and suspension, if these have not been replaced you are looking at upwards of £4k for repairs. The door check strap is also a known problem but can be fixed a lot cheaper if you go to a bodyshop as there is no need to go to an OPC. More important is history over the last 2 -3 years and getting to talk to the garage that has been looking after the car.

Finally, 993s are falling into two price categories which put simply are the good and the bad, if you are looking at anything below £24k be prepared for a cash outlay.

 

[burrow01]

All of the above

If your wife is used to a Scooby, I would imagine the manual on a 993 would not be too strenuous. Tiptronic is also a good option, but definitely not as involving.

I find the 993 much more fun to drive than a 996 Cab - not as modern, but better for it.

As ever buy on condition and get a PPI from someone who knows these cars (and don't get too hung up on the milage [] )

Pete

 

[38F3E1]

My very biased opinion (also noting you are a GT3 owner)

I'm thinking 993 C2 Coupe or Cab (to keep the wife happy)
C2 Coupe only. If you want a cab get a 996.

Will it be to heavy for the wife (her 'current other' car is a Scooby WRX).
She'll get used to it. She'll probably hate the pedal layout more to start with but will get used to that as well.

Should I consider a tip
No unless all your driving is in the center of a city in which case buy a tip 996 cab.

Should I go early or late. I've heard the varioram cars loose the cam settings and therefore do not actually produce much more power than an early car as they get older.
Either. Condition and mileage seem to set the price. Varioram will typically be more expensive to buy as there were lots of models on offer so less of each type made and they are the later years. Choice seems to be mint low mileage cars with significant premium (and v difficult to find prob 30K+) or middle to high mileage cars which you can pick up in the mid 20s but will likely have to spend some money on (suspension good example).

Am I mad and should I just buy an early 996 cab.
Depends what you want the car for. If the GT3 is for the driving fun then a 996 cab for the missus might be the choice.

Ian.

 

[TRW40]

Very briefly, it may be worth having a look at the Targa too. I am delighted with mine.

Tim

 

[Sundeep]

ORIGINAL:

I'm thinking 993 C2 Coupe or Cab (to keep the wife happy)

993 Targa...... [] best of both worlds

 

[38F3E1]

If a Targa is in the mix I would third the recommendation.

 

[Neil_Pickard]

I bought my 1994 Polar Silver 993 Cab from Paul Devyea in Sevenoaks. His website is www.pauldevyea.co.uk, this is my second 911 from Paul and that was great as well. If you tell him your going down then he will spend as long as you want with him.

I prefer the cab as I like the air in the hair experience and you can hear the gorgeous engine (with sound box).

As it is a 1994 it a non-varioram, I've never driven a later car so don't know the differences but the 1994 car is good enough for me.

Mine only has 50,000 on the clock and in good condition, that was more important to me than getting the lastest model. I also prefer manual and it's so easy to drive (better than my 3.2 with no power steering), my wife finds it easy and enjoys the power oh and the pose with the roof down.

 

[burrow01]

Guess where I bought my Polar Silver cab from []

Pete

 

[Neil_Pickard]

I've been really happy, the cars are top quality and the service is too. It's a bit out of my way from Essex but worth the journey.

 

[Kevin Cooke]

Guys,

Thanks for the advice.

The plan is coming together, an invitation arrived to attend a pre-launch viewing of the 997GT3 at Thruxton, when left on the kitchen table it illicited the normal 'you've ordered one of those haven't you?' from the wife.

I said 'no love given the depreciation on my MK2 I think buying another new Porsche would be stupid (the GT3 was the 3rd in a row) but I would like to replace the Scooby with..........'

So a bit more work to do on the house and it's out for a few test drives.

Thanks again.

Kevin

 

[zwhitea]

As a girlie 993 owner (manual carrera 4 cabriolet), I would say that if your wife is just going to pootle around town on little roads and never really open the throttle and let rip, a tip would be the best option for her. Don't get me wrong, I love my car when I get to drive it properly, but it does get a bit tedious and strenuous on shorter stop-start driving.

I now only drive mine about 5 miles to work, most of it in traffic and don't enjoy it half as much as I did when I was driving nearly 40 each way. In fact I actually don't like it much at all - too much like hard work.

Any particular reason you're going for carrera 2 rather than 4?

Personally I think you'd be nuts to go for a 996, I reckon their prices will drop below the 993 prices soon....???

Good luck in your search!

Ruth

 

[968er]

And here is a superb example of what you are looking for, or anybody else for that matter!

http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=204370

 

[kennyboy]

Hi Kevin

I've heard the varioram cars loose the cam settings and therefore do not actually produce much more power than an early car as they get older

- not heard of that one and I suggest not true.

Varioram alters the intake track length and I don't think has anything to do with cam settings.

IMO Varioram is one of the best bits of the 993 driving experience - especially with motorsound kit added.
and if you want to start modding at some point a varioram car is a better base engine for tuning.

Good luck with whatever you buy - you'll love it.

 

[oceancarrera]

ORIGINAL: MoC2S

The camshaft sprocket on 993s is not keyed to the shaft like earlier engines, and the cam timing is not always 'exactly right'. But not confined to VRam cars ... some enthusiasts revert to the older style sprocket arrangement, others just adjust the cam timing (if necessary).

Most (>90%) cars are fine ...cheers, Maurice [8|]

I'll second this... the cam sprocket of some 993s aren't pinned like the 964 sprockets. Easy replacement is to fit the earlier 964 sprockets to fix the timing. 964 sprockets have more holes compared to the later 993 sprockets.

Even worse: some of the camshafts used didn't even have a keyway - these just used a big bolt to screw the socket on. Naturally, over time, the bolt could work loose, and allow some sprocket slippage. I think this was a sign of Porsche accountants starting to rule-the-roost just before the transition to the 996.

My old 993 (a late 98MY, W-chassis) had this problem and was discovered by JZ Machtech when they opened the engine up. You are lucky if just the sprocket needs resetting/changing. If a car has the keyway-less camshaft, you're looking at a top-end rebuild to permanently fix the problem.