Hey guys, I'm the OP. Thanks a bunch for all the responses, they really help. My daily commute to work is negligible as I live less than 2 miles from work. My typical commute is suburb to downtown which is all highway. My daily commute also involves snow and sometimes ice from December - March.

Finally, value, depreciation curve and reliability is very important to me. I feel I can't go wrong with the metzger engine. However, sometimes I get a bit gunshy buying a 10 year old car for $40k. I'm pretty sure I'm not afraid of high mileage (80K plus is fine by me), but since it's my first foray there's this little voice inside that says "dude, it's 10 years old with 80,000 miles!!! $40K!? You crazy!".

 

while the 996t can be used as a dd. it is not optimal. especially if your commute is 2 miles. it will barely be warmed up to op temp. lol. it really is best to consider this car as a $40k toy and that you'll have expenses commensurate with that. if you drive your $40k toy to work every day. so be it. it can become impractical as a dd is when it comes to parts. esp if you mod it. but you're right NOT to fear "miles" per se. just see the car is maintained and you'll be fine

 

The same discusion we have in germany - the 997 is the newer car.
But the 996 TT have more power.

I prefer the 996 TT once turbo always turbo!