Hi. I was searching for info on buying used 997 tt and came across 6speedonline forums. I suppose this is the best place to ask for info. Currently i own a 2011 Mercedes CLS, and decided to trade it for a 997 tt. I know that they are pretty irrelivant cars, but i always wanted a 977tt since i was into cars, especially after my heavily modified impreza.

I came across a decent looking black '08 tt cabrio with 12.700 miles on it and a reasonable price (120.000 euros, not reasonable for the rest of the world maybe, but for Turkey it is quite good). It has tiptronic transmission. I will go check it out tonight.
What are the important things i have to check? Is 997tt really a daily driver? What options are must for a 997tt?
And if you have anything else to add i would be really glad to hear them
I know i am asking for too much at my first post, but i couldn't find anywhere else to ask for info from porsche drivers. And i can guarantee that i will be sharing info after i start driving (and maybe modifying) my own 997tt Thanks in advance...

 

Major ones for me when buying mine ( manual ) ...YES it is 100% a daily driver unless you mod it to become something that isn't.

1) REV RANGE CHECK
2) Recent Full porsche service history OR very reputable porsche indy
3) Sport Chrono is a must! ( although can be retrofitted )
4) PCM 3

Nice to have

Adaptive sports heated seats
PCCB
Extended leather
Carbon pack
Thicker sports steering wheel


If the car has been mapped / has a sports exhaust then that could save you quite a few bob as both of those are NOT cheap. As long as they can prove where it was done from and then you can judge on the reputation of the garage that did it and the system that was used.

Probably lots of more things but I'm sure some of the experts on here can help you.

KJ

 

If you are buying privately, I would suggest you get a laptop on the ECU and check the mileage and over-rev ranges. The high value cars with 2 year/20K mile service intervals are very attractive to the unscrupulous to 'adjust' the mileage. The more history the better as for an 08 you'll only get as few as 2 service stamps to go on.
Our advice would be that if you don't have the experience to take a close technical look at the car, have it independently inspected by an expert.

As for options, get our Porsche 911 (997) Book, it covers all the models with full specs, key colours, interiors and options. There's also a comprehensive real world Buying Guide. Not sure I would go for the ceramics - unless you know how to check them out properly. PCM3 only available from the 09MY - late 2008.
The 160 page full colour book is available direct from here: www.porsche997book.co.uk

;

 

Lots of good info from KJ above. I think the main things to look out for are paint work and overrevs. "must-have" options are obviously subjective but I think at a minimum sport chrono is a must (and some say locking diff is as well). The other "nice-to-haves" are PCCB, parking sensors (for me at least), deviated stitching and carbon package.

In terms of the car being a daily driver... I would say it depends again. How far is your commute? Smooth nice roads or bumpy local roads? Coming from a CLS, I would say be ready for a more bumpy ride and inconveniences in storing your stuff. I take local roads to work so a TT is prob not the best DD for me but I Can see if you take smooth, highway roads, it would be fine.

Edwin

 

I don't think PCM 3.0 was available in 08, at least it wasn't in the US. 08's came with PCM 2.1, 3.0 started with the 09's. Could be wrong-

 

Thank you for all the replies I had the car checked and found out that the previous owner was not telling everything about the car. We learned that all the electrical parts of the car were changed, most probably after a flood that happened in İstanbul in 2009. So now i am
Looking for other options.

Should i choose manual over tiptronic? There are not many 997tt's for sale in Turkey (around 20cars curently) and only one with manual transmission, but it has a lower price, because not many people choose to buy manual expensive cars.

I like using manual for sports cars, but technologically should i prefer tiptronic over it?

Also after your advices, especially KJ, i toom a look and almost all the cars have sport chrono, and PCM. But others options are very rare.

And one last question; would '09, '10 or '11 997 tt have any advantages over '07 or '08 tt? (Apart from being new) if i find one around my budget should i prefer a 997tt.2?

Thanks a lot again everyone.
Cheers,
Yusuf

 

As for daily driving, i also have a VW Amarok. I can use it as a DD. But i know that i will be taking 997 almost everyday going to work
Bumpy ride is not a problem, i miss driving my impreza sti, CLS doesn't make you feel like you are driving a car, it just feels like you are sitting on a comfortable seat and going where you have to go. No driving pleasure. I would take a bumpy ride with driving pleasure over CLS anyday

 

No problem,

The 09 997tt will come with PCM3 as standard ( which is a lot better than PCM2 ). It will also be the last of the gen 1 turbos so will have the MEZGER block. Which itself is an amazing bit of engineering! It all depends on what you want to do to the car...

if you want to modify the car then the gen 1 block is a beast and very mod friendly beyond 650BHP.

If you can afford a gen 2 and are happy with a PDK ( fantastic box! ) and do not want to do any stage 3/4 modifications then gen 2 all the way!


( note: i dont mean you cant do stage 3/4 to it, i mean it will mean you will need to modify more parts of the block to be able to build a stable/reliable 650bhp+ beast )

KJ

 

I don't think i will mod the car too much, just the exhaust system and remapping. Which would you pick PDK or manual transmission? I like using manual but heard great things about PDK...

Does the Mezger block have a longer life than gen 2 block without modifications too? Also same question for the rest of the car; which one can i drive daily without problems for a longer time period?

I think the official Porsche distributor didn't import any '09 tt's to Turkey. At least i couldn't find any for sale. Idon't want to instal any aftermarket stereos, and would really like to have PCM3 instead of PCM2 for ipod support ,bluetooth and etc.

 

For you Gen 2 all the way then.

There isn't really any debate to be honest. It's still solid as hell and the PDK is the bollocks. Stock it is quick as hell too. A remap+exhaust would give you some very usable daily power. And in terms of daily driving it's the perfect daily driver. There is a significant cost difference in gen1 and gen2 turbos so if you can afford the gen 2 you should 100% go for that! And without a doubt go for the PDK. Its phenomenal. If you were going for a gen 1 turbo then I would say go for a manual over the tip s.

 

Check out my buying guide thread for some other points you may have missed.
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...sed-997tt.html
On manual vs PDK, I like the involvement of manual but PDK would be prefered in rush hour traffic. PDK is also the way to get full acceleration potential if you regularly encounter other cars close to yours.

 

Hi, I'm originally from Turkey myself but I live in Los Angeles now and I'm just getting a '07 TT manual (waiting for the car to arrive from out-of-state). IMHO, manual and pdk are both great options for different reasons but I wouldn't necessarily say the same thing for the tiptronic (tiptronic is a great option but compared to manual and pdk, it is not preferable, again it is just a personal opinion).

The driver involvement of manual is priceless but if you are in Istanbul, manual can be really pain when waiting in bumper-to-bumper traffic for hours. PDK is an amazing transmission that kind of offer best of both worlds; if you like to drive as a manual, the shifts are faster than a human can ever do and if you are in traffic, you can always let the pdk do the heavy lifting when you are enjoying a simit from a seller kid on the street PDK is a double-clutch manual transmission that can shift automatically.

On the other hand, tiptronic is an automatic transmission that you can shift manually. So it is the opposite of the pdk as a system. It may sound like you can accomplish the same things with both pdk and tiptronic transmissions but being an automatic transmission, tiptronic can never be as crisp as pdk or as fast as pdk.

If you are looking at '07 and '08 cars, your only options are manual and tiptronic because I believe that pdk started only in '09.

Everybody can have different opinions but you will really know which one you prefer, only after test driving all three options.

I hope that this info helps you a little bit. Good luck finding a great car and keep us posted (after CLS, TT will feel like flying an F16. It is totally worth all the inconvenience of a smaller 2-door GT car, you will love it

 

PDK started in 2010

 

I am sellin my car next week, and i'm not in a hurry. Winter is coming and i will be looking for a reasonable car until may.
I will try to increase my budget during this time, gen 2 tt's are much more expensive as you mentioned, around 200.000 Euros. After now my main choice is gen 2 tt. Thanks a lot KJ.

I already read your guide, it is very informing. Thank you a lot for it Schnell TT. I will be using it a lot until i buy my future tt

Thanks Emre for explaining the difference between PDK and tiptronic. I live in Ankara in fact, but still PDK would be an advantage over manual for daily driver. Now i have to increase my budget or get the manual. As you may know, prices are really high in Turkey, and there are not many tt's for sale, so i don't have many options.

I suppose you should be very excited about your new cars arrival. I know i would be Hayırlı olsun. güle güle kullan, kazasız belasız

 

Just as a reminder, the Gen 1 Mezger block is the undisputed king of Turbo engines. It's a pure work of genius and you will not find a single person who could justifiably argue that the gen 2 engine is better. ( lighter, cheaper to make, *probably more likely to **** up on you*). But as you will not be touching the engine internals I don't think you have anything to worry about. It's Porsche's flagship car remember... not some american muscle crap ( no offence to anyone intended as I myself do love the muscle but you simply can't compare them to the finest german engineering on the planet ).