Hey you guys, looking for some help. I am getting out of boating for a while, I still need a toy though. Looking at a low mileage 997. S or better. My intent was to enjoy some car shows and porsche events with the car. Keeping my annual mileage to 5,000 or less. Tiptronic would be nice so the wife can use it also. What should I look for and what should I avoid?
Thanks in adavnce
Jeff in LI, NY

 

No '05s (ims problems, you can search forums for tons of info)
PDK is much better than tiptronic (not personal experience but everyone agrees on this) so you should look at 997.2 ('09-12)
Get a PPI (I didn't but another thing pretty much everyone agrees on)
Do a search and you will have more than enough info

 

Thanks No 2005s I will remember that!

 

BTW my budget is 50-60K
Thanks

 

You should be able to find an 09 for that..... It's a great toy!

 

Nice Doing the ground work now I don't to come off as a total Porsche ingnoramus!

 

You've come to the right place... Do a search for buying advice and you'll practically become an expert

 

Whatever you do, get a PPI and make sure you buy a CPO car.

 

Is that only a dealer level PPI or are you refereing to any competent tech with Porsche scanner acess?

 

PPI done by another dealer or an Indy.

 

Try to get an 09 and above if you want automatic. Also, the 09s was made with a few improvements. I will second the PPI and CPO suggestions.

 

The computer test is called a DME. It will post any errors or over revs. I don't believe over revs will be a concern with an automatic. For reference an over rev is a listing of the amount of times a car has been pushed to and beyond redline.

Mileage and number of owners should have an impact on price, but with a little patience, you may find a one owner car that has been lightly used. But 911s are meant to be driven and driven hard.

Depending on your comfort level, consider using eBay to find your car. It will greatly increase the number of cars available. I bought my 997 on eBay (as well as a couple other cars) and was able to get a S same year and sames miles for $10M under what a dealer wanted for a non S. if you do buy local try to find a private party with all the service records. Not only do you gain the history, it will help you when you sell.

 

This feels like deja vu... I just went through the same process over the past few weeks and I had the same priorities and budget as you. Here are my thoughts:

I'm no 997 expert, but I did read A LOT on the forum and did a significant amount of research while searching for my 997. Perhaps this is a good start for you:
http://chrisstewart.hubpages.com/hub...-a-997-Porsche

Although the 997.1 (first generation) is an amazing car, I really wanted the 2nd generation 997.2 (09-12) so that I could enjoy the PDK transmission. I just came from an E92 M3 coupe which had the DCT, and loved that. I will say, I absolutely love the manual in the 997, but had to make the judgement call. For the record, I test drove the 997.1 in manual and felt it was the only way to go. I'm definitely not here to start that war however

Just as others have said, I started with figuring out the marketplace and what prices dealers and private parties were selling for. I wanted the Carrera S model myself, so I looked at Autotrader and searched specifically across the United States and looked at eBay for weeks to get an idea of the price ranges. Obviously Porsche dealers will be charging a premium, so it was good to know how low some sellers would go.

I found a handful (but not many) of S models in the high 50s, but only one was CPO'd. With taxes and shipping many of those cars quickly got to mid- 60s and again, didn't have warranties.

Although extremely hesitant at first, I opened up my search to the base Carrera. When you are looking at 997.2s, the non-S carrera is only 10hp less than the first generation 1, 997.1 Carrera S. However, the S still gets the better brakes and after my search found that, generally speaking, most S models seemed to have more options. Having test drove both, I can say I'm happy with my decision, although I certainly hope to get into a 991 S in the next year or 2. These cars are plenty fast for enthusiasts, so a "base 911" is fine for me...

I ended up finding a 997.2 Carrera non-S with 40,000 miles and PDK with Sport Chrono (a requirement if you are getting a PDK car in my opinion), Sport Plus, PASM, and 19" OEM Turbo Wheels (although I will be replacing those soon) for just over $50k. I felt good about the deal and added some goodies (full Tubi Exhaust), and I bought a 3rd Party bumper to bumper warranty (I will not get into those details).

Sorry for the long response, I just felt the need to provide my recent experience; I hope it helps in your search.

 

No TIP, get PDK. Requires newer 911 but well worth it.

 

Pretty much what the others have said:

09 or newer DFI engine

PDk, if you have a lazy left foot (It's a joke, relax)

$60k should get you an 09 S (Buy an S, trust me) with around 20k on the odometer.

Autotrader, the Porsche locator on their site, or E-bay.

CPO'ed is nice, but as discussed in another thread, you had better do a PPI. I don't trust "stealerships".

Tires? It's close to $2k for new shoes.

Don't pay out the azz for a highly optioned car. Porsche's little bits of carbon are astronomical in price, let the previous owner eat that cost. They really don't do much for performance.

Was the previous owner a 23y/o that took it to the track every weekend, or a middle aged man who drove it on weekends?

Good luck.