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Help me buy a (decent) 996

Now that's not sounding too bad.

I've spent £7k in 4.5years on my car doing most of the work myself, half of that money was probably unnecessary to be spent at the time but it solved some issues early and makes the car nicer to drive/look at.
I've still got a few minor mechanical things to sort and cosmetically the car could do with some work but since it's used all year round I'll delay that.

My car was mechanically sound when I bought it and nothing major has gone wrong since then, finger crossed, rabbits foot, lucky heather...
 
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They're not cheap, if you want them to be the cars that they should be.
 
This thread has prompted me to add up my ownership too....

The chap that owned the car before me spent 10k in 6 months then sold it to the dealer I bought it from. I guess he got spooked! Ims changed, new clutch, brake lines, rads. Most of the big stuff sorted just before I got it.

I've since spent in the last 3 years just shy of 7k. A large portion of this was a complete suspension overhaul. But also some cosmetics, bumper respray and servicing. It's now pretty much spot on. My list now is bits I want to do.

I did buy the car at the higher end too, 16.5k.
 
Might be worth a further check on the sills, jacking points and wheel arches. The rusty bits underneath might be replicated under the underseal. there's been a few cleaner looking cars on here that have suffered in those areas. And the brake line over the gearbox would be much easier with the box out. Worth asking if they'll do that one too rather than just the visible ones?!
 
Yeah, I said I wanted ALL the hard brake lines done. I'll get it all in writing when the deal is finalised and I'll pop over to Deutsch Tek when it's in. Sills were checked and inner lip of all arches were checked. 2 arches are just starting to go so I'll bilt hamber the crap out of them and deal with them properly in time

You can spend a fortune on any car if you try hard enough. I spent well over £6k fixing up a cheap old Peugeot and I bought a cheap mini cooper S in September and have since spent about £2k on it. Easy.
 
It sounds like your eyes are wide open and things are going to work out well. Good luck, enjoy - that's what it's all for!
 
To put things in perspective, our two other everyday cars are a diesel Volvo estate and fiat 500, both bought as 3-year old cars in 2015. In addition to servicing, every penny of which I resent, these two have depreciated by £2k a year just sat on the drive, a very real cost which I will notice when I come to replace them.
While I don't expect my 996 to achieve air-cooled values any time soon or perhaps ever, my man-maths tells me she is the better value car in my stable.
 
That's exactly it dombo.

Last few years I've been leasing and financing brand new cars and at a rough estimate I've spent at least £20,000 over roughly 6 years and have nothing to show for it. I was well aware of the cost but this suited my car needs at the time.

Prior to that I bought used cars at around 3-4 years old which would still depreciate roughly £2k per year minimum as well as need an MOT and annual service then any unexpected repair bills on top. So best case scenario minimum £2.5k a year.

So my car ownership manquation says that
Flat depreciation/slight appreciation - maintenance x feel good factor >= newer car depreciation + maintenance

Plus new cars are just soulless, numb, generic things. My last couple of new cars have been a similar experience to getting a phone handset upgrade.
 
UncleP said:
Yeah, I said I wanted ALL the hard brake lines done. I'll get it all in writing when the deal is finalised and I'll pop over to Deutsch Tek when it's in. Sills were checked and inner lip of all arches were checked. 2 arches are just starting to go so I'll bilt hamber the crap out of them and deal with them properly in time

You can spend a fortune on any car if you try hard enough. I spent well over £6k fixing up a cheap old Peugeot and I bought a cheap mini cooper S in September and have since spent about £2k on it. Easy.

Remove the rear plastic sill trims and treat any rust there, it will be rusty under there as its a dirt trap and if you halt it now it will stave off welding for a while.

You can see there are roughly 3 categories of 911 ownership.

A) "Just enough" to keep it on the road = baggy worn car
B) "enthusiast" = everything mechanical in order but cosmetically a bit worn (my car)
C) "OCD obsessive" = everything in order, probably repainted and perfect interior

The cheapest cars are A) but the best value cars are probably the B) and C) cars that have been gone over by an enthusiast getting A) cars up to scratch or C) cars that have just always had a big spender owners.

Either way if you are the type who doesn't mind getting your hands dirty or mind having the car off the road now and then the cost of ownership doesn't have to be a lot more than running boring machinery. But it will cost to keep the car "perfect".
 
Yes, in my "initial research phase" I was reading the big early 3.4 thread on Pistonheads and was reading Dammit's posts about his expenditure to get the car how he wanted it. Definitely a "C".

Initially I thought the car this thread is about was a B but I now know it's an A. The way I see it I'll end up spending on any car to make it the way I want it.
 
However you cut it a good one will end up at about £20K. Just depends whether you can do a lot of the work yourself and of course how obsessive you are!
But they are lovely when they're sorted to your satisfaction.
Good luck!
 
UncleP said:
Yes, in my "initial research phase" I was reading the big early 3.4 thread on Pistonheads and was reading Dammit's posts about his expenditure to get the car how he wanted it. Definitely a "C".

Initially I thought the car this thread is about was a B but I now know it's an A. The way I see it I'll end up spending on any car to make it the way I want it.

As long as you pay a fair price for the car then it's absolutely not a bad purchase.

Better, in my view, in some ways to buy a car for ~10k knowing that you have to spend 10k more, as you'll know 100% that the car is how you want it.
 
Deal verbally agreed now. Doing all the stuff on the list plus a new clutch while the box is out.
 
Sounds like a good result to me.
 
UncleP said:
Deal verbally agreed now. Doing all the stuff on the list plus a new clutch while the box is out.

Excellent, you've done well there. :thumb:
 

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