chunkymonkey1982
Well-known member
- Joined
- 19 Jun 2017
- Messages
- 111
Hello everybody, ive been following the forum for some time and absorbing the knowledge from the other members. I thought its about time I shared by 997.2 C2 ownership experience so far in case it might be of interest to others especially to people like me 6 months ago who are considering buying a 911. Lots happened over the last 6 months and if I was to write it down it would be very long and maybe too boring to read in one go so I will share in installments, covering the following topics and more:
Buying Experience
Driving Experience so far.
Bore Scoring (or lack of!)
4 Wheel Alignment
Auxiliary belt tensioner
Minor Service
Windshield Replacement
Heat Shield Replacement
Buying Experience
So the Buying experience, buying a 911 has been a dream of mine for a very long time, I looked into it 4 years ago, and was put off buying the Gen 1 cars because of the IMS and Bore scoring issues, and also I preferred the newer interior of the gen 2. Instead I bought a BMW 335i coupe, which was a great car, fast, great sounding engine, and very practical (space for my bike in the boot). Had it for 3 years, it always had a rattle but I didn't take much notice till one day it started making a awful noise. Took it to BMW who diagnosed the issue to be turbo that had failed. The car was at that point 5 years old, had 40K on it and had full BMW history. I asked the dealership what caused the failure, and their response was that it had been driven short distances without the oil properly warming up that clogged the oil line to the turbo starving the bearings of oil and causing bearing failure. Anyway BMW replaced the turbo through their good will policy but I still had to stump up 1.5K for Labor and some parts. Not happy with the BMW service and sold the car back to BMW.
Bought a Golf 1.4 run around and that's been great, always started and been very reliable. Whilst driving the golf I saved up the pennies to the point where in the summer I had enough to buy a 997.2. Really wanted a convertible because.... I'd always wanted one but they were all 35-40K so I figured I'd try a auction. Cars there seem to be cars traded in by porsche dealerships. Had my eye on a 2010 black 997.2 convertible, auction started above my ceiling price (doh!) but I was drawn into the auction spirit and before you know I was the highest bidder but the car didn't meet its reserve, was 500 short. I was on the verge of agreeing to buy the car anyway, would have been 35K + (1.2k) Auction fees when I looked under the car I could see a dent in the sill and considering it was 5K over my budget, the auction house would not guarantee it having a good engine and gearbox (which I thought all their cars did otherwise I wouldn't have gone) I walked away.
Car was eventually bought by an independent and initially on sale for 40K, but last time I checked, they still had it for 35K so making a loss on it? Anyway glad I walked away and would not recommend going to an auction unless you really know what you are doing.
So now I had all this money sitting in the bank and no car, one day I was looking on auto trader and saw a car that looked interesting, had everything I wanted, PDK, sports design alloys, interesting color (atlas grey), Ok ish mileage at 65K, full PSH, Bose, extended leather, satnav but not a convertible. We went to see it and the second I saw it we had to have it. Did the deal on the day and drove the car home without an inspection. Risky I know, but we took a drive in the car, no squeaks, seem to accelerate well enough, and I'd read that the 997.2 on the whole had a reliable drive train and suspension. In hindsight I probably should have had it inspected for peace of mind but in 6 months of ownership ive not had many issues.
I had a 111 point check after buying completed by Porsche and they have given it the all clear also but highlighted some areas for improvement:
New rear tyres, heat shield replacement, discs and pads, coolant top up, replace condensers but I understand these are typical issues for a 997.2 of this age. If id bought from an independent chances are that I would have paid more and still had the same issues so thought I'd got a fair deal.
Driving experience has been great, but that's easy considering I'd gone from a 1.4l golf to a 3.6l Porsche. Initially driving the car I could hear the engine making all sorts of noises and the drive train was jerky but I came to realise that's part of its character and nothing was wrong with it. Its has sport and sport plus modes and boy do they change the character of the car. In standard more the car isn't particularly fast, more of a well handling cruiser, but the sport mode changes the speed of gear changes and you can feel the car wanting to go faster, and sport plus mode is the party mode pushing up the revs and making the car sound angry and acceleration is fast! But believe it or not, I'd bought the car more for the looks than the speed and day to day I rarely use the sport or sport plus modes. Maybe once in a while on the motorway to give it a Italian tuneup.
Summary, so far so good – Loving my 997.2 base Carrera coupe! More to follow.
Buying Experience
Driving Experience so far.
Bore Scoring (or lack of!)
4 Wheel Alignment
Auxiliary belt tensioner
Minor Service
Windshield Replacement
Heat Shield Replacement
Buying Experience
So the Buying experience, buying a 911 has been a dream of mine for a very long time, I looked into it 4 years ago, and was put off buying the Gen 1 cars because of the IMS and Bore scoring issues, and also I preferred the newer interior of the gen 2. Instead I bought a BMW 335i coupe, which was a great car, fast, great sounding engine, and very practical (space for my bike in the boot). Had it for 3 years, it always had a rattle but I didn't take much notice till one day it started making a awful noise. Took it to BMW who diagnosed the issue to be turbo that had failed. The car was at that point 5 years old, had 40K on it and had full BMW history. I asked the dealership what caused the failure, and their response was that it had been driven short distances without the oil properly warming up that clogged the oil line to the turbo starving the bearings of oil and causing bearing failure. Anyway BMW replaced the turbo through their good will policy but I still had to stump up 1.5K for Labor and some parts. Not happy with the BMW service and sold the car back to BMW.
Bought a Golf 1.4 run around and that's been great, always started and been very reliable. Whilst driving the golf I saved up the pennies to the point where in the summer I had enough to buy a 997.2. Really wanted a convertible because.... I'd always wanted one but they were all 35-40K so I figured I'd try a auction. Cars there seem to be cars traded in by porsche dealerships. Had my eye on a 2010 black 997.2 convertible, auction started above my ceiling price (doh!) but I was drawn into the auction spirit and before you know I was the highest bidder but the car didn't meet its reserve, was 500 short. I was on the verge of agreeing to buy the car anyway, would have been 35K + (1.2k) Auction fees when I looked under the car I could see a dent in the sill and considering it was 5K over my budget, the auction house would not guarantee it having a good engine and gearbox (which I thought all their cars did otherwise I wouldn't have gone) I walked away.
Car was eventually bought by an independent and initially on sale for 40K, but last time I checked, they still had it for 35K so making a loss on it? Anyway glad I walked away and would not recommend going to an auction unless you really know what you are doing.
So now I had all this money sitting in the bank and no car, one day I was looking on auto trader and saw a car that looked interesting, had everything I wanted, PDK, sports design alloys, interesting color (atlas grey), Ok ish mileage at 65K, full PSH, Bose, extended leather, satnav but not a convertible. We went to see it and the second I saw it we had to have it. Did the deal on the day and drove the car home without an inspection. Risky I know, but we took a drive in the car, no squeaks, seem to accelerate well enough, and I'd read that the 997.2 on the whole had a reliable drive train and suspension. In hindsight I probably should have had it inspected for peace of mind but in 6 months of ownership ive not had many issues.
I had a 111 point check after buying completed by Porsche and they have given it the all clear also but highlighted some areas for improvement:
New rear tyres, heat shield replacement, discs and pads, coolant top up, replace condensers but I understand these are typical issues for a 997.2 of this age. If id bought from an independent chances are that I would have paid more and still had the same issues so thought I'd got a fair deal.
Driving experience has been great, but that's easy considering I'd gone from a 1.4l golf to a 3.6l Porsche. Initially driving the car I could hear the engine making all sorts of noises and the drive train was jerky but I came to realise that's part of its character and nothing was wrong with it. Its has sport and sport plus modes and boy do they change the character of the car. In standard more the car isn't particularly fast, more of a well handling cruiser, but the sport mode changes the speed of gear changes and you can feel the car wanting to go faster, and sport plus mode is the party mode pushing up the revs and making the car sound angry and acceleration is fast! But believe it or not, I'd bought the car more for the looks than the speed and day to day I rarely use the sport or sport plus modes. Maybe once in a while on the motorway to give it a Italian tuneup.
Summary, so far so good – Loving my 997.2 base Carrera coupe! More to follow.