Drove my 1st 911 last night...

[adrian]

Hi all,

So, I drove my first 911 last night. A 1990 Carerra 2 - 964 Coupe in grey with tan leather and 100k on the clock. It had a new clutch fitted and some work done to the engine to fix the oil leaks that these cars sometimes have.

I have to say I was blown away. Very fast and the big difference to the S2000 is that you have power all through the rev range, from word go. I am used to my engine coming alive after 6k RPM, this thing is “always on”. For a 17 year old motor is is amazing, and I do think it would even leave the S2000 sitting… could that be possible from a car that age?

The interior looked so old and dated when I sat in but you just seem to forget about that when you are in it… it starts to look cool….weird.

So, I have decided I want one… just want to find the right one now. I am battling with myself though, I am dropping 10 years in reg year from my Honda and will have to put about 5,000 euro to the price for the privilege. Is that a wise moeve? I do not think that these 911’s will depreciate massively though and I reckon would be a joy to own.

So, when I get the Honda sold I’ll start looking… until I change my mind 100 times before that of course!

[soc]

I have to say I was blown away. Very fast and the big difference to the S2000 is that you have power all through the rev range, from word go. I am used to my engine coming alive after 6k RPM, this thing is “always on”. For a 17 year old motor is is amazing, and I do think it would even leave the S2000 sitting… could that be possible from a car that age?

Doesn't suprise me really - it's not a heavy car (about 1200kg - 1250kg) and it has 250bhp which is available at much lower revs (all 250bhp is available at 6100rpm)

The interior looked so old and dated when I sat in but you just seem to forget about that when you are in it… it starts to look cool….weird.

And you can spruce up the interior cheaply enough - all you need is to get a more recent steering wheeel from a later model 993 - the ones I've seen with this fitted look pretty sweet.

Imagine this 17 year old car has electric seats too

So, I have decided I want one… just want to find the right one now.

Man, now I'm green with envy -

I am battling with myself though, I am dropping 10 years in reg year from my Honda and will have to put about 5,000 euro to the price for the privilege. Is that a wise moeve? I do not think that these 911’s will depreciate massively though and I reckon would be a joy to own.

If you're happy to live with the time and costs that will be required for maintenance then I say go for it The depreciation will be absolutely minimal - in the 18 months I've been watching 911's on carzone and in the UK the prices have not dipped at all. But don't be think there won't be any maintenance - no matter how good the car you buy or how few miles you do there will be a lot more maintenance than a normal car - this became obvious to me from all the owners reports I've read over the past 18 months in Total 911. Still I reckon it would definitely be worth it........

[soc]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_964

[soc]

This is what I'd like....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Pors ... _Turbo.jpg

I had a mate who had a 1990 911 (964) turbo - he (over)paid 40k sterling for it back around 1999. I think that was around 45k punts which equates to around 55k euro (at the time) in todays money -
It was an amazing machine, looked amazing and was scarily fast - he sold it after 2 years for pretty much what he paid for it - I see you'd pay close to 40k euro for a good example today so the depreciation in 7 years isn't that bad;)

[soc]

To give you an idea on the depreciate side - here's a 1992 964 turbo with 105k miles at 47k euro

http://www.usedcars.ie/usedcars/index.c ... rID=185276

And a 1991 with 67k miles for 54k euro

http://www.usedcars.ie/usedcars/index.c ... rID=553111

And check these guys out - they're highly recommended

http://www.ninemeister.com/

[soc]

Can you tell yet that I love these 964's .......

[pergau]

I am not reading this thread.

Nan na na na na na na nnnnnnnnnnnnaaaaaaaa not reading it .

[adrian]

Thanks for all the info Shane lad, so much to take in! Can;t wait... hope the servicing is not too much though, that would put me off a small bit....

The look starts when the S2000 sells...

[CJ]

hope the servicing is not too much though, that would put me off a small bit....

If heightened servicing and maintanence costs are an issue, you might want want to consider a more run of the mill car. A lot of the machinary you've been talking about of late have reasonably high running costs. This should be a factor in your 'list'. You can't have your cake and eat it after all

CJ

[kevinod]

very cool... wouldn't mind a spin of one myself. Out of curiousity, is insurance insane for one of those babies?

[soc]

very cool... wouldn't mind a spin of one myself. Out of curiousity, is insurance insane for one of those babies?

I was quoted the same as for my TT by Axa (aparently the TT is in the highest group with Axa[1]) - 1100 euro pa fully comp on a 1994 911 (993 model) 3.6 carrera 4.


[1] As an aside I wasn't happy with my insruance quote on the TT and was arguing with them that there's no way a TT could be in the same group as a porsche or ferrari - that's when they told me n/a porsche is the same group (cars like the 911 turbo or ferrari (etc) are in an even higher special group) and you have to be over 33 to insure them........ where the hell did 33 come from....?? But that's another story

[soc]

hope the servicing is not too much though, that would put me off a small bit....

If heightened servicing and maintanence costs are an issue, you might want want to consider a more run of the mill car. A lot of the machinary you've been talking about of late have reasonably high running costs. This should be a factor in your 'list'. You can't have your cake and eat it after all

CJ

CJ is absolutely right here - you need to find someone willing to service the car for you, ideally a specialist in Ireland (but I guess Paul Nolan would be the next best thing) and get an indication of costs to do some of the more common jobs (e.g. bushes, shocks, oil change (engine and gearbox), etc). plus price up the parts from specialists like ninemeister. When i was changing from the Golf I was considering an older 911 but only for a short while - I couldn't live with the maintenance and servicing right now and really you need to be prepared to get your hands dirty for the more minor jobs and I just didn't have the space (thanks to the trend of builing houses with no bloody driveways anymore)...... some day though, I'll have that driveway and that 911 sitting in it (probably on axle stands )

[adrian]

very cool... wouldn't mind a spin of one myself. Out of curiousity, is insurance insane for one of those babies?

I have been quoted 690 euro full comp on a classic policy with Carol Nash, but limited to 4k miles a year. I must price with Hibernian now actually asa direct change to the S2000....

As for the servicing, I think I would be OK with it. The cerbera owners told me I would need to put aside 3k sterling a year for servicing and repairs... I do not think the 911 will be anything close to that. Most owners of the 964 911's have a service interval of about 7k to 9k miles... or once a year whatever comes first!!

As for the driveway, I have one... and a garage where it will be kept, so that is a big plus-factor in being able to get one....

I will be chatting to Paul Nolan next week anyway, so will check with him.

Shane, doyou know any independent specialists in ireland... or where did you get the prices to out you off the idea? Any info appreciated...

[soc]

I have been quoted 690 euro full comp on a classic policy with Carol Nash, but limited to 4k miles a year. I must price with Hibernian now actually asa direct change to the S2000....

You might be suprised at the quote - Hibernian were quoting me 690 fully comp on the TT and 800 fully comp on a porsche boxster S - I didn't move because they wouldn't cover my wife as she's had a claim in the past 10 years.

As for the servicing, I think I would be OK with it. The cerbera owners told me I would need to put aside 3k sterling a year for servicing and repairs... I do not think the 911 will be anything close to that. Most owners of the 964 911's have a service interval of about 7k to 9k miles... or once a year whatever comes first!!

Personally I don't think the cost of servicing would be too bad, especially for a 4k mile a year car. If you have the time to source parts from specialists and use a good independant (i.e. Paul) then you probably won't spend much more than maintaining something like an FTO.

Shane, doyou know any independent specialists in ireland... or where did you get the prices to out you off the idea? Any info appreciated...

I got all my info from the UK - I don't know of any specialists here but I would probably use my current mechanic as he's excellent. To be honest it wasn't the cost that put me off - more the potential time involved and the lack of space at my place. I'd reckon it's better to source parts from the UK and i'd be committing to a certain amount of maintenance myself which is time consuming. The reason I sold the FTO was because I became tired of the constant round of maintenance and the usual delays as you waited for parts to arrive from the UK - I'm guessing for a 17 year old 911 as a daily driver I would have had similar issues. Sure I've had the TT since december and I had to get it valetted on Tuesday cause I haven't had time to clean it properly myself..... no bloody time anymore. Still, I'm hoping that sometime over the next 18 months I'll be able to follow my dream

[Mustang]

Shane, doyou know any independent specialists in ireland... or where did you get the prices to out you off the idea? Any info appreciated...

Check thislink.
I think there also may be a guy based in Wicklow...do a search

[kevinod]

very cool... wouldn't mind a spin of one myself. Out of curiousity, is insurance insane for one of those babies?

I have been quoted 690 euro full comp on a classic policy with Carol Nash, but limited to 4k miles a year. I must price with Hibernian now actually asa direct change to the S2000....

whoa... not bad at all, even if it'd only be a weekend driver.

[pergau]

4K kilometres, My mother does more than that and she only drives the car to Mass and back.

[Richard Ellis]

PFFT... Id take that quote and do well over 4k in it... try not to crash it, if i do and they wont pay out, id either pay for the repair myself or try sell it... at least the Garda wont be able to do you for not being covered!!

[CJ]

If you drive over the 4k, your no longer insured. If you have an accident then the Garda WILL do you for no insurance. What if someone dies in that accident?

gfalls being abnormally sombre and sensible, whats the world coming to!

He does have a point in fairness...

Anyway, whats the deal Adrian, have you pretty much setlled on the 911 as your weekend weapon of choice?

CJ

[adrian]

Yea, I woul dnot do ver 4k if I got that quote either.... one thing never to lie about is car insurance!

CJ, I am waiting to sell the S2000 before doing anything concrete, but yes I have pretty much decided on it if the right one comes along. I have a good bit of homework to do, but I'm confident of getting a good one. Like anything, there are alot of lemons out there!

Seem like a good all rounder for my current setup. Alot of owners have baby seats in them (as there are a range specially made for them), they look stunning (one of my favorite all time looks in a car), plenty of poke from the 3.6 for me when alone (without the baby) and they do not really depreciate alot at tha age so I can have it in the garage fairly guilt free!