The C55 is by far the best car I have owned. I said the same about my old W210 E55 when I had that too and I am sold on AMG. But recently, I have been entertaining thoughts of trading in for a 996 911. I am looking to keep it under $30k so I am thinking it will be in the 2001-2004 vintage, non-turbo. I have had an M3, two AMGs, but never a P-car hence the appeal. I want a real porsche so I will never get a boxster. I guess the cockster is marginally better but I want the real banana.

The thing that I am hung up on is the torque. A 996 911 makes what 248 ft-lbs? That's actually why I got rid of the M3 because even going down the street for a pint of milk was a chore, especially with a stick shift.

Anyone who has a 911 or has had one, can you weigh in? How are they as far as reliability goes? As good as our C55s?

Let me preface by saying I've never owned a 911, but I was looking at them prior to the C32 and was also looking at the 996's. Apparently, there's a reason it's one of the cheapest 911's. Even the 993's are more!

Actually, that's what I really want, a 993

i heard that they are very reliable cars. i know plenty of people that own porsches and every one of them loves their cars including the owners of 996 TT's and GT3's. cool crowd of people too. anyways, i was really considering gettign a 996 TT as my next car, but they have not depreciated as much as i expected them to. i'd say go for it, but that's just my opinion.

Be extremely careful with the generation you look at. There's a very common intermediate shaft bearing failure in one of their generations of engines that has a high failure rate and completely trashes the engine. The TT engine is a totally different design and is not affected. This is why you'll see there's lots of them in the $18k-30k range, yet when you look outside of those engine years (late 90's early 00's) you'll see the price skyrocket to a minimum of $35k for a trashed one.

No practical experience from me either, as in I've never owned one myself. But friends have. One key thing to look out for, whether 911 or Boxster, is the rear main seal. Costly to fix. Porsche motors generally come out the bottom from what I understand.

I am guessing that Porsche running costs for parts and maintenance may be more than Merc. Just h sheer volume of oil is one consideration. That said, if you've done oil changes on M3s them you'd be familiar with that.

I think a nice combo would be having both cars, C55 for daily and 911 for fun. The your 911 running costs are going to be a bit less.

Thanks for the comments so far. I spent an hour trying to find a Porsche forum but surprisingly the ones I found were cheesy and had no traffic to speak of. Does anyone know if there is a definitive mbworld equivalent in the porsche world? How hard are Porsches to work on? I won't buy a car I can't work on, at least for the basic maintenance.

Try Rennlist, their forums are probably the equivalent. What I can say from my experience of owning 4 P-cars in the last 15 years is that they are completely different driving experiences. I traded my C4 for my C32 and I now have superior luxury/comfort, similar performance with decent handling and transmission. If you're looking for better handling, the P-Car wins all day long (once you get the hang of the oversteer), but if you want more luxury, stick with the AMG. Also, do be wary of some of the early 996's as there were some issues with fit/finish and they were also the first gen of water-cooled flat-sixes, the 3.4 seemed to address most of the problems. Also, get a manual as opposed to the tiptronic as there were some expensive problems with those. Lastly, avoid the C4 as the performance IMO was actually muted by the premature kicking in of the traction control and also potential for more expensive maintenance on the all-wheel drive system.

I have a 996TT X50 as a fun third vehicle, and my C32 is my DD.

My Porsche is worlds better than my AMG, as one might expect when comparing vehicle A with an original MSRP ~3x greater than vehicle B.

The 964's and 993's are the last of the air-cooled 911's, so they hold a certain nostalgia and collector-interest among P-car enthusiasts, with prices to match. Doesn't hurt that they're absolutely beautiful, either, and the last generations before 911's really became "mass produced." The tradeoff, as you might expect, is a car from the 90's is pretty antiquated by 2012 standards - but, to some, that's part of their charm.

The "regular" 996's, as mentioned earlier, can be prone to an intermediate-shaft failure - as well as some other ailments. The turbos and GTx 996 variants come from the GT1 Mezger motor lineage, so they're pretty stout - but any specific vehicle you look at should be thoroughly inspected (PPI) by a shop that knows their way around Porsche's.

Like AMG's, keep in mind that Porsche's generally are luxury vehicles and the repair and maintenance costs can be significant.

Good luck and happy hunting! Oh, also, the two best Porsche forums I've found are 6speedonline, and Rennlist. Different feel between the two, but great info from each. If you wind up with an older Porsche, Pelican's forum is also handy.

I love how descriptive this member has always been and still is I say keep getting info like this from all P-car owner present and past. Goodluck

+2 on 6speedonline. they know their stuff from what i have read on there.

I had a '03 Boxster S prior to my C55. Had the rear main seal fail twice in 3 years. Personally, I think I had a lemon, because I also had a wheel bearing go bad, the alternator, clutch and a number of other items that should have been good on a car with under 50k miles.

As for forums, try Renntech.org. I got a lot of good information on that site.

Thanks, c32used - that's a very nice compliment from a long-standing member like yourself.

Take it easy, enjoy the rest of your weekend.

The cars are different as night and day. MB more of a cruiser and torque monster in comparison, less handeling than the p-car. P-car LOVES the twistys, going through the back roads, mountain roads is where its really shines. Actually kinda crazy how well they perform. Loves the revs, and the noises it makes is it produces are incredible. That being said I love both of mine, each do what they were intended to do very very well. My 2 cents would tell you to step up to a 997. Much more refined than the 996, very up scale like the MB you are accustomed to. Great comfort for every day grocery getter or push the sport button for track days and twistys.

6speedonline.com is where I spend a year or so trolling to figure out what I wanted to order for my Porsche. Great group of people.

Man I'd love a 997 but they are High 50s or low 60s. I'd have to sell both cars, and maybe a bike or two to afford that lol. Anyone want a good kidney?

lol i just thought that sounded funny about the bikes... what a bad problem to have

I use to have a 99 911 C2. It was fantastic car. Though expensive to maintain, made the AMG brake job seem cheap.

I actually sold my 01 CLK to hunt for a 996. I decided to pull the trigger on the 2005 CLK55 instead, as it is rare, more reliable, and significantly cheaper to boot. You will definitely miss the torque of your C55, but thats about it. 911s are such fantastic drivers, and I will always be a die hard fan.

As others have said, the intermediate shaft, also they have RMS problems as well.

I will get another one eventually, hopefully in turbo form. Just wish they held their value like AMGs. haha.

On a side note, try to get a 2002 and up. In 2002 they received a much needed update on the interior as well as a 20 hp bump.

If you can find a 40th anniversary you would be golden. If it was a 40th anniv and my CLK, the 40th would be in my garage. lol.



http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...s/viewall.html