K-A

Cat **** Cooled FTW.

Quadcammer

Is he really racing people? And god forbid, who wants a 246 dino, god that car will get its door blown off by an accord. Who gives a **** how fast the car is. Some people actually like to go around corners.

Apparently the market cares about how its cooled given the superior pricing of 993s vs the newer 996.

I like forced induction too, but an NA 993 is a very enjoyable car to drive. An E55 is a boat with a decently powerful engine. Nothing more.

220S

I was the one who earlier brought up the "slowness" of the 993. But I meant it only in comparison with modern sports cars. Also that we get kind of spoiled with the current torque and hp.

But the car is really one of those "would rather drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow" kind of things. There's no real place to drive a 55/63. In no time flat you're easily over 100+ mph (and a loss of license ticket in CA.) So it's like a "quick little spurts of thrusts every once in a while when nobody's in the way" sort of thing. We need an autobahn to really use these cars, imho.

As much as I enjoy my E63, I have to admit it's starting to get a bit boring. It's kinda become simply a comfortable E Class with better components and a muscle car motor. Although a great motor nonetheless.

The 993 is pure driver involvement. There's nothing like the P-car dynamic and being so connected to the road. It's a real tactile feeling.

That said, I sometimes do wish mine had a bit more punch.

And yeah, much better resale than the 996. Aside from the 996TT, the 996 is the one 911 variant to be avoided.

abhatti55

Do a little more research on the 993's and what they stand for before posting nonsense like that. It is the last true Porsche, before Toyota had to show them how to mass produce cars. If anything he can hang on to it and possibly get a 993 Turbo in the future. I would never have a 996 over a 993.

stever500

All I do is drive around town. I don't race my car or need 500 HP. I simply liked the way the E63 (or maybe an E55) looked and thought it would be the perfect replacement for my 2 cars. I was also feeling out this forum and it's members, to get a taste of the vibe here. It's pretty much what I expected, and I appreciate all the sage advice I've been given. Some of it was tough love, some of it was fun, some of it was weird, but it's all good.

Lots of different personalities from every corner of the globe. I'm still thinking of what to do but have no idea yet. Whenever I'm not sure what to do, I do know that I shouldn't do anything.

And by the way, to the gent that posted about me saving up for a 996 TT, I have absolutely no interest in that car whatsoever! Not my style, at all. (not that there's anything wrong with them)

To the gent that posted this "exactly ... who wants an old porsche that will get the doors blow off by most cars on the road"

I do!!!! Me and many of my friends happen to LOVE old Porsches. It was a fairly ignorant comment if you ask me. But I know, you weren't asking me. What's not to love? This is part of the reason I love my car... (To understand me, you really must see the video link directly below. You might be out in your garage one day hugging your 993 too if you do :o)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDhF__PI2vA

Here's my first one I had for 5 years, an 88 911


Nothing wrong with this old Porsche in my mind's eye. A 5 year old Mustang can probably "blow the doors off of it" but why would that bother me? I have no interest in driving a 5 year old Mustang.

FASN8N

The 993 is a timeless design, I would knaw my arm off for a nice 993 Turbo S

bjr7141

you have a 993 turbo dont you ?????

i agree market is def better for 993s vs 996s, but if your in a position where money is becoming an issue, wouldn't you want to get some bang for your buck, and 50k for a 996t will give your performance and style

the 996 turbo which debuied in 2000, was my dream car in highschool, so im a bit bias,

but that platform was def a turning point for porsche, lost of nay sayers out there


on another note, a 246 dino is a classic, not my fave, but a classic. i am a huge fan and privileged have family with 1930s - 1950s Ford flat head V8s, your right they will get beat by an accord ... but they are classics, 993s are not what i would consider a vintage classic, not yet anyway

sell em while they have value

bjr7141

ignorant???

you asked for an opinion and i gave it

THE VIDEO WAS OUTSTANDING i will give you that ... if you think im ignorant ... apologies

i am a huge fan of porsche and all its history, a company of dreamers

i guess to understand me you need to take a look at this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MCkF19QF7c

bjr7141

Research ... research ... its my opinion read all you want

LAST true porsche ... i do not agree, no way never, mass production, why does mass production make it a bad car ... ford had a half century of dominance using mass production ... lambos are mass produced ... are they junk ... ask valentino balboni i bet he would dis agree ...

i agree i wouldnt take a 996 carrera, over a 993 carerra, you are spot on

but i would take a 996tt over a 993 carerra any day of the week ... again my opinion

and again let me state, i make all these statements under the premis that the gentleman in question, doesnt have a money tree in the back yard, if i were him, i would get bang for your buck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MCkF19QF7c

the little guy at the end ... yep that was me

stever500

Ok, sorry for calling you ignorant. I loved that video on the 911 Turbo too. Back to the topic at hand, the E63. So I called my old neighbor from my old neighborhood who bought one with 4k mi on it 3 years ago before we moved. He never had the nicest cars but he bought this one and never looked back. It's black with black interior. I was in awe of it when it brought it over to my driveway.

I called him today and he said he was still in love with the car, would get the 2010 when they've been out for a bit longer and he can get one preowned and that he'll always own an E63. I told him I was thinking of selling both my cars and getting one and if that would be crazy. He thought it was an excellent idea because he is so hot on the E63. He thought it would incorporate all the cool stuff from both the cars I have.

I wish they were $35k already! I've decided I much prefer the 07 car (E63 over the E55) so that's where I'm at with it right now. Nothing wrong with an E55, I just like the newer body style more and the wheels are killer on the 07's. To be continued...

Point2Point

IMHO, 996GT3 > 996TT.

X2Board

Agreed, and those two + the GT2 are the only 996 based cars that I would even consider.

stever500

I hate to say it, but after perusing this site for a few weeks, reading all the posts I possibly could, I am very nervous about getting into a 07 E63 at this point. I was particularly amazed by the post about the guy who found one with either 58k or 60k some miles, and somebody said that he wouldn't get a car with that many miles as repair costs could be substantial without the warranty.

When you guys say over and over in your posts GET THE WARRANTY or you could be very sorry unless you're sitting on a lot of money for repairs, that's nerve-wracking to read. I'd have just enough money for an 07, but not much extra for tons of repairs. I think that may count me out as a potential owner but I'll have to think about it. I thought being an owner of an 01 740i BMW would make me a candidate for owning a car with LOTS of expensive repairs, but from what you guys are talking about with these E63's out of warranty it could be A LOT more than even what my bimmer costs to fix. Someone was saying in another post that his S550 or S63 had $17k worth of repairs in ONE year?!? That's freaking crazy! My cars are nothing like that.

I got the bug for this car when my old neighbor stopped by my house 3 years ago with this 4k mile 07 E63 after having a C43 for a while. Before that he had a Pontiac Bonneville that he ran into the ground with well over 200k miles. He was in heaven, LOVING this car. He raved about it for years and I just called him and he said he wants a black 2010 now. He said he'll always have an E63 of some year.

It really made me want one, but I'm not a lawyer married to a lawyer like he is. I'm not currently earning that much money now in my brand new sales job yet. Here's pics of the day he stopped over in my driveway with the car, first day of ownership. I was blown away after riding in it for 10 minutes. He got it from one of my friends that went to the Manheim auction and found it for him. A cremepuff... He said it looks best in black, to his eye, though I long for a silver one. Do you guys prefer the black wood or brown, natural wood interior on a black interior?





You can see my car in the background :o) As you can see, the E63 is just as hot if not hotter




My other car is in the background here too. The E63 blows it away, looks wise, in my book


Wish there was more of an armrest in here... but I'd deal with it


Black interior. The only way to go for me...

220S

Unless you're really fat, your arm will rest on the edge of the center console which is padded. At least my arm does.

fwiw, I wouldn't buy any used high performance car that originally costs close to $100k new w/o some sort of extended warranty or money in the bank as a maintenance fund. I don't care if it's a Porsche or a BMW or whatever. Parts are expensive, and sh*t happens. It's why people who don't have extra money to blow on cars choose to drive much less expensive cars. Pretty simple.

It's like owning a big house, you would certainly have money in the bank to take care of things if something happens. If not, then rent a condo and live within your means.

stever500

Yes, what you said makes sense. I'm not fat at all by the way (160 lbs, 5'10"), so I guess my spindly little arm should fit fine on that thin little padded area in the center. I should clarify that I'd have $3k a year to fix a car like I do on my BMW but I wouldn't want to be spending $4k-$6k a year out of warranty to fix this $100k car. A 2001 750il BMW is also a $100k car but they don't require this much money typically to fix them each year. Last year my BMW only cost $750 to fix, pretty lucky, cheap year.

I'm still thinking hard about it. The only other car on my radar now is the Lexus 2007 LS460 with the upgrade 5 spoke wheels. I know, it's not an E63, but maintenance would be very manageable out of warranty I think

K-A

I think it's a general "rule of thumb", that you don't own a hi-po car out of Warranty, and that you be smart enough to have "Oh sh**" money, in case such a problem would arise.

I figure, if you have the money to comfortably cover what would be the most catastrophic (realistic) failure your out-of-Warranty car could give you, then it's within your means.

I really don't expect the average E63 should cost even near 3K a year to fix. Problems with these cars are usually bugs here and there, which will usually be ironed out once enough have gone wrong.... And that's just for problem cars, many have no problems like that whatsoever. The big $$$$ stuff usually lies in the motor/tranny (both more or less "bullet-proof" on these cars, although the Tranny is known to have a hiccup or two at times), and Airmatic.

K-A

I'd definitely pass on that Lexus idea as well. I doubt you'd be content.

stever500

I can handle $3k a year! It's the $6k a year territory that it doesn't work for me. My old neighbor's car hasn't had ANY problems to speak of, 3 years later other than a few small warranty items. It's owning these cars past $100k miles that I wonder about, because that's what my eventual plan would be, long time ownership. People have 2001 740i BMW's well into the $240k miles already with no more than $3k a year in maintenance if even that. These guys are partial DIYer's, too.

I've driven the Lexus twice and like it. Not sure why any of my car loving friends don't...

K-A

Yeah, I don't think the E63 should hit you for $3K a year at all, not even close. If it does, you have a helluva Lemon.

stever500

Hooray! If that's the case then, why is everyone on this forum saying that maintenance is VERY expensive on these things? Heck, I've spent upwards of $4k a year on each of my cars 2 years ago. $3k a year is not that much to fix an AMG. $4500 - $6k a year would be a lot, and a dealbreaker. I may be back in the game.

Quadcammer

maintenance is not expensive. In fact, maintenance is cheap and easy as hell on Mercedes. You could do it yourself, hell a 10 year old girl could change air filters, oil, cabin filters, etc on a modern benz.

The trouble is really when one of the super fancy features breaks. Those features are things like keyless go, dynamic seats, etc. The parts are expensive as hell.

However, from what I've found in my experience with 4 benzes (00 e430, 05 s500, 07 sl55, and 07 CLK550) is that they are very DEPENDABLE, in that if something goes wrong, it doesn't make the car unusable. The problems tend to be in things that most cars don't even have.

If you're a perfectionist, it can be expensive to get perfect if it has issues. If you can live without dynamic seats working properly for a while (just an example) you'll be perfectly fine driving the car with zero expense until you want to fix it.

vegas55amg

Stever,

I also considered the Lexus, I always liked the old body style LS430 (back when I couldn't afford it and I was driving a used ES300 ("fancy Camry"). I think the reason these cars don't excite people is that they are not so-called "enthusiast" cars. They are probably the best built automobiles in the world (don't bash me guys, but they really are bulletproof in every way, and every detail in terms of creature comforts, down to the layout of the controls, has been engineered to the most minute detail). They are also very quick in their own right (doesn't the LS460 have like 380 hp?), and you can't find a smoother ride for long road trips. And an LS leaves NOTHING out, in terms of things Mercedes should have put on our almost $100k cars! I'm talking about state of the art touch screen Navigation, backup camera and sensors, power folding mirrors, cooled seats that REALLY cool, and the Mark Levinson stereo TOTALLY blows away the Harmon Kardon stereo in our cars, which I actually find doesn't sound as good as the Bose systems in my CLK55 or my wife's Infiniti QX56......

That being said, they don't have the top line seat of the pants performance of an AMG. Having owned my 02 CLK55 AMG for 6 years now, and still loving it every time I get in, is what made me look at the E63 and put my LS dreams on hold until I'm a little older and grayer.

You've probably also noticed the LS, while a loaded version is cheaper brand new than an E63, holds its value better and depreciates much slower. This is testament to the fact that Lexus's enjoy a much deserved reputation for almost NEVER breaking, whereas our AMG's have a bit of a reputation for unexpected very high dollar repairs once they have lots of miles on them.

sounds like you really need to think about what you want, as these are completely different breeds of car.

good luck with your decision.