One for the Porsche Owners or Enthusiasts...

[ACE]

I've finally decided to take the plunge and get myself a porka. Probably looking at a 2002-2005 996 Carrera Cabrio. I know there have been a few Porsche owners/enthusiasts on this forum in the past (JME/Riggs) and I was wondering if you might help me out with a few questions.

1. Who did you use to insure the car? I'm 28 and have had a couple of interesting quotes (some are cheaper than for my WRX) but some agencies won't touch me.
2. Who did you get to service the car? Are there any local mechs in Perth who do a good job at a reasonable price
3. Any forums around like this one for Porka owners?
4. How did you find operating maintenance costs, any tips for looking at a 5 year old Porsche?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated

Cheers in advance,

ACE

[AWDmoke]

1. I have never owned a Porsche
2. Peter - Master Mechanic, Crompton Rd, Rockingham. He only works on high end/Kraut cars.
3. Porsche drivers don't like to talk to the common folk
4.Like most cars, make sure it has a full service history and the major service has been done (cost of timing belts is horrific).

[BALISTC]

If I recall, early 996's are notorious for failed 3.4 litre engines.. I think Jme knows more about this though.

[EXPLICIT]

When looking at possible purchases, check the following.

Full service history (as expected)
Is the vehicle locally delivered or from Hong Kong?
Rear Main Seal was a common fault on earlier series 996's
Second gear roll test - I.e. when decellerating in 2nd gear at relatively high rpm, there was a fault in earlier batch gearboxes where the syncro would slip out of gear - nothing problematic, but it existed.

Servicing costs are actually very good, it's the first 2 years depreciation on a new one that hurts the most otherwise they are relatively cheap to service. I used KTec and they were well priced and thorough (now located in Osborne Park).

No real Porsche specific forum in Oz. Euro Car Club Australia has a forum but not big on porsche stuff.

6speedonline.com has a large community base.
www.renntech.org is a good one as is www.rennlist.com

Good luck with the purchase, they are the best built cars on the planet without question.

[BREW]

As for the insurance;
Speak to Chelsea Shaw from http://www.centralins.com.au/ and mention that Bryan Chew sent you there.

Got mates using http://www.austnetgroup.com.au/ for their pokka below 30.

[DAN682]

Originally Posted by BREW

As for the insurance;
Speak to Chelsea Shaw from http://www.centralins.com.au/ and mention that Bryan Chew sent you there.

I use central insurance brokers too they are really good to deal with and are very well priced.

[pete gopal]

Originally Posted by ACE

I've finally decided to take the plunge and get myself a porka. Probably looking at a 2002-2005 996 Carrera Cabrio. I know there have been a few Porsche owners/enthusiasts on this forum in the past (JME/Riggs) and I was wondering if you might help me out with a few questions.

1. Who did you use to insure the car? I'm 28 and have had a couple of interesting quotes (some are cheaper than for my WRX) but some agencies won't touch me.
2. Who did you get to service the car? Are there any local mechs in Perth who do a good job at a reasonable price
3. Any forums around like this one for Porka owners?
4. How did you find operating maintenance costs, any tips for looking at a 5 year old Porsche?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated

Cheers in advance,

ACE

What's one worth? Just out of intrest

[ACE]

Originally Posted by pete gopal

What's one worth? Just out of intrest

Will be working with a budget of about 75K, so am planning to get the best car I can afford, even if it means looking at buying interstate.

Thanks to some of the earlier posters - some great advice and information given. Good old P-Wrx to the rescue again!!

[EXPLICIT]

Yes, stay away from series 1 3.4L if you can, they were a bit of a fail.