911 (964) Carrera 4

It's a very nice car... I'm a huge fan of porsche! But I personally prefer the 993!

G

Can he aford to Maintain it, has he considered possible repair / running costs.

It may seem cheap but Porsche Bits cost a fortune to replace / repair etc....

The Car maybe a Porsche but its 14 years old now...

I have had Porsche's for the last 10 years and they dont generally cost a lot to maintain.
The 964 is a great car, but did suffer from problems with its dual mass flywheel which can be expensive to change. The engine was not a problem ( as with all pre 996 Porsche's) they go on forever if maintained, and only require top end rebuilds at about 150,000 but even this is relatively straightforward since it is the guides and seals the wear.
993 was the pinnacle of the aircooled 911's and generally the best but still command relatively high prices since they are sought after.
Most Porsche's are well maintained in my experience and look for bills and receipts.. a main dealer history is not really a must in a car that is 14 years old, but it should have had regular services etc.

964 is an excellent, but underrated car, hence the cheap prices.

There are a list of common issues involving oil leaks, dual mass flywheels, distributor belts and suchlike, but if you go to rennlist.com there is a wealth of information on what to spot and what to buy.

Perhaps most importantly on a high miler (as the often are >80k) is that the biggest expense is a top end rebuild (circa £4k-7k) depending on who you go to and what you have done, but once completed you have the very great possibility of trouble free motoring well into the 100k mile territory.

I'd buy one, in fact I probbably will, if the right one comes up. They are faster than they should be for the power, reliable, have fantastic handling and control feedback, plus they are immeasurably cool cars.

The best bit? Pick one up for 15-18k and provided its "good" and the engine work has been done, you are very unlikely to lose money on it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif My friend has had one now for about 3 years. Cost him £15k and it's still worth that. His has some a very minor oil leak, suggesting that in the next 10k and engine rebuild is due, but if you had bought any other car 3 years ago, you'd have lost more than the £4k it's going to take to put the porsche right in depreciation - clever car, clever money /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

BTW, the 993s are overpriced still, in high demand, and don't offer an awful lot more... You can buy a 996 cheaper that a decent (and older) 993 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

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David R said:
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RastaS4 said:
Well it confirms what I'm saying.... the 993 is simply more beautiful and better! It has a more agressive look. You really have that "porsche feeling" when driving one.


G

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I couldn't agree. The 993 is definately a prettier car (said in italian job accent), but as for it being "better" and justifying the fact that the prices are almost double the 964, I think not.

The cabin is the same, the engines are minimally different (unless you opt for the even more expensive varioram) and the handling on the 993 is safer and in my view less driver orientated...

£15k for a 964 C4 or £35k for a decent 993 varioram C4?? Hard to justify... especially when you factor in the 993 depreciation thats long overdue (and by the looks of it will be coming soon with the advent of the 997)

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Good Point!!! I did not know that it was double the price... but it's all about economics: the higher the demand, the higher the prices! Now tell me this, why would there be such a high demand on the 993??


G

[ QUOTE ]
RastaS4 said:
Well it confirms what I'm saying.... the 993 is simply more beautiful and better! It has a more agressive look. You really have that "porsche feeling" when driving one.


G

[/ QUOTE ]

I couldn't agree. The 993 is definately a prettier car (said in italian job accent), but as for it being "better" and justifying the fact that the prices are almost double the 964, I think not.

The cabin is the same, the engines are minimally different (unless you opt for the even more expensive varioram) and the handling on the 993 is safer and in my view less driver orientated...

£15k for a 964 C4 or £35k for a decent 993 varioram C4?? Hard to justify... especially when you factor in the 993 depreciation thats long overdue (and by the looks of it will be coming soon with the advent of the 997)