Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

i have recently looked at various porsches for a friend who today bought a boxter, but one i looked at was a 911 996 4S 3.6 litre, wide body, 4 wheel drive etc. 75 K mileage but only £14995
What a lot of car for the money! and my insurance quote was £191 for a year. If i can sell my cab for 5K
I am so tempted, what do the owners think of them? and how reliable are they, i have heard of cracked heads and shafts breaking, writing off the engine.

The 4S is the one to have, enough has been said about the engine.

If it goes it's expensive, but it is such a lot of car for the money, I don't care.

I'm sure Autocar placed it above the Turbo as the car to have. The power delivery is linear and not spiked with the boost of the Turbo. It's basically a turbo without the turbo engine and is such a great car. I looked for one before buying the turbo and loved the clean look. most of the guys up here run them with a PSE, and it does sound better than my turbo. Such a great car, it was the car that I test drove and finally made my mind up that I was going to get one. I think they're near enough at the bottom of their depreciation curve, a good one should near as damn it keep it's value.

Lee i totally agree, i can't see them dropping any more. plus from the internet reading i have been doing, it seems most of the problems were with the 3.4 and i'm after the 3.6
I think now is the time to buy one

Who knows when the tipping point will be, you can only go on previous models as a guide. Will it ever become retro with those lopsided headlight clusters? History suggests it will, we will have to wait and see.

In the current market if you want a 911 under £15k your options are pretty much a 996. There are a few well worn 911 & 964 Targa's about if they are your bag.

Regarding the engine, there's an upgraded RMS you can fit if doing the clutch, and a low temp thermostat from Hartech. I had a Pug 407 that spent more time in the garage for the first 18 months of its life and my dad had a VW Bora that they took back after 6 months as they couldn't fix it. Problems aren't limited to Porsche and I have never personally know anyone with an issue on one.