[Dave]

Ever since a kid I've had pictures on the wall, airfix models & cast die cars of the Porsche 911. Always wanted one, but a) could never afford it with the mortgage etc & b) almost wanted to keep it just a dream , inccase the reality disappointed me

Well last night I burst that bubble. I went & test drove an 8 year old 911 (996) Carrera. Not the best conditions with it having just rained. I asked the seller if he could take me for a spin to show me what the car was capable of , then I would take over & drive it sensibly ( I do respect others cars you know). Anyway the 1st roundabout we came up to , the owner said I'll show you its grip levels. Now seeing as the road was soaking wet I wasn't expecting much, but WOW !!!! This thing held the road better than a hot hatch in the dry Then onto a bit of accleration....yep 5 secs to 60 does seem right & the howl from that engine ...wooohoo. Then the bit that made me just laugh out loud. I asked the owner to pull up into a petrol garage up the road so we could swap over. As we approached at approx 70 he said he would show me what the brakes were like..... in the wet again I remind you. Well I thought he must have meant another garage as we came up almost to the side of the entrance without slowing, then he hit the brakes & just turned in ...no probs. I've never experienced a car that can brake that hard.

So anyway I slipped behind the wheel & dorve the 8 miles back again. Although this car had 76k miles on it, it felt very taught. Loved the driving position, the seats, the dash layout ....what am I saying....I loved the whole darn thing

So the dream hasn't been broken

[stepheno]

.......and did you buy it?

[Dave]

...not yet I've done the basic maths & reckon due to low depreciation on these cars, it will actually cost less than me driving a Company car , like a Ford Mondeo. Just hard to spend all that dosh on a car that will be over 100K miles in next couple of years

Also I think the battle of Missus's new dream house vs Dave's dream car might get a bit interesting

Funnily enough the guy had a TVR before......said it cost him a fortune to keep it on the road

[Steve]

Its only money..you can't take it to the grave with you

Looks around for Spearhawk to come along with his usual persuasive powers and two days later Dave driving a 911

[Matt F]

Sounds great - my only concern would be what mileage it will be on when you come to sell - there's a psychological issue (for me anyway) with the 100K miles barrier - I could never imagine buying a car with that kind of mileage.

Aren't there plenty of 996's available at reasonable money with mileages in the 50's or early 60's?

By the way, since buying my C180K Sports Coupe a couple of weeks back (and still loving it and getting 37+mpg) I've been wondering about the more powerful version for the future. What recently came out is the C350 version - 3.5 V6 with 272bhp and yet still 29mpg on the combined cycle. Now that really would be something!

The best bit however, is the price - whereas the C350 saloon starts at well over £30K, the Sports Coupe version starts at £24K - is it me or does that sound like a performance car bargain.

What also struck me with the Merc is that it is effectively a car that everyone seems to moan isn't made anymore - the VW Corrado i.e. coupe/hatch with four seats, great build, looks, handling etc. The only difference is the Merc is RWD but that's arguably a good thing.

Matt.

[Raymo]

The 911 is a great car I got the chance to drive a carrera2 a few years ago and it completely amazed me, but I didnt even think about buying 1 due to the cost etc, I recently fell in love with the Beemer M3 with the sequential box in and the colour phoenix yellow and was determined that it was going to be my next car but recently found out the running costs etc, 16mpg round town, group 20 insurance and servicing costs that you could take your family on holiday with , so needless to say that Idea has been shelved

[Dave]

Drove a brand spanker CLK 2litre diesel on Friday Matt., as the garage has 12 pre-reg cars for £5.5K off list. Very attractive car & drove well, but just didn't make me feel special. Hard to spend that kind of dosh when you know you'll be bored within a few weeks.

Agree fully re 100K barrier on 911......have the same concerns. Also expressed these to the seller to see how felxible he would be on the price. Will phone PorcheTech tomorrow for an idea of what they value a car with 100K miles on it, just so I know. Silly thing is we know the Porsche can take thos emiles no probs......but perception is all powerful

Unfortunately can't find any more resonable mileage cars for decent money. There is a 98 model with 68k miles, with new engine fitted 25k miles ago, for £1k less, although needs a service (175+VAT) plus some rear tyres (£120 each + fitting), plus only normal alloys where as other one was Turbo II alloys.

Will also see if PorscheTech can get hold of one for my budget

[Dave]

Raymo, it's not so bad with the 911 really. 12K service £175+vat. 24k service £350+vat , then back to 12 k service again. Not bad for a supercar. Although ins grp 20, I was quoted £600 fc incl business miles, which was better than I thought it might be.

The most important thing though, is to take into accoutn the depreciation. I'm reckoning on £2K a year. So although higher running costs , the 2 together balance out to same costs, or even lower, as running a new family saloon

[Raymo]

I don't know where BMW get their figures from but this chap with the M3 said anything from £600 - £1200 servicing costs, I nearly fell over. The servicing cost for the 911 sound reasonable, as you say for a supercar.

[Dave]

Shall I get a price for 2 now then

[Raymo]

Originally Posted by Dave

Shall I get a price for 2 now then

MMmmmmm

[Dabhand16]

I've always tended to hang onto cars that are 'doing what is says on the tin'. Driving into London on a daily basis (including 2.5 years of doing seven day weeks) over the last 32 years certainly racks up the miles, but I don't change cars very often.

The ones that stand out are a 1981 bog basic Fiesta 950 that I bought with around 54,000 miles, sold with 145,00 to a mate who ran it for 2 years at an MOT cost of £62, than gave it to his daughter who uesd it for another 2 years befoe selling it for the same price as I sold it to my mate for! The car, like all my cars. stands outside 24/7, and it never failed to start first time. What a car.

That was followed by a 1.6 Orion Ghia. Again, around 55,000 miles when bought, sold at 210,000 and going like a train. My current car, the Calibra, bought with 53,000 and now has passed 165,000. Still does 40+ mpg, only uses about a litre of oil in 9,000 miles. Of course there have been maintainace costs, the Orion had 2 cylinder head re-furbs at 90,000 and 180,000, but routine maintainance is required for anyhthing mechanical. The Calibra has cost me around £1700 in 7 years for non service items that have had to be replaced, or around £250 per year. These things have included a steering rack, because I hit something on a dark road, an ignition unit and a clutch (replaced as a precaution at 100,000 miles, but had plenty left on it!) These alone cost about £900, a big chunk of the total cost.

I have to take issue at Matt F's giving the thumb's up to a car with mileage in the 60,000's, but not one with only one more year's milage on it. If 12,000 miles can make or break a car, I would be in trouble. If a car is seviced reqularly, odd items attended to between sevices, and are driven sympathetically, modern cars are capable of doing fantastic milages. One of my golden rules, for instance is I never go over 2,000 rpm before the engine is warm. It is true what the say, most damage is suffered by an engine in the first 2-4 miles from starting from cold. My driving style is very easy on cars. That is not to say I go around at 30mph, but as a comparison, my neighbour, who has always had a new company car every year has a driveway that is smothered in oil, and his cars usually have some breakdown issues. My drive, with my old bangers on it nas barely a drop, and my cars are seldom off the road, and, touch wood, I've never had a breakdown.

If the D200 is the Porsche of the camera world, then it is only right that it has a soul mate.

BuY it.

[Dave]

Behave

[Matt F]

Originally Posted by Dave

Drove a brand spanker CLK 2litre diesel on Friday Matt., as the garage has 12 pre-reg cars for £5.5K off list. Very attractive car & drove well, but just didn't make me feel special. Hard to spend that kind of dosh when you know you'll be bored within a few weeks.

Was that a 200CDI or a 220CDI? If it was the former then I'm not surprised you didn't feel special. I was given a C Class saloon courtesy car (06 plate) - now I loved the looks and the new interior (with leather) was so far ahead of the latest 3 series in both looks and quality. The handling/ride (this one had sports suspension) was up there with the new 3 series. However, the 200CDI diesel was poor - noisy and slow - had to rev it a lot (not what you want with a diesel engine) to get any decent progress and the mpg wasn't great. Substitute that engine for the 320CDI (or the 350 petrol) and I'd bet that would be fantastic drive.

I reckon you'd feel pretty good in a C350 Sports Coupe (especially if it were an AMG Evolution Panorama) Dave but don't take my word for it - take one on a test drive - we know you love test driving cars

Matt.

[Dave]

It was the 2.2 diesel Matt, with autobox. The engine was as quiet as the 2.0 diesl BMW engine, but obviously the weight of the CLK & auto box dented performance a bit.

Managed to find some circa 50K mile porkers a bit farther from home. Just a pain to go & see them, especially as we're on the razz this Friday