Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

So I've read the buyers guides which say buy the best Porsche you can afford. But for me that means around £10K, allowing a bit left over for sorting first year issues.

So is it possible to buy a Targa for that money for sunny Sundays with my partner and our 4 year old daughter?

I'd prefer an SC or a Carrera, but would contemplate a 964 as beggars can't be choosers, although the potential cost implications of the added complexity worries me a bit.

So advice required, is it possible to stay the right side of £10K and enjoy a 911 or is it just a route to financial ruin? Of course this being a car I've always wanted, and me being me, I don't guarantee I won't go ahead ayway, but I'm interested to hear what anyone thinks.

Thanks,

Andrew

Not sure if you can get a good one for £10k I am a 944 man myself.
It's not necessarily the initial purchase cost thats the problem but the annual upkeep, as you are aware, buy the best you can afford but you still may be faced with quite hefty bills to keep it in good condition even though your mileage may not be high if its just a weekend car.
Others will no doubt be along to add their 911 knowledge and advice.
Clive

Hi and welcome do you do much DIY work on your cars? This would help keep costs down.

A couple of years ago you could have got a cracking 911SC or maybe a slightly tatty 3.2 carrera for that money, but the air cooled models have seen a real bump in the last year or so, which means any under the £10k point may well be expensive to make right and keep on the road, but £12k might get you in the right zone.

That money will get you a 1999 onwards model like the 996, but that may be a little modern for you.

Having said that, typically cabriolets and targas used to command less money than coupes, so you might be in luck for your budget.

Usually a selection is on pistonheads.com

There are cars out there in your budget, however they may cost 1/2 as much again to put right.

Hello and welcome, the air cooled 911s aren't cheap to run unless you are handy on the tools, as mentioned above you might be better off checking out a few of the early 996 type 911s as they seem to fall into your budget

andrewc wrote:So I've read the buyers guides which say buy the best Porsche you can afford. But for me that means around £10K, allowing a bit left over for sorting first year issues.

So is it possible to buy a Targa for that money for sunny Sundays with my partner and our 4 year old daughter?

I'd prefer an SC or a Carrera, but would contemplate a 964 as beggars can't be choosers, although the potential cost implications of the added complexity worries me a bit.

So advice required, is it possible to stay the right side of £10K and enjoy a 911 or is it just a route to financial ruin? Of course this being a car I've always wanted, and me being me, I don't guarantee I won't go ahead ayway, but I'm interested to hear what anyone thinks.

Thanks,

Andrew

964 beggars cant be choosers !!!!! the 964 is a superb 911 and totally underated probably the best useable to date
Cheaper than the 993 and still has the classic shape

John F
John F

Just been through this, and have looked at a lot of cars.

Those around for 10K are 10k for a reason - it will need work. And any work on a 911 is likely to run into 000s.

Sills/b posts = 2K per side
Wings = 1.5K per side
Exhaust/heat exchangers probably 1-2k
Engine 4K
Interior 2K
Passing wind inside 1K

VERY easy to find youself with a bill of 5K plus.

But you could buy a car for 15K that still needed 5K spending.

These cars just cant be run on a budget unless you are lucky - so my advice is dont buy one unless you can take the pain.

Having said that, they are still worth every penny.....

I'm afraid the title of post needs changing to 'received lots of good advice but ignored it'

And apologies to John F - It was all the buyers guide comments about all the potential complexities of the 964 that put me off for a while - when I started looking at 911's it was 964's I started looking at

So I've gone ahead and bought a 1990 C2 Targa. Drove it back 230 miles from Ilford last Tuesday, and it never missed a beat, and went for a run to Bolton Abbey with the family yesterday, roof off and we all loved it. Bolton Abbey was packed, but we squeezed into a space any other car of similar performance would have had to pass on. 300 and a bit miles, and I'm still on the same tank of fuel I filled up with at Ilford last Tuesday.

What a stupendous package the 911 is, touching wood this could turn out to be a brilliant decision

Brilliant! well done, hope you enjoy the car

Well done. Where's the pictures? Sounds great would be good to see it.

Welcome but get some pictures and details up!

I've always said the 911 is a family car