The economy has created some great opportunities with more recent Porsches, too. Porsches tend to depreciate like crazy when new, then enter a gentle glide path for a decade or more. If you consider the total cost of ownership, a 5-10 year old 911 costs far less to own and run than many dull, soulless modern cars. And unlike the wonderful vintage 911s, you can drive them year-round.

I wouldn't recommend them for 20k of highway commuting miles a year, but for more reasonable distances, it's a fun and involving alternative to the usual dull tin box.

hhd:

The economy has created some great opportunities with more recent Porsches, too. Porsches tend to depreciate like crazy when new, then enter a gentle glide path for a decade or more. If you consider the total cost of ownership, a 5-10 year old 911 costs far less to own and run than many dull, soulless modern cars. And unlike the wonderful vintage 911s, you can drive them year-round.

I wouldn't recommend them for 20k of highway commuting miles a year, but for more reasonable distances, it's a fun and involving alternative to the usual dull tin box.

HHD,

I've always liked the look of the 911 and was thinking of picking a used one up to putter around in. Any particularly good or bad models that immediately spring to your mind as something to look for or avoid?

And if I do buy a used one, is having a porsche mechanic look it over good enough of a "no major troubles test" as a general rule?

Thanks

Prior to 1999, 911s were air-cooled, and perhaps a bit more finicky, in exchange for which you get the "real" Porsche experience.

1999 and newer 911s are completely different despite bearing a similar look, and are much more like normal cars--quieter, smoother riding, etc.

Drive a few to see what you like. But absolutely have any Porsche checked out by a shop that really knows the cars before buying.

But if you are going to buy an air-cooled Porsche, the one to get is the Carrera 3.2, which was built from '84-'89. The 3.2 engine is legendary for being bulletproof. Good examples can be had for around 20k.

Personally, I'm a 356 man myself, but decent examples begin at 30k for those.

The big thing I've heard about looking at older Porsches (and, really, any old car in general) is rust. Rust, rust, rust. That's a real killer. You'd probably do good to find a good Porsche internet forum and poke around there. <link> is a place my dad frequents (he has a rather fantastic 1972 911). Most places will probably have a guide to finding your car, and if they don't, a good community would be happy to help out.

Be prepared to spend some money, though. A good condition 911, event a 20-30 year old one, could easily be in the 20ks. You may want to keep an eye out for 928s and 944s. They're not 911s, but you can get ones in good condition for quite a bit cheaper than a similar 911, and I believe they're more driver-friendly.

Absolutely have a mechanic do a pre-purchase inspection before buying one. The Porsche Club of America (PCA) is a good place to find the mechanic.

Starting with 1976 Porsche double-dip galvinized all of their body panels, so rust becomes much less common after that. If you do find rust on more recent Porsches, that tends to be an indication of accident damage.

The mid-1970's 911 engines were less reliable than those that preceded or followed, so you can find a lot of 911's from then that have been re-engined, or are very cheaply priced because they're showing problems.

I went with the 'It's not collectable' choice and bought a '92 968 Coupe. Front-engined and water-cooled, it will never go up in value, but it's still a blast to drive even at 17 years old.

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

The water-cooled change sounds a bit like Harley's going over to EFI from carbs - "sure they run better, but they aren't "real" anymore", LOL. (I've got a road king with EFI, and it'll start from 20-100deg F just the same. can't argue with that).

I kind of like the look of the old 70's ones, but think that after 30+ years here in the midwest... not so good. A 90's version then is probably a better bet. I do like the air-cooled engine, so should probably stick pre-99.

the next decision is convertible vs. air conditioning. I would only be Sunday driving here, so either's ok, but don't know how much more unstable the convertible would be with the top down compared to a hardtop. How much more rear-heavy and oversteery does the car become with the top down? Also, how reliable after 15 years is Porsche's AC? With recharging good as new, or not worth a lick?

My Boxster was almost ten years old when I sold it this year. It was perfect. Not a thing wrong with it and nothing likely to go wrong. All I did was do the 30,000 mile tune up and left it to the new owner to replace the alternator - but it was ten years old, so I can't whine about that. The a/c was fine, and it was mostly driven in Texas, so I'd call that a stress test.********** *********** *********** ********** ****** ********** *********** *********** ************ ************** *********** *********** ****************** Have you driven a Porsche Cayman? (No, NOT the truck. That's an abomination. Salesmen like to say it drives like a Porsche....but it's a truck and it drives just like a.....truck.) The Cayman started out as the "hard top Boxster" but it morphed into so much more. It still has the transverse, center mounted six cylinder engine, which gives the car superb stability and better handling than any other sports car I've ever driven, but it's also 200 pounds lighter than the Boxster. Road testers made that little darling go faster than the 911 on a standard course because there was less need to finesse turns and whatnot than with either a front or rear engine car. *** ********** ********** ************ *********** *********** *********** ********* ********* ********** ********** ***** *********** Given the choice, I'd get a new Cayman over just about anything else they have on offer. It's a sweetheart of a car.