Welcome to the six- you picked the right forum to hang at

Yes yes and of course... yes. The 911 is an excellent DD car. I'm on my second. Try to buy one that is around 2-3 years old, less than 40k miles on it. (nice to at least have 1 to 2 years remaining warranty as an extra level of comfort walking into pcar ownership). But, you can always pick up an aftermarket warranty from Easy Care for a few grand. LA Auto Gallery has good pricing on the Easy Care warranty.

Try AutoTrader- I have always had good luck through there. Search the entire USA- Good deals typically out of Texas or Florida. Always check the carfax and if possible, the owner history. Only thing you have to watch our for from Texas is a possible flood car.

You don't need an "S", but of course if you find a deal on an S and it's only a small price diff over a non-S then that would be my first pick. Even with a non-S, as your first pcar, you'll be quite stoked. If you get an "S", make sure it has the Sport Chrono Plus option.

There are TONS of options on these cars so get familiar with them and make sure whichever one you are looking at has the options you want.
Every 911 drives / feels a bit different, has it's own personality. Test drive several of them and you'll notice it.

I strongly recommend getting a 6-speed vs an automatic. You'll get much more out of the car. My first pcar was an automatic, and it was very unsatisfying. The 6-speed is a completely different car. I will say however the new PDK trans in the 997.2 is simply awesome.


Some minor downsides:

• You'll go through rear tires much faster than on a normal car- Rear tires are a bit pricey
• 911's are a bit bumpy on bad streets. But, this is what gives the car it's awesome "road feel". It's a sports car, plain and simple.
• You'll find yourself looking for the farthest away corner parking spots to avoid door dings (I refer to this as the "paranoid parking syndrome")
• You'll find yourself bitten by the "mod bug" after a few months of ownership: Air intake, maybe some wheels, suspension, etc...
• You'll find yourself aimlessly hanging out on this forum with the rest of us 911 fanatics
• You won't want to drive anything else, except maybe a newer 911

Mechanically these cars are rock solid, it is a long time tried and proven platform. With minor typical care (oil changes etc), your pcar will pretty much run forever.
If you never intend on tracking the car, consider a convertible. You're in California- A nice drive along the coast on a sunny day with the top down is just short of a spiritual experience
Good luck with your hunt- if you find anything, run it by us here in the forums. You'll get good input on whether it is a good buy or not.

 

DD here too. I had a Cayenne S as a DD first, before getting a 911. Every Porsche I've had has been rock solid as a DD.

 

Great daily drivers and more dependable than most German cars. I commuted 45 miles round trip daily for 7 years in six speed cars - first a 996 C2 and later a 997 C4S. In spite of dealing with LA traffic, I would avoid tiptronic cars. The PDK is a different kettle of fish and I'm tempted to try that next, but the manual just suits the car so well. The mix of hills, curves, city streets and freeways in my commute meant the times I might have wanted the auto option were far outweighed by the satisfaction of being in total control of the car.

Plenty of good comments above, but something else to consider is that once you own a Porsche, it's hard not to have one in the garage. That means you are likely to buy more than one over the years. So it doesn't really matter if you buy a C2 or the S now. Both are great cars and have enough power and handling for daily use. The model range is wide enough that you can sample noticeably different driving experiences and move back and forth between C2, S, AWD, turbo or GT3 and your tastes and wants evolve. Not to mention plumbing the back catalog of older models too.

My only regret is waiting so long to buy the first one on what proved to be baseless concerns about practicality, reliability etc. If your tastes run to sports cars, it's just a smart buy.

 

ok so here's some irony guys... not long after my prev post above, my damn shift cable broke! Looks like it popped off or broke at the transmission end (which I can't get to- no jack here at the house). Car is permanently stuck in 3rd gear (that was a REALLY fun drive home...). Anyway, off to the shop tomorrow... Hope Tom's not busy!

JT, don't let this put you off- I have a short shifter in the car and I do drive it fairly hard / agressive. This would seem to be a very unlikely issue though...

...wanted to add, this is the first mechanical issue I've had with it in almost 3 years of DD and weekend canyon romping. Not too shabby.

 

I totally agree with others. I used my 986 for DD without much issue. I'm currently using my 997 as DD but you tend to lose that special feeling once you do. I had to change it up a bit and drive the wife's Cayenne.

 

I DD'd mine with without the normal issues... You won't regret it.

I'd get another one if I didn't prefer my current DD.

I highly recommend getting the S. I got bored of the C2 rather quickly. It left me wanting... If $55k is your range, have you considered a Turbo? I don't think you'd get bored too soon.

 

pOrsch3,
You are totally right about wearing out the rear tires. I switch to Hankook's for half the price of P-zeros and so far quite impressed with them.

 

Yep, just the nature of the car. The inside of the rears will tend to wear faster due to the camber if you are doing mostly daily driving. You can dial that out at expense of handling. I have mine aligned to GT3 street specs so the rear camber is a bit more agressive than stock.

P-Zeros suck. period. Noisy, slippery. Hate 'em. PS2's are the way to go but of course high price. I suppose the Hankook's would be a good cost efficient alternative. I only run PS2's though- IMHO it is worth the extra $ for the best street tires possible, especially with the way I drive

 

from a durability and maintenance standpoint, the 997 is fine as a DD.

However, IMO, the Cayman or Boxster is better for the OP as a DD because there are 2 trunks. I have my wife's SUV. Boxster/Cayman are great because you can store golf clubs in the back and still have room for groceries.

 

I'll go out on a limb here and say that "....it depends".
If you live north of the Mason Dixon line, really care about the cosmetics, don't have a good/safe/covered place to park at home and at work, drive a lot of rush-hour downtown in a major city, maybe you really won't like the car as a DD. Fact is that, especially in urban traffic, people often assume you're a tool. It's not all pleasant.
Alternatively, it's pretty cheap to keep a 10 year old Audi as a second car and drive what you love when it suits you.
Or not. It depends.

 

Mine is a daily driver. I decided to quit saving my car for the next owner.

 

I've been driving mine daily for nearly two weeks. 700 miles and no problems. Highly recommend it!

John

 

 

Another DD here. I can't imagine not DD the 911. I look forward to leaving for work and leaving work just so I can drive the car! After 18 months, the fun factor still hasn't worn off. On the weekends I drive the family around in the X5 for 2 days and I get anxious waiting for the weekend to end so I can drive the 911 again. Definitely not a maintenance or repair worry. Does the OP have other reason for not wanting to DD?

 

Mine is a quasi-DD. I say quasi because I work primarily from home, so there's no regular commute. I have an older truck that I use for Costco, Home Depot, airport, etc. I probably drive the truck slightly more now than when I had my last car (E39 5 series). But when I walk past the key rack on the way to the garage, the pcar is always the set that I want to grab.

My advice: Get a used beater truck as a second vehicle. Maybe I'm a little biased, being from tx where trucks are part of our DNA, but I really think if you own a house you need to own a truck too! I paid $4k for my current one, looks ugly but runs strong, and I don't care where I take it. An extra vehicle always comes in handy when family or friends visit from out of town.