gmbal4

Well I have a decision to make my friend that owns a car lot in town here has a 2003 Porsche 911 Twin Turbo with the X50 package for sale. He will take my 04 Vette on trade and I can make payments thru his dealership. Payments will only go up 50 bucks from what I`m paying now on the Vette. So I`m on the fence because the Vette will payed off in December and I will be done with car notes However I have never owned a porsche in my life. Took the car for a test drive and nailed it a few times and the power and torque from the car Welds you to the seat power is incredible to say the least along with AllWheel drive the car is a monster even comes with a warranty bumper to bumper.So I can stick with what I have and be done with car notes or take on another 5 year Loan. Don`t get me wrong I love my car always wanted a C5 and finally got 1 a few years ago. Just not sure what to do ..decisions decisions !!!! ....ohhh and the 911 is $ 39,000 it has 103,000 miles my C5 has 72,000 miles

Verrückt ZR1

I'm seeing 415-450hp for the '03 Turbos. 100k miles on a Porsche, especially a Turbo, is a lot. I'd pay your car off, throw some money at modest mods (H/C/I/E) and decimate the Porsche. Just a thought.

Also, for ~$40k puts you in nice C6 Z06 territory. They're Porsche slayers out of the box.

DDaaryl

For $40k you could score an early C7, I'd do that before the Porsche. Knowing what I know about German engineering, maintenance costs and 100k miles personally I'd pass.

knewblewkorvette

I've always loved the 911 Turbo but the latest and greatest costs a whopping $162,000 without options, waaaaayyyyy out of my league.
But, I would NOT buy a 2003 Turbo with over 100,000 miles on it, no way, no how. To maintain the sucker could be a fortune where as the C5 with just 72,000 should be a piece of cake. If you want to go faster, add a A&A supercharger kit. There are vendors right now offering the kit INSTALLED and TUNED for just $6600. You'll be above 500 hp then and still reliable. (except for rear tires, those won't be reliable )

70RT440

In my family, we have had exactly one Porsche. We will never own another. It was a maintenance hadache. Parts were ridiculously expensive. The car was uncredibly unreliable and to try to get Porsche to honor the warranty on anything was an excercise in futility.

rrwirsi

Just by your posting, it appears you have already decided to dump the C5 for a Porsche. Follow your dreams, no matter what the consequences are, Remember, that is what you did when you bought the C5, Cars are not for a lifetime. If you can afford it, go for it and do not look back. JMHO.

Sydwayz

Be sure to look into maintenance requirements and costs for the Porsche.

Vetteman Jack

I agree. I bought my ‘14 C7, 2LT with only 2600 miles on it for $40.5K back in November. Over 100K miles on a Porsche is not what I would want to take on.

K-Spaz

Last year I bought a C6 427 for about that price. I would guess it'll pretty much humiliate that Porsche in every category. It has less than one-fourth the miles, more horsepower, quite a bit more torque, a lot more range of torque in RPMs, and it's 10 years newer. It also likely won't depreciate anywhere near as fast and if it does it's because I drove it a ton. Parts for it or vastly cheaper even though it's one of the more expensive if not the most expensive Corvette to get parts for. I don't know...

If you're dead set on the 911, by all means jump in. But just remember that five years from now when it's paid off you'll have a 21 year old car with incredibly high miles or a 21 year old car you've made five years worth of payments on and never drove.

Here's my not so responsible purchase.

70RT440

One more thing I should add

A couple of years ago, before I bought the C5, I told a friend of mine who works at a MB dealership that also sells new and used exotics. I asked him to keep an eye out for a Ferrari 328 or 348 because I was interested in biying one.

His advice was...

"I'll find you one with low miles and in good shape, but remember, if you can't afford it new, you can't afford it used."

In other words, purchase price is only one of the costs of owbership.

So I bought a Corvette.

ChiliPepperGarage

I had a 996 911 with the M96 engine (has the IMS issues) and my uncle has a 996 TT like the one you're looking at. I will tell you that the build quality of these cars is amazing and they have a solid feel that you can't get from a Corvette. Mine was a '99 cabriolet with 60K miles on it. It was still like a brand new car. I'm very happy with my current C5 but you just can't compare it to the Porsche. It is after all, just a Chevy.

The 911 driving experience is quite different too. It took me a while to fully understand how to drive it but once you do it is very rewarding. My uncle's TT is very fast and quite thrilling. He also has a RUF RGT which is even more amazing.

Sure, you can buy a faster Vette for the same money but there is a reason why the Porsche costs more.

That said, unless I won the lottery I would never buy another one. While it was a joy to drive I was always worried about the 23 different modes of possible catastrophic engine failure. Now the TT has the Metzger engine which is much better, it still costs a fortune to maintain and repair. The bottom line is, if you can afford the entry cost and the possible repairs and maintenance I think they are a blast. I would be a bit hesitant on the mileage unless it came with an extended warranty but the price is good on it. I can't over emphasize this though: take it to a reputable Porsche shop for a PPI before you make a deal. They will let you know what kind of potential costs may involved after the purchase. As they say, there is no car more expensive than a cheap used Porsche!

Check out the Rennlist. It is the Corvette Forum for Porsches. https://rennlist.com/forums/

gmbal4

Here are a few photos

Fastbird

Man, as cool of a car as they are, I wouldn't do it. Those are expensive to maintain much less fix if something goes awry. Unless you're prepared to shell out a bunch of money should that happen, I'd pass and stick with the Y Platform GM Offering. That said.......those TT Porsche's are awesome cars.

z06801

I had a 996tt for years sold it with a 160k on the clock running strong the like mentioned the motor in the turbo is quite bombproof most of my miles were with a UMW stage 2b kit and had about 550 at the wheels, maintenance was easy oil changes were very simple, it has a dry sump motor so there are 4 plugs to pull, like any car most problems come from mods, transmissions can get very expensive for them, but most normal parts are not much different than other cars. A x50 if you keep it stock (which I'm not good at) will hold that value for a long time seems like they have been going up a bit actually. If you can do most of your own maintenance type work and you want it, I'd get it.
One more thing I tracked the hell out of mine also no problems one concern is if the coolant manifold lines have been pinned or welded. It needs to be done if it hasn't. even if the car is not tracked they still have a tendency to pop out.

gmbal4

Have not decided yet just on the fence about it a big decision to make Vette wil be paid for in 6 months

gmbal4

Yes it comes with and extended warranty for the length of the Loan

ChiliPepperGarage

In that case I'd be pretty tempted. I think while the 996's are still at the bottom of the market, 996TT's are starting to appreciate. It is becoming pretty well known that they are probably the best bargain out there (except for C5's!).

I don't know if this is going to be your daily or just a play car. Also don't know what your financial situation is so can't advise on that aspect. My uncle is quite wealthy and bought his car new and uses the crap out of it! Driven across the country several times, has hauled plants home in it (it's a cabrio), hauls bicycles and all kinds of stuff. Pretty much uses it like a regular car. He could afford pretty much any new car made but likes the TT so much he has hung on to it (I was hoping he might sell it to me at a highly discounted price on day!).

Would the dealer let you take it for an extended (maybe a couple day) test drive? That would really help you get a feel for the car. Also, even with a warranty, I'd still want a PPI done.

K-Spaz

That was a very important point to Omit in the op. That makes it very different.

Fastbird

That's a game changer right there. IF, you can resist doing anything that would void the warranty.

Blue Curvette

There’s a reason I moved to Corvette. Nothing but issues with the P cars that I have owned. If they work your golden...if not...you’re on a roller coaster ride. Also watch what the extended warranty covers. I was quite surprised when I needed to get it serviced (too late at that point).