fear of commitment - whats 993 ownership like v.s. an SC

[twobone]

I'm sure the 993 driving experience is amazing

Just curious about the other aspects

With my SC, I feel like I'm on a constant journey of improvement and refurbishment. I can deal with that because each project is fairly simple and the parts costs are reasonable

I'm also not worried about thrashing my SC because the costs of repairs and the effect on resale is not a big issue

Then I read all about how the 993 is the ultimate P-car and obviously the cost of entry is higher, but not out of my reach and they are just so beautiful


How will my view on p-car ownership change if I switch to a 993?

Will I be too worried about the higher cost of maintenance and general repairs? My local P-car wrench does my repairs, but I think 993 is out of his reach.....will a 993 put me in the poor house

Will I be too afraid to take it to a DE because its worth twice what I paid for my SC?


Or will I just be the happiest owner because I'm driving the ultimate in air cooled?

Real life insights are welcomed

[Don Plumley]

I owned an 87 and have a 993; however, my 993 is set up as a track car and the 87 was the more cared for car.

They are wonderful cars. Refined but powerful, and aside from Shocks, there really isn't a necessary upgrade/improvement journey (unless you turn it into a track car!).

DIY is not much harder, there's just more R&R time. But parts are more expensive (12 plugs, 2 distributor caps, price rotors, etc.), they eat rear tires 2x to the fronts, and they can have gotcha repairs that will send you to the poor house. A 30K service at an independent is $1200 to $1800.

And I'd buy another one in a heartbeat!

[Deschodt]

I've owned both, though I've since sold the 993 and repurchased my SC... Not that this is any indication of my feelings towards the car ;-)

The 993 is just as user friendly to the shadetree mechanic as the SC ! There is just about as much work that need to be done on it too (ballast resistors, windshield foam cords, ISV cleanups, airbox mods, exhaust mods, etc...).

I took mine to the track and wasn't more worried about it, if anything the better shifting and bigger motor made it more fun...



What somewhat killed the 993 for me was a combination of things: One, I'm fickle... Sorry, One, as the last of the handmade engines, a crate motor costs $30K, and rebuilds are also pretty bad. The ODB2/carbon buildup/valve guide issue is an expensive item. Two, even though it's the prettiest 911 ever built, from the inside it's 99% like being in your SC, kinda dissapointing. I was driving a piece of art for others to look at, not so much for me... Three, it was a "Between" car for me. Relatively expensive, yet neither under warranty, nor old enough that I did not care about a warranty...

I replaced it with a 987 and then a 996 eventually, but like I said I bought back the SC as well... My feeling is that if you are itching for a 993, get one, nothing will make the itch go away. They are faster than SCs by a mile, gorgeous outside, easy to DIY, and retain value pretty good... But keep some money on the side for big ticket items !

[Jim Richards]

Originally posted by Don Plumley
A 30K service at an independent is $1200 to $1800.

I DiY'd the 60k service + replaced the clutch/flwheel with a huge savings over these prices. As stated above, the R&R time is longer, but not anything daunting.

[Bill Verburg]

Normal day to day maintainanceis probably comparable, day livibility is far higher on the newer cars.

Once you start modifing the cost is somewhat higher. But then so are the results.