I thought the later cars were less prone to falling apart? No?

Nice looking car...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-cars-sale/879347-1999-porsche-911-carrera-c2-aero-kit.html

No, really no change in quality between the two. The 986/996 interior doesn't look as nice as the 987/997 but holds up much better. The base interiors wear like iron.

I had a 2001 Boxster S with a blue interior. The all leather interior in the C4S dresses it up quite a bit and I like the black much better. It has worn really well. The car has 93k on it and for the most part the interior looks new.

The dash cluster can be black or white gauges too, even during the same year.

Never really liked white, but never owned a car with them either.

Actually the gauges can be a variety of colors, mostly common with the exterior colors. I've seen lots of Guards Red and Speed Yellow gauges over the years.

congrats Jerry.I was pretty sure that when you drove it you were sold.Agree about the interior(actually exterior also)Mine has 107k and still looks almost new.I look for excuses to drive it(even drove it in the rain once)
Dave

Porsche 911 Carrera 4 Coupe 2 Door | eBay

173,000 miles. Too many? I may throw an offer on this car....

At 173k I would probably request a leakdown or compression test. If all is well, go for it! I think rebuildable M96 cores are going in the $7-8k range now that Porsche is no longer making short blocks, so even if it starts burning oil by the gallon you could still get your money back.

I think it's a $10k or $11k car...

Me too. You can find them with 100k for $15k.

Beater turbo. Slap some bondo on it...

Porsche 911 Turbo | eBay

They also have a McLaren for sale.
McLaren MP4 12C | eBay

Holy crap, someone tool a bath on that McLaren...or some insurance company.

What does every one think of the manual vs auto trans? I prefer a manual, but there are days an auto would be nice. Track days are over, so I could go either way.

What's the lifespan of each?

That Mclaren looks like a buy......

Turbos do pretty well with tiptronics. You couldn't pay me to own a standard Carrera with a tip.

Turbo with tip is actually quicker than with a manual. Plus since it's a standard torque converter, you can have it re-stalled to any RPM you want.

Turbo with a tip is what I'll replace my 996 C2 with.

I'd rather have a "tip" just to avoid the dreaded "2nd gear pop-out" on the G-box.

The 2nd gear pop isn't that common, and it's not a hard fix. In my opinion an automatic in a Porsche defeats the purpose, and the tiptronic is basically a gimmick.