Top Gear Presenters

[Felonious Crud]

You can obviously buy a Portofino for a heck of lot less than that. And in the right colour (blue, grey, etc) they look fantastic. Easily the best of those three and would be my choice for the summer if I suddenly decided to move on the Strad or one of my others. More useable than a Macca, easier and cheaper to service, and better residuals too.

Carbon kits in Maccas are silly money as well. In fact they all charge crazy money for simple extras. But who needs all that extra tat? I specced a new 911 at DL in Swindon a couple of months back and the only extras I added to the base spec were metallic paint and a heated steering wheel. That surprised the sales boy.

Ewan, you're not helping things. I keep looking at Porkers. For the last couple of weeks I've had a loaner Cayman 718 (yes, the 4-cyl 2.5l jobby, sounds awful) and the handling and build quality of the thing is immense. The last-gen 911 is superb value, and the new one looks superb inside and out. Cab or Targa are both wonderful and compared to anything from Ferrari or Mclaren they're insanely good value.

What did you go for, and why?

 

[zagatoes30]

I keep getting the urge to scratch that Porsche itch, its been persistent for sometime and it is only the VRT here that is stopping me. I really want a Cayman S (05 ish) but slightly earlier Boxster S would tick both the Porker and summer convertible itches in one go.

 

[Silvercat]

I find Top Gear to be the biggest b&ll@cks ever. Bunch of idiots. Chris Harris is a Porsche guy. The rest are comedians and Chris Harris falls into the swamp with them. How on earth can any car enthusiast wstch such utter cr@p and rubbish?
Each to their own....I think its friggin brilliant!!...its a great laugh (not a serious car show) and thats all its meant to be.

 

[philw696]

I have to say chaps buying my first Porsche at 56 has been a revelation why did I leave it so long ????
My 987.1 Boxster S is an amazing car and for an 05 looks sharp and sounds amazing.
Build quality is 100% something the Maserati can only dream of.
On the road probably the Best driving car I have ever had.

 

[Felonious Crud]

I keep getting the urge to scratch that Porsche itch, its been persistent for sometime and it is only the VRT here that is stopping me. I really want a Cayman S (05 ish) but slightly earlier Boxster S would tick both the Porker and summer convertible itches in one go.

Do we have some kind of ailment, Andy? A 6-cyl N/A Cayman S would be a belter.

 

[Felonious Crud]

I have to say chaps buying my first Porsche at 56 has been a revelation why did I leave it so long ????
My 987.1 Boxster S is an amazing car and for an 05 looks sharp and sounds amazing.
Build quality is 100% something the Maserati can only dream of.
On the road probably the Best driving car I have ever had.

Arrrgggghhh, what's happening to us??

@CatmanV2 had a loaner 911 Turbo for a while. Cat, what didn't you like about it?

 

[philw696]

Adam a flat 6 motor is what Porsche ownership is all about.
It's like putting the Beetle motor back in them.
Why do we all want V8 or V12 GT cars anything less just isn't right really.

 

[Felonious Crud]

Adam a flat 6 motor is what Porsche ownership is all about.
It's like putting the Beetle motor back in them.
Why do we all want V8 or V12 GT cars anything less just isn't right really.

It's the noise with the Porks that lets them down compared to ours. I love my de-catted V12. Mind you, you can wring a fair bit of how out of a flat-6, less so with the turbo engines.

 

[CatmanV2]

Arrrgggghhh, what's happening to us??

@CatmanV2 had a loaner 911 Turbo for a while. Cat, what didn't you like about it?

1. When you started it, it sounded like a taxi. No soul about it at all
2. It was suprisingly gutless when in 'normal' mode
3. In sport mode it still had no soul, but was far far too fast. Pulled 120ish down the A414 without realising. That was the single carriageway bit to the East of Harlow.... Seemed determined to kill me
4. No space at all for what is really quite a large car
5. Interior was nothing special
6. The 'key' appear to have been designed by a pre-pubescent child
7. Every bugger on the road hates you on sight

I think that was the main points

C

 

[Ewan]

What did you go for, and why?

I've not committed to the purchase. But I was looking at the base model, a 2 wheel drive Carrera coupe, PDK. They start at circa £84k inc Vat. I'm thinking of a 911 as general everyday (buy still nice) car for when I fancy driving something different to my Rangie (but don't want to drag anything old, or the Strad, out of the garage). The plan is for this car to live (mostly) outside, so always ready to go.

The problem is deciding whether I need to go this new/expensive. (Clearly I don't.) A 991 would be equally good for me, as would a 997. And I was very happy with my 996 back in the day. In fact, I test drove a 996 at £17k last week and struggled to make a case against not settling at that!

 

[philw696]

I think the quality of the 987 and 997 was the best especially if the first owner specced it up and mine certainly did to the tune of nearly what I paid for the car last year.
Full leather worth having and at 15 years old still smells amazing.
No pleather in my baby.

 

[Wattie]

I was originally a Porsche fanatic...fortunately got into a Boxter S, 911 996, then a 996 C4 Cabriolet and my final venture was the Cayenne Turbo. Loved everyone of them....not as reliable as claimed was my experience but I think they’re an exceptional brand with fabulous cars.
Can’t say I pine for one nowadays but I do like the look of the new model.

 

[philw696]

Bought mine 11 months ago blind from an Ebay classified ad seller being a renowned Ferrari specialist at Silverstone Circuit.
Drove it straight back to France via LeMans the next day.
Took the headlights out flicked the levers to LHD and got her 2 year MOT equivalent.
Gave her a full service to my spec and she has been perfect.
Did our Summer trip down to Spain and Portugal just giving endless grins on some Great driving roads.

 

[Andyk]

I have to say chaps buying my first Porsche at 56 has been a revelation why did I leave it so long ????
My 987.1 Boxster S is an amazing car and for an 05 looks sharp and sounds amazing.
Build quality is 100% something the Maserati can only dream of.
On the road probably the Best driving car I have ever had.

I have been contemplating a 2006ish 2.7 Boxster Phil as a daily drive... You can get then with around 50/60k on the clock for around 7.5k to 10k.....From what I read the 2.7 wasn't prone to the engine issues as the 3.2 but they also say most have been sorted now. Could a 14 year old car be reliable and do 10k a year though.....

 

[zagatoes30]

You can pick up an 05 onwards 987.1 Boxster S with under 60k on the clock for well under £10k whereas a similar age Cayman S is a couple of k more - both are serious bits of kit for relatively low price

 

[philw696]

I have been contemplating a 2006ish 2.7 Boxster Phil as a daily drive... You can get then with around 50/60k on the clock for around 7.5k to 10k.....From what I read the 2.7 wasn't prone to the engine issues as the 3.2 but they also say most have been sorted now. Could a 14 year old car be reliable and do 10k a year though.....

Another Great thread drift.
I love this forum.
In answer Andy I reckon yes but you won't get the MPG of your MB but 30MPG is easily achieved.
There are many good specialist workshops around for Porsches and not really expensive to maintain.
I have seen Boxsters with 200K on the clock.
For winter driving I would want a hard top especially for British weather.
Some Good info on Boxa.net mate.
Engine issues didn't worry me although I did read up on a lot of info first more than any other car I have had with all the hype about the IMS bearing a bit like Variator issues.
So I reckon you could run and enjoy as a fun driving daily that you can enjoy on track too.
Buy the best you can.
Mine had nearly as much spent on it as I paid for her over the last 3 years all detailed in a folder with invoices.
You know it makes sense

 

[zagatoes30]

I have been contemplating a 2006ish 2.7 Boxster Phil as a daily drive... You can get then with around 50/60k on the clock for around 7.5k to 10k.....From what I read the 2.7 wasn't prone to the engine issues as the 3.2 but they also say most have been sorted now. Could a 14 year old car be reliable and do 10k a year though.....

Buy well and there should be no reason that a 10 year old car shouldn't be able to cope with 10k a year, after all I have a 19 year old daily driver that is just about to hit 100k and still going well (until I said that probably but it owes me so little I can afford to throw it away)

 

[philw696]

Mine was just on 60,000 miles and I'm going to service it annually as the service kit is not expensive.
Porsche reckon for this era 2 years 20K but I would work on an annual basis and the car will look after you.

 

[philw696]

Service costs just as an example for Andy K.

 

[Vampyrebat]

I had a 996 for a year and it just didn't do anything for me. Would love a 356 and almost bought a 914 (VW-Porsche). However, I keep seeing this Targa in Bold Street, Liverpool and just love it. I would have one of these, a hint of retro also.