[thstone]

The 996 is somewhat more expensive.

Although many parts between the 986 and 996 are common, I found that the parts that weren't common not only had the Porsche brand markup but also a "911" markup. The reasoning that I heard was, "everyone knows that 911 prices are skyrocketing, so parts prices also have to go up".

Well, except for the fact that 996's aren't appreciating, but that didn't stop the parts sellers from trying to charge more.

I'm sure that someone will mention that the 996 will use more fuel (worse mileage) but that was irrelevant to ownership for me.

Also, and this might be peculiar to only me, but I went thru rear tires like they were made of ice cream on a hot summer day. With 300+hp on tap, it was hard to not use the throttle as it was intended to be used and that meant that I never got more than 4,000 miles from a set of rear tires. For me, that was the price of having fun.