Poll: What to do with my '99 986: Upgrade, Modify, or get a 911?

[Perfectlap]

^Not to quible but some 996's are a bargain. Namely the ones with limited production engines. Most Carreras do not get those engines. And most 996's do not have gobs of neck-snapping power for their weight. But to be fair Porsche's have never been powerful cars in general. The Carrera didn't cross the 300 HP until very recently with the 997, meanwhile its been getting heavier ever since the 1998. And of course you're not upgrading on handling when you move to the 996 from any Boxster/Cayman. It's a trade off for sure -- If you move to an AWD 996 even more so, understeer a plenty.

Another thing that is not a bargain is a 996 bought at or slightly above market that still needs all of the big repairs like suspension, clutch/ims, etc. Once you add these costly repairs to the purchase price, which is at premium to the Boxster even though the Boxster has essentially the same engine, just a de-tuned version, you're usually walking into a fair price and not really a bargain given the abundant supply of low to moderate mileage 997.1's. And now that they're coming off warranty, the 2009+ 997.2's which have a much improved engine. The delta between 997.1 and 997.2 is sure to come down quickly without that factory warranty coverage. Which will make sinking big money into a 996 up for major maintenance all the less appetizing when you could just be in the newer flavor of Carrera. Although personally I would wait for the 997.2 to come down in price a bit more over jumping into 997.1 that has a non-serviceable IMS bearing (big minus in my book for long-term ownership). That's the catch 22, if you find a 996 that has had the IMS addressed and is low mileage, the owner wants a premium, which makes holding out for some 997.2 price depreciation the smarter move in my book.