Ever since I had a 1980 911sc back in the 1980's I have been wanting another. Research leads me to believe the last of the air cooled cars is the best choice for me , considering the cost involved as well.

Anyone own or has owned a 993 knows that there are oil leaks and oil use, some minor nit picks with the electrics now and then and that these cars are better than the water cooled cars of 99-2003 that came after. Some of these cars around have suffered with lack of use and or maintenance and some are clean enough to eat off.

Your experience with 993 ownership?

I won't compare my Honda to the 911, I have bonded with the car for 8 years now and love it, but I had always wanted another 911 thus I am now testing the waters, what comes up is the 993 or maybe even the 964 (1988-9 to 1993-4).

the difference is price in my cars (norcal) is about 5-10k between the 964 and 993 and then it drops down to 964 prices with the newer cars say 99-2002.

Your thoughts.

And this is not a comparrision of the Honda and the Porsche, please.

 

Feels like there was just a thread about something nearly the same. It wasn't too long ago.

 

Are the older air cooled Porsches good when it comes to reliability? I've wanted a 993 for the longest time, but I've always been a little turned off by buying a 15+ year old german car.

 

I have owned both. 1990 C4 Targa / 1995 C2 Cabriolet. They were both great cars but the 964 was considerably more expensive to maintain and less reliable. I had DME problems, had the motor re-sealed and had to replace the DMF/clutch. About $10K all said and done. If you are considering a 964 I would recommend a 1992+ and skip the C4 altogether. The 993 gave me no issue other than a slight valve cover leak on the driver's side which cost me under $300 to repair at the dealership. Mine being a 1995 was OBD-1 and did not suffer the premature valve guide wear that some of the 1996+ cars did. The 993 is an outstanding car, if you enjoyed the SC you will love the 993. My 993 was lowered to 1" above euro RS spec and had 18" Volk TE-37's, looked and handled great.

 

I had a '95 993 a few years ago. I knew I would never get rid of the car, so I modded it with exactly what I wanted, not worrying about money. Of course the car got stolen pretty quickly out from my driveway when I decided to not park in the garage one night. So these cars are still sought after in that way.

Onto actual ownership, I was able to find a mechanic locally who was very reasonable and knew what he was doing. One thing that bothered me was that he was a bit too thorough, trying to save me money on little parts here and there while fixing oil leaks when I first got the car. I kept telling him I don't mind if it's apart just replace anything that wears. So the nice thing is this car is a pain to work on yourself, almost always have to drop the engine to get to anything. Oil changes are expensive since I think it's 12 quarts and 2 oil filters.

The car went up in value after insurance was done, which was interesting since I put 15k miles on it as well. I would get a 1995 as they are OBD-1 and from what I understand the newer ones may not pass California smog in the future, which other states may be going to over time. Oil leaks are just an issue you get fixed. No big deal even if the car leaks.

The engine sounds perfect. The car was really fun to drive. Porsche put these cars together as drive first everything second. The AC controls were placed in the worst possible place. Though the AC did get nice and cold. No cup holders, but you can get an aftermarket one easily enough. I got a lot of looks while driving around and had a lot of people come up and talk to me about the car wherever I went. There is something special about these cars. BTW I had an amazing sound system I put in the car, KW V3 coilovers, Work Brombacher wheels and other misc. mods which just made this car perfect to me. I was getting ready for doing a SC since I thought the car could use more power.

 

Thank you experienced former owners, what you have said concurs and or adds to what I am learning. HID type headlights on some and not on others I see. I want those.