911 as a daily driver?


jcthorne

GT Owner
Aug 30, 2011
792
Houston
I have been thinking about a fun but bit more practical (than the GT) car for a daily driver. I was thinking about a used recent model 911. One with AWD and a manual trans. How are they from a reliability stand point? Anyone here use one for a DD? Just been thinking life is too short to drive a pickup on less than stellar weather days.

If not a 911, other suggestions? Asian makes are not in the running. US or western Europe.
 

w. mitty

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Sep 1, 2005
704
I have been thinking about a fun but bit more practical (than the GT) car for a daily driver. I was thinking about a used recent model 911. One with AWD and a manual trans. How are they from a reliability stand point? Anyone here use one for a DD? Just been thinking life is too short to drive a pickup on less than stellar weather days.

If not a 911, other suggestions? Asian makes are not in the running. US or western Europe.

Do it. Do it now. Do not consider any other vehicle. You can't go wrong. This is not a recording.
 

roketman

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Oct 24, 2005
7,996
ma.
The 911 is a simply wonderful car.You can’t go wrong.I have had 6 911’s I also have raced them for years!
I am a bit bias !
 

Fracman

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jan 4, 2011
284
Houston, TX
DD 997 C2S for almost 5 years until twins came into the picture. One of the best cars I have ever owned. Reliable, fun, wore very well (interior looked like a 10k mile car after 70k miles). Oil changes were a snap. I would still have that car if I did not need the extra room for kiddos.

I prefer porsche north houston (enthusiast employees, Independant ownership) over west side (take it or leave it) and momentum (sketchy, cars not matching window stickers).

Cargraphic exhaust got the sound to my liking.
 

RALPHIE

GT Owner
Mar 1, 2007
7,278
Jeff (PL510*Jeff) has a beautiful (~1980) 911 that he loaned me in Seattle last July during the vintage races - it's a very comfortable and easy car to drive.

My racing driver, Ed, a children's dentist, drove his vintage race car ('65 911S) for 20 years on the street as his daily driver, before restoring it to 1960's race condition to compete in vintage racing. Virtually all 911's are daily drivers.
 
Last edited:

ROCK

GT Owner
Jul 10, 2006
412
Miami
The Turbo will make your day. Any year (MY) Turbo. I bougth mine (2001) after a couple of C2s, still have it to this day. There really is no substitute for a Turbo 911.
Very confortable, reliable and fast. I have to warn you though; the mod bug will bite you soon after purchase.
Porsche 911 Turbo. The everyday Supercar.
 

ROCK

GT Owner
Jul 10, 2006
412
Miami
Oh, almost forgot !!! The ('13-'14) Shelby GT500 will make a nice DD too...just saying.
 

MTV8

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 24, 2010
1,017
Houston Texas
The 911 needs more cylinders. I would go with an AMG for a daily driver.
 

Black GT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jan 2, 2006
771
Have had 4 911 turbos and they are wonderful daily drivers. Reliable and fast. Go 911!!!!
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    97.2 KB · Views: 937
  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    98.8 KB · Views: 930

tmctguer

GT Owner
Jan 11, 2010
129
dana point, CA
I have owned 2 Porsche's and they were both wonderful cars. But I am biased towards early 911's (pre-1974) and YES, they can be excellent daily drivers. For about 3 years, my 1973 911e was my daily driver and my weekend racer. Once a month, I would bolt a Yakima rack on its top, tie down 4 race tires, cram a car jack up there along with jack stands and tools. I would drive it all to hell for a Saturday & Sunday at Streets of Willow Springs (about 2 hours north of my home), then bring it home to be my daily driver again.

I would go for either an E or S model as the T model was just a bit underpowered. Nothing sounds better than a 911e wailing away at 5,000 RPM. The mechanical fuel injection system was very reliable as long as you had the right tools and knew how to properly service the fuel, ignition & timing system. I converted mine to optical points which made it 10x easier to drive and keep tuned.

The problem with early 911's is that the good ones are really hard to come by, and when you find one, you will pay upwards of $50K - $80K for it. The trailer queens are approaching the low to mid $100K range (early S's). Early 911's are the bomb!

If I were to buy a modern era Porsche, I would probably go for a well maintained mid 1990's Twin Turbo. The early single turbo version was a beast to drive when the turbo kicked in (can you say rear wheel induced spin?) but the later versions were wickedly fast and could stop on a dime.
 

junior

GT Owner
Mar 9, 2007
1,151
So Cal
My .02 cents on 911s: They are a flawed design engineered to near perfection, they don't do one thing great, they do everything good. I just snoozed and lost on a one owner 2001 TT with 26K miles on the clock going for 41K. Oh well, sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you.
 

pvgtX2

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Nov 16, 2012
127
Palos Verdes Estates, CA
I too am a bit biased on the 911's as I have owned a number of them. Over the weekend I picked up a 2014 991 C2S, which my dealer will take back in trade when the turbo I ordered arrives. The car looks very similar to the 2009 997.2 that I owned for 4 years, but as you know is VERY different. It is more of a luxury car with a sports car personality than the other way around. It is BY FAR the most comfortable 911 I've driven and it is pretty fast. It handles SO unbelievably well. Drive the new 991 before making your decision. Good luck!
 

jcthorne

GT Owner
Aug 30, 2011
792
Houston
Thanks for the confirmation that I was not headed down a dead end idea. Need to spend some time finding the right one.
 

ROCK

GT Owner
Jul 10, 2006
412
Miami
There is a 22k miles 2001 here in Miami. Check it out (Formula One Sport Cars). Super clean and dealer is top notch.


 

Simon

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Feb 19, 2013
1,230
Houston
Has anyone bought from Formula 1 in Miami?

Had 911TT 997.1, great car drove it daily. 991 version is much improved
 

bret a ewing

GT Owner
Nov 29, 2006
301
Had the '14 C4S out in the snow the other day, definately a competent DD if you want it to be.
 

ROCK

GT Owner
Jul 10, 2006
412
Miami
I bought a 1999 911 C2 back in 2001 from them and know them pretty good as they've been around in the area for many, many years in the business.
I almost traded my Ford GT for a Scuderia in 2011. The owner told me to sleep on it. Enough said.
 

RALPHIE

GT Owner
Mar 1, 2007
7,278
When looking at early 911's, I was once told that the car's built after 1979 had their steel chassis galvanized, and thus are much less susceptible to rust and corrosion than earlier models. Thus, for any prior to 1979, look for cars from the southwest - California, Arizona, New Mexico and southern Texas.
 

AJK

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 12, 2006
335
Here is the whole skinny on the rust treatment for the 911 series cars:

Body Galvanizing in Porsche 911

Thyssen steel = steel with Zinc layers on both sides; thickness of the Zinc layers varied from 10 um to 20 um, depending on exposure conditions (Frere, p. 201)

1970 – Galvanized steel (not Thyssen type) used in floor pan and wheel arches (Bob White in Pano V: 142); the “entire platform, including the floor, the longitudinal members, the wheel arches and the seat pans were galvanized.” (Boschen & Barth, p. 124)
1971 models – had galvanized steel in areas particularly exposed to rust (Frere, p. 201)
1972-1973 – Thyssen steel use began (Bob White in Pano V: 142)
1973 – Thyssen steel: rocker panels, inner rocker panels, floor pans, & some other parts (Chuck Stoddard in Pano V: 142)
1975 – Thyssen steel: entire body treated (Bob White & Chuck Stoddard {began in Feb. ’75 production for US cars; earlier for Euro cars – had trouble with paint} in Pano V: 142, 192)
1976 models – had Thyssen steel in entire body except roof (Frere, p. 201)
1977 models – on – had Thyssen steel in entire body (Frere, p. 201); an “important step forward was the use of zinc-coated sheet steel for the manufacture of the entire body structure (except for the coupe’s roof on early production cars). Coated on both sides, this made the structure virtually immune against the formation of rust….” (Boschen & Barth, p. 143)


The Zinc steel added 22 lbs. to the weight of the body structure (Frere, p. 202)

Pano = Panorama volume: page number
Frere = Frere, Paul. 1997. PORSCHE 911 STORY. 6th ed., Patrick Stephens Ltd. Newbury Park, CA.
Boschen & Barth = Boschen, Lothar and Jurgen Barth. 1978. THE PORSCHE BOOK: A DEFINITIVE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY. Argo Books.


Note: the Panorama and Frere comments can be harmonized since most cars for one model year are constructed in the previous chronological year

AJK
 

33Bravo

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Nov 3, 2006
688
Minneapolis, MN
My .02 cents

Which mathematically is 2/100 of a penny. :)