PORSCHE 911 Coupe 2001‑2004

I upgraded to a 2005 997 from a 996. The improvement was amazing and quite unexpected as there appeared to more of an evolutionary change from the 996 to 997. The car is more comfortable and more refined. The Bose stereo is great and makes the driving experience a pleasure. I feel less of the bumps on the road. In terms of performance, the car feels much quicker than the 996. I miss my previous sports exhaust; the current exhaust is much quieter. I also miss the sun roof although can't have everything with a used car!

Overall en excellent package, and a true sports car. Superb drive on long and short distances, with brilliant build quality. Roadholding must be about the best there is, and throttle response is amazing.

Only real downside is the "feel" of the brakes, though they do what they are supposed to. Water pumps also seem to be a weakness on 911's, and I had to replace mine at 40k miles (looking at the size of the bearing compared with the diametre of the pulley is is no surprise).

Will definitely buy another.

This is a true drivers car and I have loved every minute of owning it. I am very sad to have to sell it but we are moving country and have to basically! People still turn their heads when I am driving it and it is truly a beautiful looking motor. Ok, it is not the most cost efficient but let's face you are driving this car because you love Porches and love to drive and good performance car.

Ok first things first. This a premium sports car and as such the ratings need to be in context e.g. running costs should not be expected to be low due to the nature of the beast. Anyhow I will attempt to be as impartial as possible.

1 Practicality - surprisingly good! I have seated 4 passengers, 2 adults in front and 2 kids (5 and 3) relatively comfortably! The only snag is luggage space is constarined to perhaps a medum sized ruck sack, so Ok for day trips...

2 Reliability - on the whole good, although I did have to replace a window motor which for a car with lowish miles was a surprise. Other than that get the feeling that its well built and will last.

3 Running costs - so tyres at £250 a pop every few thousand miles will soon have you debating use for long journeys! Fuel consumption as should be expected (18 mpg) and insurance is highish..it is a group 20 car!

4 Drive - You will wnat to drive EVERYWHERE! ! The 4WD is fantastic and the feel of the road is exhilerating!

I have owned this beast since spring 2010 and I must say it is not up to expectations. Yes, its very attractive, fast and adrenaline pumping but it does have its flip side.

The ride is very rough, you cannot fit a child comfortably in the back, the wheels need aligning every few months despite careful driving etc

I dont know whether its because im unlucky and have ended up with a suboptimal 996 turbo or whether thats just how the car is. Would I buy another ? I shall have to test drive a newer generation and see.

The Porsche 996 Targa is a great sports car and very economical for a performance car with four hours driving to Germany returning 31 mpg. It has the added benefit of having a rear window that you can raise to allow easy storing of bags and equipment. Very comfortable, great handling and a real pleasure to drive.

I have had my C4 911 convertible for over a year now and I still can't believe I own this iconic car. The gearbox is superb and as is the tiptronic. Don't let people tell you that you must drive a manual. With an auto you get the ease of driving in town with all the stop starts and if you really want to go through the gears manually then the steering wheel tiptronic switches are there. The 3.6 engine is supremely fast and the pulling power through the gears is immense. The engine noise is pure 'boy racer !' The roof goes up and down in seconds. Fuel economy in town is about 22mpg. The car has low profile tyres and as such you are forever looking out for potholes as there is a fear that either the suspension will fall off or you will be left without any fillings ! My only minor niggle is that the seat bolsters are a tad too thick and I find it hard to get comfortable.The later models had slightly thinner bolsters which feel a lot better. Get the best you can afford and you go round like you have had your cheeks pulled back with superglue. Love it. love ,love it !!!

Excellent car which I have now sold so I can purchase another. Highly reliable even when left in the garage for six weeks. Started first time and ran ok.

The car can be used daily and is just as happy around town as on the open road.

Not outrageous to run provided you are sensible. There are a lot of very good specialists who can support the car at a reasonable cost.. I used both main dealer and specialists.

We just toured France in our 911 (997) and it was amazing. Space for all our luggage, including my wife's suitcase and still got 4 dozen bottles of wine in.

Yes, it is a gas guzzler and probably no good for kids but then you should be buying something else if that's what is important to you.

Performance is great, it feels so solid on the road and you just know it will not breakdown, because of the high quality of Porsche engineering

Will change it at some stage - no question of what comes next, another one of course!

i purchased a 996 c2 1998 5 years ago and would never go near one again i had huge problems with this car and it was extremely well looked after rear tyres last 5k max i never liked the shape to be honest but have always been a huge 911 fan liquid cooled 3.4 engine i found boring .theyre is a reason the 996 models are so affordable. theyre awful if you want a 911 spend a bit more on a flat six 3.6 993 or 964 these really are the business i had a 964 for 3 years used it every day and it never went wrong once wished i had never sold it . i know it sounds crazy but buy an older aircooled the engines were practically handbuilt and when you come to sell you will more than likely make money than lose thousands on a 996. one more point if you dont believe me look how long it takes porsche to change the 911. the 996 was gone pretty quick. enough said