Real-world reports from our global collective of 911 owners
Our contributing enthusiasts from around the world share their real-life experiences with their Porsche 911s
Anthony Coyne
Fort Lauderdale, FL @elferusa Model 997.2 CARRERA S Year 2009 Acquired FEBRUARY 2021
Last month I wrote of buying a 997 in Miami, without a PPI or laying eyes on it in person, and collecting it while visiting our house in Florida. Buying used requires some diligence. I have plenty of experience under my belt, including five Porsches, three of them
911s. I’ve sold privately too, noticing when selling Porsches, potential buyers are more thorough than me. Once a man sat in my kitchen forensically examining a sixyear-old Boxster’s service stamps, quietly chuckling to myself as he rang dealers for opinions on work done years past. I’m at the other end of the scale; a casino owner’s dream. Instead, I smash the competition out of the way, transferring money while they email about option codes and over-revs. I then spend the first week of ownership fretting what I’ve possibly missed. This time I’d be doing the whole week in a single shot by driving 850 miles on day one.
A big factor in choosing this car were its folding buckets. When these seats are in a Carrera rather than a GT car, they conjure ‘Club Sport’ in my mind – unassumingly special and just a little more focused. Renée complains about all Porsche seats; every variant from the 964 to present-day 992. I’ve tried reasoning that resting her feet on the glove box or being postured cross-legged in some yoga position isn’t helping, but this falls on deaf ears, sometimes even provoking a sulky response. I used this dissatisfaction as my reason to justify buckets, in that the other options, by Renée’s own admission, are uncomfortable. Subliminally I’ve translated “hip-alignment” into “let’s get buckets”. It’s judgement day; would Renée be whining like first gear on a 1980s
Mini after 45 minutes? Worse, would I be feeling the negative effects of a hasty decision to buy this 911 – with buckets –in the first place? The seats are a gamble.
We needed to be back in Tennessee so our dog, Alfred, could get his weekly immunotherapy treatment the next day (for more information on him: elferusa. com). With the 997 driving well, and our speed kept at levels State Troopers wouldn’t be interested in, we hoped to be in bed by midnight. That was until nightfall, somewhere across the Georgia state line, when we encountered an almighty storm. I’ve experienced weather like this before in Tornado Alley, but that was not on a busy Interstate. Or dark. We 911 owners know, these powerful machines can be lethal when wet. Wide 305 section rear tyres, a light front end, the engine weighing heavy at the stern means standing water becomes a major hazard.
We slowed to 30mph like many of the vehicles around us, hazard flashers on to alert those approaching carrying more speed. Visibility was near zero, yet stopping deemed more dangerous as we feared being hit. Some had stopped and I toyed with the idea of parking in front of a stationary truck as a just-in-case buffer. We opted to continue to a rest area or exit. It was tense, some articulated trucks hung a few feet from our fog light, worse still
others passed at over double our speed. Frightening. There was no way these guys could see much more than me, and no way they can stop in anything like the distance needed. Fools.
It got worse. Many miles from our destination, at night, in a near biblical storm, driving a car I hadn’t bothered to PPI – the oil level warning came on. We pulled off the next exit and tried three gas stations looking for a litre bottle of Mobil 1. 30 minutes later we found some in Walmart, and took shelter in their loading bay as we topped up, taking extra time to inspect underneath for signs of trouble. Eventually the rain eased and we carried on, wondering if the engine was OK. Had I put over $50k on red and was now witnessing the ball land on oily black?
Almost 15 hours after setting off we made it to our base just outside Knoxville, Renée taking over for the last couple of hours while I slept (in a folding bucket). I heard no complaints of discomfort while I dozed. And when I climbed out I was walking just fine.