Max Newman

Aylesbury, UK @maxripcor

Model 997.1 CARRERA Year 2004 Acquired APRIL 2012 Model 991.1 CARRERA S Year 2013 Acquired SEPTEMBER 2020

As the 997 and I pass our ninth year together it almost passed me by that I’ve had the 991 for a full six months.

This means that the excellent RPM six-month warranty has expired and I need to think about what to do going forward. I could have it assessed by an OPC for their approved used warranty, take one out through Paragon who I know well and trust, or I could ‘selfinsure’. You might also call this taking my chances! I called upon the RPM warranty and they looked after me, so you might question why I’m even knocking the idea about, I should get another one.

I intend to supplement the Porsche maintenance plan by putting the 991 on an annual servicing regime, filters and fluids at least, as I have always done with the 997. It will therefore have expert eyes on it annually which may help to mitigate any potential problems. It’s a hard one to ask people’s advice on, it can often depend entirely on bitter or positive experience rather than objective reasoning – but I’d still be interested to know what you think. Let me know on my social media or here through T911.

Work responsibilities have seen me on the road more recently, which brings with it more opportunities to drive the car. One sunny Friday I was faced with a 330-mile round trip for two meetings, and I leapt out of bed at 05:30 excited to hit the road. I know some people prefer to go down the weekday workhorse and weekend toy route, and I respect that, but it’s not for me. I enjoyed every single mile that day and not one of them felt mundane. The 991 really makes every journey special.

In fact – confession time – as I was heading for home with the sunroof open and a little BBC 6 Music competing with the flat six for my attention, cruising in traffic at 50mph, I almost welled up. Nearly got teary. You may recall from previous columns that back in the depths of winter and lockdown I’d questioned whether I had done the right thing buying my brown 991. It was quite a ballsy move, for me, to spend such a lot of money on a car. Should I have sat safely on the cash? And was I daft to trade an excellent Golf R in against a 991 as our second family car and my daily? I already had the 997, was I being greedy?

But on that day and in that moment I had an overwhelming feeling of joy and satisfaction, perhaps some pride too, to be going about my business in such a wonderful Porsche 911. I definitely bought the right car for me.

I believe strongly that cars benefit from regular use and I’m enjoying frequent journeys in the 997. I’m able to pick and choose my moments so that I never find myself in the wrong 911. I know that might sound like a slightly crazy notion, but you know what I mean. So I still love the 997 and haven’t sold it, although I know that would be a popular move at home.

I’m not sure I could sell the 997 even if I wanted to though, such is the hysteria still surrounding the motor and its potential foibles. Mine is a 54 registration 106k-mile example which hasn’t been apart since the clutch was replaced nine years ago at 48k miles. One marque specialist I chatted to referred to it as a ticking time bomb! In actuarial terms I don’t believe that having reached 106k miles makes it any more or indeed less likely to expire. More significant I hope is the care I take with it. And maybe a bit of luck? I don’t know. I certainly don’t feel inclined to take it apart unnecessarily.

The 997, in Carrera form, will never be a valuable car, they simply made too many. But I do think it’s one of the finest examples, regardless of manufacturer, of the increasingly popular ‘modern classic’ genre, so good ones will always be desirable. It looks sometimes like the market has priced in the RMS/IMS/BORE scoring and this keeps first-generation 997 prices depressed compared to

Gen2 cars. But I think that a 997.1 with a surplus fund to make sure it’s perfect is a better buy than going all in on a 997.2. Tell me I’m wrong.