I have had my '02 base 6 speed manual Carrera Coupe for about 5 years. It was a car I had checked out, but my wife bought for my 50th. I love the car. I do some "spirited drives" with a great group of folks early Sunday mornings (when the back roads are pretty empty). The car is just a blast to drive hard. I have never come close to finding its limits in terms of cornering. It can be driven quite sedately if you keep it under about 4,000 RPMs. Fine around town. Stop and go traffic is obviously a pain with any manual car, but the clutch is a little stiffer than, say, a Honda. Road trips are fine if you can fit, and it's a bit noisy on the highway from tire noise. I was interested in the 911 over a used Cayman (or Miata, etc.) because I can put my kids in the back (they are 4 and 7, and they LOVE pulling "g-forces" The main downside is this is a 22 year old car with a list of things that really need to be replaced. Not because they are broken, but just standard maintenance. I need a transmission rebuild to fix an occasional issue with 2nd gear. Rear main seal. Check the IMS bearing. Water pump. Then the suspension and engine mounts probably need to be gone over. All this is probably $12,000-$15,000. Bottom line, these 996 911s can be had for mid-20's, but it's still a Porsche. You don't get Honda-priced parts when you need to replace something.

rhe right car for cruising on the freeway, having fun on the mountain roads and along the coast Hwy. Oh, that powerful sound of the exhaust when I accelerate and on downshift. A lot bettter balance and handling than the other two 911s that I had.

This exceptional spec’ed 996 is near unique with few if any 996’s available with contrasted full leather stitching and contrasted leather steering wheel and dash. Full paint restoration has brought this near classic status auto to a show room shine. If you are in the market for a 996 look no further.