Daily Slideshow: Why The Infamous 996 Is The Porsche You Should Buy

Price

Who doesn't want a Porsche? It's a sign of wealth, success, and the general sense of "winning." Unfortunately, Porsches of late have been quite expensive. The cheapest model on sale is a 718 and that runs upwards of $70,000. Trying to buy an older model? The first three generations will set you back about the same amount of money (or you'll be spending that in repairs).

The 996 is a model that is often overlooked. It is seen as ugly and a low point for Porsche. Despite these misconceptions, the 996 is the best value for money coming in at around $30,000 for the Carrera 4S model. Any Porsche at this price outside of the 996 would be a hunk of junk. For the reasons listed after, people won't buy the 996, explaining its low asking price.

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The Looks

Styling is always a subjective topic. Many Porsche enthusiasts were outraged to see how the 996 turned out in the early 2000s. Besides a sloping roofline and rear engine layout, Porsche's are immediately recognized by their circular headlamps. This 996 model has weird oblong-shaped lights. Many see this as a negative but honestly, who cares? Porsches are meant to be driven and enjoyed. What difference does it make to have odd-shaped headlights? From certain angles, the 996 looks just like any other 911--some say, even better!

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Interior

Another point of dismay with the 996 generation is its poor interior quality and looks but what people overlook is the interior quality of the generations before it. None of them were particularly noteworthy but Porsche fans disregarded the fit and finish because of the superior driving dynamics. Who's to say the 996 doesn't drive the same, if not better? Each evolution of the 911 gets more refined and quicker and the 996 is no exception. Drive a 996 and your opinions will be shattered. It will make you forget the unusual interior setup just as easily as the last generations did.

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Performance

As stated before, each generation of the 911 is equipped with better technology, more potent and efficient engines, and improved ride quality. The 996 has plenty of power for everyday driving. The Carrera 4S (arguably one of the better models in the 996 line up), has 320 horsepower and can do 0-60 in 5.1 seconds. That's the sweet spot for road cars; anything more, and you'll find yourself behind bars with a chopped up driver's license. Not only is this 3.6L six-cylinder engine a masterpiece, but it is mated to a good 'ole 6-speed manual transmission. How can it get any better?

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The "Not-So-Big" Problem

One massive talking point about the 996 is its IMS (Intermediate Shaft Bearing) failing, which leads to an explosive engine. Of course, this is a terrible and unfortunate problem to have but this defect affects only 5% of the 996's ever built. The odds of the IMS failing are very slim. With all that money you saved by buying this 996, you can get a new IMS for around $2,000. The "devastating" problem that your car had before vanishes away entirely. 

Cars of this era have been known to malfunction mainly because, during this time in the automotive world, manufacturers were adding tricky electronic bits to engines such as traction control and ABS so the cars inherently had bugs--similar to the first Apple iPhone which get released every year. But in the end, the problem can be simply fixed and everyone gets to move on.

>>Join the conversation about the underappreciated 996 right here in the RennList Forum!

For help keeping your Porsche running right, please see our how-to section in the forum.