---
title: 'Watch This Before Buying ANY Porsche 911'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=DGzif7mpcq4'
video_id: 'DGzif7mpcq4'
date: 2026-06-28
duration_sec: 1004
---

# Watch This Before Buying ANY Porsche 911

> Source: [Watch This Before Buying ANY Porsche 911](https://youtube.com/watch?v=DGzif7mpcq4)

## Summary

This video provides a comprehensive guide to buying a Porsche 911, covering all generations from the original 1964 air-cooled models to the modern water-cooled iterations. The presenter breaks down the history, performance, and investment potential of key models like the 964, 993, and 996, and offers practical advice for prospective buyers at various budget levels.

### Key Points

- **Porsche 911 Overview** [0:00] — The 911 is Porsche's flagship track-tackling sports car, known for its confident styling and versatility.
- **First 911 Introduction** [1:48] — Porsche dropped the first 911 in 1964 with a rear-mounted air-cooled engine, a platform that lasted over 50 years.
- **1973 Carrera RS Key Specs** [3:52] — The Carrera RS (Ren Sport) featured a larger 2.7L engine, mechanical fuel injection, bigger brakes, and wider rear hips.
- **1975 930 Turbo "Widow Maker"** [4:20] — Introduced turbocharging, producing 260 hp via a 4-speed manual, with a distinctive 'whale tail' rear spoiler.
- **964 Generation (1989)** [4:53] — A futuristic facelift with a 3.6L air-cooled boxer motor; the 964 Turbo and RS America are highly sought after and expensive.
- **993 Generation (1994)** [6:34] — The last air-cooled 911; considered beautiful and commands high prices (base Carrera at least $50k, Turbos $100k+).
- **Transition to Water-Cooled (996)** [7:27] — Porsche moved to water-cooling due to performance limitations of air-cooled engines and financial pressures; the 996 is criticized for its unusual headlights and interior.
- **996 IMS Bearing Issue** [10:37] — The 996 suffers from a potential IMS bearing failure; fix it immediately if buying. Repair costs around $25k for a new motor.
- **997 vs 996 Comparison** [11:34] — The 997, only two years newer, drives 20 years newer and feels more modern; the 996 drives more like older air-cooled models.
- **Investment Advice and Final Recommendation** [15:29] — The 911 is a good investment overall, with air-cooled models appreciating significantly. The 996 is the best deal for entry; 993/964 are strong investments.

### Conclusion

The video concludes that the Porsche 911, across all generations, offers a unique combination of driving engagement, reliability, and value retention, making it a standout sports car. It recommends the 996 for budget-conscious buyers and the 964 or 993 for those seeking strong investment potential.

## Transcript

Unless you've been living under a rock,
you recognize the confident and iconic
styling of a Porschee's flagship track
tackling sports car, the 911. And these
little land missiles were built to tear
up the turns at the racetrack or to get
you from the driveway to the office
comfortably. Whatever it is you plan to
do with your 911 Carrera, or if you can
get your hands on the ultra rare RS
America, which is about pretty much
impossible these days, you got to watch
this vid. We're going to tell you about
all the different Porsche 911 models and
dig into which ones bring the most
firepower and which ones need to be
double inspected and which ones you can
buy today and sell tomorrow for a
profit. Here's everything that you need
to know before buying a Porsche 911.
Let's go.
[Music]
It's one of the most iconic and easily
identifiable cars on the road. Other
than a well loose resemblance to the
Volkswagen Beetle, there's absolutely no
mistaking the incredible Porsche 911
Carrera for any other car. I mean, just
look at this thing. Seriously, you guys,
those hips, this rear end. I absolutely
love it. Give it a Nobel Prize, baby.
Okay, aren't Nobel prizes for like books
and stuff? It's also one of the best
performance cars out there, period.
Providing limitless levels of driver
engagement. And of course, that prestige
that enthusiasts just want out of a
Porsche. And yes, they still offer that
manual transmission, which if you want
to save the manuals, go check out our
limited edition Ideal T. It's our
bestseller. And for those of you that
don't want to row your own gears, they
have the records shattering PDK dual
clutch gearbox. That's still a wonderful
choice.
Woo!
Porsche dropped the first 911 back in
1964 and fixed it up with an air cooled
rear-mounted engine behind the rear
axle. What were they thinking? And yet
somehow that platform lasted over 50
years and spawned hundreds of limited
editions and of course a couple RSR race
cars that snagged the crown. It even
paved the path for the 935 Turbo which
is just straight manic. And that puppy
took home the trophy in the 1979 Lemon.
This car is truly the granddaddy of
gravel gripping, geforce pushing
performance automotives. I think I just
dented like the hood a little bit. And I
think most of us know today that the 911
is still a great buy because enthusiasts
appreciate its pedigree, precision,
driver engagement, reliability, and not
to mention incredible value. Everyone
knows that when you buy a Porsche, you
expect it to stick to the highest
possible standards, and they're really
way up here. And I'm the first to admit
that everybody has their own perception
of a Porsche owner.
European midlife crisis mobilebile.
But I think that those people that judge
just don't really know what it's like to
be in one of these sleek speeders and
what bang forbuck they provide that most
of the luxury class just can't really
touch.
You can't touch this.
Just about every iteration of the
Porsche 911 in the last decade has
appreciated significantly. And that
bubble is not going to burst anytime
soon. And if you want to learn how to
buy a Porsche like a pro, go check out
the Ideal Car Strategies. And for the
longest time, Porsche was rolling out
aircooled 911s from 1964 all the way
until 1998. And you got the OGs, the
originals, the 911E, the 911 L, the SNT
models. And these are all ideal cars
that Brad Danger himself would
absolutely keep in my stable. And of
course, people love these old 911s
because of their age and history. But as
far as driving dynamics go, they aren't
really all that impressive. Well, yes,
they are probably pretty good for their
age, I would still say a well-tuned
Ferrari like the 365 would eat the
Porsche's lunch. And if I can take you
guys back to 1973, that brought the
Carrera RS, one of my favorite cars of
all time. And the RS stands for
something extremely special, Ren Sport.
And that means raceport in the oh so
scary language of German. And that RS
was built with a larger 2.7 L engine
over the standard Carrera. And it got go
fast bits like mechanical fuel
injection, bigger brakes, wider wheels
and tires, those huge widen rear hips,
and of course that essential race stiff
suspension. And then just a couple years
later in 1975, we were first introduced
to the Widow Maker, the 930 Turbo. And
with this model, Porsche hopped onto the
turbocharging trend. And the 911 waved
goodbye to the naturally aspirated
motor. And this upgrade gave the 930 an
impressive 260 horsepower which was
pushed through its four-speed manual
transmission. Yeah, thing is still
pretty old, you know, like old school,
but like old school cool because this
thing had the in-your-face rear spoiler
known as the whale tail. And then when
we fast forward to 1989 when the 964
came out, it was the most futuristic
modern facelift of the 911 that Porsche
had ever done. Now, this design, in my
opinion, has aged like fine wine and
still looks stunning even today. But did
you know just 10 or so years ago, this
was like the least soughtafter aircooled
model ever. And you could pick these
things up all day long for the low 20s.
Stupid planes. And now you're not even
touching one for at least double, if not
triple that price. And I think that
that's what the 996 911s are going to be
doing in the next couple years. But
we'll get to that in just a minute
because the 964
[Music]
not only looked the part, but had a
beast under the hood, a 3.6 L air cooled
boxer motor. And then in 1990, its big
brother would join the lineup, the
Turbo, which is one of the most badass
air cooled 911s ever built and helped
solidify that the 964 is one of the most
popular generations of 911 ever. And
year after year, they continue to
impress me with how much they continue
to appreciate. But the 964 wasn't done
with that turbo. Oh no, they also had
the RS and RS America models. And these
equally as slick whips are well worth
into the six figures today. Yeah,
nothing to snooze about. And I have a
feeling that they're going to continue
to appreciate because there was only 701
RS Americas shipped to US soil. And
finding an RS America, which is one of
my ideal cars, especially one that is
somewhat affordable, is about as easy as
finding the actual Lucky Charms guy at
the end of the rainbow. Yeah, ain't
going to happen. But that doesn't mean
that I I should stop looking, right?
because these things just look sick.
[Music]
Now, the 964 would eventually give birth
to its predecessor, the 993 in 1994. And
love it or hate it, it is a beautiful
baby. And it's even more modern looking
and just as gorgeous as the 964. And
when a lot of people think air cooled
Porsche, they think the 993. And that's
probably why this model is fetching
massive sums of money today. And just
about every single Porsche enthusiast on
this planet respects them. And of
course, they came out with a turbo. I
don't know if I'd get the 964 RS America
or the 993 Turbo instead, which if you
want to check out me absolutely ripping
one, check out this ideal vid up here. I
love that car. And those 993 Turbos are
$100,000 plus all day long. And even the
leastloved base Carrera model in the
ugliest color combination that you could
possibly imagine is still fetching at
least $50,000 in decent shape. And then
Porsche did something drastic. They made
the jump from the air cooled to the
water cooled after the 993. And it was
partly because they had exhausted all
the performance they could get out of an
aircooled. And they were also fighting
off bankruptcy and had to massroduce the
Porsche 911. And so desperate times call
for desperate measures. and they built
the 996.
That is the ugly, forgotten grandchild
that no one wants to hear about in the
Porsche family.
Porsche is an engineering firm first.
You know, Porsche design. They make
clothes. They make furniture. Heck, they
even do architecture. And Porsche is
competitive, so they don't want to be
left behind their competitors. And the
water cooled engine was necessary to
keep up with those cheeky carcrafters
over at Ferrari. And this water cooled
flat 6 really changed how much they
could push their new boxer motor. And
what they gained in performance, they
kind of lacked in noise and character.
Naturally, water cooled engines just
don't sound as badass as air cooled. But
Porsche was really doing something
extreme with the 996. And that's why I
love it so much because they didn't just
push the envelope and piss off a ton of
enthusiasts with the water cooled
engine, but they also did something
really interesting with their design. I
think it goes without saying that this
is one of the best rear ends on any
Porsche really ever. It is so iconic.
It's so classic. And as we come around
those big wide hips and that 911
silhouette until you get to Oh, come on.
Porsche. What were you thinking? Let's
talk about these headlights. Yeah,
Porsche with the 996 is known for those
ugly duckling headlights. And on the
996.1s,
they may or may not look like egg yolks.
And this is a 996.2 with the upgraded
headlights. And I I mean, I'm learning
to love, right? But as you can see here,
there is that circle that's been around
since 1964. And then they added this,
which actually is a throwback to the
Porsche GT1 race car. So yeah, these are
race car lights. But that's not the only
place that Porsche kind of screwed up.
Let's uh take a look at the interior.
This interior is a little bit awkward.
It hasn't aged very well, and it looks a
little bit like a '90s Taurus.
Yeah, I mean, it's not horrible, but
it's not really their best effort. Or or
maybe it was. Yes, some of the design
language on the interior as well as the
exterior draws a little bit of mockery
from Porsche Purists, but as a result,
these have not really started to
appreciate until recently. And so that's
why I bought one and I kind of like it.
And like I said before, my dad's always
told me you can learn to love. And I'm
I'm actually learning to love the 996.
And if you're someone that's trying to
buy the deal, well, there's no better
deal than a 996 911. And it's easily the
most accessible way to get into one of
the best sports cars of all time.
Because make no mistake whatsoever, this
Porsche drives like a Porsche. It sounds
like a Porsche cuz it is a Porsche 911.
And the best part is that these are
actually fairly easy to maintain both on
the pocketbook as well as there's a lot
of stuff you can do it yourself. Except
it was plagued with one thing called the
IMS RMS LOL. It is a pretty big problem.
And this car actually had the issue
happen. Yes, that's why it now has a 4
L. It should have a 3.6 L in it, which
I'm not complaining at all. The car is
way too much fun to drive now. But it
did cost about $25,000 for a new motor.
And so if I could give you one piece of
advice when buying the 996 is that if
the IMS has not been addressed, get that
fixed immediately. Don't screw around.
Drive it straight to the repair shop and
get it done. But don't be turned off by
this gen because although this fix is a
matter of life or death, it won't cost
you an arm and a leg to do it. And once
that IMS has been taken care of, you're
going to have a bunch of 911 motoring
bliss. And the 996 will be just as
reliable as any other generation 911,
which they're actually, this is my third
one, and it's really reliable. And a guy
can never have too many Porsche 911s
because, well, I also have a 997 911 in
the stable. And although it might only
be 2 years newer than this 04 C4S 996,
it drives like it's 20 years newer. It's
a much more modern iteration of the 911
Carrera. And don't get me wrong, this
car is awesome, but it drives a lot more
like a Gbody or an aircooled. And the
997, it's really the last of the analog
cars, but it just feels a lot more
contemporary inside and out. See, you
got the 997 generation that goes back to
those oval headlights. And then you got
the 991 gen and the brand spanking new
992. And every single one of these
generations of this incredible car can
put the hammer down at the racetrack as
well as keep that eaten grin on your
face as you drive to work. The 911 is
one of the most pure driving experiences
ever. And right now, there's very little
variance between a minty air cooled and
a modern version. And remember how
earlier I was talking about how Porsche
would come out with the turbo cars like
the 1975 or the 993? In 2017, they
decided to turbocharge literally
everything with the 991.2.
And yes, they completely eliminated that
naturally aspirated Boxer 6. And with
that performance metrics were hiked up
significantly, but it did come at a
cost. That mechanical Sonata that those
regular flat 6 had, well, they went away
and it was replaced with something like
this.
Yeah, it's kind of muffled, gruff
grumble that maybe reminds you of a
Subaru. I guess poor one went out for
the longlost purr. But the 992 came out
in 2020, and yes, it's a stunning feat
of technology and engineering. No doubt
about it. But I feel like every new
generation has lost a little bit of that
passion over the years. You see, the
Porsche 911 is special for a variety of
reasons. And being a presenter for a
YouTube channel, I should probably be
driving something like a MarkV Supra or
one of those Subaru STI. But no, I drive
a Porsche 911. And there's a very good
reason for that. Not only is it an
amazing driving car that can pull in a
straight line regardless of the humble
horsepower numbers, but it's also one of
the most capable canyon carvers and will
shatter records at most technical tracks
around the world. And that's even stock.
Plus, it's one of the only cars of this
caliber that won't kill your wallet on
maintenance. And I don't know how they
do it because these are pretty
mass-produced cars, but they just don't
really suffer from the depreciation
curve. If you're looking to buy a
Porsche 911 right now, there's pretty
much a limitless number of them on the
market at just about every price point.
If you're looking to spend 20 grand or
less, you're looking at a 996 911, which
is not a bad view. But if you're looking
for more of a waterfront property and
your budget is a little less restricted,
you could also get yourself into
something that's a little bit more track
focused like the 996 GT3, which is
easily the most accessible of the GT3s
today. And it's still a hardcore track
scorching monster that is going to
continue to go up in value. Really, the
only risk here with the 996 is that
you'll have some purists scoff at you
and tell you that your headlights are
ugly or, you know, that your interior
looks like a '90s Taurus, which they're
not wrong. Well, at least with the
interior. But don't listen to those guys
because it's still a legit 911. And for
those of you looking for a 911 that is a
good investment, look no further than
the 993 or the 964. Of course, the more
that you can afford, the better, but the
turbo and RS models are easily the most
soughta right now. A super clean turbo
variant is probably the most recession
proof. But if the past year has any
indication on Porsche prices, they're
pretty much all pandemic proof. And yes,
especially for the 991 and 992, they're
still depreciating quite a bit, but
those are absolutely bulletproof daily
drivers. And a lightly used modern
Carrera S or 4S would be a great pickup
for a certified pre-own. And if you're
looking to enjoy long-term ownership,
you're looking to pick up a sports car
for a decade or so, I really can't
suggest a better car than a Porsche 911.
From 1964 to 2021, they are what every
other manufacturer judges themselves on.
And I think we all know that comparable
cars have major issues that have a
serious effect on the long-term
longevity of the car. But not the 911.
These bad boys are easier to own than a
fidget spinner, especially if you're
fidgety. No, seriously. They're
lowmaintenance. They look incredible.
And every generation, for some reason,
the values just over time keep climbing.
Believe it or not, a few years ago,
European banks were legitimately
recommending their customers invest in a
classic Porsche 911 to protect their
liquid cash. And hey, I'm no financial
analyst. I'm a car guy just like you.
But if the banks are telling people to
invest in a super fun, super stylish
German sports car, I'd probably at least
give it some consideration. Wouldn't
you? So, there you go. Everything that
you need to know about buying a Porsche
911. Drop us a comment below and let us
know which generation is your ideal 911.
And let us know the specs that you want.
Carrera, S, Turbo, GT car. Let us know
down below. I'm Brad Danger. This is
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always, keep living the ideal lifestyle.