2001 Porsche 996 Turbo

This particularly effortless and understated Porsche performance icon has covered nearly 111k miles, but it boasts a great track record of servicing and maintenance. The vendor (the most recent of the car’s three owners) is a fan of the brand and swapped this Turbo for his Carrera 2 back in 2019. A totally factory standard Turbo, this 911 is a Tiptronic automatic model and it boasts some desirable options, including Porsche navigation, a sunroof and premium Bose audio.

The history with the car shows frequent trips back into the Porsche dealer network for maintenance with specialists taking over care in recent years. Some large bills for work to the air-conditioning and water pump as well as exhaust fixtures ensure that all’s running well. In fact, the vendor reports that this Turbo is in great health, with a drive to match. ‘The Tiptronic in M mode keeps the engine in the perfect rev range to immediately access its huge reserves of power. It’s also ideal for more cruising driving when you can let your pulse settle down a little!’ Well, quite.

Finished in highly appropriate, early-Noughties Seal Grey – with the black leather interior accompaniment – this 996 Turbo looks both purposeful and subtly aggressive. Some might have complained that this generation looked a little soft, but we think the Turbo’s aged exceptionally well. The paint finish on this example looks great, especially considering its mileage, which is neither exceptionally low nor high, but shows this Turbo has been enjoyed. As it should be. Those big front ‘fried egg’ headlights haven’t succumbed to clouding like so many others have, which is also reassuring.

This 911 hasn’t escaped its 20 years and 111k miles entirely unscathed though. There are a few light marks to that low, wide front end. Calling it gravel rash would be an exaggeration but there’s certainly some evidence of small paint chips here and there. None of which are looking too untidy. The rear tyres are close to their limit – probably past it on their inner edges – so will need replacing soon. The wheels would also benefit from a refurb with most showing light kerb marks on their lips and lacquer peel. Also looking a little past its best is the windscreen, which has two stone chips plus a crack in the driver’s lower right corner. None are in the driver’s view though, so will pass the next MoT, but we’d still consider a replacement. Other than these little niggles however, this Turbo presents very well indeed.

The cabin in this era of 911 is still a wonderful place to be. There’s just the right mix of useful technology with great ergonomics. This Turbo has Porsche’s navigation system (fed via DVD), which is of course out of date, but still nice to have. The same can be said of the premium Bose sound system with its cassette deck up front and cd autochanger in the frunk. There’s some light wear visible to the heel area of the driver’s mat but as it’s sacrificial, the carpet remains in good shape.

We did come across the usual (for this era) light wear to the soft-touch areas. There are a few scratches on the plastic transmission surround and some more on the door handles and door card cubbies. We also noticed a few slightly more extensive scratches to the trim on the kick plates. The seats however, exhibit very little signs of wear – even the usually worn outer driver’s bolster only shows very minor creases. The steering wheel leather also looks in great shape and the headlining is similarly smart. The toys all work as they should, as does that sunroof. Basically, it’s mostly good in here.

As with any premium machine from this era there’s plenty of plastic trim underneath too, which keeps all the electronics and vulnerable areas protected. That does mean that it’s tricky to really give this Porsche a full inspection, but from the areas on show, we were impressed by the solid and undersealed appearance to the floors and sills in particular.

Motive power for this 911 Turbo comes courtesy of a twin-turbo flat-six that’s based on the motor that Porsche used to win Le Mans in ’98. It’s a cracking engine with which to herald Porsche’s water-cooled era and this one seems to be in top health. Though we did spot signs of an oil leak on the driver’s side, just outboard of the exhaust manifold. It wasn’t dripping and doesn’t seem excessive, but it’ll need further investigation. It’s likely just a tired old gasket that’s recently started to weep, as it wasn’t mentioned on the last MoT (which expires in March 2022 by the way).

This Porsche 911 Turbo appears to have received the appropriate amount of care for such a high-performance machine, right from new to the present day. The service history is stamped from delivery and continues to track annual visits to London-based Porsche dealerships up until 2014 when care shifted to specialists. The first was well-known Porsche caretakers RPM Technik, with ePorsch taking over from 2017 to 2020. It was the latter specialist who sold the vendor the car in 2019. Incidentally, the firm was so confident of the condition of this Turbo that it offered a six-month warranty on it at that time.

There are a lot of invoices to back up the stamps too, as well as plenty of former MoTs. We saw a big bill for a new air-con condenser, plus associated parts, in 2019 at £1088,61. There’s also a 2021-dated service invoice from Max 500 a great Lotus & Porsche specialist. That service was only carried out at 108k and also included some general maintenance, which pushed the cost up to £778,27. This 911 also comes with all the correct owner’s literature from new as well as two main keys plus a spare.

Ok, so there’s no getting around the fact that the Porsche collector prefers a manual in a bright shade, but we think that this means they’re missing out. This Tiptronic example is very nearly as engaging and rapid to drive and yet will set you back a fraction of the price of a comparative condition manual Turbo.

The 996 is currently the most keenly priced 911 of all and that means there’s a lot of not very good ones out there. This one’s got all the right signs of tip-top care plus comes with an estimate of just £25,000 - £32,000. That’s frankly a steal for a car that’ll hit 60mph in 4.9 seconds and top out at nearly 190mph!

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.