I am inherently “frugal” but in late 2012 when the then “new” 991 first came out I wanted to be able to really spend some time with the car and form an opinion. I had a work trip to LA and Hertz was offering the 991 as part of their premium collection. I usually get the $36 domestic sedan but for this trip I splurged and dropped $473/day for 2 days of driving a brand new 991…. I can still remember my initial impressions:

• My first WOW was steering feel, I was dreading the introduction of the electric steering and was prepared to experience a numbness which was part of my experience with BMW’s electric steering…. Actually what I found was that not only was the steering really good, I actually preferred it to the feel of the outgoing 997. Heresy… It seemed to maintain the same level of precision and feel, yet provided none of the negative feedback one expected mid-corner on broken pavement. Damn these Porsche engineers are good!
• Next up was the PDK coupled with the then new 3.4-liter motor, which actually was smaller in displacement vs. the outgoing Carrera motor. It seemed as if Porsche worked some more magic and shift speed was significantly faster and it had less moments where I as a driver wanted something and the car did something else. I also noticed that while this motor did seem a little down on low-end torque, that its ability to REV and coupled with the faster shift speed it felt appreciably faster. I will say, this is the first Porsche I have driven where I really think it is BETTER as a PDK than as a manual… (as an avowed manual guy, this KILLS me to say this!).
• The SOUND of this motor north of 5,000 rpm is simply GLORIOUS!!!
• Fit and Finish/Modern Feel- The outgoing 997.2 was a continuation of the 996 platform and as such had been around since 1998. While each generation improved on it, it was not longer feeling modern (which isn’t always bad). The 991 felt 20 years newer, I especially noticed this in body gaps, interior finishes looked richer.
• Cabin Space- People sometimes knock the 991 for getting too “big”. I tend to see their point BUT two things strike me: one the cabin is SO much more spacious for spending time. I can imagine very comfortable multi-day road trips in this car. Worth noting is that while it appears bigger, Porsche actually made it weigh LESS than the 997.2, again those engineers!

It is hard to believe that that was 11 years ago. I don’t deal in a lot of 991’s as frankly it’s a competitive landscape with lots of resellers who focus on price not quality, but I am THRILLED to have this 991! So here is the scoop on this car:

• Amaranth Red Metallic (one of the BEST colors Porsche has ever had on the 991, not to mention Rare!)
• Black Leather
• PDK- $4,080-
• Premium Package Plus -$4,650 which included: 14-way power sport seats, Auto dimming mirrors, heated and cooled seats, PDLS, Porsche entry and drive, Interior light package, Sirius XM, 6-disc CD Changer
• BOSE Audio- $2,420
• 20” Sport Design Wheels- $1,950
• Wheel Caps with Colored Crests- $185
• Window Trim in High Gloss-$395
• Sunroof in Glass- $1,990
• Power Steering Plus- $270
• Sport Design Steering Wheel-$490
• Sport Tailpipes- $950
• Door Entry guards in Aluminum Illuminated- $895

Total Original MSRP-$104,235

This car was sold new at Jim Ellis Porsche in Atlanta, GA on February 28th, 2013. The original owner had an 18-month lease and then it was sold as a Certified Pre-Owned by Porsche Southpoint in Chapel Hill, NC. My client purchased it from then on November 14^th, 2014 when it had just 10,677 miles on it. He has maintained it to a level, which is almost hard to fathom, exclusively at Porsche Southpoint and later Porsche of Bellevue when he relocated to Seattle in 2020. I have SIXTY-SEVEN pages of service documentation showing meticulous care, it has NEVER missed a service nor had something not attended to! Trust me, the service advisor LOVED this customer…. He even went so far that every time the car was serviced he also had it detailed!

I don’t have the time to go thru every item, but the recent highlights:

• 59,594 miles- Porsche of Bellevue: 2 year service with oil and filter, brake fluid flush, cabin filter, new drive belt, new wiper blades, full detail- $3,325
• 57,830 miles- Porsche of Bellevue: Replace all 4 tires with Michelin N Spec Pilot Sport 4S, 4 wheel alignment, full detail- $2,639
• 57,108 miles- Porsche of Bellevue: annual service, replace drivers window switch panel, new wiper blades- $1,292
• 55,789 miles- Porsche of Bellevue:-40k major service, all fluids, filters, spark plugs, new battery, brake fluid flush, new wiper blades, 4-wheel alignment, full detail- $3,785

It just goes on and on like that….TRUST me the VAST majority of similar priced 991’s out there have NOT had this level of care lavished on them. This is the reason you want to buy this one and not the typical 4-owner car bought out of dealer auction….

As you would guess, the cars runs and drives like new and I could find no mechanical faults in the car. The interior is SPOTLESS and the exterior including all the wheels quite remarkable given the mileage! No car is perfect and as such here are the things I will note:

• Sadly Porsche of Southpoint scratched the front bumper cover when it was there being serviced. They repaired it at their cost, however (so irritating!) the shop they used clearly didn’t add flex additive to the paint, which is a common shortcut… As such the paint doesn’t “flex” with any type of impact, so it has more rock chips that it otherwise would. I am going to have the front cover refinished and I will make sure they use the right products!
• I am having one small ~5mm door ding removed using Paintless Dent Repair done on the right door.
• It does not have PPF and has one chip on the center of the hood, just below the crest that I will touchup, but it will still be visible on close inspection.
• Rear bumper cover was repainted by Haury’s, which is our local Porsche certified shop. Several years prior while parked at the airport, the owner came back and found a scuff and the exhaust bent (and of course they drove off without leaving a note). He had the exhaust fixed immediately but over time the scuff bothered him, so he had it refinished.

The car comes complete with:

• Window Sticker and Certificate of Authenticity
• All original books and manuals
• Both original keys, working!
• 2 sets of floor mats: OEM Porsche Carpet Mats and Weathertech Winter Mats
• OEM Porsche front sunscreen
• Car Cover
• Full Service history spanning almost 70 pages!

So if you are looking for a great 911 to drive, in a rare and gorgeous color, that has been maintained in an open checkbook fashion for not huge $$…. this IS it!