My oldest daughter is getting close to driving age. She asked me if she could have a 911 for her first car. I first laughed. Then I thought, WTF, why not?
Of course I’m not talking a new one, I may be crazy but not buying my kid a $100K car crazy 
I’m thinking a 996 or 997, $20-30K range.
Would I get the coolest dad of the year award or the irresponsible dad of the year award?
Probably both
As long as you get enough insurance to cover a wreck or hitting someone else or hitting another 911. Then you are ‘responsible’ but still coolest. (BTW This might reach umbrella levels of coverage on a teen in a 911)
Don’t forget to factor in the $5k-10k in annual maintenance and repair on an old Porsche.
Guessing you’re not gonna have many options, so why not?
It’s really not that bad. Yeah it’s not a Camry maintenance cost but it’s not $10K a year either. I’ve owned a few over the years. I don’t think I ever spent more than $2K in any year.
What are the crash test ratings on those years/models? Since you’re likely to find out with a new driver, better to know in advance.
What about a TT or TTS first just so she gets the hang of driving a “sports car” and then gets her a 997 a couple of years later?
You’re nuts 
RWD also, anyone?
Look up IMS Bearing…
Be careful where you set the bar for yourself.
Chances are she’ll be just as thrilled with an old corolla as an old porsche. The difference is what you’ll have to get her next. And what you can’t get away with less than.
Stranger on the internet opinion- It won’t be fun going from a 911 to an altima if/when real life kicks in for her. Don’t spoil her from the beginning, she will lose the enjoyment of moving up the ladder step by step.
Fair point but for the sake of playing devils advocate, maybe this will motivate her to work hard so she can afford to obtain the next tier of car…
woah there…
That’s not devil’s advocate 
That’s best case scenario stuff there
They come in AWD. Which is what I’d get as I live somewhere with snow.
Fair point.
On a macro level, it seems nuts. Like: what kind of values do you want to impart to your children? To work for their own stuff or just be gifted aspirational stuff?
Then there’s the question of liability: look up all the news articles of teenagers in “fast” cars who killed their friends/passengers and/or third parties in other vehicles. Yes technically an n/a 996 or 997 isn’t all that fast but show me an ambulance chaser who sees “Porsche” in the police report and doesn’t salivate at the prospect of a payday.
Do these exist? How much deferred maintenance is there? I bet a PPI would disabuse you of this notion quite quickly if the above hasn’t.
They exist all over. It’s the going rate. And I’ve owned them before, I know all about the IMS too. God, I think I could write a book on the IMS given the hours I spent online researching it.
Honestly, these cars are so overblown in terms of cost to maintain and horror stories. Like any used car, the engine could blow tomorrow. But also, virtually all 996s have had the IMS done by now. I mean they’re 20 year old and the IMS issue has been well known for at least 10 years.
And like any used car, I don’t buy one from some buy here, pay here lot. I buy cars from private sellers, and look at maintenance history, get a PPI, etc.
This is the one forum on cars where I don’t think “hey you should get a PPI” is really needed as a comment. It’s kinda implied.
Why does she want the 911? because she is into cars or wants to show off? If she’s into cars theres plenty of cheaper sports cars that are fun to drive, IMO a base 996 isn’t that great compared to a more modern Miata