Customer Reviews

Porsche 911 Buyer's Guide: 2nd Edition

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The book gives a good set of specs for each year of car, however, it seems like it hasn't gone through a careful review. I noticed a lot of inconsistencies in the specs for example. Very similar models with same engine and weight are shown to have drastically different 0-60mph times for example. The descriptions of different year models and changes from prior years are confusing and not self contained (one description will reference another year, which in turn reference other years, and so on). The mechanical problems page for each model is cluttered and hard to follow, again referencing other pages. Overall its not too bad but could be really improved with some good editing.

I purchased this book after reading about it in a classic car magazine, I am truly puzzled as to how they were able to highly recommend this book. They claimed that if you are in the market for a classic Porsche this book is a must have. I disagree, I didn't find it to be all that informative and much of what he has in there can easily be found on the web. While there is some good information in there, much of it is just duplicate/reptitive info.

Each type of Porsche 911 (internal Porsche model #s 830, 964,993 etc., etc.) is covered with about 5 pages for each year of each type/series. Including a 2 page picture of the car. Around the picture of the car the author has various callouts pointed out for each year. Sounds in-depth right? Wrong, because all he basically does is repeat the same info in paragraph form over and over again for each yr and may add something specific to that year. But after reading the same paragraphs over and over again, I quickly lost interest in trying to pick out the little parts that weren't already stated 5 times before.

And the pictures with the callouts really bugged me. The 2 page picture of the car at an oblique angle (back right rear angle) is cut right down the middle with the front half being on the right page and the left page has the back end but the dividing line by the pages really wrecks the photograph and distorts the car's look. I hope if there is a 3rd edition he puts the picture on 1 page so you get an unobstructed view of the car.

More picture gripes... He also has pictures of the motor, wheels etc like on the cover but they are the same pictures over and over for each model year. More space wasting.

It seems like this would be a fairly simple book to do well and to do right and I have seen many books of a similar nature for other cars that does in fact do it right. Within 10 minutes of cracking the book open, I felt like, wow this guy just basically filled up a bunch of pages to make the book feel more substantial to justify the nearly 28.00 dollar price tag (when I bought it at 27.99)

Unfortunately, this book did not turn out to be the tool that I had hoped it would be and I definitely would not recommend this book to anyone except maybe someone who collects books about Porsche and just wants to add it to the shelf.

When your spending $20K+ on the purchase of a used porsche, it would seem prudent to verify what is being represented in the vehichle description. For example, Can you properly I.D. an Factory built wide body 911 ( Turbo or option 491) vs an after market modification? Do you know if that rear spoiler is factory or? Can you verify other options? Being able to properly decode the VIN# and locating the option codes would seem nessesary to acomplish an accurate verification. There is alot of misrepresentation in the early model porsche market and knowing what your buying is a must. This book does not address this subject very well.

This is Randy's 2nd update that I am aware of. It is really a great condensation of all info you need when considering a pre-owned Porsche. It is fair and ballances as one might say.

Great book for the uninitiated offering loads of data and facts for any Porsche fan. Yes, it also offers good guidance for anyone looking to buy a used Porsche. A welcomed volume to my reference library.