Onami

I’ve never really been a cab fan, but this car I considered yesterday was really nice and cabs still offer good value for a 993. Anything cab-specific to watch out for?

ToreB

The cabriolet roof control unit may develop solder and other faults that might stop the roof up or down sequence. Easily fixable.
The roof lock motor mechanism on top of the windscreen may fail, a metal gear cracks and needs to be changed. Spare gears are easy to get hold of.
Cheers,
Tore

Onami

Thanks Tore!

mferris

Bought a very nice 993 cab in the Spring (my first 993). Within two months, one of the two cab top cables stripped and one of the two windshield latch motors stripped its gears (my fault in a fit of anger) as Tore indicates below. So, being in a rush with a new-to-me car and it being the Spring, I had an experienced local air cooled mechanic put in two new cables and rebuild the latch. I think I paid ~$2K. But the mechanic (who I know had done several cable replacements before) could not get it to latch easily as the top would not line up perfectly with the windshield frame/latches, and the diagnosis was something was bent.

I took it home and did get it to latch after repeatedly trying - so I presume I could just live with it, until it got worse and stripped another latch motor. I then realized after removing the rear that the two transmissions for the cab top (the round disks under the rear seat panels) had worked their way loose. Literally just tightening the 3 bolts on each transmission fixed all the alignment problems. And, this time I bought a latch gear kit (~$100) and spent about 30 minutes replacing the gears in the stripped latch. It works perfectly now.

My 70K mile 993 cab does not exhibit any noticeable cowl shake (unlike my 1993 968 cab) and there are almost no rattles/squeaks (unlike my 2020 992 coupe). No doubt a 993 coupe would be more solid - but frankly for the approx $30K I saved over a comparable coupe - I'm driving the cab more carefree and I have no issues in diving in to fix the top again myself if something else breaks - it's not that complicated once you get comfortable with it.

All the other stuff I've done are non-cab related (new clutch, rebuilt pedal cluster with new kinematic lever, replaced shifter bushings/goldenrod, new motor mounts, new speakers/radio, and I don't even know what else)

Onami

Thanks…I appreciate the detailed response. I’ll likely never put the top down if I do buy one as I have had too much sun in my past. But, like you said, the $30k savings is significant and there are some really nice low mile cabs popping up for sale. This one was pretty nice, but too much defferred maintenance for the asking price.

TheFatArmadillo

I love my cab, but I also drive it maybe once a year with the top up. If I were in your shoes and wasn’t going to have the top down, I wouldn’t consider a cab. With the top up it feels a little claustrophobic with the lack of the rear windows and smaller rear window.

pf2d

Ive had my driver 993 cab for coming up on 2 years and couldnt be happier. Amazing driving experience top up or down,especially with pss9s and fister 2s. Whole family loves riding in it. Top down in the mountains is as good as it comes. But heater works well in the winter too. No issues with top so far, but my 80k car had great records. And I saved $50k over a comparable coupe, which allows me to toy with other fun car buys. The 993 cab feels to me like the best air cooled value going. Of course, Your mileage may vary.

rdad993

I think the cabs are a realistic option to be able to have a 993 for actual use, and agree with Mferris that the coupes have just gotten too expensive to really drive anymore. They are now just becoming collector objects, very desirable but sort of risky to expose to traffic, etc. Adding many miles will affect the future value, etc., so they sit in their garages. The weak points of the cabs are well-outlined in the posts above. Mine has needed a new top, cable adjustment and a rebuilt top controller. The other maintenance its had over the years is typical 993 stuff.

DocTock993

Another cab owner...
I imported a DMorris hard top. Still need to get it fitted and painted.
Blew the planned fund for that project on a TPC SC & IC install along with 12 years of delayed maintenance and upgrade parts purchased...

nile13

I've owned two 993 cabs as daily drivers for the last exactly 20 years now. Said many times that I would not own this car if it was not a cab.

abiazis

Very well built cars…..can be used daily in dry, wet or snow……

Overdraft

Mark - my fifth 993 - yet first cab - and simply shocked at what at nice driving little car it is. Different than your situation granted because my wife wanted a cab so it what what we set out to buy. Truth be told, I wasn’t going to drive it all that much so I had no expectations to meet BUT 600 KM later, I simply love that car….and looking forward to date nights or evening drives to my sister’s house in the spring where I get to drive, with the top up OR down. Tight and rattle free, these 993 cabs are special. Don’t discount one as an option in your hunt and with a Tilly hat and some 50 SPF sunblock, an entirely new experience could await!

Onami

Thanks guys!

Car looks great Dennis! I’m really warming up to the idea. I had lots of convertibles in my younger years (that contributed to my sun damage) and remember how nice open air driving can be. We’ll see what transpires with my current search. Still looking for a 991.2 Carrera T, but if a really nice 993 pops up I’ll likely pull the trigger and get a newer 911 in a few years.

911Jeff

I have had my Cabriolet for 26 years. There was a recall wayback on the header latching mechanism. A few years ago I experienced a cable failure, which was repaired/ replaced by my independent Porsche repair shop. No other problems. I’m in California, so the cabriolet is (for me) the way to go!

PNW993

Love my cab. I manually put the top up and down so I don't have to worry about the motors or the frame twisting.