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The truth is that there are no real downsides in getting an open-topped Porsche 911 over a fixed-top one. The 911 Cabriolet improved in huge measures with this '992'-generation model. The hood remained a brilliantly-engineered piece of kit and the chassis dynamics were better than ever. Here's where we look at earlier 2019-2024-era versions of this 992 model from a used buyer's perspective and try to find out.
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History
The Porsche 911 is more than just a car. It's a legend. As such, it carries a huge weight of provenance. Obscure design cues speak volubly. Individual colours have historical resonance. It's something to obsess over. Thing is, for some people it is just a car. A pretty and fast car, but just a car nevertheless. While most 911 purists would never choose an open-topped version, there's a healthy proportion of 911 customers who like the idea of limitless headroom.
'Real' 911 buyers tend to sniff at Cabriolet variants, denigrating those who choose them as not getting the whole 911 'thing', but so good was the post-2019-era 992-generation car that we thought at launch that perhaps the purists were painting themselves into a corner. If owner experience and enjoyment are key to owning a sports car, who's to deny that 911 Cabriolet customers aren't one step ahead of the obsessives?
As usual with 911 development, more variants were added to the 992 Cabriolet line-up as time went along; the introduction of the Turbo and Turbo S in 2020; and a mid-level GTS model in 2021. The second phase 992.2 Cabriolet models arrived for the 2025 model year, but it's the earlier 992 models that we focus on here.
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What you get
The shape of this 992-generation car retained the classic 911 design cues but it looked sleeker than its predecessor and the more elegant silhouette certainly complemented the Cabriolet design. You certainly don't get the hunchbacked look of many 911 Cabriolets of the past. It even looks great with the hood up, not something you can say of many cabriolets.
The hood itself is an intriguing piece of equipment. Porsche has never subscribed to the trend for folding hard tops and this roof incorporates a lightweight magnesium frame, uses a fabric-skinned composite panel for the upper and rear part of the structure and can be raised and lowered at speeds of less than 31mph. It takes just 12 seconds to raise or lower and has a series of metal bows within that maintain its shape when travelling at high speeds. You get a very effective windbreaker, too, while the roof folds itself into position more compactly than with previous generation open-topped 911s and so takes up less space.
Grab one of the motorised door handles to gain access to the cabin and you'll find the usual disciplined high quality Porsche interior. With early versions of this 992-era design, the brand didn't follow its rivals by switching to a fully-digital instrument cluster, but most of what's on offer in the binnacle uses this technology, though the rev counter retained a classic analogue dial. The seats are beautifully comfortable and supportive. Plus, as ever in a 911, the rear pews are suitable only for tiny children or designer shopping bags. The front boot space offers 132-litres in the various Carrera models, regardless of your drivetrain choice; it's 128-litres with the Turbo variants.
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What to look for
992 model servicing is every two years or 20,000 and the cost of a two year Porsche Centre service is typically between £750-£850. A four year service can be anything between £1,350-£2,000. If you're a member of Porsche Club GB, you'll get discounts on these figures. And obviously independent specialists are cheaper (think around £500 and £1,100 respectively). Rear tyres (usually Pirelli P Zeros) will wear at roughly twice the rate of the fronts (think 11-12,000 miles, but it could be sooner if you drive enthusiastically). There was a product recall in March 2021 to address suspension lock nuts that didn't allow sufficient tightening of the main fasteners.
Some rear spoilers have got stuck in an intermediate position. And the optional sunroof sometimes rattles. Look out for squeaks and rattles, especially from the seats and storage bins. The optional Innodrive system can sometimes forget its speed settings and check out all the functionality of the Porsche Communications Management centre screen. We've heard of blowing speakers with the optional Bose sound system and there was a recall on early cars to increase finger clearance between the electronic handbrake button and the central cubby unit. Plus there was a software update to sort out bugs in the SOS eCall system.
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Replacement parts
(Based on a 2019 911 Carrera Cabriolet ex VAT - prices quoted for guidance purposes only - Porsche Genuine Parts - design911.co.uk) A set of front brake pads is around £243; for rear pad set, it's around £216. For a radiator, you're looking at around £484. A fuel pump is around £27. A clutch master cylinder is around £210. A track rod is around £129. A rear shock absorber (with the PASM system) is around £864.
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On the road
There's a weight penalty (70kgs) for choosing the Cabriolet body shape rather than the Coupe, but that's well compensated for by the extra power on offer from the various versions of the twin turbo 3.0-litre flat six that were available with this 992-series model. There were three mainstream choices, all offering the choice of either rear wheel drive or all-wheel drive and either 7-speed manual or 8-speed PDK auto gearboxes. Select from either the base 385PS Carrera, the 450PS Carrera S or the 480PS Carrera GTS. Even the base Carrera manages 62mph in just 4.4s en route to 181mph. The Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet improves those figures to 3.5s and 191mph. If that's somehow not fast enough, then the all-wheel drive-only Turbo and Turbo S Cabriolet models beckon, respectively developing either 580PS or 650PS. So yes, it's as fast as you'd want.
Whichever variant you choose, crucially, peak pulling power is developed low in the rev range from just 1,700rpm, which should make it easy to tap into the neck-snapping performance. When it comes to refinement and insulation, there's not much difference to the experience you'd get with a metal roof 911 Coupe (or indeed a glass-roof 911 Targa), so the compromises you've to accept when choosing the Cabriolet body style are slimmer than they've ever been. Handling is typically immersive and adaptive damping (or 'Porsche Active Suspension Management') is standard, as part of a suspension set-up that remained unchanged.
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Overall
Though it looks almost identical to the 911 Coupe when the shapely hood's in place, the 911 Cabriolet is a car that in 992-series form emerged from the hard top model's shadow as an entity in its own right. In this form, it was a more convincing convertible car than ever before, the sleeker profile matched with greater technology and a more luxurious interior.
From new, as with the Coupe model, Porsche was banking on the fact that the excellence of this car would help to simplify the decision over whether to commit to the significant outlay involved in buying it. And on the used market, with this much style matched to this much substance, you'd have to be tempted.
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