Hi all, last year I purchased a 2022 base Carrera. I have owned it for 1 complete year and am writing this  to share my experience with anyone looking to purchase a similar car.

ABOUT ME

41 years old. I work a regular day job in healthcare. I dont have Turbo S money, or anything close to it. I live in the CA bay area. Was not blessed with RSUs. I have 3 kids, 8, 6 and 6 (twins). I don't track the car or have plans to. I have owned a 987 S, 981 base, and an Alfa Romeo Giulia QV prior this. Current other cars are a Macan and XC90. I had a 911 on my wall as a kid, so ownership has always been a lifelong goal of mine.

I daily drive my 911 to work (15 miles a day). It has sport chrono, sport exhaust, full sport design, premium package, 18 ways, and some random other cosmetic options here and there. No FAL.

It took several months to find the right spec. I bought the car sight unseen, 500 miles away. All over phone and text. The car was delivered to me.

There was some stigma when I first showed up to work. Mostly positive with people saying they liked the car or whatnot. It garnered a bit more attention than I anticipated, since these are literally all over the place in CA. But after the first few weeks, no one gives a crap.

I bought the car at about 7000 miles. Currently at about 11000 miles after my 1 year.

THE CAR

The base is tame. Comfortable as a daily driver. It really goes in Sport and Sport plus. Sport plus is a bit too aggressive for my commute, but sport is the sweet spot. The car has plenty of power for daily driving. There has not been a time when I felt like it needed more. The car handles great. No surprises there.

Road noise is bad, especially on the highway on crappy CA roads. Could be the Pirellis, but the rear wheels are all I hear at highway speeds. Exhaust could use a boost. The sport exhaust throws some crackles and pops sometimes but its far too quiet. The standard exhaust must be awful. I tested a car with standard audio. Its embarassingly bad. Please at least spec the Bose if buying a car.

I have not missed FAL. No problems going up or down any curbs or speedbumps. Sure sometimes have to take an angle, but nothing I'm not used with other cars. My Giulia QV was much more difficult getting around town.

Build quality is lacking. Bought the car CPO and it came with some issues. I have the extended fuel tank and it was loose upon delivery. Could hear clunks and rattles all over the front end. I wonder if they even road test during CPO. Car was at the dealer within 1 week of purchase to reapply the foam that holds the tank in place. I also have this creaking coming from then sunroof that the dealer cannot figure out. It's somewhat ignorable however. There have been numerous glitches with the surround view, as in, it only works sometimes. But supposedly the new recall will fix it, but there is not currently a fix available (ugh) The PCM isn't very good, but it gets the job done. Menu navigation sucks and its always alerting useless notifications. TBH I rarely use the PCM.

The display gauge is another small annoyance. There are 5 clusters in the display. The 2 outermost are blocked by the steering wheel. Not sure how this passed the design process but it's moronic.

I love driving around with my 3 kids in the car. Sadly my wife gets left out. She doesn't care much for the car anyway, so sacrifices can be made. It's great being able to do school drop offs and pick ups. We have made some good memories with the kids in there just doing mundane weekend errands. I hope they remember these times when they are older.

COSTS 

Original MSRP was $135k in 2022. My purchase price in 2025 was $125k with 7000 miles. No extra add ons. Paid cash. Car had full PPF from the previous owner. PPF is great until it gets nicks. And I have 1 nick on the front bumper. The rear wheel arches also also getting peppered a good amount. PPF will obviously need to be redone at some point in the future (perhaps the next owners problem).

Fuel efficiency is about 17 mpg. I drive mostly in town.

Just came back from my 1st service. This was a 4th year service. Yes, I know it can be done cheaper at an independent. 4th year major service at the dealer was $2100. Spark plugs were done prior to my purchasing the car, but would have been $1300 if I needed them. My tires were <3mm so I replaced them with Michelin PS4 at $2300. They also recommended a new battery for $1100 (?! declined this) and an alignment for $600 (also declined). Also paid $1100 CA registration. Insurance added about $600 a year over my Giulia QV.

1 year review of my 2022 base Carrera