Alejandro

I have been window shopping cars for a while and will probably purchase something in the next 1 year at least 3 years at most. I have been looking at c5/c6 corvettes but really like the idea of a 996, currently driving a 1994 Corvette. I had a few questions. One, I know there is such thing as a Corvette tax, is the Porsche tax considerably more? Like is 1k ish a year enough to budget for maintenance after thins like IMS are taken care of?

Also it's kind of hard to judge the market, some 996 carrera s's are going for 15k while some are going for 40k. Is it possible to get a decent one under 20k? Also I do all the work myself to my corvette, is it even possible to do this with the 911? With the corvette the whole hood comes up and I can easily access anything and the opening for a 996's engine looks a lot smaller. This will be my daily driver also.

Thank you for any answers.

GarrettSR5

I did.

40k will [hopefully] be a C4S which is basically a Turbo body with out the turbo motor or even a Turbo needing some work at that price.

Under 20 will mostly be 996.1 [pre facelift] but can still find .2s and with records.

I paid well under 15k for mine with 137k miles and all I've done in a year for maintenance is an oil change and a short throw shifter.

245ster

If you're patient, you can find a higher-mileage gem once in a while on craigslist. I managed to snag a one-owner 2003 C4S with 109k miles on it for 19k back in 2017. Guy was too old to get into the car anymore so his wife made him sell it.

For the most part, the car's been reliable and I've taken a few road trips without worry, but I had a bunch of things hit me around the same time last summer -- brakes, tie rods, air oil separator, O2 sensors, diff leaks, serpentine belt -- I attribute it to a mix of it just being an older car and me doing a lazy job storing it over the winter. It's easy enough to do the simpler stuff myself, but just don't have the space/tools at my apartment to do major repairs.

S_Lee

It took me a year and a half to find mine, which finally turned up on local Craiglist. There were quite a few I saw during my search that were in good shape and under $20k...I would've had to factor in $1000 for shipping or travel though.

Very well documented 2003 Targa with 80k miles for $18,500 with a bunch of extras (exhaust, GT3 parts, tuner, etc) and the previous owner had pretty much all failure items replaced (IMS/RMS, AOS, expansion tank, water pump, belts, hoses).

Tom Loder

they are out there. I just grabbed an aerokit in great shape for $20k with 65k miles.

thurstonpowers3

Got my 02 C2 with 42k miles for $19.2K.

Topdeckr

I paid $15k for this. It needed some deferred maintenance and the paint was in not so great shape, but if you're willing to put in some time and elbow grease, your total investment can come in well under $20k.

plpete84

I'm in a similar boat as you but my budget is more like $25k - $30k. The short answer is yes but remember the adage that there is nothing more expensive than a cheap Porsche. With that in mind I would budget some money for a PPI if you find a car that you might be serious about. Sounds like you're mechanically savvy so doing your own PPI might be a good first step and invest in an indy shop to go more in depth.

As for Porsche tax I definitely think it's there and might be higher than an Corvette one. It's a German sports car and both of those descriptors tend to equal $$$. I'd definitely set aside some money for when stuff goes wrong. Hopefully a PPI should prevent any big ticket items and as you put money away that should help cover those as they come. At $20k you might be looking at cars close to 100k miles on the clock or over. Not to say you might not get lucky but I don't see decently maintained 996's getting much lower than that. Sure there will be some but higher miles and dodgy records.

Bash Hat

I bought an 02 C4S with 71k miles (from a BMW dealer no less) for $21k last year. Had to ship it from CO to CA but still a smoking deal. It’s now sitting at Jake Raby’s shop getting a 4.0L (elective, I had no issues with the car), so it’s no longer a $21k car but we’ve seen stock 996s go for $41k on BaT recently so I’m now in that ballpark. But it’s not about the money, it’s about having the smiles per hour.

That said, try not to focus on price. Take your time. Test drive a lot of cars, get a PPI and buy the one that checks out ok. A $20k 996 can very quickly become a $30k or $40k 996 if you pick the wrong one.

cooler2442

FYI prices on these cars have gone up considerably in the last 4-6 months which will make your search harder, so I would throw out anyone's post here that didn't buy a car in 2020. If a "decent" example comes up for sale for under 20k, they already have about a dozen calls or emails in the first day. This is thanks to decent non aero kit cars going for 25k+ on BAT and Aero Kit cars going for 31-35k.

Topdeckr

Bought mine in April. I think the deals are still out there, just maybe less of them and/or they go really quickly.

cooler2442

You basically have to refresh the sites everyday and if the car comes up for sale you need to get it within the first day if its really clean/priced well. There are also now flippers who have figured out that these cars can command 25-35k on BaT so they will buy them, slap some more lipstick on them then put them up for sale for 5-10k more.

I just picked up a 1 owner C2 with 35k miles and a factory aero kit car for a very low number but it took alot of luck(they declined the same offer on the first day of the listing from a guy who showed up with a backpack full of cash and they could tell he wanted to flip it but gave me the same price after I negotiated a bit in the end).

808Bill

Define "Decent".
I found an 02 with a blown motor at 124K miles. Paid $4K and then found a good factory replaced motor (50K miles) from a part out for $6K. Did all the work myself with the help of Rennlist and Pelican parts tech section.
I'm not a mechanic and have never done this kind of work ever. The car was in great shape other than a little paint fade on the rear bumper. I see them all over the country for under $20K...
I've been laughing for two years and smiling every time I start it for a drive. It's my daily driver.
Have you driven one yet?
And BAT is last place to buy one unless you set your budget and stick to it, you might get lucky!

Swordknives

Last month I bought a 03 C2 with 95k miles for $17,500 it had deferred maintenance and few records but is in decent condition.

For peace of mind I had a local Porsche shop perform a major service plus flush all fluids, change the IMS, replace clutch, RMS, and perform a general inspection it cost me $5k. If I did the work myself U would have been well under the $20K mark for a great car.


Any way it can be done but can take time looking.

motoo344

Everyone has a different opinion of what decent is. If you can settle for a cab then sub 20k should be no problem. Coupes generally go for more so you might have to find one with some more miles than a comparable cab might have. I picked up my 99 cab for $18k and four months later put $4300 into it to take care of major services that I had no record of, IMS, RMS, AOS, clutch, and flywheel. In the time since then, over a year, everything I have done has been routine and I have spent under $500 bucks on that stuff DIY. There are some rock chips and a few door dings but overall it's in good shape for a 21-year-old vehicle. I think with a new top it will look even better.