bfong00

That 99 looks and has the same price and mileage as a car I did a ppi on last year. If that's the same car I would make sure to do a ppi as it had a lot wrong with it.

johnireland

I agree that it looks like decent car at a fair price. A good daily beater. Because it has the second generation IMSB I would consider replacing that and do the motor mounts while you are at it. When/if you decide to address any cosmetics is not an issue. The biggest danger is that as you start to drive it, you might fall in love with it. Even if you threw some money at it, you would have trouble finding a better car for the same cost. I've seen some real ugly examples with higher asking prices. And the fact that a BMW dealer kept it for resale indicates two possibilities. 1. They over paid for it so as to make a sale on a BMW....and now they just want to cut their losses and get their money out of it. 2. They paid a fair price for the car, thought it was a good car and worth putting in their showroom next to their other cars, and have now dropped the price down to near a break even point. I think the car fax speaks well of the first owner. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Bringebaer

​​​​​​I've seen it in person. Other than some cosmetic problems (bumper, cup holders broken, radio button tacky, slight abrasion tp rear seat leather etc) it looks alright.

Just trying to be realistic​. If the gearbox or engine grenades due to unforseen circumstances after 20k miles I would be happy.

Volkert

This is a very fair point. Many reasonable cars out there. Check out a few before you pull the trigger. Fun to do as well!

chamilun

go drive it . having driven several, you can tell the better engines

Bringebaer

Thank you for all the good hints and feedback. I've scheduled a PPI, so it will be exciting to see what comes out of that.

P.S. One shop quoted me $790 for a PPI. Settled for another shop that also specializes in Porsches for $250.

Thanks!

Montychristo128

Whats included in the PPI? If possible get them to pull filter and check for metal. Bores should be checked, other common faults like ignition switch, AOS (pull the oil filler cap to see if there is lots of pressure), brakes, check for wear, easy to miss as insides wear first and engine mounts.

My car is 80K mile equivalent, all the bores are oval, two are scored but on the plus side IMS is great!!!

I bought a cheap one. I'm probably into $15-20k for the engine rebuild!! So be careful out there.

Bringebaer

Yeah, I asked for the filter to be inspected for metal shavings.

Sorry to hear about your problems. Ovaling, d-chunk and all that other mess is scary.

williamr91

^ honestly d-chunk, other issues, will happen with any car (not the same issues), but they all will and have issues. The price to fix is higher in a Porsche. If a 15k engine rebuild will bankrupt you or put you into another very bad spot (buy another car to drive when it's being fixed, or something) then maybe it isn't the best idea.

I've owned a Porsche with as little as 38k miles and as high as 170k honestly they've all been good cars. The 38k CTT I owned was a 1 owner that was very clean and looked new, but it was the most costly to own just due to having the recommend stuff coming up sooner than later.

Much better than a BMW I had a MINI I had. A ton better than two Jeep's I leased (by the lease end they both needed a pretty penny, 30k mostly highway mileage they both had warped rotors and used pads, 1 had gear slipping issues, etc) now they're all very different cars, but I've been happy with Porsche's. Parts and service is a lot more than the others, but they've been easy to work on for basic stuff (oil, filters, spark plugs, brakes, coolant etc) actually easier than some of the others.

Porsche has been highest or at least ranked in top 10 for best initial quality for a number of years. 15-20 years later this shows.

mp2day

Guy out here in RMR is selling a nice looking 2002 (3.6) C4 Cab 81K on the clock & IMS was done... $18K. I kind of think it's a steal.

5CHN3LL

This is going to suck to hear, but...the $790 PPI would likely find the things that a $250 PPI won't. There is a reason the price for a useful PPI for a 996 is going up (for places that will still DO PPI's)...

If the to-do lists were identical and the only difference was the price, though...nice!

Bringebaer

True. The $790 did include certain procedures that are probably way more time consuming.

That being said the cheaper PPI revealed quite a few things:
1. Both sides of valve cover leaking ($1600)
2. Engine and transmission mounts needed replacement
3. Drivetrain clunk between 1st and 2nd gear.
4. Tie-rod needs replacement
5. Radiator seepage
6. SRS Airbag code
7. Oil temp sensor code
8. Handful of codes related to the central locking system
9. Passenger window will not automatically go down and up when you open and close the door. Causing the glass to hit the side molding (not flush). Assume a new window regulator.
10. Passenger seat will not tilt up and down
11. Remote lock/unlock not working

Plus various small issues like bulbs being burnt out, bad struts, cracked rear lenses etc. I was willing to discuss the price but was firmly shut down by the seller. Oh well

Byprodriver

$ 10,000 996

Bringebaer

I think a price around $10,000 give or take would make more sense. If the seller/dealer chooses to remedy the problems they will not realistically be able to charge more than the current asking price. Tricking someone into overpaying doesn't sound too clever in the long run either


Funny thing is the valve cover gasket (RTV) was supposedly replaced less than 200 miles ago by the seller. PPI mechanic stated that was not the case at all, which makes you wonder.

Turkertwo

If you don't mind me piling on, I agree with the earlier post that there are a lot of these 996s around and you should be able to find one with less issues in the high teens price wise. My 2000 MY Carrera with 75K has had only a handful of the issues your PPI uncovered so maybe you should keep shopping and try to be patient.