Need a little advice before buying 996tt
08-25-2016, 12:27 PM
#31
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Not a bad idea to budget for repairs, but don't let that scare you away. My car just had its first "break" a couple of months ago when a wastegate actuator rod broke. $200 in parts and a DIY labor job. That was after 9 months and nearly 5,000 miles of ownership. And the conventional wisdom on the board here was that I bought a, ahem, "high risk" car (to put it in polite terms). So, the $5,000 to $10,000 in maintenance is not a given. In fact, if you were to poll the members about first year repair maintenance costs, I would bet the average is waaay below $10,000. There have been a couple of guys stung by high repair bills right after a purchase, but that is the exception rather than the rule, I would bet.
08-25-2016, 01:28 PM
#32
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A lot of very knowledgable people have commented, and I agree with most but I'll add my 2cents help you make a decision. I have a 2002tt and love it. I purchased it 3 years ago or so at 40K miles, and have 98K on the clock now. It was modified by previous owners with PS9's, HRE wheels, Europipe exhaust, anti-swaybars, and tune. I put on SCarGo custom headers, updated tune, Guard lsd, GT2 clutch to deal with the HP numbers I'm running. I absolutely love the car and use it as my daily driver.
1. Mentioned before, but the chassis in 2002 was @25% stiffer than 2001. There is still some flex, and I'd be worried about more flex if you're driving very tight curvy roads. I live on Highway 1 in northern CA, so I opted for the stiffer car.
2. Silver gauges were a must for me.
3. I do a lot of 4K mile trips with my wife, so the Bose upgraded premium stereo and sound is absolutely amazing. The audio is better than my Boxster Spyder's premium sound.
4. The lack of a glove box in the 2001 was a deal breaker for me.
5. Don't worry too much about resale value. As you can tell, I like to drive my cars.
Common issues I've had:
1. Coolant catch tank cracked.
2. Front radiators are aluminium and plastic, and the plastic cracked.
3. Rear spoiler has not completely failed, but at -15 degrees fahrenheit in Canada, it had a fault. I expect it to go in a year or so.
I absolutely love my tt. Three of my friends have them in addition to other more track oriented P cars.
1. Mentioned before, but the chassis in 2002 was @25% stiffer than 2001. There is still some flex, and I'd be worried about more flex if you're driving very tight curvy roads. I live on Highway 1 in northern CA, so I opted for the stiffer car.
2. Silver gauges were a must for me.
3. I do a lot of 4K mile trips with my wife, so the Bose upgraded premium stereo and sound is absolutely amazing. The audio is better than my Boxster Spyder's premium sound.
4. The lack of a glove box in the 2001 was a deal breaker for me.
5. Don't worry too much about resale value. As you can tell, I like to drive my cars.
Common issues I've had:
1. Coolant catch tank cracked.
2. Front radiators are aluminium and plastic, and the plastic cracked.
3. Rear spoiler has not completely failed, but at -15 degrees fahrenheit in Canada, it had a fault. I expect it to go in a year or so.
I absolutely love my tt. Three of my friends have them in addition to other more track oriented P cars.
08-25-2016, 04:56 PM
#33
A lot of very knowledgable people have commented, and I agree with most but I'll add my 2cents help you make a decision. I have a 2002tt and love it. I purchased it 3 years ago or so at 40K miles, and have 98K on the clock now. It was modified by previous owners with PS9's, HRE wheels, Europipe exhaust, anti-swaybars, and tune. I put on SCarGo custom headers, updated tune, Guard lsd, GT2 clutch to deal with the HP numbers I'm running. I absolutely love the car and use it as my daily driver.
1. Mentioned before, but the chassis in 2002 was @25% stiffer than 2001. There is still some flex, and I'd be worried about more flex if you're driving very tight curvy roads. I live on Highway 1 in northern CA, so I opted for the stiffer car.
2. Silver gauges were a must for me.
3. I do a lot of 4K mile trips with my wife, so the Bose upgraded premium stereo and sound is absolutely amazing. The audio is better than my Boxster Spyder's premium sound.
4. The lack of a glove box in the 2001 was a deal breaker for me.
5. Don't worry too much about resale value. As you can tell, I like to drive my cars.
Common issues I've had:
1. Coolant catch tank cracked.
2. Front radiators are aluminium and plastic, and the plastic cracked.
3. Rear spoiler has not completely failed, but at -15 degrees fahrenheit in Canada, it had a fault. I expect it to go in a year or so.
I absolutely love my tt. Three of my friends have them in addition to other more track oriented P cars.
1. Mentioned before, but the chassis in 2002 was @25% stiffer than 2001. There is still some flex, and I'd be worried about more flex if you're driving very tight curvy roads. I live on Highway 1 in northern CA, so I opted for the stiffer car.
2. Silver gauges were a must for me.
3. I do a lot of 4K mile trips with my wife, so the Bose upgraded premium stereo and sound is absolutely amazing. The audio is better than my Boxster Spyder's premium sound.
4. The lack of a glove box in the 2001 was a deal breaker for me.
5. Don't worry too much about resale value. As you can tell, I like to drive my cars.
Common issues I've had:
1. Coolant catch tank cracked.
2. Front radiators are aluminium and plastic, and the plastic cracked.
3. Rear spoiler has not completely failed, but at -15 degrees fahrenheit in Canada, it had a fault. I expect it to go in a year or so.
I absolutely love my tt. Three of my friends have them in addition to other more track oriented P cars.
Might have to start driving my more often and was trying to figure out what to do.
08-25-2016, 09:29 PM
#34
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A lot of very knowledgable people have commented, and I agree with most but I'll add my 2cents help you make a decision. I have a 2002tt and love it. I purchased it 3 years ago or so at 40K miles, and have 98K on the clock now. It was modified by previous owners with PS9's, HRE wheels, Europipe exhaust, anti-swaybars, and tune. I put on SCarGo custom headers, updated tune, Guard lsd, GT2 clutch to deal with the HP numbers I'm running. I absolutely love the car and use it as my daily driver.
1. Mentioned before, but the chassis in 2002 was @25% stiffer than 2001. There is still some flex, and I'd be worried about more flex if you're driving very tight curvy roads. I live on Highway 1 in northern CA, so I opted for the stiffer car.
2. Silver gauges were a must for me.
3. I do a lot of 4K mile trips with my wife, so the Bose upgraded premium stereo and sound is absolutely amazing. The audio is better than my Boxster Spyder's premium sound.
4. The lack of a glove box in the 2001 was a deal breaker for me.
5. Don't worry too much about resale value. As you can tell, I like to drive my cars.
Common issues I've had:
1. Coolant catch tank cracked.
2. Front radiators are aluminium and plastic, and the plastic cracked.
3. Rear spoiler has not completely failed, but at -15 degrees fahrenheit in Canada, it had a fault. I expect it to go in a year or so.
I absolutely love my tt. Three of my friends have them in addition to other more track oriented P cars.
1. Mentioned before, but the chassis in 2002 was @25% stiffer than 2001. There is still some flex, and I'd be worried about more flex if you're driving very tight curvy roads. I live on Highway 1 in northern CA, so I opted for the stiffer car.
2. Silver gauges were a must for me.
3. I do a lot of 4K mile trips with my wife, so the Bose upgraded premium stereo and sound is absolutely amazing. The audio is better than my Boxster Spyder's premium sound.
4. The lack of a glove box in the 2001 was a deal breaker for me.
5. Don't worry too much about resale value. As you can tell, I like to drive my cars.
Common issues I've had:
1. Coolant catch tank cracked.
2. Front radiators are aluminium and plastic, and the plastic cracked.
3. Rear spoiler has not completely failed, but at -15 degrees fahrenheit in Canada, it had a fault. I expect it to go in a year or so.
I absolutely love my tt. Three of my friends have them in addition to other more track oriented P cars.
I just need to come to terms with the mileage, and I am not sure if Canada is different than the US but the lower mileage cars are going for high 50k right up to 70k candian dollars. Not so sure having 70,000 less km is worth 20,000$.
On to my actual question. If I have the dealer doing the PPI perform a coolant system pressure check, will that put to rest the worry that the low coolant level was from a leak.
Last edited by Mike72; 08-25-2016 at 11:18 PM.
08-28-2016, 06:23 PM
#35
Race Director
Car is a late 2001 production date so it seems it has all the chassis mods of the MY02 cars, as well as the nicer front bumper and hollow spoke wheels. Lack of a glove box is a non issue for me and I can live without the deep rich bass and crystal clear highs of the BOSE system........
I just need to come to terms with the mileage, and I am not sure if Canada is different than the US but the lower mileage cars are going for high 50k right up to 70k candian dollars. Not so sure having 70,000 less km is worth 20,000$.
On to my actual question. If I have the dealer doing the PPI perform a coolant system pressure check, will that put to rest the worry that the low coolant level was from a leak.
I just need to come to terms with the mileage, and I am not sure if Canada is different than the US but the lower mileage cars are going for high 50k right up to 70k candian dollars. Not so sure having 70,000 less km is worth 20,000$.
On to my actual question. If I have the dealer doing the PPI perform a coolant system pressure check, will that put to rest the worry that the low coolant level was from a leak.
My experience with my Boxster is when I had the engine hot enough to cause the radiator fans to come on -- this happens at 212F -- when I shut off the engine and let it heat soak a few minutes the coolant tank gushed hot coolant.
I let the car sit overnight and then in the AM filled the coolant tank with around a gallon of distilled water then started the engine. No leak. Drove the car a few miles to the dealer and the coolant tank remained leak free.
The coolant may be low because of a bad coolant cap. These can go bad and alllow vapor to escape. The tank level drops over time and then the light comes on. This happened with both my Boxster and my Turbo.
Unless the cap is new and ends in part # "02" or "04" budget for a new cap.
08-28-2016, 07:52 PM
#36
Nordschleife Master
The changes were made for side impact protection and rollover protection of the crash structure. As a result they added a bunch of material to the chassis resulting in the obvious gain in weight (around 16lbs).
The chassis stiffness went up significantly under the rear seats as well as in the roll structure in the roof above the door as a result Porsche has put out a number of 25% increased stiffness. However in torsional rigidity the change was really 4%. The major change was bending stiffness was increased 32%
The 4% stiffness in rigidity is due pretty much completely to the changes made under the rear seats. The Bending stiffness is almost completely the result of the the roof changes.
The real news is that Bending stiffness at the 996 levels even at 50% increase in testing models usually shows something like .5% change in any metric I have ever seen recorded on car handling mainly (Off/On Center Yaw Gain, Steering Sensitivity, under-steer/over-steer ratio) In fact the only place you will ever see much change in handling is in something like roll balance which of course really depends on how the rigidity was gained as weight gain at the Roof effects roll center differently then at the underbody and even that is a small small change.
Now torsional rigidity also really doesn't do much to change handling when your starting at levels above 20,000nm/degree and a 4% change to that number is going to be so absolutely insignificant to handling.
The only time you will find me really talking about chassis handling and stiffness making a difference is when your effecting other metrics as a result but that is not in play in this scenario. However, if your running a Kart, Open Wheel or a Prototype the subject completely changes. Then again as most people who run stuff at this level already know more does not equal better its about designed flex.
In the end you will find that extra 16 lbs of crash protection did absolutely nothing to change the handling of the car. The extra weight would be a far more noticeable metric in handling and thats pretty insignificant. Iin 2002 you would get hollow spoke wheels and that change is much larger then anything else put into this equation. However, as we all know wheels can easily be changed and I don't see people on here really taking the time to do research on wheel designs because of handling concerns.
Now, how much those changes made to passenger safety? I have absolutely no idea but I am sure they help because Porsche made them for a reason.
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-Fishey
09-01-2016, 10:36 AM
#37
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Had the PPI done at the local Porsche dealer and the results were pretty good I think.
slight sweat on left side seal of front diff but not dripping.
and some rattles from the front left and right side of car over bumps also rattle from right rear over bumps.
there was some coolant staining under the left bank of cylinder but no actual fluid present
it is suspected that the staining is likely from when the coolant pipes were leaking prior to being repaired.
is there something major I should be concerned about with regard to the rattles over bumps or is that most likely solved with replacement of worn control arms?
Dme report showed 1900 type 1 and 44 type 2 over revs.
slight sweat on left side seal of front diff but not dripping.
and some rattles from the front left and right side of car over bumps also rattle from right rear over bumps.
there was some coolant staining under the left bank of cylinder but no actual fluid present
it is suspected that the staining is likely from when the coolant pipes were leaking prior to being repaired.
is there something major I should be concerned about with regard to the rattles over bumps or is that most likely solved with replacement of worn control arms?
Dme report showed 1900 type 1 and 44 type 2 over revs.
09-01-2016, 10:41 AM
#38
Burning Brakes
I would guess the suspension rattle is the "tuning fork" linkage. Fronts last around 40k miles, rears last 60k. Should be easy to check with a rubber hammer.
Coolant stains could be from overflow from the coolant reservoir.
Coolant stains could be from overflow from the coolant reservoir.
09-01-2016, 11:41 AM
#39
Rennlist Member
That's a pretty clean PPI for a 15 year old sports car. Doubt you'll find a car with any less than that coming out of a PPI. They ALWAYS find something.
Just for future reference, however, I'd probably not have the dealership do a PPI on a car that old. The reason is that an independent mechanic may very well be more familiar with the older models. The techs at the dealership tend to focus on the newer generation cars as those are the ones they have to perform warranty service on. I'm not saying that the dealership can't do a decent PPI, but that the indy shops generally will have more experience with the older models than the techs at the dealership.
BTW, if the shop doing a PPI for you asks how much you are paying for the car, you might want to either decline to answer or tell them a really high number. We just had an incident in the NA 996 forum where a member made a deal to purchase a car and the shop that he hired to do the PPI (Autowerkes in Huntington Beach, CA) convinced the seller to sell it to the shop (local to the seller) rather than the forum member (who lives about 1,000 miles away). In a nutshell, the forum member was getting a really good deal on the car, and when the shop found out the purchase price, they talked the seller into selling to them. And that's not just hearsay, the owner of the shop actually posted to confirm that's what happened.
https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...ing-wrong.html
Just for future reference, however, I'd probably not have the dealership do a PPI on a car that old. The reason is that an independent mechanic may very well be more familiar with the older models. The techs at the dealership tend to focus on the newer generation cars as those are the ones they have to perform warranty service on. I'm not saying that the dealership can't do a decent PPI, but that the indy shops generally will have more experience with the older models than the techs at the dealership.
BTW, if the shop doing a PPI for you asks how much you are paying for the car, you might want to either decline to answer or tell them a really high number. We just had an incident in the NA 996 forum where a member made a deal to purchase a car and the shop that he hired to do the PPI (Autowerkes in Huntington Beach, CA) convinced the seller to sell it to the shop (local to the seller) rather than the forum member (who lives about 1,000 miles away). In a nutshell, the forum member was getting a really good deal on the car, and when the shop found out the purchase price, they talked the seller into selling to them. And that's not just hearsay, the owner of the shop actually posted to confirm that's what happened.
https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...ing-wrong.html
09-01-2016, 01:46 PM
#40
Three Wheelin'
It's great that the coolant pipes were repaired (pinned or welded?).
Good luck with your search/purchase.
09-01-2016, 02:20 PM
#41
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I have arranged to have a cooling system pressure check carried out to ensure system is leak free.
09-01-2016, 07:36 PM
#42
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Making a noise? Why? Diagnose for ***** sake!
09-01-2016, 07:38 PM
#43
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09-01-2016, 08:57 PM
#44
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Just got the official DME report and it's different than what the girl told me over the phone.
Type 1 8848 2615.4 Hours
Type 2 44 972.2 Hours
operating hours counter 2764.3
Any cause for concern here??
Type 1 8848 2615.4 Hours
Type 2 44 972.2 Hours
operating hours counter 2764.3
Any cause for concern here??
09-01-2016, 09:28 PM
#45
A lot of schools of thought on reading DME reports. I think one thing that there is a consensus on is the amount of time since the last type2....at hour 972 vs total 2764 that's a pretty long while since the last type2. 
There are a couple threads around regarding over revs and you can figure out where you are comfortable.
There are a couple threads around regarding over revs and you can figure out where you are comfortable.