Shawn Stanford

I might be in the minority, but I love the 996s. In my eyes they're the best looking 911 since the early 80s. Less stubbornly retro than the 964s and 993s and much sleeker than the current 997s and 991s. And the prices are insane!

Finn, the Cayenne, is my daily. It's the family truckster: it takes the dogs to the vet, takes the recycle, hauls the kayaks, drags the trailer full of mulch, and lugs the boxes from Ikea. Connor, the Boxster, is the sunny-weather track day car. Top down, wind blowing, stereo blasting... You know the drill. Stitch, the Shark, is the long-distance cruiser, the project car, and my excuse to hang out with you guys. I've put more time and work into Stitch than every other car I've owned combined. He's the reason I own a set of Snap-Ons and a QuickJack.

I have a car for every occasion, and I'm out of garage space (I'm actually past out. I have a car parked on a vacant building across the alley from my garage and I have a car parked under a neighbor's car port.)

But, oh, those 996s...

There's a beautiful Lapis Blue over black '02 about an hour south of me. 103k on the clock. IMS done. $17k.

I'm afraid that if I pick up this 996, Stitch is going to languish. The 996 is a GT car. Having it to do longer drives will remove the onus to get Stitch up and running. Plus, I'm not a rich guy: there's going to be a car note. So that's money that I can't put into Stitch.

First World problems...

SwayBar

IMOO, I am not a fan of the narrow body 996 - no curves whatsoever. Kinda like Pop Eye's Olive Oyl.

However, the wide body 996 looks very nice.

Best of all regarding 996's - the GT3! That too is a NB, but out of all the models/flavors of GT3's, the 996 GT3 MK1 is the one to have if one wants the rawest of all GT3's with no electronic nannies except ABS.

OP, since the IMS is already fixed, I'd say buy it since you're such a big fan.

AO

You should totally buy the 996. Then tell us if the grass is actually greener.

Kevin in Atlanta

Reach out to Kevin Wilson here - he's always talking about selling his 996.

Weissach

Kevin in Atlanta

Kevin Wilson's has a new IMS bearing and transmission is in tip top shape.

gbgastowers

dr bob

I'd have no issues adding a 996 C4S or TT to the fleet, with or without the IMS already done. Having it already done is an indicator that the PO didn't cheap out one maintenance, but it's not a deal-killer if the rest of the work is done and the car inspects well. I may be equipped to handle changing the IMS bearings should the need arise.

And they are cheap right now. The 986/996 is the first regular-production water-cooled backmotor car from Porsche. Like any new model, these come with a well-documented list of things that need attention. The list of 15 years of accumulated knowledge stuff is minor compared with what we know about 928 issues. It's a different flavor of devil-we-know. The car itself is not nearly as comfy and elegant as my 928. Plastic where there's something more refined is what I notice first. More "sports car" than GT, but already moving in this direction.

I have no more garage space. Outside storage isn't an option here. I don't drive the 928 nearly enough, so adding another fair-weather driver is not a good idea. Otherwise, the 986 and 996 are likely at or near their bottom, at least while the economy is still reasonable. In the next three years we'll see a market correction that will dip the values of luxury items like these, so buying one solely as an investment may or may not be a great idea. Buying one well now to drive of course is always a good idea.


Except for the part about the OP having to choose between the 928 or a 996 as the principal-devotion project car, Go for it!

linderpat

Definitely go for it Shawn. they are the best 911 value there is, and if the IMS has already been done, then you are good to go. Don't worry about all of the panic mongers with things that can go wrong. Hell, look at our sharks - TBF (timing belt), TBF (thrust bearing), water pump drilling the block, oil starvation, fuel lines bursting, and so on and so on. I was looking at 996 and 997s, and found a 997 that I pulled the trigger on last summer. Great car, but I also like the 996's too. It's a proper Porsche for sure.

drooman

The turbo and 4S models of the 996 are quite a different car than the base models. My biggest beef with living with a base 996 is the plastic interiors reminiscent of the interior quality of a typical skid steer. I've loved my turbo 6 speed for 12 years! (leather and alcantera) just turned 60k miles and all it ever needed (besides tires, brake pads, and scheduled maintenance) was an ignition lock/ switch assembly which is an easy job on the car. Look for a car that has more than the factory recommended scheduled maintenance because the factory recommendations have way too many miles between coolant, gear oil, and oil changes, etc. If you can work on a 928, you can work on a 996 turbo, and in many ways its actually easier. Get yourself a durametric and be prepared to use those 16 and 18mm wenches that you hardly ever use on the 928.

Weissach

newcollector

Hi Shawn
I've got a 1999 996 C2 Cab in White. Its been a brilliant car - lots of fun and so much different to the two 928s in my life. Liked it so much that I just upgraded to a 2012 997.2 C4S Cab that i'm DD'ing, currently with snow tires and the added security of a 2-year CPO from the Porsche Dealer. On the 996 I did the IMS, with the clutch, AOS, etc straight away for peace of mind and security and factored into the purchase price when looking a couple of years back. During that service I also did the pinion bearing and some other rebuilds to the transmission.
The one other big concern is bore-scoring on M96 engines beyond IMS and pinion bearing. And there's no retro-fit for peace of mind on that issue. Mine has no signs of it but you read the forums about M96 and it gives you the ******* every so often. But for the price and the driving experience I don't think anything comes close to the 996 package, regardless of the potential modes of failure.

CYTH

Naturally opinions vary depending on what board one gets their information from. lol On the 996 forum the cars are "great" with caveats and when someone mentions a 928 of course negativity comes up with all the "problems" associated. JUST like the mention of "all the problems" a 996 has on the 928 forums.

I love my 928 and I have also liked 911's. I took the "gamble" and purchased a 2002 996 C2 with just under 7K limes three years ago after driving my friends recently purchased 996 C45S. Yes, that's correct 7k. It's basically brand new. Smell and condition.I actually preferred the narrow body and it reminded me of the early 911's which were rather slab sided.
I did the IMS issue and (and it was perfect) and changed the RMS while int here as well. It's been a solid, special and fun car so far. Different from the 928, yes. But special none the less.
Price wise I paid higher at that time. At least I thought I did. Market value has actually risen a bit and I definitely have noticed overall prices have been going up. Condition at this point is becoming more and more a factor.

Where will values go? I Don't know, It wasn't too long ago that one couldn't give away a 964, Actually I'm still not a fan but the prices on those took off. We know the rest.

For now I just enjoy my two Porsche's...

Imo000

It's greener! But it's not the 928's fault. I like both. A bone stock 996 will walk away from any near stock 928 in a drag race and that's a shame when you consider that a 3.4L V6 does this to a 5L V8.

Imo000

From what I heard, Porsche started selling factory rebuilt short blocks again at a "reasonable" price ($7K) so if they keep this available then this will also keep the 996s going for a while. Unlike the 928 crowd, the 996 owners STILL are not the DIYers that I hoping they will turn into (like the 928 owners did 15 years ago).