1st 911

It was a brand new car. It also was not all that exciting to own and drive. However the new ones are great! As far as ownership I am not worried too much about cost since I had a 06 Maserati Grand Sport, 1999 Ferrari F355, Plenty of MB's and AMG's. But I would like to get a good idea of what it is I am getting into.

Splitting Atoms

If you had a F355, there shouldn't be any type of maintenance on a 911 that would scare you! Ironically, the occasional "engine out" needs to be done on the 911 too. I will do mine soon to install the "solution", RMS, and chain guides.

I have an early car, March 1998 build, and I love it. During my first year of ownership, the only "have to do" maintenance items were a new alternator (moderately expensive, but I knew I needed to do it when I bought the car), oil change, and a loose plug to one of the headlights. I did some other stuff, of course, but none of it was terribly expensive.

It's now year two of ownership and I had my first track event on Tuesday at Road Atlanta. It became apparent that something wasn't quite right with the rear suspension. I had it checked out and it turns out my 20 year old suspension is worn out. I am getting some trick parts installed along with all new links, bushings, and bearings. It will end up costing over 4k to get it professionally done. If I want to continue to track it, I have no choice.

As others have said, there were a lot of 996s built and there are aftermarket solutions to the known issues with these cars. Between this site and pelican, there is a ton of information and help.

SteveLibs996

I just bought a 2003 C4S about three months ago. it has higher mileage than I would have liked, but it had appeared to have been well maintained, and had just had the IMS/clutch/RMS done by the previous owner, and the price was right so I went for it.

My experience so far....I would agree with one of the earlier posters who suggested assuming 50% repair costs over the "longer term" and $5,000 in the first year. That has also been my early experience: At the end of the day, you're still dealing with a 15 year old or older car.

I had a PPI done by a local Porsche specialist, including a dyno run, which all came back normal. Since then, I have to say that I have been disappointed in the quality of the PPI. After my first test drive I felt like the suspension in the front seemed a bit loose, with some creaking noises, and the rear was crashing. I specifically asked them to check the front and rear suspension for worn shocks/bushings, and the engine mounts. They came back to me and said it all looked good, and the the car was in good shape for a 15 year old car and none of the parts needed immediate replacement.

Apart from some cosmetic work (mirrors needed repainting, and also front bumper), I have done the following over the past 2 months:

• Oil change
• Replaced the original 996 shifter (which was a bit loose) with a 997 shifter (did that myself)
• Replaced two front radiators -- one sprung a leak within two weeks of me taking ownership. It happened while I was removing the front bumper in order to have it painted, I decided to clean out several years' worth of crap and leaves, etc back in the rads. The leak was not caused by me as I know how fragile they can be and I was being very careful. If anything, the crap back there was keeping it "plugged". Both rads showed some corrosion and damage, so I decided to replace the other at the same time. (I was going to tackle it myself but I didn't have time so I took it to a shop)
• New air and cabin filters (did it myself)
• Replaced both engine mounts (did it myself)
• Replaced transmission mount (did it myself)
• Tire balancing and 4 wheel alignment

Next up I am going to tackle the suspension control arms and bushings, which which are definitely worn out despite what the PPI said. I am also going to install new shocks (thinking about the new Koni Actives - though I'm not sure yet if I'm going to get new springs...maybe new H&R's or Eibach?) and I'm probably going toreplace the spark plugs (I should be able to do that one on my own). The brake pads and rotors were replaced by the previous owner, but those will need maintenance in a few years.

In the end, it's a fun car, the cheapest, by far, 911 you can buy and it is pretty easy to do a lot of the simple mechanical stuff yourself. But, it's a 15 year-old car and it needs a lot of normal repairs and maintenance. If you want maintenance-free or maintenance-light, go for a newer one, but be prepared to pay at least double for a good 997.2

wyovino

I've had my MY 2000 Cab for 8 years. The only repair I had to do was to replace the driver side door latch. Of course I've done lots of maintenance items like spark plugs, coils, tires, brakes, oil, filters, battery, etc - things that need to be done on any car. I've also done many other items proactively - water pump, thermostat, coolant tank, IMS,and RMS, none of which were bad at the time I replaced them but are recommended preventative measures.

If you find a good car and do most of the maintenance yourself, it won't be overly expensive. If you run to the dealer for regular maintenance it can get pricey.

AndyK

The beauty of getting a once-$90k sport machine for under $30k makes the 996 the deal of the century!

ejdoherty911

It's a shame you missed out on my 2002 Tip that was on these boards for months. Just sold it for a crazy low price, a few dollars more than roller + used engine price.

hauspwr

2 years in on my 2002 CAB Tip (77k miles) and I've had 2 oil changes, and replaced a fuse for the stereo. Brakes will be done soon, but other than enjoying it, i've had zero problems in 5k miles of ownership.
The IMS/RMS/AOS were done by the previous owner. I flat out love the car. There are things I want to do, but it's purely because I want to, not because I have to. Agree that it's an older car, and things will need to be addressed but man, they provide a hell of an experience for not too much money.

babylonboots

I've got mine for sale. 2001 Seal Grey, 68,000 miles tip C4 Cabriolet. email me if interested. In great shape, just time for me to upgrade.

Here's the post on craigslist Houston... Price is negotiable, but I thought I'd start there and work down.

2001 996 C4 Cab Tiptronic

Want to mention that I had Porsche dealership replace the IMS Bearing and a few other items while having it done. Has had the 60K work done as well.

808Bill

Cracked bushing/rear lower diaganal
Many things can look normal until you actually take the off...Be very careful when poking/cleaning around any plastic vacuum lines and oil filler tube.

808Bill

And this was not weepy enough to show from the underside...

Splitting Atoms

My 99 turned 20 years old back in March (March 1998 build). My suspension looked good and worked well enough on the street when I bought it. The first day I tracked it at Road Atlanta last month, all of the flaws were revealed. The camber bolts wouldn't stay torqued, the control arm bushings were worn out, the drop links were worn out, and the front wheel bearings need to be replaced. I didn't have the time to replace the parts myself before the next track day, so I had it professionally done, along with an alignment set up for the track. It cost me $4300, partially due to some expensive aftermarket adjustable parts. The car ran great on the next track day. If you drive the car aggressively, you can count on replacing suspension components. Rubber parts don't last 15 or 20 years.

dporto

Hmmm...looks like the large single row IMSB as well - split cases to change out

jbse39

Similar story for me as well. I bought a 02 C4S with 3.8 rebuilt engine with rear wheel drive conversion from Rennlist earlier this year. It had 106000 miles on chassis and 35000 or so on the rebuilt engine. It was a reasonably well taken cared car, but still needed a fair amount of work to address immediate issues and to my standards. I did not do PPI but with used cars, you are buying ownership history as much as car and I felt pretty comfortable.

• Installed Ohlins coilover to replace H&R coilover kit as they were too low and Tarrett camber plates were noisy. I could have gone with less expensive options but I plan to track it and wanted handling somewhat similar to 997 GT3.
• Installed Tarrett GT-series anti-roll are and end links, again, not necessary, as above.
• Replaced all 4 LCA and front with GT3 LCA (almost made me cry when I saw the prices...), as bushings were worn and it was time. GT3 LCAs were about double the cost of regular LCAs, I think.
• one of the rear axle outer boot was torn and grease was pretty much all gone (a thorough PPI may could have caught it) and had to be replaced.
• "While in there" for axles, I did rear bearings and brakes as well.
• Couple other suspension components had worn out bushings so I pretty much now have new suspension components for the most part.
• Did all the filters and oil, brake fluid, trans fluid.
• Replaced stock speakers and in the process of replacing head unit.

If you are not planning on tracking, then I probably could have spend 2/3 less, and if PPI was done and axle boot issue could have been negotiated, then even less. Still, suspension bushings were tired and needed replacements and rear brakes needed to be done, and these cars are getting old, so $3-5K may not be out of the question.

Lancruza

Can anyone expound on this with specifics? Dates of manufacture to look for? Why are the earlier cars better. I'm looking for a 99. If I understand correctly, the 99's have a double row IMSB that are less likely to fail. I've also noticed some 99 models with black face gauges and some with white face gauges. Does the color of the gauges signify anything specific about the car or was this just an aesthetic option? Thanks for any info you can provide.

808Bill

Yes and no, Small RMS leak with a bunch of clutch dust. JR says to pull the bearing oil seal, change the RMS and forget about it...