Howdy Neighbor! Thanks for the shout out! When I find my ride, I'm in!

 

I'm still considering the car I mentioned in the original post. A 1999 Cab with 92k miles.
So I called the shop that did the majority of the work listed on the Carfax report. he confirmed that he had maintained the car for the original owner.
He said said that for the price ($16k) he would consider it a good car for someone. He also cautioned that should I pursue buying it, that IMS bearing replacement should be done.
I've read that the dual row bearings in the 1999's had a much lower failure rate. Seeing as how it has made it to 92k miles without failure, is there reason to carry that gut wrenching concern that the motor will blow-up at any time?
I may have a PPI done early next week. The cost is $375. The shop told me that "Regarding The IMS Bearing, We Would Not Be Able To See The Bearing Without Transaxle Removal But We Can Check The Camshaft Deviation Using The OBD2 Information." Also, "We Don’t Take The Sump Plate Off But Can Remove The Existing Engine Oil Filter And Check It For Metallic Debris, For The Additional Cost Of $26.12 For The Oil Filter It Is Worth Doing."
Is there anything other than the %^$# IMS that I should make certain they check?

 

Blackstone oil analysis. Rear engine mounts sagging. All segments of the HVAC control display working. Cleaned radiators/condensers. Starter/alt Y cable replace history. Ign module repl history. Water pump repl history. AOS repl history. If none of these are mentioned, you'll be doing them all within the next three years

IMNSHO - The IMS bearing is a 100% failure rate when compared to the rest of the engine, including wear components. Yes, the dual row has a better rate, but rates are only important for someone doing statistical analysis. When your bearing goes, it will destroy the engine unless you are super lucky. It is a faulty design, and a faulty implementation. I counsel anyone getting an M96 engine to budget for a new IMS bearing no matter the year or mileage. At the mileage, it's likely the clutch is not long for this world either.

Walk in with $13k and haggle hard. Tell them you are staring a $6500 service bill in the face for IMSB, clutch, RMS, AOS, TO bearing, motor mounts, Y cable, Ign switch, and water pump, coolant and T-stat. Plus maybe rad and condenser cleaning.

If the oil check comes back ok, buy it and either DIY or take it to your fave shop and let them sort it. If it motors your boat, and it's what you want - grab it up.

 

sounds like the shop knows what they're doing. Good luck!

 

FYI and as a point of reference I paid $14.8k for a 102.4k miles 2000 996 cab single owner with similar clean Carfax but no actual paperwork in March 2017. Coincidentally I bought mine from Concord as well!

My dual row IMS bearing was full of oil but not failing when I removed it and put an LN bearing in its place.

I skipped the ppi and the car has been great so far, even did a 2320 Mile road trip in it this year.

Good luck!

 

Spoke with Eric at Pacific Power Motorsports. Very nice guy. Sounds like he knows his business.
I Scheduled my first PPI for Wednesday. We'll see how it goes.

 

Just kidding, I also skipped the PPI as well.
But I had my own Durametric Pro cable that I was able to look at camshaft deviation, over-revs, mileage, and I looked it over real well.
I also took an oil sample for a UOA, but ended up buying the car before I got the results.
I was satisfied with the long time owners candor, and he really had taken great care of it.
He shipped it to FSI for the IMS Solution, because he "wanted it done correctly."
FSI had also replaced the clutch, AOS, and water pump.
He had recently replaced the plastic coolant lines from front to rear and the coolant reservoir.
He told me about the noisy suspension issue, which ended up being a coffin arm which only costs me $68 to fix myself.
The cracked windshield was obvious.
I had to replace the headlight switch, and install a GBox to fix a 2nd gear pop-out.
I spent less than $1500 on maintenance and repairs this last year. (Sept 20th was one year)
Tires tomorrow will be the first repair of year 2.
But last week my passenger regulator started making noise, so that will be the second repair of year 2.

 

Good luck with the PPI. Just out of curiosity, have you driven a 996 cab? It's not for everyone. It's a good deal of interior noise with top up...even with the hard top. Also, take a good look at the cab with the hardtop on, it's not going to look as good as the coupe...IMO, it doesn't look as good as the rag top either. The only reason I keep mine around is for resale value lol. Don't get me wrong, when that top comes down...everything is right with the world.

That being said, you'll want to pay extra attention to that rag top. Does it look like it'll need replacing for any reason? Are there any noises when the rear windows go up or down? Rear window regulators are pricey.

Inspecting the filter element is requisite, have him send you pics. Have him send you a cold start video while he's at it - phone should be pointed at the rear of the car. Any smoke? Any tapping? DME hook up for stored codes and errors is easy enough.

Ask him if there are rattles over bumps - might be signs of needing suspension bits. If it's on original shocks, those will probably need to be replaced.

I wouldn't worry about the emissions fail on these cars. If it ended up passing, it probably just needed some more miles to get through the emissions readiness procedure. Google 911 emissions readiness - the 993 procedure will likely show up. The 996 isn't as exacting, but you'll have to duplicate most if not all aspects of it...just not so specifically. You'll probably need to know it if you disconnect the battery at some point. Good luck.

 

Thank you for the advice. I'll ask the shop to check the items you mentioned. I'm a rookie when it comes to these cars.
I haven't driven a 911 cab, but I did have the opportunity too drive a Boxster from the same era for a while. I've driven Jeeps for the majority of my adult life, so I'm kind of used to cabin noise.
The thing I do remember about the Boxster was the amount of squeaks and rattles while driving. Don't know if that was isolated to that particular vehicle. I owned a Mercedes SLK hardtop convertible for a few a few years, and that car was tight as a drum when the top was buttoned up.
When I decided to pursue a weekend driver, I considered two vehicles. An older Mercedes SL or a Porsche 996. I know they are two different animals, but having the option to drop the top is very appealing to me. Especially living in Southern Nevada where we have 300 days of sunshine per year.
I was told that the top is in "like new" condition, but that is a salesman talking.

A couple of photos of the car I'm having inspected.


1999 996 Cab

1999 996 Cab

 

PUMPKINS! Nice

 

"We Would Not Be Able To See The Bearing Without Transaxle Removal But We Can Check The Camshaft Deviation Using The OBD2 Information."

This is correct, but not helpful per se'. The IMSB would have to be failing badly to affect the camshaft deviation angles - you'd probably hear it long before the deviation would tell you anything, and there'd be a bunch of metal in the oil. Much more likely they'd (deviations) be affected by worn tensioner pads. If indeed it's the original engine (i.e. M96-01) it has a dual row bearing. Check to see it's the original motor. Also, if you can get the service records from the shop you can probably put together a pretty good picture of what's gone on with the car...

 

I drove a Merc E350 cab once - the fitment, finish, and sound insulation were amazing. Yeah, the 996 cab is nothing like that haha. It will have squeaks, whistles, and lets in a lot of ambient noise - though some squeaks can be mitigated by applying silicone oil at contact areas. Have your PPI guy opine on the condition of the top. Wrinkles on cab top on either side of the rear window are common place, so don't worry if you see those - If you plan on keeping the hardtop on, these may get more pronounced. BTW, hard top removal/replacement is a 2 person job unless you rig some kind of apparatus in your garage. It's not so much the absolute weight, but the unwieldy shape and weight distribution.

If you've been in Henderson a while, you're probably use to the heat. For me, hot weather makes the cab as miserable if not more than cold weather. Your realistic tolerance to heat should be factored into the decision.

I've never seen unpainted rear bumper guards before - a little paint there would make it a bit cleaner. The earlier comment was right, the exhaust tip looks low - probably needs new engine mounts (easy DIY).

 

Have the sump dropped and inspected.
I personally would get the solution installed and forget about it forever!

 

+1 on dropping the sump
+1 on the IMS Solution.

 

Just dropping this here

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...1-carrera-4-9/