Talk me down?
11-08-2018, 06:17 PM
#31
Three Wheelin'
It's not a crazy idea. If you bought a newer typical car, the depreciation you will see in value over a few years will be significant, where there will be almost none on the 996. If you buy a newish Toyota for around $12k today, it will probably be worth about $3k in 5 years. Maintenance-wise, if nothing serious goes wrong, it doesn't cost much more to maintain a 996 than it does other cars -- especially if you do routine maintenance yourself. The only risk is if something bad happens. What year is the car you are looking at? The early 996.1 with dual-row IMS is probably the least likely to give you catastrophic problems.
11-08-2018, 06:32 PM
#33
Three Wheelin'
11-08-2018, 06:37 PM
#34
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
I have. It's a clean carfax. Had the tranny rebuilt last year. I called the garage that did it, and asked if they replaced the IMSB while they were in there. The garage owner was nice enough to look it up for me and told me that it was not replaced at that time.
11-08-2018, 06:45 PM
#35
YES, you can finance a 20 year old car if you have good credit. Pen Fed or LightStream.
I used LightStream to buy a 15 year old 996 recently. They ACH the money to your bank account and they don't hold the title and they really don't care what the car is (thus the requirement that you have good credit). Pen Fed wanted the particulars on the car and couldn't tell me the interest rate until that point, so the savings juice wasn't worth the squeeze so I went with LightStream. They are a subsidiary of Suntrust.
And just keep in mind that your "cheap" 996 will likely come with a maintenance bill behind it from a few thousand dollars on up... As I said before here, you should definitely drop the oil sump cover and verify that there are no metal or plastic bits in there. But realize that someone else could have done the same and removed them. Mine had pieces of timing chain roller in it which is why it is off getting work done on it to the tune of a lot more than a couple thousand dollars...
I used LightStream to buy a 15 year old 996 recently. They ACH the money to your bank account and they don't hold the title and they really don't care what the car is (thus the requirement that you have good credit). Pen Fed wanted the particulars on the car and couldn't tell me the interest rate until that point, so the savings juice wasn't worth the squeeze so I went with LightStream. They are a subsidiary of Suntrust.
And just keep in mind that your "cheap" 996 will likely come with a maintenance bill behind it from a few thousand dollars on up... As I said before here, you should definitely drop the oil sump cover and verify that there are no metal or plastic bits in there. But realize that someone else could have done the same and removed them. Mine had pieces of timing chain roller in it which is why it is off getting work done on it to the tune of a lot more than a couple thousand dollars...
11-08-2018, 06:54 PM
#37
11-08-2018, 07:13 PM
#38
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Most of the reading I had done prior to this post made it seem like the engine issues on this model had been overplayed by a vocal minority.
Perhaps I was mistaken.
Perhaps I was mistaken.
11-08-2018, 08:09 PM
#40
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Atrox, I think they are beautiful cars! Obviously, I am in lust with one right now. And I did ask for the truth, so I'm grateful to everyone that replied. The truth seems to be that there i doesn't seem to be a ton of confidence in this forum regarding these cars.
I sincerely hope this isn't offending anyone. I love Rennlist and Porsches, as I'm sure everyone here does. But the reoccurring theme of the expecting the engine to blow, just sounds like a number of owners don't trust these cars, and keep referring to them as toys.
I don't mind some risk, and I've always thought that doing my own work mitigated a portion of that risk. I love buying great cars that others are afraid to buy because of some misunderstood fatal flaw that has driven prices down. I kept seeing a figure of 1% of IMSB failures on the early engines.
I understand there are other failure modes. I was under the impression that this was a very nice, misunderstood car.
However, when you ask about buying a car and a bunch of current owners ask what you're going to do when the engine blows, it gives you pause! Now apparently if I buy this car, not only am I out the purchase price, but I lose my job too? Pretty raw deal.
I sincerely hope this isn't offending anyone. I love Rennlist and Porsches, as I'm sure everyone here does. But the reoccurring theme of the expecting the engine to blow, just sounds like a number of owners don't trust these cars, and keep referring to them as toys.
I don't mind some risk, and I've always thought that doing my own work mitigated a portion of that risk. I love buying great cars that others are afraid to buy because of some misunderstood fatal flaw that has driven prices down. I kept seeing a figure of 1% of IMSB failures on the early engines.
I understand there are other failure modes. I was under the impression that this was a very nice, misunderstood car.
However, when you ask about buying a car and a bunch of current owners ask what you're going to do when the engine blows, it gives you pause! Now apparently if I buy this car, not only am I out the purchase price, but I lose my job too? Pretty raw deal.
11-08-2018, 08:55 PM
#41
The failure rate of these cars was like 3-5 percent of all 996’s. What most are trying to say here is these are older cars and stuff will break. Some stuff is cheap to fix and other stuff not. Lots of people daily drive theirs and lots just drive 3-5k miles a year. (Go price a replacement engine)
At at the end of the day it’s an older exotic and even though the cars are cheap the repairs are still in line of the original purchase price if you are not handy with a wrench.
Ive had mine for 5 years and it’s the most reliable and cheapest to maintain car I’ve ever owned. Buy it man, you only live once.
At at the end of the day it’s an older exotic and even though the cars are cheap the repairs are still in line of the original purchase price if you are not handy with a wrench.
Ive had mine for 5 years and it’s the most reliable and cheapest to maintain car I’ve ever owned. Buy it man, you only live once.
11-08-2018, 09:07 PM
#42
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
See, I like this guy!👆
I'm used to maintenance and "normal" repairs on more expensive, aging cars. I've had an 82 928, Land Rover, Mercedes, and I'm currently driving a 2001 Jaguar XK8. I'm used to the ordering expensive parts from specialists.
There aren't many jobs, short an engine rebuild I would be too afraid to take on myself.
And, if I have to break off a few grand at once at some point to keep the thing alive, although I'd feel it, I wouldn't be destitute.
$8K for a replacement engine, would cause some marital tension for sure.
I'm used to maintenance and "normal" repairs on more expensive, aging cars. I've had an 82 928, Land Rover, Mercedes, and I'm currently driving a 2001 Jaguar XK8. I'm used to the ordering expensive parts from specialists.
There aren't many jobs, short an engine rebuild I would be too afraid to take on myself.
And, if I have to break off a few grand at once at some point to keep the thing alive, although I'd feel it, I wouldn't be destitute.
$8K for a replacement engine, would cause some marital tension for sure.
11-08-2018, 09:24 PM
#43
Instructor
If your stuck on that particular car, just pay cash for it and drive it. If the motor blows, it blows. I would think that you could get back easily 50%+ of your investment parting it out if it died.
11-08-2018, 09:37 PM
#45
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
I thought a guy in another thread found one for $7K today, but I could be wrong.
At any rate, I think I could handle (read: afford) just about anything short of a catastrophic engine failure.
So, how often do these things blow up?
At any rate, I think I could handle (read: afford) just about anything short of a catastrophic engine failure.
So, how often do these things blow up?