Martin S.

A buddy of min in NC, drove a beautiful 86 Carrera, got rear ended, and the car was totaled. He had an agreed to $$$ in the event the car was totaled, so he came out OK. I just sent him the following note re. buying a 996....did I miss anything? Sorry for the large font....

I have an idea for a replacement car. Get a 996, 2001 (3.6) or later, in good shape. Have a sample of the oil sent to Blackstone Laboratories for analysis. In addition you need to:

1. Leak down, want under 7%, 5% or less would be ideal,
2. Compression (Don't know the specs, but consistent across the board, I'd think 185 Lbs. or better)
3. DME Report, checking for over revs, and check the actual operation hours on the car. I can send you an article that explains the DME Report. If the car has 500 hours on the DME, guess at a 40 mph average, the car should have approximately 20,000 miles.
4. Have a body shop check it for tub damage, put it up on their rack,
5. If the car is represented to have original paint, run a Paint Meter over the body panels looking for re-paint. Factory Porsche paint gives a reading of about 6 mils. ".....the primary purpose of ultrasonic testing is to non-destructively measure the TOTAL thickness of the paint system, typically in the range of 3 to 5 mils (75 –125 μm)." Anything greater than about 6 indicates that panel has been re-painted.
6. Get a CarFax. Pre-buy about 10 reports, cheaper that way.
7. Get a PPI to include all of the above as well as an inspection of the under carriage for damage,
8. Have XXXXXX (dealer) find a car for you. He will get all of the above done, and charge you a reasonable fee, well worth it for the resulting peace of mind. I had him sell my 993: He got me good money...he just sold XXXXX 86 Carrera for somewhere in the $40's

Assuming the candidate car gets a clean bill of health re. ALL of the the above, and all the components, interior and exterior, come in a respectable cosmetic condition, buy the car. 1st thing, change out the IMS bearing as a prophylactic measure. You can get a lower mileage 996 for well below your insurance claim.


These 996 cars handle extremely well, good ratio spacing on the tranny, modern interior to include a Cup Holder....I have a 2004 996 (albeit a GT3), the interior is retro, similar to the older cars we are so used to. The best one is the 2002 - 2004 I believe, Carrera 4S. It has the wide body, turbo look and turbo brakes. Better yet, with the X-51 option that gets you about 20 additional HP, and it would be a bonus to get one with option 220, LSD. This gets you a LSD and 4 channel ABS. Be certain your PPI includes a test of the LSD for functionality.

It will make a great daily driver too. Or, get a Boxster S, same drill, all of the steps above. The standard Boxster is super cheap....as is common practice, get the newest model that fits in your budget.

hartmn

It's a very thorough list. I wish I had the bucks, and time when purchasing 2001 Carrea 4 because last week I bought this from a nice local lady who was the second owner from 2003 when the car came off of a lease. Car was leased/purchased at Pacific Porsche here in Hermosa Beach, Ca. Clean car fax and she had all the service records. The IMS bearing was replaced 7/15/ 2017 (75,000 miles) and rear main seal and a bunch of other service records for water pump etc etc. The car has 87,300 on it now and was a fairly well option car in Briarritz White with Brown Leather option. She started at $21,500 over a month advertised on Criagslist and said she had problems with weird buyers. Go figure! She put it up on Nextdoor when I found it and she was asking $19,500. Test drove the car around and then made an appointment to have a PPI but since she had the records I flipped the coin and got her down to $17,500. The car is at Pacific Porsche have the rims reconditioned and new tires and checked out. They called the other day and said the car was in excellent condition and only recommend at throttle body cleaning of which I gave the okay! Pictures to follow...

Woodman71

Perhaps be sure to include a boroscope of the cylinders in the PPI? Unless you feel the leakdown test results could indicate scoring...

Tommy Tuite

Dont do what I did! Went with my gut and handed over $7k cash for rocket ship.

85eurocarrera

Great Photo!

Dr_Strangelove

Droooooooooooool.......

Nice car, Tommy.