2002 996 with 80,000 miles. IMS, Rear Main, Clutch, Oil Separator, Water Pump done within 10k miles, but ~8 years ago and Expansion Tank has been done recently.

I will be able to visually inspect vehicle car has no damage history and I can measure the paint thickness.

What are the top 5 or so items that you would have inspected by a Porsche shop prior to purchase?

 

- it’s obvious but check all service records for regular oil changes and type of oil used (e.g., Mobile 1 is recommended but pretty crap). Evidence of track tech inspections indicates track history. Were regular used oil tests done?
- how does seller drive the car? Warms up, high revs/low revs at shift point. These cars should be driven hard and often, and low mileage indicates this car sat a lot, which is not good.
- MUST do dead cold startup, listen for engine noises (chains, tensioners, knock, oil pressure, etc.)
- check ecu for over-revs. Seller has probably cleared all faults, so ask them about that.
- drain oil, remove sump plate and oil filter. Borescope cylinders for wear ($$$) and check oil filter for metal particles. Most likely seller has recently changed oil and filter, which would obviate any issues found in filter, however you may be able to see metal particles built up in sump plate.
- check wheel alignment and/or chassis alignment. Wheel alignment can hide a bent chassis.
As they say, buy the owner not the car.
my two cents, anyway.

 

Question aside, I'd want to know what else was done while they had the IMS done. Full rebuild? New IMS pinned and/or welded? What else?

Most things I see on PPI checklists can be done easily by your average layman. The only things I would be interested in are bore scoring, leaks (an example of something anyone can check), and old crash damage.

 

Service records, service records, service records. You want to know what service was done and when; as well as what parts were REPLACED with WHAT and WHEN.

For engine durability the following 3 items should be strongly considered.

1. LN IMSB - which one? Retro or Solution. Retro is great, i use it, but it has a life of 7 years and then needs to be replaced. No big deal, but you are coming up on a replacement. The Solution is one and done.

2. Water Pump has a life of 5 years so it needs to be replaced with another OEM water pump.

3. OEM Aos will eventually go. So it will need to be replaced. I would replace it with the UAOS Track.

To address your typical nuisance items the following items should be looked at.

1. Make sure the fuel injectors, plugs, ignition coils, MAF, oxy sensors, and oil pressure sending unit are relatively new. If not, you will need to replace them.

2. Radiators, fans, coolant pipes and tanks. They all get old, brittle and will eventually spring a leak and will need to be replaced.

3. Power steering reservoir and pipes. They get old as well and leak so they will need to be replaced eventually.

4. Suspension, Brakes & Exhaust. Parts get old and need to be replaced or rebuilt.

All of this info will be on service records, if not, then your indy needs to guestimate it's condition during the PPI. But it's important that your indy does the following to assess the engine.

1. Get an oil sample to see what the oil says.

2. Drop the sump and see whats in it as well as what's in the oil filter.

3. Scope the bores thru the sump to see their condition.

I have an 02. Great car and great engine thats very durable on the street and track. Key to any 20-25 year old classic sports car is to make sure its been serviced properly and the internals and bores are in good shape. Nothing to fear. Just things to look for. These are incredible pieces of machinery.

When you do find the perfect one, make sure you run great oil and change it 2x a year.

Best of luck!

 

What are the top 5 things you should ask to be inspected?

1. Is the car suffering from cylinder bore scoring? Please confirm via bore scope images

2. If I have bore scoring would you be willingly to trade my wife for a rebuild?

3. Are you a betting man? What are my chances cylinder 5 and 6 have scoring? Winner takes all.

4. Did you know President Lincoln spoke prophetically about the M9X engine? He said publicly that 4 will score within 7 years. Guess he meant the entire bank#2 and one cylinder on bank#1.

5. Is "time-in-service" just as important as mileage? If so, please be prepared to take my wife! Ref question#2

 

😂

 

Here are things you can inspect yourself to get some confidence in this purchase. Yeah, you can also pull the sump and bore scope the cylinders and look at the oil filter, but if you don't want to spend a grand, here is how I score these cars. Aiming for close to 50 points.
1) from what you have listed, the owner tried to take care of some of the known issues. Score 10 points.
2) Purchase and inspect a CarFax report. If the car has been serviced its whole life by Porsche dealers, Score 10 points. If Some Porsche dealer and some other, but clear evidence of routine maintenance, score 10 points. If spotty record, score 5 points. If only 10 or fewer service records, score zero points. If more than 5 owners and spotty records, score zero points.
3) Put car on lift and look for oil leaks. Score 10 points if none. Score 0 points if leaking oil.
4)Start engine. No smoke should come out. Some water vapor on start is normal but not smoke. There should be no clicking noises that change with RPM. On cold start up there will be a fan whine from the secondary air blower, but after it fades, engine should sound like a well cared for sewing machine. Score 10 if it does.
5) Check tires. If new within the last 4 years, score 10 points. Tires are a sign that someone cares for the car.

 

1. Bore scoring
2-5 General PPI that isn’t specific to the 996

The IMS will need to be replaced since it has timed out

Edit: I forgot a DME report

 

Demo, how is it going?

 

better be married to Val Gadot or similar to get one of the big 2 rebuild$...