hiway1now

Now looking to purchase a '99 based on the current attractive resale prices (prior 993 owner) ....Concerned about the mixed messages on recall and first year model ailments....Facts or fiction?

Loren

As long as a few key TSBs were taken care of the MY99 996's are as reliable as any Porsche. Late 99 builds are obviously better because the fixes were done at the factory. I have a MY 99 (June build) and it has had only 3 significant warranty repairs (main oil seal, coolant tank cap, and broken console hinge)... and my warranty does not expire until June 2003. So again, the later the better... you just might get one with some of the (4 year) warranty left.

Sloth

It would seem that some have had more issues than others. My 2/98 build C2 is still running the original main seal and coolant tank. It has never been in for any major work and has never let me down (knock on wood). <img src="graemlins/icon501.gif" border="0" alt="[icon501]" /> However, I still purchased an extended warranty for it... just in case.

996FLT6

Great track car. Other then the noted TSB's haven't had major issues with the car and I drive it hard(done 8 De's in last 9 months-grin factor gets bigger and bigger!!!). Regards and good luck!!! Mike

StephenB

After spending nearly one year looking for a replacement for my aging 911SC daily driver, I finally decided on a 99 996. I spent a lot of time talking to current owners, Porsche service managers (those willing) and sellers. I almost bought a 993, but the dropping prices of the 996's made them more attractive. Many late 993's were priced significantly higher than the early 996's.

Since you are a past Porsche owner, you know that all 911's have had their share of problems, the early 911s with mechanical injection and part throttle stumbling, the 2.7's with head studs pulling, the SC's with blown air boxes and tensioner failures, the early 964's with dual mass flywheel failures and leaking heads, the 993's with valve guide wear and the list goes on...

I've found the internet to be a good tool (I visit this board to read Loren's posts)but keep in mind that many posts are from only those with problems and do not provide a good sampling of the vehicles out there. During my year-long search I looked at many 996's and many had very high mileage with very little problems. Many were tracked and DE'd. regularly. Believe it or not, I even saw a 99 996 for sale in the Sunday, June 10, 2001 Washington Post stating 114,000 miles used as a daily driver. I saw or spoke to dozens of owners and only one rear main seal failure was noted by owners/sellers. Several air bag warning lights noted. A few coolant tanks noted. One rear deck lid corrosion problem noted. One gas cap seal failure noted.

During the past year of ownership the only thing I have had to do is normal maintenance with my new daily driver. I received a recall notice for gas cap replacement from Porsche a couple of months ago. The best part is the 2k a year saved on maintenance of the old 911 will almost pay my annual county tax on the new Porsche! Since my purchase, the prices of used 996's have continued to drop making them an even better value IMHO.

Good luck with your search.

Andreas.

Thanks StephenB for your complete information.
I use my car as a daily driver, My wife drive also the Porsche when i use my second car. The car takes me to the track ,run the track, then get back home!. No problem. Sorry no complaint!

topdaytrader

Exclude myself, I know 12 Porsche owners. 8 Boxsters 99-01. 4 996 99-01. None of them have any problems. My TT have about 13k miles on it and no problem. I guess negative news spread faster. Only complain I heard from my friend, is that the dealer charge him $250 for oil change the boxster. Man, its only oil change. It only cost around $15 if you do it yourself.

RJay

The only thing I'd add (mine is an MY2000) in the interest of completeness, is that certain aspects of the car, particularly some issues with the interior quality, are not up to my old 993. While my '96 C4 had the infamous windshield squeak, the 996 has the infamous sunroof rattle, which interestingly seems to have silenced itself lately (Perhaps if you use it a bit it works itself out...dunno). The main problem I've had is that several pieces of the interior had popped off. The cruise control stalk cover and the passenger side console cover under the dash both fell off. A third mysterious piece of plastic showed up in the drivers footwell during the middle of an autocross run! Fortunately, it didn't cause any serious difficulty. Other than that, my car has been flawless. The 996 has gotten a bad wrap, but if your a buyer thats a good thing!

Kostas Vassiliadis

As an ex Bosxter and 993 owner I can tell you my 1999 996 coupe tiptronic is really flawless with 56000 kms on the odometer. The only thing I had to take care off was the infamous console hinge, which I modified myself using the factory upgrade kit. I also had the steering whell re-upholstered using Connolly leather due to wear by the, obviously, sweatty hands of the first owner!!! Six months and almost 10000 kms later I am delighted I changed from my 993 to the 996

Good luck <img src="graemlins/a_smil17.gif" border="0" alt="[blabla]" />

Prabha Gopinath

I have a '99 C4 purchased used a few months ago from Carousel in Minneapolis. It has had many of the TSB issue manifest themself and I had just had most of them fixed under warranty. Warranty expires next December and I will definitely get an extended warranty.

Things that were fixed over the past three days were 1)coolant expansion tanl TSB 2)Gas tank cap 3) Clutch and brake pedal squeeking TSB 4) Oddments tray hinge 5)Main seal 6)Intermediate shaft seal 7)Visor mirror covers both 8)Rear passenger seat lowering **** broken. This was all told approx 30hrs labor and I would have been pissed off if I had had to pay for it.

Great great car and a joy to drive. It is a daily driver.

Prabha