Hi everyone,

I was going thru the forum for the last couple of days and have seen that there are a lot of useful info for a guy like me who is just in the verge of deciding to go for a 996 or not. I am an ex 1984 3.2 carrera owner and loved the car at that time... So now I want to go back to Porsche again...

I have a couple of questions and would appreciate your feedback.

1. Apparently everyone here is aware of the fact that 996s have a serious engine problem. Not necessarily all the cars of course, but proportionally a large number of 996s are coming with trouble. My budget is pretty limited so it is not enough for a later model but only a car manufactured between 1998-2001. Is there any difference at all between a 1999 and 2001?

2. Is it feasible to assume a car that has 120,000 kms on it, is a safer bet (at least thinking that it didn't have any problems till now and at least the only problems I would have might be standard 10 year old 120,000 kms car problems but not an engine, RMS, etc problems)?

3. I am not a mechanic at all. I have only an average knowledge on engine, etc. What would you recommend me to look for while checking the car itself? Also if I have a test drive, what should I be expecting (an/or not expecting)...

4. Except for above, what else would you recommend?

I really do appreciate all you feedbacks in advance.

Demir

 

And we just had New Year's day fireworks! Here's some more! yeah.

-td

 

Welcome Damir

so between 99' and 01' there are a few small changes - mainly throttle bt wire vs E-gas not too much else

the news about engine issues is new.. none of us have ever heard those rumors - however if any rumor was true there is NO reasonable assumsions that can be made...only guesses and such - some think older is more prone to failure, some dont....you will have to wade thru that mess yourself. My advice since you are not mechanical (and even if you are) is to get a car with a warranty that covers EVERYTHING -

as for the cars, go drive a few, narrow down the things you like and the things you dont (like cab, coupe, targa, tip/manual, sport seats, leather, ect...) this will get you used to thinking and asking questions - listen, read and ask question BEFORE making a decision -

lastly get in touch with a local shop and start talking to them, telling them what your plans are and get them ready to do a PPI when the time comes and you find what could be the "right one" -

dont be afraid to walk away from a deal if it is rushed or smells funny - lots of cars to choose from

and fianally my old 996 has 130+k MILES on the original motor with zero issues... and I dont think she is too special, just another one in a large group of over 100k milers out there

 

......

 

Become a member and search. Right?!

 

What's your budget - we could suggest the best car model for your money.

The IMS/RMS thing you talk about can be discovered early before severe damage is done if you use a competent mechanic.

Use good oil and change it frequently (5500 miles or 1 year, whichever comes first, seems to be the going recommendation by *most* people on here)

Inspect the oil filter INSIDE and outside for metal particles. (have the mechanic show you).

Get to know how your engine sounds - if it changes, have someone look at it.

Replacing them is not like getting an engine rebuild or something - it can be done as easy as a clutch replacement.

There are about 17,856 threads on this between here, Renntech and 6speedonline.

My 996TT just hit 70k

 

If your budget is too severely limited a Porsche may not be for you. These can be rather expensive cars to service *properly* and if out of warranty repairs are needed these can reach into the thouands of dollars.

A rule of thumb is when buying a used car to have set aside 10% of the car's purchase price to take care of 'incidentals'. A good inspection and savvy negotiating with some good luck can have you in a good car that needs little to none of the 10% spent on it.

If you can't set aside this much the risk is the car develops a problem shortly after you buy the car. Nothing serious -- water pump let's say -- but one that renders the car undrivable until it is fixed if you don't have this money set aside, or can't raise it, the car's a useless piece of tin until you can get it fixed and back on the road again.

Generally speaking all other things being equal a later model year example is better than an older model year example.

I'm not up on the exact differences. Total 911 (among other UK published indy Porsche car mags) has a good section towards the back that gives some of the differences. It runs has run buyer's guides for these cars. Highly recommended to get a hold of a copy and read up.

120000km is 74.5K miles. The bet is safer at 74.5K than it was at say half that but these cars are never without some risk of suffering serious engine troubles and in some cases catastrophic engine failure with little if any prior warning.

Assuming the car is in good shape that it has reached 120000km suggests (but does not guarantee) it will reach double that or more with proper care and reasonable usage and some luck.

Even if the engine stays together and many many of them do, there's the chance the RMS will leak, or the IMS bearing will get noisy (or worse too quickly worse to do anything but think about buying a replacement engine). AOS, MAF, o2 sensors, converters, water pump, and so on. In short any system outside of the engine can go out even if the engine stays together.

(Case in point: my 02 Boxster with over 238K miles has until this time needed nothing inside the engine attended to over these 238K miles. The car over time has required in no particular order: MAF, water pump, fuel pump, battery, windshield, rear window (plastic), door lock, various electrical switches (brake light, etc.), ignition switch, MAF, o2 sensors, wheel bearing, AOS's (two), and one converter is worn out though works well enough to see the car pass smog testing. But just recently one of the VarioCam actuators stopped working. This is around a $1500 job.)

These cars are just used cars so a good used car check out can eliminate many cars you don't to own or shouldn't own.

A full used car check out is too lengthy to cover here.

You should arrange not only a test drive, but first a test ride.

Briefly, with the A/C off -- you will check this and all other systems *after* you have test ridden and driven the car -- and the engine/car cold turn on the key and verify all dash warning lights come on then go off.

Start the engine. It should crank readily and fire right up and settle into a fast and maybe a bit of a rough (though not eyeball shakin' rough) idle. The engine should be reasonable quiet -- no ticks, knocks or other rythmic noises.

As the engine idles its idle should slow down and smooth out.

Let the engine idle long enough to get nearly up to temperature. All the while you are listening walking around the car.

Arrange to have the seller take you on a test ride. Cover 15 or so miles. Insist the route include all kinds of driving from city driving with starts/stop and boulevard driving (medium speed) up to highway speeds.

Have the driver run up through the gears , several of them at least.

As you ride along, pay close attention to how the car sounds, pulls, runs, steers, shifts, everything. Focus on the car, not on the scenery.

Back at the starting point if everything ok now you drive the car. Over the same route. The same way. This time of course you get to experience first hand how the car runs, steers, brakes, rides, etc.

What you want to do is get the engine/drivetrain nice and hot. You want to give the engine a good chance to if it has a problem to manifest some symptoms: noise (ticking, knocking) or a check engine light or other warning light.

If your test ride, drive, vehicle system check out finds no reason to reject the car, and if you believe you can buy the car for a reasonable (based on your market research) price, then arrange to have the car subjected to a thorough PPI. This should include of course an expert's examination looking for any shoddy body/paint work, signs of abuse, misuse, neglect, and have the DME overrev counts read out. Another possible PPI step would be to drop the oil filter housing and check for stuff in the oil filter housing oil and filter element. Some might recommend an oil analysis. But if the filter oil and filter element clean/free of anything scary that's pretty good. If not do not waste money on an analysis. Let the seller worry about what's in the oil and what it means. You walk away.

If the PPI comes back with a stamp of approval buy the car.

Couple of things: Shopping and buying your first (or second or 3rd or ...) Porsche should be fun. It can be intense but in a good way. Take your time. The better you become at looking over cars the more cars you'll be able to reject without having to pay someone to reject them for you.

You should only PPI one car: The car you end up buying.

Price is not fact only an opinion.

And do not be afraid to walk away from a car you have any doubts about. There is always another car.

Happy New Year! And Happy shopping!

Sincerely,

Macster.

 

Thanks very very much Macster... For your time and effort...

And also to Ivangene and Cannon1000... Appreciate all your views and input...

I'll update with my progress, hopefully at the end as an owner of a nice 996