Invius

Just looked at a one owner 1999 C2 with ~ 43k miles on it, 6spd, coupe, excellent condition. Being sold at a dealer, no maint. history, but Carfax shows regular service intervals performed with notes. PPI uncovered an oil leak at the crank case either RMS/IMS problem (I'm aware of issues) needs a new ignition lock as it can cut off the a/c if key turned too far to the right, and there is an issue with the horn needing to be repaired/replaced. Clutch was replaced at about 25k, and feels brand new still. Was asking 23k, now looking for $21,500 after PPI, and I get repairs done on my own. (PPI mechanic, who was recommended by fellow rennlisters estimates about 2k to get work done). Btw, I would get the ceramic IMS from LNE.

I don't think I'm going to find a better car for the $, but always interested to hear the opinions you guys have, as you are well versed.

And of course, I included a pic of the potential new ride.

2K7TTMIA

Welcome. car looks fine. Since you pointed out the engine leak; I'd go a bit further to inspect the AOS, oil cooler, coil packs, water pump. what's the condition of the coolant expansion tank? if it's yellowing, R & R is about $500 plus. Have you taken it for a long(ish) test drive? how does it sound and feel?
hows the clutch action and the throws?
Paint looks good in the pics, how is it up close? Have you inquired thoroughly as to accident history? that alone would warrant another couple thou in discount. What's the interior like? any leather wrinkling around the windshield area or in the rear compartment?
for a 99, if it were a private sale, a fair value would be $20K or less, IMO.
I have seen ALOT of basic 996's for sale; both here and on other sites ( ebay, carmax, cars.com, etc), so the supply is out there.
You can pretty much call the shots; so add up the sales tax, registration, doc fees and the incidentals, and see if you can get a deal on this one.
Or move on to the next one.

Hal

Welcome to the 996 world. You'll love it.

IMHO, a '99 with RMS/IMS issues is a sub $20k car.

jdog

Clutch was replaced at 25k? That's seems a bit early so I wonder if at that point did it already receive the updated IMS?
Just for comparison and I know that the market is different etc.. but I paid $21,500 for mine and it is close to flawless.

morganabowen

I would pass on this car. There are plenty of nice 996s around with no problems or immediate needs. A friend just purchased a nice 03 996 C2 Cab for under $19K. Not perfect, but passed PPI with no mechanical defects noted.

Todds911

I agree. A 99 with RMS or IMS issues is definetely a sub $20k car!

I still see 03's going for $30k (probably selling for $26k-$28K) - so that 03 must of had high mileage, or was a real steal...

Invius

Thanks for the replies, I'm going to answer each individually. The other point I would mention is that this car is only about 200 miles from my house, so I can see it and inspect vs. buying sight unseen -- also, saves on shipping, which can be factored into overall price.

2K3, -- I didn't go into each detail as I didn't want to bore everyone but the coolant tank was white, and had either been replaced, or hasn't had the yellowing, cracking issues. I took the car on a solo test drive for about an hour and a half altogether. No weird noises, slightly low idle on startup, and then after a few seconds, gets right where it needs to be. The clutch and throws felt perfect. The paint was perfect, I couldn't even find a door ding. The mechanic hooked it up on the Porsche diagnostics, and ran it through everything, as well as drove the **** out of it, and said everything looked and felt great, still had all of the pull and power in all of the gears, and he also agreed the clutch felt great. He didn't think there was any AOS issues, coil issues, or water pump issues. Said I'd probably get about another 10k on the water pump, before I'd want to replace it. He's been a Porsche mechanic since '83, and started his own shop in '04.

Hal -- Thanks for the welcome. I've wanted a Porsche since I was an 8 year old kid, and finally in a position to have one. It will be my second car (first P-Car), so I'll drive it a few days a week, as well as the weekend occasionally. May decide to make it a daily driver, but not at first. Hal, I don't disagree with your assessment on price, I've looked at what feels like a thousand, so feel like I have a decent grasp on price. But figured no matter what I got, I would probably be looking at a 2k rms/ims replacement, just for piece of mind. Maybe I'm an idiot, but I like to hedge my downside, so if this car was going to have it anyway, that was an upside to me.

JDog -- it's very possible that it's an RMS issue and that the IMS has been replaced, but the mechanic didn't get down to the RMS or IMS, so it could be either. But as we all know, if you're going to do one, you might as well do the other. It's possible when he opens it up the IMS has been replaced, in which case I'll ship back the dual bearing IMS back to LNE and get a refund.

Morgana -- Thanks for the information, how many miles did your friends '03 cab have on it, and what state did he/she buy it in?

Thanks again for all of your input, your info has been very helpful.

kromdom

$19,100 tops for a 99 coupe per this source: http://www.excellence-mag.com/resour...ide/1041874889
Have you already checked KBB, NADA, Edmunds, autotrader, CL and completed listings on ebay?

Sounds like you've done your homework/research so if this car SINGS to you and you can SWING the list price, then I say GIT R DONE and start enjoying your first P-car.

Invius

Krom -- I have compared it to KBB, NADA, Auto-Trader, and Ebay. I would say that the condition it is in with those miles is on the low end of the range. I know I can get one for high teens, but with 100k or so miles on it, in inferior condition. This one is in great condition, and you will pay a premium for that (or apparently, at least I will consider doing so). Thanks for info -- I looked at Excellence early on in my search, but have heard a lot of Rennlisters say their values seemed to be a bit skewed...thoughts?

kromdom

I paid $29K for my car albeit Excellence, same sources you cited and consensus here pointed to mid $20K as ideal. I willingly paid a PREMIUM price because it had everything I was looking for (i.e. MY02 or younger, arctic silver, cab, tip, under 75K miles, aero kit, ZERO pending mechanical issues after a PPI).
P.S. As a bonus, the seller modded the pipes and airbox for free and offered future service credits.

The car I bought had UNLISTED goodies (healthy list of factory options, 19-in rims, hardwired radar detector/diffuser, clear bra, upgraded audio). I knew it was THE CAR when I saw it, after I took it for a test drive and after it passed PPI. It was the first and only car I looked at

Every car in the mid-$20K range fell short of what I was looking for (older than MY02, rough exterior/interior, excessive mileage, base model, repairs imminent, etc.). All other comparable cars LOCAL to me were priced upwards of $30K.

How close is $21.5K to the ballpark price you have gleaned from the sources you have checked? If it is close enough, BUY IT.

chsu74

Having just sold my 996, I would say this car is worth about $18K to move. You can price anything you want but it is what buyers are willing to pay.

Suspension, AOS, RMS, IMS bearing, waterpump and coolant tank would be on my list in order to drive this car worry free. This list is not be cheap.

kr3678

No offense, but Excellence magazine doesn't buy cars and they don't have any for sale either. If you check the sources you listed, you'll find asking prices to be significantly higher than what Excellence printed in their article.

Invius

The price is in the ballpark of what I expected, I wasn't really searching for anything >25k dollars-- my wishes are quite pedestrian -- I want one with lower miles, coupe, manual, great condition, and not yellow (I'm familiar with the garage queen theory, etc., but still want to go with lower "ish" miles). At this point, these cars are aging, so there are going to be issues with them from time to time. I planned on getting the IMS/RMS done when the clutch went, but since the clutch has already been done, if I can negotiate the repair in (which I'm pretty close I think) then I'm getting a 99 with 43k miles, and a new ims/rms...In your opinion, is a car that has had an ims/rms issue more likely to have additional issues, if there was no catastrophic failure before it was replaced?

Like all people getting into a 996 at this stage in the game, I think my primary concern is buying it, driving it home, and catastrophic failure. Worst case, I'm out 8k or so, but I'm going to feel like a moron after spending all of this time researching (read as lurking) and buying a car that is nothing but problem after problem. I'm trying to do the best I can to buy a car for a reasonable price, that is not likely to have a ton of problems. I can change brakes and oil on my own, and that is about the extent of my automotive capability. Other than that, I'll be using an indy. I respect the hell out of the guys that have torn their own cars apart in their garage, only to put them all back together again, but I don't have that skillset.

Whew, got a little off topic in there, but I think I got my point/concern across.

Thanks again to all who are listening!

Invius

Thanks CHSU. The PPI said coolant housing looked like it had been replaced and was in good order, AOS was good (at least for now) and suspension was working in good order. The leak at crank case was their primary concern (and mine as well).

kromdom

no offense taken at all, merely offered it as one of many sources of info for comparison.

INVIUS, chsu 74 just sold his car and was a PERFECT example of what a thoroughly sorted out "previously owned" car should be....that is one lucky buyer IMHO.