450knotOffice

My 2000 996 has 137,000 miles on it - 100,000 of which have been driven by me in the last six years. For the most part, it has been very reliable. Yes, I do most of the easier maintenance on it, but that's mostly been oil/filter changes, brake pads and disks (SO easy), serpentine belt, air filter, etc. I've also taken care of engine mounts (easy), water pump (easy), belt tensioner bearings (easy), coil packs (easy), and the AOS (not so easy) myself. I had an alternator replaced early on, which I could have done myself (normal for any car). For the most part, this is the sort of stuff that ANY car will need with mileage and age, and is not indicative of the overall reliability of the car, especially considering that most of those items wore out somewhere around 100,000 miles or so.

I had my first clutch replaced at 110,000 miles, and while my mechanic was in there, I had him change out the IMS for the LN Engineering version, along with an upgraded RMS. Normal stuff.

The car still runs super strong, is tight as a drum, no squeaks, everything works normally, and there's not a whiff of smoke ever. It gets great mileage - especially for a twelve year old, 300 HP sports car, and has never had any smog test issues.

My car is paid for and I plan to drive it for at least another five or six years as my daily driver.

Chaos

Sold my 02 with 86,000 and a IMD detection kit. Always great oil analysis and it was a great car(regret selling it).

Throttle

I had been in the market for a Maserati Coupe because re-sale value sucks and I dreamed of buying at the bottom of the curve, but every once in a while I would check 996's hoping for a great deal (because they do hold resale value since it's a much more reliable and lower cost of ownership car). A few weeks ago after almost pulling the trigger on an '04 Maserati Coupe (everything was perfect except the color combination), I decided to re-check 996's and found my steal: an '02 996 Cabriolet Tip with 27K miles, very well maintained and nicely optioned (optional hard top, premium wheels, side skirts, radar detector and jammer that already delivered value ;-). KBB on this car is about $36K and I got it for under $30K. I have been looking for two years because I did not need the car. I wanted a car. So I'd say have patience, be diligent in your search and then pounce when you find "the" car. There were a couple of other '02's with similar mileage, thought not as well optioned, that I was monitoring that sold for $35K-$37K.

jjb7

Throttle,

Wierd, I too was looking for a Maserati Coupe before finding my 996. I found that all the Mazis in my price range were abused. Also, aftermarket support is almost non existant. (Oil filters must be imported). Porsche is the superior car and a better choice.