BAD.TAG

Small world. I looked at the 02 seal gray C4S they had (bottom of their inventory page) prior to finding mine. I work about 15 mins from Polar. Very nice guy, knows his stuff.

Cant go wrong with one from them

944visage

Hi again hules98:

I chimed in a couple pages ago saying since I went with the C4S and also really wanted a Turbo but was out of my price range and found an epic deal on a 16K mile 2003 C4S in California that was on the market for about 24 hours and was lucky enough to put a deposit on it on a Monday morning before 5 other people tried to buy it out from me while I was on a plane flying to LA to pick it up. So that is all good but you should be warned about even low mileage cars that haven't been driven can have gremlins that don't show up in a PPI.

My lessons learned story that in the bigger picture have no problem with since got the car for $37K plus tax and license of course which was $9K below Kelly Blue Book from a dealer but here is the reality of what was required to bring even a VERY low mile C4S up to spec:

1. Original Tires were still on the car so $1800 for Michelin Pilot Sports and Alignment
2. Planned upon purchase and budgeted for $1500 "15K" service was really a $2K "60K" Service due to the cars's 10 year old age and mostly consisted of a lot of extra fluid changes that wouldn't have been typically done at 15K.
3. I drove the hell out of the car from Los Angeles thru the Sierra's and up to Lake Tahoe then back to San Francisco after purchasing the car and developed the typical RMS Oil Leak in the first 1K miles after purchase.
4. Since the RMS fix requires removing the Transmission it was also discovered that had a 50% clutch disc which was replaced, a not quite failed but failing Air Oil Separator best done labor wise with the Tranny out, a leaking IMS Flange (not the IMS Bearing but the Bearing Cover) which was repaced as a set with the LN Engineering Ceramic IMS Bearing.

So all that post purchase service and proactive maintenace ran $9K to make the effective car purchase price exactly $46K for a 16K mile C4S that is like brand new.

So after reading your info wanted to pass this on as a cautionary story that just because you get a great deal on whichever car you select be prepared that even with low mileage may have some hidden suprises that can show up even after a PPI.

One other interesting thing I have seen here in California anyway is that there are 2 cars I had seen on Autotrader in late July that I was looking at that are still on the market in the $40K or so range at 30 to 40K miles each and both of those are still for sale after buying my car 2 months ago and both of their ad's on Autotrader have been updated to say that they have just had the IMS Bearing upgraded and Clutch replaced at the same time since the C4S buyer market is knowledgeable and these guys are sick of people who keep contacting them to ask if that upgrade has been done.

Lastly, I know there is a lot of "buy the Turbo" advice here but man all I can say is the C4S is a beautiful car which handles really great fast on winding roads or as a daily driver and a day doesn't pass when I don't get a compliment from at least one random person. I didn't buy this car to show off or be flashy but whatever you choose either Turbo or C4s be prepared for a little more social interaction in parking lot's since is not a "low profile" vehicle to drive around and really only bought it for what it is which is one hell of a sports car to have fun driving!

Good luck and look forward to reading your deciision on whatever you buy!

DaveCarrera4

+1. The cost of ownership is a factor...

soverystout

+996 Big time.

Just look at my sig. With the automatic turbo, you will have some other costs that can be pricy but you can forget about IMS, RMS, Clutch etc.

Hyper911

my c4s engine just went. Diagnosing failure now . It is a 50k mile car, over maintained , LN bearing, rMS, oil changed every 3500 miles, warmed up properly ,oil filter checked every change, driven as a Porsche should. I never thought with my care it would become a statistic and in fact always argued they are reliable with proper care. My car has been commented on as one of the cleanest people have seen- their words not mine - it was a great example. So pissed right now I would reiterate just buy a turbo. Wish I did .

BAD.TAG

Hyper that sucks, very sorry to hear. Please post up what you find

Hardback

Awe man sorry to hear that hyper. I rebuilt mine at 70,000 due to failure also. If you want some info from someone who has been in your shoes feel free to pm me.

jumper5836

wow real sorry to hear, yet mine still runs.

Revn29k00

Sorry to hear Hyper. I saw this car on our Dundas valley cruise and I clearly remember commenting on how nice it was.

Neb

Sorry to hear Hyper, my car is just like yours except in a different color. That is one thing that worries me, my car has already had new engine and transmission replaced by Porsche when it was still CPO. What are the chances of it happening twice?

We should all just get a Turbo.

Hardback

fixed it for you

halo777

Sorry to hear about that.

I find myself in a similar situation, living in Toronto with an 03 C4S needing a new engine. I have already researched a bunch of options, if you want any info. After considering all of them, I have decided I am going to ship my car to Jake Raby and have him do the reconstruction work. There are definitely cheaper options, but all of them seem a gamble, and add nothing to the performance of the engine. I think they are only worth pursuing if you plan to sell your car within a year, as you can get a rebuilt with a one year warranty and then leave the gamble to the future owner.

The Jake Raby reconstructions look amazing. And, I am hoping will increase the value of the car. The reason why the 996 car values are relatively low in the first place are due to the weak engines, from what I can gather. Eliminate the weak link and there is no reason why the value shouldnt go up.

Plus, Jake's performance engines bring the power up to 996 GT3 levels, to boot. When the increased performance is factored in, Jakes engines start looking like a bargain.

Anyway, good luck and feel free to PM me if you want to chat about any options.

silotwo

Very sorry to hear. I also lost an engine in an 04 C4S at 37k miles, meticulous maintenance, frequent oil changes, always clean filter, and good oil analysis. Porsche chalked it up to a failed IMSB but I wasn't convinced then and am still not convinced that this was the true root cause. I didn't have the classic catastrophic failure, the diagnosis was done with the engine still running.

As you were running the LNE IMSB it would be good to know what the diagnosis is in your case. Can you share how many miles on the LNE IMSB?

I also have an 04 C2 ( I would think the model has nothing to do with it) with 81k miles on the clock, also meticulously maintained and running an LNE IMSB since 75k miles.

I actually gave a turbo some thought before adding the C4S, considered selling the C2 and adding that to my cash, but then thought I'd save the Turbo experience for a step up at some later date.

mcbit

Very sad news, as above keep us posted on the results of the autopsy.

Mitch Leland

For what's it's worth, my decision would be the Turbo because I "think" it's a more reliable engine. The Turbo is a different engine and doesn't have the IMS, intermix problem... or like was said earlier get the IMS fix done prior to buying the car, or set aside the $2,500-$3,000 now for the possibility of having to make the repair.

The Turbo engine was an air cooled engine that was redesigned as a water cooled engine. I might not have that just right, but the Turbo engine has its origins as an air cooled engine. The air cooled engines were bullet proof...