I was definitely taking a risk when I took the plunge without a PPI or looking for a carfax, but it drove nicely during my short test drive, and I put it up on a lift
and the undercarriage looked clean and without leaks.

It had its engine replaced by the porsche dealer 11yrs/40K miles ago.

Things I plan to do in the very near future:

1) Change the oil (previous owner has been using mobile 1 0W-40, thinking
of changing to a thicker weight like 20W-50), tear apart the filter cartridge
and look for metal bits, send sample to blackstone for analysis. Probably
do that for every subsequent oil change.

2) Go over the maintenance paperwork to see if coolant, tranny fluid, or brake
fluid needs flushing.

3) Do a compression check and replace the spark plugs while at it.
Owner mentioned he replaced a couple plugs years ago but gave up
cause the others were too difficult to reach and the old plugs looked fine.

Is compression test an easy DIY job or should I have a shop do it?

4) Replace IMS and RMS next time I do the clutch. But the clutch was
replaced four years (10K miles) ago so it may be a long while. Especially
since I seem to be very easy on clutches.

5) Repair any annoying electrical issues.

6) Read this forum as much as possible to learn about the 996 issues and
porsches in general.

What else should I worry about? I don't have a special plan for this car,
but want do a couple of PCA autox to learn how to handle a rear engine
RWD car, and may be a day or two of DE if I feel comfortable with the car.

Oh yes, I joined PCA this morning as well.

 

Congrats.

Won't speak about recommended maintenance items as there are many here that know much more than I do.

Enjoy!

 

Go drive.

 

Welcome! Where's the pics?!?!?

Spark plugs are a pain but not too bad if you have the right tools. Don't bother dropping the muffler, it seems like it's not possible but it is.

AOS and water pump replacement are recommended by some experts every 3 years regardless of miles. Replace the thermostat with an LN low temp stat while you are at it. Finally, LN engineering sells a spin on oil filter adapter kit including mag drain plug and a case of DT40. The DT40 was specifically designed to overcome some of the deficiencies of the M96/M97 engines.

These cars are a crazy amount of fun. Enjoy it!!!

 

What's the point of the compression test? You bought it - so do whatever maintenance needs to be done and enjoy driving it.

I advise you to limit your forum reading to 20 minutes a day for the first year. Otherwise, you're going to spend all your money replacing the sh*t that isn't broken, and you won't have any left to fix the sh*t you actually break.

 

+996, not to mention the endless amounts of worrying.

You're better off dropping the sump plate, checking for any debris, fingering your sump, checking your cylinder bores for scoring from both top and bottom. Good time to do it while you are replacing your plugs. You should also plan on replacing all the coils(and spark plug tubes/seals if it's mk1).

Forget the 20w50 weight. This isn't an old BMW. Make sure you use a proper Porsche approved oil or one of the boutique oils. If you wanna drink the Kool-Aid then Driven DT40 Oil is a must but there is a special procedure to switch to it as you have to flush out all the old oil as to not cross pollinate any of the old stuff. LOL

Welcome

 

Wish I had seen a comment like this three weeks ago when I bought mine...

 

I should not have googled this at work.

 

Good idea about dropping the oil pan to check for debris. I'll do that.

Half the fun of getting a new (to me) car is tinker around something unfamiliar and
seeing how things work. The other half of the fun is reading the forum and daydreaming
about what can break next and what parts to buy to prevent it.

Kmagnuss says "go drive". Who has time for that? :-)

A little detail on my new toy:

1999 C2, 87K miles, previous owner says it is all stock. It has 18" wheels but I don't know if they came with the car or and added option.

 

Uh oh, you got a '99...

Make sure you check carefully with a borescope from the top through the spark plug holes especially.

 

And just what the heck is THIS all about?

 

Did you not borescope your cylinders? DID YOU NOT BORESCOPE YOUR CYLINDERS?!?

 

AHHHHH I'M SITTING INSIDE AT $20,000 GRENADE!!!

 

borescope?

Until this afternoon I didn't know what it is, but now I need one :-)

Will a cheap one work? Or is cylinder scoring only visible on a fancy
high resolution borescope?

 

OP... Congrats. Drive it like you stole it. But, only after you post some pics...T