GL8386

Hello,
Hoping you guys can spare some comments / opinions for me today!

I have been thinking about purchasing a 996 for a while now and ideally would want a coupe 2002-2003...

This morning, (my b-day)....I pulled up to the breakfast spot and there is a dark grey 02 996 cab version..ended up chatting with the owner and he is looking to sell soon. 75k miles, older mature owner who bought the car with 20k, garage kept, well maintained, replaced struts and new tires...looks to be a gem to me...He was unaware of the IMS bearing so that's interesting to me...

I'm looking for opinions on purchase price and anything helpful here.. Do ALL 2002 cabs have a hard top option as well? Thanks in advance. -Glen

5CHN3LL

The cabs were delivered with a hard top unless the customer specified otherwise when the car was ordered.

Seal Grey was likely a customer order rather than a pre-configured (lease) vehicle.

If the guy is unfamiliar with IMS, he's probably not really aware of resale value for the 996's, so he's probably not going to like it when you throw out a number like $25K.

Happy birthday. Your birthday gift: free advice (YAY!). There are a great many 996's (depending on your locale, of course), so don't fall in love with the first one you see. City/state?

rockhouse66

When I was shopping it seemed that, generally, only dealers knew about the IMS issue and private owners were blissfully ignorant.

Enjoy your birthday, and buy a 911 before the next one for sure.

5CHN3LL

From watching the ads in the back of the various Porsche publications, 986/996 owners are becoming more and more cognizant of the IMS stuff, but there are still plenty of old-school owners who think drippy rear main seals was the worst Stuttgart did with the M96...

ZuffenZeus

Did the guy have a Russian accent and no shirt?

Carsly

Not surprising, when I was looking most sellers were ignorant of the IMS as they were not forum dwellers. I ended up going with a 996 Turbo and avoiding the problem entirely!

GL8386

So the grey looked to be a "darker grey"....not quite that lighter battleship color.....is that the "Seal Grey"?

Do you think IMS bearing job will have to be done still at that mileage now? (75k)

Current owner bought it years back w 25k miles for around $30k, I was thinking of offering much less than 25k.. no? I am in bucks county, PA....suburb 30 minutes north of Philadelphia.

GL8386

Absolutely, I only buy cars from Russians with no shirts. Always.

5CHN3LL

The IMS bearing is considered by many/most as a wear item; most agree that replacing it is better than NOT replacing it.

If you can get the car for $20K, do it. If he paid $30K, he won't be expecting a ton. I was a little worried when you said he'd had it for a very long time that it was a CPO car that he paid $60K for and was going to crap when you tossed out a realistic number.

uscarrera

Get a PPI our cars are getting older and big issues could be hiding just under the skin. Example a friend asked me to look at an 02 coupe he was considering wanted me to do a walk around before he sprang for the 2 hours of labor for a PPI. Car looked clean 80K miles well cared for I give it a once over and then I do my coolant check. I use a long coffee stirrer from Panera into coolant reservoir and out it comes with tan residue indicating the mixing problem that can occur. So buddy moved on in his search lesson learned get a PPI!
Great cars just buy the right one.
Rich

Slakker

Unless you specifically want a cab, stick with the coupe. I drive mine all the time with the windows down and the sunroof open. Gives the same feel as when I had the cab but you can change your mind at 70 mph and button everything back up without stopping. Plus the extra rigidity and lighter weight of the coupe is no small deal.

And unless you really want the creature comforts of the MK II's, don't discount the MK I's. The extra horsepower they added in '02 was to make up for the increased weight and doesn't actually provide better all around performance. The '99 is my personal favorite. It's the lightest, nimblest, and IMO most fun to drive on the street or track.

Take your time and enjoy the hunt. Service history is a big deal because it gives you a sense for how the car was taken care of. And when the right deal appears, be ready to ****** it up, contingent upon PPI of course.

uscarrera

I agree with Slakker I love my 99 coupe great social event car and it is always mistaken for a current Porsche at less than Honda money
Rich

docmirror

Shop long, shop hard, get what you want. Do you want a dark gray cab with hardtop? If so, have it checked out and make the deal. Do you want speed yellow with aero pkg? It's your b-day, but the present doesn't to come up today(or yesterday as it were). Decide on what's important to you, and wait for it. I waited 9 months. That time was spent learning and revising my choice a bit. I got exactly my desired 996.

Tonyr313

I would say 20-23 is reasonable for that car. Has clutch been replaced? If not it may need that soon. If you do that might as well do IMS. Budget 3-4K all in for that.

May want to see if 60k service was done also - serpentine belt, spark plugs and coil pack, water pump, etc.

GL8386

Love the responses. Thank you....I definitely have mixed feelings about coupe vs. cabriolet but the fact that he has the hard top is making me think "best of both worlds?" I also love the seal grey/black combo(It will match my beloved 01 330xi).....We shall see how our next meetup and the PPI goes. Assuming that the previous owner did not replace, I definitely see a clutch AND IMS bearing job in the near future. It all checks out, I'm gonna shoot for $18k-$20k.

Ps- My buddy has a 99 coupe and yes, it's an awesome strong car. We will see how this pans out but i will shop carefully. That ocean jade 99 is bad assssss!