Slakker

B3 is our resident 996 PI. Nice work B3!

And I agree, "This is not the 996 you are looking for."

Bash Hat

B3, are you able to pull up any info on this one I'm looking at? WP0AA29994S621892

Apologies for the thread hijack. Won't happen again....

ZuffenZeus

Hey man, I saw that car before in the other thread. Nothing really stands out other than the PO changed out a lot of the factory parts:
1. Factory air box removed to K&N cold air intake. If it were me, I'd put the factory one back on.
2. Original Turbo Twist wheels changed out with 18" GT3 wheel. They're nice and complement car very well. I'd keep them on.
3. Factory installed Bose system removed and a newer Pioneer system installed. I wouldn't trust anything left in the car is genuine Bose. The original Bose IMHO, was an incredible setup that included 12 speaker design with subwoofer and processor/amp. Shame it's gone, but the new system looks really nice.

You really need a picture of the hood sticker in the frunk to know more. But it's a beautiful car. Like the other car, it's really hard to know the service history unless you have invoices from Porsche. The price is right given the miles, but that doesn't mean anything when it comes to the IMS issue.

Bash Hat

Thanks B3. I'll try to swing by and take a pic of the sticker.

ZuffenZeus

Cool... post the hood sticker and we'll see if it lines up with the car. I just looked over the CarFax... not much to offer. The only concern is the first owner basically drove just 3656 miles in the first 5 years. That may sound like a good thing, but for a M65 based Porsche 996, it's not. Fortunately, the last owner looked like he made it a daily driver and put the majority of the miles on it. The IMS thing (given the history) would concern me. The only way to get a better picture, is to contact the original Porsche dealership that sold the car and see how often it was serviced. Again, very nice car and if you can get some $$$ knocked off the price, it would be a great deal. Cheers!

Bash Hat

Thank you B3!!

Mike Murphy

I decided not to pull the trigger on this one. Thanks to you awesome guys on this forum. There were just too many things that didn't add up. It's not good that the dealer listed options that didn't line up. There were quite a few other warning signs as well.

I called them and asked, "Does this car have Xenon headlights?" They said, "Yes, it does, Xenon headlights." I said that the options code on the car indicates that it doesn't. The sales guy yelled over to the owner, "Xenon headlights, right?" The response was, "Yes, Xenon headlights." The sales guy then said, "I have the 'Porsh' mechanic here right now - he's been doing this 30+ years to answer any questions you have." I said, sure, I'll talk to him. When I got him on the phone, I asked if the car had Xenon headlights and he said, "Yes, it does." I then pointed out that the pictures of the car and options code says otherwise. They both quickly backtracked and said "Halogen."

As for the ticking noise, nobody at the dealership remembers or recalls any ticking noise. The mechanic said that the car just needs to be run due to it sitting, which I tend to agree with when it comes to lifters, in general, but after there were so many inconsistencies and things said by the owner and sales guy, I realized that I couldn't trust anything else that was said about the car.

In the end, though, I'm actually thinking that a 1999 996 is the real car I'm after, because:

1.) They are cheaper
2.) The double-roller IMS bearing appears to be more reliable??

ZuffenZeus

hahaha.... you could have kept that going... like,

Um, ok since we've established it doesn't have Xenon lights.
How about this...
1. Where are the washers that you have listed?
2. The Bose stereo system tell me about that again.
3. And, those don't look like OEM Porsche Sport Seats... where are you hiding them?
4. And lastly, please explain all these fancy "additional options" that don't exist on the hood tag or even in the actual car.

hahaha... I could go on and on. I love the line "I have a *Porsch* mechanic here right now - he's been doing this 30+ years". hahaha

Mike Murphy

By the way, how far away are you from Loganville, GA? There's a '99 Cab there... And it's an ultra-rare "S" model! Actually, it was sold yesterday, I just heard...

jaetee

PM sent...

jaetee

I'm pretty sure that car was a normal 996 with an S sticker added to the back.

dporto

"I'm pretty sure that car was a normal 996 with an S sticker added to the back."

I think ML78's reference was strictly tongue in cheek...

TonyTwoBags

Just fyi, 99 is probably your lowest cost/mile option for a 996. While the double row 1999 IMSb is the consensus best OEM unit for a 996, it requires a bit of gamble in leaving the ball bearing design in the car. If you buy a 996.2 with a single row that's relatively low mileage and has a well-running engine, you can zap the IMS bearing failure with the solution. More cost without question, and the intermediate shaft itself can still breakdown regardless of the upgraded bearing. But one failure mode removed is one failure mode removed.

It more or less comes down to a question of how important these things are & how much $$ they mean to you:

- extra 0.2L displacement of the 3.6L & accompanying 20hp
- ability to install IMS solution vs. rely on low failure rate of double row 99s
- glovebox in 996.2

more here --> https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...d-to-mkii.html

These days I spend time drooling over mk1 aeros and GT3s of both iterations while obsessively scouring the interwebs for parts to make my mk2 C2 just a little more betterer.

Mike Murphy

All great points. I had a 2000 Boxster S and very much enjoyed the larger engine, more torque, etc. I'd say the newer the 911, the better, generally, but the 1999 is an older decade, and has an old-school way about it that draws me to it. I generally try to stay away from the 1st gen of any car, but I haven't heard about too many major issues with the '99s to scare me away.

Also, does the '99 have cup holders? For some reason, I though that they did not.

ZuffenZeus

Rule #1 - Never, ever buy a Porsche for it's cup holders. ha!

seriously, not sure, but I know they didn't come with a glove compartment.