I'm looking at getting into a GT3 this year. I've come across one that I find beautiful but the paint readings, condition, dme reading and price give me pause. Could you guys give me some feedback? Thank you.

https://zweck.com/i-30522686-2004-po...2dr-coupe.html

https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...g_VbDx-gzckOuv

 

This is just my opinion, but paintwork is something I just live with unless you are going to put the car in a museum or concours shows.

I've put nearly 150K miles on mine and have repainted the bumpers twice due to road rash (the rear bumper I dropped a tool on), and the hood once due to a large dent from a rock on the highway. For me I am not selling the car and I just don't care what people think.

Also, after 20 years of driving it is reasonable to expect road rash on paint. It's the world we live in. I would be more concerned with actual crash damage and even that can be ignored if the repair was correctly completed and not substantial in nature.

Lastly, the rarety of these cars gives them some latitude. There are only so many pristine examples left in the world and as that number declines people will settle for less than perfect. Look at the Ferrari 250 GTO as an example. One burned to the ground, the serial number was salvaged, and Ferrari built a new car to replace it. A little weird since the original was destroyed and replaced by a copy, but it is still worth 20+ million dollars in today's market.

You need proper documentation, a comprehensive pre-purchase inspection, and a clear plan as to what you expect out of the car now and in the future. For pain/body work you should have a seperate inspection to make sure it is correct and there are no hidden issues. For me I only have to satisfy myself because I do not plan to ever sell it.

What's your plan? Will you drive it, track it, show it, flip it? Do you need to keep your options open?

Right now the depreciation/appreciation curve is flattening a bit, so you have time to look around and get a better feel for what is out there. This car looks nice, but I see more corrosion about the engine than I have in mine, that makes me wonder where this car has been driven, etc. I drive mine as a daily driver and autocross a few times a year.

As for the DME, if there are range II over-revs, it is important to knao how many and the length of time since the last one. The general thinking is that if enough time has passed since the last over-rev, you are probably fine. The Mezger engine is very robust.

 

Paint meter readings: understanding why it was repainted is more important than it being repainted. For instance, was the previous owner very particular and wanted the paint "perfect"? If so, that is less concerning to me than it being involved in an accident. Getting a PPI by either a very reputable body shop or Porsche shop should give you some info on if there's any underlying damage that is concerning. One thing to note is that it appears the right rear quarter panel was repainted. Keep in mind that the 996/997 cars have an issue where the rear quarter glass window seal is riveted in. Most of the time when repainting the rear quarter, they'll remove the seal which will cause the rivets to fall into the fender and cause outward dents. I can't tell from the pics if it has it, but I'd recommend asking for some pics looking along the rear quarter to see if there's outward dents. If there are, the paint is likely cracked so you'd need to remove the rivets first, which can be done by a PDR technician and then you'd need to repaint the panel if you want it perfect.

That DME is not ideal since there's range 2's, however, the total operating hours are at 1386 hours, the last range 2 was at 1104 hours. So 282 hours difference. That should be enough where if a problem was going to occur, it would have. You could consider a compression and leak down test if you want more peace of mind.

Let me leave you with this though, as someone that is incredibly particular with cars, if something is giving you pause up front, it's probably going to give you pause when you own it. But here's the issue, we're dealing with a near 20 year old car. Anything that is on the earth for 20 years is going to have some imperfections. There's very few minty 996 GT3's out there and you're going to pay a huge markup for the increases in condition levels. I understand your concerns with the DME and paint meter readings along with the imperfections.

Best of luck!

 

I've been looking for the right one the last few months and I came across this one too. It also gave me some pause when I took a closer look at the rear bumper. There is a really nice looking SY in the marketplace asking for same price. Not sure if it's already sold.

https://rennlist.com/forums/market/1340814

 

i'd check into why the right rear "quarter" reads 22, that indicates damage repair of some type IMO.

 

And that rear bumper (center section) is strange. In all my time with these cars, I've never seen a bumper deformed like that. They are pretty resilient and "bounce back" due to the material used in their construction, unless the material is stressed so much that it cracks and breaks. I've never seen one remain deformed like that. I wonder if its not oem.

 

I bet ts deformed from exhaust heat. When i put the m&m in my car i had to remove some of the heat shield and now my bumper has a curl in the center.

 

Our independent shop owner bumped his Boxster into the back of another car and the bumper did deform.

Either this car was backed into something or I am leaning toward the exhaust heat theory.

 

Hot exhaust and backed into low curb by the looks.

 

Thanks for the insight everyone. This one just sold but I have time to find the right one, just need to get my M5 sold.

 

Second the curb and hot exhaust.

Its just a bumper cover!