BlkE55K

Hey Guys,

I'm looking at this 996TT and wanted to get your opinions on it? Assuming everything checks out on the car, what do you all think is a good price for it?

http://www.earthmotorcars.com/web/us...Texas/1094201/

I was reading about some concerns with cam rings?

thomapa1

Looks nice! Most important item will be a good PPI (see if you can get it done somewhere other than the dealer selling the car) and (if they have it) a solid history of the vehicle. If impeccable history / low # of owners / PPI then I'd shoot for @$45k as a great price (less if issues are found). If you take the average 'talk down' of 5% on $52k ask - you would be at $49k. Looks like a few mods already (clear corners, rear wing, wheels, maybe suspension based on the pics) - get details on all mods, you may not want a 'frankenstein' project car if the previous owner has a mismatched setup. Asking price of $52k is a hard sell unless there are some killer mods and perfect history / maint.

Not sure where you were going with cam rings? Pretty solid cars in general

adam_

VIN: WP0AB29933S685342

PPI should NEVER be done by the selling dealer...NOR should it be done at one of their buddies shops.

GL

BlkE55K

I think the bottom dollar on the car is around $49K from the dealer. The other option I was looking at is an 02 TT with 89K for $34K. Reading about the 340K mile TT that T2 has, the mileage doesn't scare me too bad.

Between the 2, which would you guys get?

thomapa1

Define your intend usage for the vehicle / your tolerance for maint. / your target price.

There is no one answer. But typically, a well maintained vehicle with known full history will be the better value than the unknown vehicle.

Do you want mods or bone stock? Do you plan to add $20k in mods once you get one? Do you mind spending $2k-$8k right away to get maintenance up to date? Do you want a show car? Would you rather spend more now and find a car with all that you want or buy a stock one and build it up yourself over time / or leave it as-is?

These things factor in to find the right car for you.

I recently bought an '03 with 61k miles and tons of mods, great history for a bit more than your dealers price - That was what I wanted...I knew that I would not spend on mods if I got a cheaper / stock one. The mileage / possibility of maintenance did not scare me.

Good luck.

Danyol

Agree it looks like a beautiful car, I love the color. The suspension does look lowered, It would be preferable if this was done with coil-overs. They went for aftermarket wheels but in 18", kind of unusual but nice (suggesting track intent?). Sport exhaust, Porsche or aftermarket? if it's an earlier gen Fabspeed for example the drone will suck. Look for evidence of heavy tracking (cracks in the rotors, discoloration in the calipers). The latter two would be bargaining chips.

Look for typical failure areas (search is your friend) 2nd gear popout ($$$), heavy clutch at startup ($$). One people often miss; back tires usually look good on the outside but wear on the inside ($$). Check the clutch for slip ($2k), the windows dropping when you pull the door handle ($$).

For the PPI have them read the ECU; for latent errors (no dash light but DME errors), type II overrevs (looking for large numbers recently to be significant).

Overall they are rugged cars that like to be driven, people have problems with them sitting around.

Macster

The engine cover's gap with the rear bumper cover appears a bit larger on the right side vs. the left side. I admit the difference is small, but appears to be real.

For price all I can offer is plug in the cars numbers at www.kbb.com or www.nada.com (and there may be other sites) and see what prices come up for trade-in, private sale, and retail sale.

Generally the car is worth between its trade-in price and whatever you want to pay.

By cam rings you may be referring to some hardware that is part of the VarioCam Plus system the hardware that plays a role in the DME controlling the intake cam's timing.

Beyond the above, I do not recall the details. I do seem to recall someone posted some pics of this part from his car's engine, the part having failed.

Whatever else you do, what you should do is subject the car to a thorough used car inspect/check out.

Be sure you visit the car cold and start the engine let it idle some and then have the seller take you on a 15 mile test ride and over a route that gives him to demo the car to you under a variety of driving conditions. Back at the starting point then you take the car out over the same route and drive it the same way.

Of course you should know what a healthy Turbo engine should sound like from dead cold, as it warms up, and then what it sounds like up to temp.
(Leave the A/C off for now. With the A/C off the radiator fans are off until the coolant temp climbs to 205F. The result is the engine gets hotter than it would otherwise and you really want to hear how the engine sounds hot.)

The 15 mile test ride/drive is intended to give the engine and the rest of the car time to manifest any signs of problems. If the 'cam rings' are bad you should hear this, or the CEL will come on as the cam timing dialed in by the DME doesn't agree with the cam timing the DME is getting from the sensors.

After the test ride/drive assume nothing works and then verify everything works.

Then if you still like the car and think you can make a deal have the car PPI'd.

Overrev counters want to be read. Post readings here for comments by the group.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Michael-Dallas

Earth Motorcars is a few minutes away from RAC Performance and Boardwalk Porsche. I'd get a PPI from either one of them.

Michael.

Nikon FM

If you test drive, adjust the display to show the boost. If it is appropriate and you are able, get on the gas a little and watch how high the boost goes. Over ~.9 -1 bar and it has been modified. That may not be a concern…..

BlkE55K

I pretty much ruled out the 03 with 28K since they won't go lower than $49K. Still looking at the 02 at RAC with 89K. This car is asking 35K. They have about 12K in service over the last 2 years. Also claimed to have done a PPI. Would you still suggest to do a PPI elsewhere? Seems the RAC and Earth guys know each other.

SSST

Do your own PPI. 89k isn't that bad if the car has been properly maintained and has records. The price is good if the car is in good shape.

I think you were smart walking away from the other car. It was above market and mods are a double edge sword if you don't know the history. They generally don't add much to the market value.

You might look for something between 40k and 50k miles in the upper 30s low 40's. That's the value sweet spot on these cars IMO.

Michael-Dallas

Yes. Trust, but verify. Try Boardwalk Porsche. Ask to speak to the shop forehand, John Gladwill.

c32AMG-DTM

The 996TT market seems to assess a huge mileage penalty on these cars.

Nice examples in the high 20k's to low 30k's (mileage) seem to trade hands at around $15k more than nice examples in the 60k+ range. And the sub-10k mile cars are another fairly significant premium over the 25-35k miler's.

It will be interesting to see how those trends evolve, in the coming years.

BlkE55K

5300 stage 2 over revs on the 89k mileage car. Concerning?

adam_

Yes, non-starter for me.

If YOU owned the car and YOU racked up those over-revs and YOU knew you never abused it, fine. But you are buying a mystery.

Now. many will chime in with "oh. maybe it was a raised rev-limiter' and 'these cars are bulletproof', but while there are many POSSIBLE causes, you need to KNOW which caused these...