MNHockeyDad

Hi All,
I am new to this site and hoping to be a new 996tt owner, shortly.

I have read read a lot of the threads about these cars, already, and want to thank everyone for their time they spend on here helping others.

I am am considering a 2004 Turbo cab with Tip and67,xxx miles. It has the X-50 option, as well. I sent it in for a PPI at a Porsche shop and it returned with the following issues:

RF Window Regulator going bad (makes crunching sound?)
Brake Fluid needs flush (dark/dirty)
Oil overfilled (need to confirm by how much)
Engine Rattle by IMS chain area
Body drain clogged
Drive belt worn

I am okay with the regular wear items and have researched the oil overfill and engine rattle extensively here. The car has been driven by the mechanics and it did not have the problems discussed at length here about the oil being overfilled.

I understand these engines have individual characteristics, but should it cause concern if a Porsche mechanic has noted the rattle? You would think he/she would be used to it and not make a note of it . The Porsch mech said it will take more diagnostic time to determine if it needs a tear down.

jason952

Doubt it is anything but the normal mezger noise. Sounds like a nice car

FRUNKenstein

You just don't see a lot of Mezger engines with serious internal problems at 67k miles.

MNHockeyDad

Thank you for the responses. I am buying the car in North Carolina but live in Minnesota, so am trying to do whatever I can before it leaves. I know there are no guarantees with new or used cars, but want to do the best I can to make a good choice.

PAULUNM

If it were me I'd look at the oil filter. Hopefully they didn't just do an oil/filter change and you can look for metal or plastic bits in the filter pleats.

I would do this in person, not via pictures emailed.

My $0.02.

Macster

Window regulator is not a biggie. These wear out.

Brake fluid dark/dirty suggests the car didn't receive regular service. A brake fluid flush/bleed is scheduled every 2 years.

The problem with overfilled oil is this may be due to a bad oil level sensor. If so and if you just have some oil removed this may have the actual oil level too low.

For the oil level my advice is if you get the car have a proper oil/filter service done and promptly before using the car any. This will result in the engine being refilled with the *correct* amount of oil and the electronic oil level sensor checked for proper operation.

The Mezger engine has a crankshaft to layshaft gear drive and this gear drive can rattle a bit. 'course, without hearing the engine I can't say if what you are hearing is just normal or something to be concerned about.

Based on what you were told I believe the shop at where you had the PPI done is not Porsche Turbo savvy.

If the body water drains are clogged there's a real concern of water if not in the cabin currently of water having been in the cabin prior. Water in the cabin in these cars is a real problem as the security module is located under the seat and on the cabini floor and water just destroys the security module.

This is expensive to put right.

If the cabin is dry and a close inspection of the security module finds no signs of water damage -- this almost certainly would require the seat be removed to expose the security module -- you want the drains cleaned out *right now*. Any rain or even a final car wash could result in water overflowing into the cabin with disasterous results.

Drive belt worn can be a sign of pending trouble with say the water pump if by worn the belt has sharp or worn edges this is a sign the belt is not tracking true and it is not tracking true because an accessory drive has excessive bearing play. Most often this arises from the water pump.

The water pump is kind of hard to see but the PPI should have checked this for any signs of play and any leak sign.

I really don't think you go that good of a PPI.

The car may be ok but with the rattle not being clearly classified as normal or abnormal, with the uncertainity about the body water drains and the possibility of water in the cabin and the engine oil level issue and the serpentine drive belt caution is advised.

In fact I dare say another PPI could be called for this time at a place that really knows these cars and can offer you some guidance as to what it finds.

champignon

What would you be looking for, there? The car is a TT, with the Metzger engine, not a run of the mill 911 with potential IMS problems

champignon

The OP says the PPI was done at a "Porsche shop." Now, agreed, that could mean anything, but it doesn't sound like he took the car to Joe's Quickie Lube for the PPI.

Personally speaking, I have very little faith in PPIs, since most all that I have seen were nearly worthless, but it might be unlikely that another one will yield very much more information.

What would be way more important to me would be the service records documenting that everything that goes wrong with the car gets fixed, plus the sense given from the seller that he is a perfectionist who can't tolerate cars with unfixed problems.

PAULUNM

Metal flakes from a IMS shaft issue, plastic from chain guides.

champignon

Unless I am missing something, there is no IMS shaft in a Metzger/966TT engine.

PAULUNM

You are. The Mezger doesn't need have a sealed bearing like the other 996 and 997.1 you're thinking of- but the turbo and GT2 have a 2 piece IMS shaft that the bolts can back out of.

Not very common, but has been known to happen. GT3 has the one piece 959 IMS shaft which would not have this issue.

A common indicator is lots of metal in the oil filter.

MNHockeyDad

Thank you for the replies. The PPI was done at Foreign Cars Italia in Greensboro, N.C. and they have a Porsche service department there. I had it taken there due to positive comments on other threads on RL. I am going to talk with the service advisor, again, when they open this week.

champignon

A common indicator of a very uncommon problem? Any other obscure problems to warn this prospective purchaser about?

PAULUNM

Macster covered most, I might add 2nd gear pop out.

This is why I said "my $0.02"- not here to argue

champignon

The buyer is from Minnesota and the car is in North Carolina. I live in Idaho and just purchased a similar, 6MT car, in Los Angeles, almost a thousand miles away. I can commiserate with the potential buyer, who presumably is buying at such a long distance because he can't find the car he wants locally.

These cars can have a lot of problems as they age and as they rack up the miles. These problems can be expensive. Unfortunately, the "laundry-list" approach to "100 things to check out in your 996TT" is pretty ridiculous to follow for a long distance buyer; put yourself in the shoes of the buyer and then ask yourselves, are your suggestions/recommendations reasonable for someone located 1000 miles or more away from the car he is trying to buy?

No, they are not. He will never actually buy a car if he follows them. If the car is any good, someone else will buy the car long before he closes the purchase, as he wears out the seller's patience.

What the buyer needs to do is to qualitatively be comfortable with the purchase, and to realize that he might very well have a few thousand dollars worth of issues with the car during the first year after he takes ownership. If he can't get himself into that position, then he simply should not buy the car.

What I am saying is that the "atomistic" approach of trying to eliminate each and every flaw that a used 996TT might have is not realistically going to work for a long distance buyer; he is simply not going to be able to track down each and every little or big thing that the used, new-car-to-him, might have.

Instead, focus on the overall condition; was the car well taken care of? Has it had regular maintenance? What maintenance and repair receipts are available to review? What sort of impression does the seller give you, is he someone who takes care of his things, his cars, or does he speak in generalities that imply no understanding of the car he is selling? When questioned further, does he admit things that should give a buyer pause? I have had sellers tell me things like they got warning lights and had a friend reset them with a Durometric, people who said things like "XXX dealer has no clue, they told me I need $7,000 worth of work on the car but I know they are wrong," people who told me that maintenance was done but could not produce the receipts and then recanted.

These sorts of things should give a buyer pause.

Size up the seller, do as much data gathering as you can, review all documentation you can get your hands on, talk to the people who did the PPI, and then if you are still interested, fly down to where the car is and drive it. In the end you are going to go with your gut anyway (assuming you are actually going to purchase a vehicle as opposed to continually searching for but not buying a vehicle), so get your gut up to snuff.

Also, not here to argue :-)