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@sessionstu exciting times to come! You wont regret it. Re prices and negotiation, I think 10-15% is reasonable but it really depends on market value and list price. I just wrote this to somebody else asking for pricing advice so it may be useful to you...
I looked at 4-5 cars before buying mine:
1. I negotiated on a 2006 C2S in excellent condition with 32k miles. It was being listed at $44k. I was going to lowball at $37k but the seller made it clear the wouldn't take a penny under $42k and had already rejected offers of 40 and 41. Its still for sale on Autotrader, but he may not have taken it down.
I feel $42k for that car was fair but I have seen similar spec cars listed for $47k from dealers.
2. I saw another 2006 C2 with 35k miles listed on SF Craigslist for $35k. It sold in a few days at full list.
3. A 2009 997.2 C2 with ~60k miles was sold by a dealer in SF for around $43k that looked cosmetically perfect. The same dealer sold a 2006 C2 with 32k miles for $34k the week earlier. It was also cosmetically perfect but needed new tires and was on the base 18" rims. It was a consignment dealer so they tend to price aggressively when its not their cars ;-)
4. I eventually bought a 2006 C2 6sp with 40k miles for $32k that had been listed at $35. Mechanically perfect with >50% brakes and tires which just had its 40k service. I bought it from a local Texas Porsche mechanic who would sell a couple cars on the side. I didn't really negotiate. The car had listed it on Autotrader for $35k but on his own website he accidentally listed it for $32k. When I called him on it he said "oh **** my marketing guy made a mistake" but still honored the price.
The same guy had another 2006 C2S with 33k miles listed for $42k and eventually sold for $40k flat. It needed a respray on the bumper but besides that looked good.
@Targafirst - yes I read a couple posts about the wiring harness. Nothing came up in my PPI at RAC but to be honest I forgot to ask. I did get a scare when the car was delivered. The truck dropped it off at S-Car-Go while I was out of town and they detailed it over the weekend. I picked it up on Monday to find a bunch of warning lights flashing and a car that wouldn't start. Their detail guy left the key in the ignition all weekend...
They jumped it and everything seemed fine until I was driving 15 minutes later when the "return to service shop" warning light came on. They hadn't cleared the fault codes from the dead battery so back to S-Car-Go I went. Pat their head tech was embarrassed and very apologetic but it was a scary first hour of Porsche ownership...
Thrilled to report I just passed 2k miles without a single mechanical issue. The car has been brilliant. Its been my daily driver and likely has more miles in the past 2 months than the past 2 years.
I think its a testament to the quality of the cars as well as the previous owner's diligence and the shop that maintained it in Texas (Fifth Gear Auto), who I ultimately bought the car from.
A few more lessons learned....
#34 Center Speaker Dashboard Rattle - solved it! The rattle comes from the center speaker rubbing on the windshield. The solution i found was to remove the center speaker (it pops out easily with a plastic trim remover) and put a small, clear rubber adhesive dot on the speaker plate that was rubbing
#35 Cold Start Exhaust/Cats Rattle - I had this issue once after not using the car for 4-5 days. I was backing out of the driveway and the exhaust sounded like it was rattling for 10-20 seconds. After quick review of this forum is sounds like this could be relatively normal behavior before the Cats warm up.
#36 Rock Guard Replacement - Mine were yellowed so i spent $140 to have a local shop replace them. It took an hour and they came out great. I had researched doing it myself but there were a couple horror stories online of people screwing this up and damaging the paint or spending hours removing adhesive glue from the paint. I took the easy way out.
#37 Saturday Morning Drives + California Coast = Epic.
#38 Local Dealer Parts Website - I stumbled upon a website from my local dealer to order OEM parts. http://www.sonnenporscheoemparts.com. Its hosted by a third party (Revolution Parts) but its actually listing parts at the same price as Suncoast and actually some things are cheaper. Suncoast and the Sonnen's parts department were quoting $95 for a replacement sunroof gasket but on Sonnens parts site it was offered with a 27% discount for $65.
#39 Surprisingly Family Friendly - its become a fun road trip car to the beach. Our boys at 5 and 6 fit perfectly in the backseat.
#40 Fog Light Restoration - both my headlights and foglights needed some work. Somebody had buffed the headlights previously and left some swirl marks. The fog lights looked pitted and hazy, and I learned this was from high heat in Texas. A detail shop wanted $160 to do all 4 but I ultimately chose to do the fog lights myself with a $30 3M kit. I figured if i screwed it up I was planning to buy new led foglights anyway for $300.
The 3M kit has you wet sand and then apply some magical wet wipes which adds UV protection and bonds with the surface to create a high gloss finish. Its a scary process because they look like crap until you apply the magic wet wipes. It took 45 minutes and I will say the results are much better than before. In the daylight they look great. However with the lights on you can still see the interior of the lens is crazed, which is not fixable.
After taking the fog lights out (which takes 20 seconds) I found you can remove just the plastic lens. However I dont know anyone that sells just the lens replacements so I will likely buy aftermarket LEDs at some point in the future.
#41 The 997 Workshop Manual - I was able to download a pdf and its a stellar resource to learn how to replace or fix virtually everything in the car.
#42 More IMS Data Points - I asked the owner of a local pcar shop (HiTech) how many IMS issues he had seen in for 2006-2008 model years. He said only 1, and that was at 20k miles. He wasn't concerned with the issue.
#43 Climarepair.com Replacement AC ***** - as mentioned above these are a total joke. The owner is dodgy but I feel for him. He's likely doing this in his garage (and it shows). He wanted me to pay for shipping back to Spain to get a refund but after some exchanges he promised he would send me new ones when his next production run comes out in May. Thats supposed to fix the quality issues...we will see. I cant believe its this hard for somebody to make a 20 cent piece of plastic.
A few things still on my to do list...
1. Replace crap Chinese aftermarket windshield & gasket: $100 for the OEM gasket and ~$350 quoted for a new Pilkington windshield replacement from a good local guy.
2. Windshield wiper chatter - its embarrassing but I still cant identify the source of my wiper chatter. It may be the cheap Chinese windshield. I have brand new OEM blades that start to chatter after they are on for a few minutes. The Workshop Manual says there is a special dealer tool to check and adjust the angle of the blades. I will bring it over to have them check that.
3. Fister Exhaust: heading over there in the next week or 2 to get these installed
4. Spacers: based on a recommendation above I decided to hold off on installing these until I pull the trigger on Eibach lowering springs.
5. Brake Caliber Repainting - low priority but likely get it done in the next year if I can find a low hassle solution.
6. Upgrade my MoBridge - I have an old discontinued Mobridge thats acceptable but doesnt have bluetooth or remember the last track played. It plays the first song starting with "A" in your library every time you start the car. I have come to hate that song with a passion. The Mobridge dealer said they would sell me a new ECU for $300 and I can use the old wiring. This seems like a reasonable option.
7. Fidelity Warranty - this is a low priority until its not. I was originally considering getting a powertrain-only warranty for major issues like IMS or bore scoring. Im comfortable with the very low probability of an IMS issue in a 2006 with larger bearing, but need to research the probability of bore scoring more.
Damn man, you are going to have spent more on all these issues then you spent on the car!
Sounds like you are enjoying it but it also sounds like you are expecting more issues to come since you are "thrilled" that it has had no mechanical issues in 2,000 miles! Is there a little voice in the back of your head that whispers "bore scoring" before bed every night??
Super thread Bruce. I am going to try your fix for the rattle in the dash. I have the same problem on my 2007 997.1. I ordered the little plastic spots and trim removal kit from amazon. Thanks for the tip.
Your Pcar looks beautiful. I love how the wheels go so well with the color of the car it is stunning.
Drive it in good health.
Thanks for the great info in this thread.
Wow--I just recently started considering a 997.1 (after deciding against a 996) and discovering this thread was very timely indeed. Thanks to Bruce for doing such a great write up, and to others for contributing. The search just got a got more fun.
Great comments all - I just signed the deal my '06 997 Cabriolet tonight. Getting new pads all around and pick up Friday/Sat. Finally getting the dream car.
From a new 997.1 C2S owner and new member to this forum, this was an interesting thread. Thanks for sharing. Looks like you found a beauty. Congrats. I've had mine since January. It had 37,000 miles on it. I'm almost at 38,000 4 months later. I have no issues to report. I'm also thinking about the Gundo hack. If anyone knows of a good exhaust shop in the Sacramento area that knows what they are doing, please let me know.
Last edited by NorCal997s; 04-21-2017 at 02:53 AM.
Hey @TheBruce, I'm new here and still looking, but wanted to say thanks for this poast. I'm basically on the same search and your thoughts were super helpful (and I plan to save this for reference). Way to give back!
Excellent thread brother. Actually looking forward to your next post! Haha!
Anyway, I see you are in the Bay Area.... So if you and your P-car are ever down in So Cal, please let me know. Would love to meet up for a spirited drive on the roads of Big Tujunga Canyon... Yeah, google it... Best "twisties" in LA IMO for a great drive!
Oh and anyone else in So Cal who is interested in meeting up for a drive, please let me know!!!
From a new 997.1 C2S owner and new member to this forum, this was an interesting thread. Thanks for sharing. Looks like you found a beauty. Congrats. I've had mine since January. It had 37,000 miles on it. I'm almost at 38,000 4 months later. I have no issues to report. I'm also thinking about the Gundo hack. If anyone knows of a good exhaust shop in the Sacramento area that knows what they are doing, please let me know.
03-31-2017, 01:01 PM
