First Porsche, two 996.2 possibilities. Need opinions and input.
12-18-2014, 05:53 PM
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First Porsche, two 996.2 possibilities. Need opinions and input.
Hi all -
I've decided to take the plunge and buy my first Porsche. I've been looking at 996.2 Carrera 2 mostly because their pricing is better suited to my entry budget and their styling over the 996.1 gets me excited. Heck, this whole process of looking for a Pcar has been absolutely thrilling!
So I need some advice. I've got two cars I'm going to take a first hand look at over the next day or two. I've talked to their owners and found out the general status and maintenance of each. If I end up really liking one they've both agreed that my next step of doing a non-intrusive PPI at a local indy is acceptable. I'd really like to narrow it down to just one though and my question is, in general, which would be the better candidate?
Car A:
2003 Carrera, 101000 miles, RMS @ about 38k, cooling system @ about 53k, clutch @ about 85k. Pictures show it to be a very nice two owner car and the owner has all the service records going back to 2003, all maintenance has apparently been performed regularly at the local Porsche dealer. Driven pretty much daily by an older, more mature driver.
Car B:
2003 Carrera, 49000 miles. In the last 10k miles the car has received a new oil pan, clutch, water pump and hoses and two oil changes. Pictures also show it to be a very clean and sharp looking car. CarFax shows four owners but one of those appear to be a dealer who bought it to sell so I'm calling it a three owner car. Spottier maintenance records but I'm going to make some calls to try and flesh it out some. Currently it's barely driven and is owned by a younger guy who has had it for a mere 7 months.
My real quandary here is that Car A is a mere $4100 less than Car B.
Maybe there's not enough to go on here but any input or opinions as to which might be the better candidate to focus on would be appreciated!
I've decided to take the plunge and buy my first Porsche. I've been looking at 996.2 Carrera 2 mostly because their pricing is better suited to my entry budget and their styling over the 996.1 gets me excited. Heck, this whole process of looking for a Pcar has been absolutely thrilling!
So I need some advice. I've got two cars I'm going to take a first hand look at over the next day or two. I've talked to their owners and found out the general status and maintenance of each. If I end up really liking one they've both agreed that my next step of doing a non-intrusive PPI at a local indy is acceptable. I'd really like to narrow it down to just one though and my question is, in general, which would be the better candidate?
Car A:
2003 Carrera, 101000 miles, RMS @ about 38k, cooling system @ about 53k, clutch @ about 85k. Pictures show it to be a very nice two owner car and the owner has all the service records going back to 2003, all maintenance has apparently been performed regularly at the local Porsche dealer. Driven pretty much daily by an older, more mature driver.
Car B:
2003 Carrera, 49000 miles. In the last 10k miles the car has received a new oil pan, clutch, water pump and hoses and two oil changes. Pictures also show it to be a very clean and sharp looking car. CarFax shows four owners but one of those appear to be a dealer who bought it to sell so I'm calling it a three owner car. Spottier maintenance records but I'm going to make some calls to try and flesh it out some. Currently it's barely driven and is owned by a younger guy who has had it for a mere 7 months.
My real quandary here is that Car A is a mere $4100 less than Car B.
Maybe there's not enough to go on here but any input or opinions as to which might be the better candidate to focus on would be appreciated!
12-21-2014, 08:03 PM
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12-23-2014, 05:13 PM
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Hi Guys -
Yeah, I'd intended to post to the 996 board originally but most of the posts seemed to be tech related and I didn't want to get too far off topic with my first post.
So I took a look at both cars and sent the lower mileage Carrera through a PPI yesterday. Unfortunately it came back with some unexpected findings that would have needed addressing pretty quickly. I made an offer, the owner declined, I'm back to looking. And that's okay because as much as I'd have liked for that to have worked out, the PPI was well worth the cost for added general knowledge of the 996 lineup, the M96 engine and learning even more things to look for. Plus the hunt for my 996 is actually pretty thrilling overall!
Here are the cars I was looking at:
Car A:
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...56671418&Log=0
Car B:
http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/4806382181.html
Yeah, I'd intended to post to the 996 board originally but most of the posts seemed to be tech related and I didn't want to get too far off topic with my first post.
So I took a look at both cars and sent the lower mileage Carrera through a PPI yesterday. Unfortunately it came back with some unexpected findings that would have needed addressing pretty quickly. I made an offer, the owner declined, I'm back to looking. And that's okay because as much as I'd have liked for that to have worked out, the PPI was well worth the cost for added general knowledge of the 996 lineup, the M96 engine and learning even more things to look for. Plus the hunt for my 996 is actually pretty thrilling overall!
Here are the cars I was looking at:
Car A:
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...56671418&Log=0
Car B:
http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/4806382181.html
12-23-2014, 08:18 PM
#5
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What kind of issues did the PPI show? IMHO, PPI's are a useful tool, but also can mislead. The same car taken to three different shops would likely have them pointing out different issues as concerns and totally missing others, and sometimes a relatively small issue can look scary on a PPI.
12-24-2014, 01:33 AM
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What kind of issues did the PPI show? IMHO, PPI's are a useful tool, but also can mislead. The same car taken to three different shops would likely have them pointing out different issues as concerns and totally missing others, and sometimes a relatively small issue can look scary on a PPI.
To the PPI, there's motor mounts, alignment way out of spec, 5.5 year old tires with signs of rot (knew they needed replacement but didn't think they were that bad), a gas tank leak that needs diagnosis, an odd clunk under the car that needs diagnosis. There's other minor and cheap / free stuff like hatch struts, gas cap and cleaning the radiator inlets.
While the IMS bearing is noisy I'm not counting that against this or any 996 since they all need to be addressed.
I expect to spend some money on my 996 practically up front but I'm thinking this one would cost me a little more than 2x right off. If someone can absorb that it will make a great car for sure.
Maybe my expectations and reasoning are out of line?
12-24-2014, 03:58 PM
#7
Rennlist Member
No... Your expectations sound reasonable, and that one sounds like a miss.
Sometimes spending a bit more on the front end makes sense. When I sold my 2004 C2 earlier this year, it was $32K which people on this forum would think is overpriced, but it was *extremely* clean cosmetically, perfect mechanically, new tires, fresh motor mounts, fresh brakes, fresh 60K tune, fresh GT3 alignment, zero issues, full service records, etc.
My first 'test' when buying a Pcar even before a PPI is if the car looks nearly perfect. In my reasoning, if they didn't take care of what you *can* see, they surely didn't take care of what you can't see....
Sometimes spending a bit more on the front end makes sense. When I sold my 2004 C2 earlier this year, it was $32K which people on this forum would think is overpriced, but it was *extremely* clean cosmetically, perfect mechanically, new tires, fresh motor mounts, fresh brakes, fresh 60K tune, fresh GT3 alignment, zero issues, full service records, etc.
My first 'test' when buying a Pcar even before a PPI is if the car looks nearly perfect. In my reasoning, if they didn't take care of what you *can* see, they surely didn't take care of what you can't see....
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12-27-2014, 06:02 PM
#8
The odd clunk, leaking gas tank, and noisy ims are interesting. The ims doesn't make noise unless its on its last leg and even then it would be strange to hear it. Sounds like there is something wrong with the car and if the seller is not looking to deal may as well walk away.