Advice on buying a 911 996 C2/Upgrading from a 2004 986 S

Hi All, Just joined this forum as I'm toying with the idea of getting a 911 and I'm after some advice. I currently have a Seal Grey 2004MY 986 S Tiptronic with 95k miles and am thinking of getting a 911 996 C2. I've found a 2001MY Silver 996 Manual, 4 previous owners with 78k on the clock for £15.5k. What I'm after is some advice on what I should be looking at on a 20 year old car, this is what I'm thinking of: - Ask about the IMS, but I'm not going to get too hung up on this as in reality it only affects ~5% of cars plus my Boxster has been ok. Would a 2001 have the Dual Row IMS? - Bore scoring - Is this highlighted by blackening of one tail pipe? - Check condensers for A/C. I had mine done on my Boxster last year so would it be the same price? - Check the underneath of the car - Go through the service book and receipts Also what differences can I expect when driving a 911 vs my Boxster?

3.4 or 3.6?

I went the same way from a 2003 Boxster S to a 1998 C2 Manual. If the car you are looking at is a 3.4 then bore score issues not as prevalent compared the 3.6 Check condition of the brakes (rear of discs corrode while front can look fine. Plus history of suspension component changes because at 80K miles and 20 years they will be shot if original. Likewise exhausts could be past its best and an expensive but good bargaining point. The Boxster is a sweet handling car, the 911 is just different in comparison, difficult to describe but the 300 horse is enough to have fun without being a handful.

It's a 3.4 with the factory fitted Sat-Nav and heated seats with a grey interior.

Re: Advice on buying a 911 996 C2/Upgrading from a 2004 986 First off .. PPI .. PPI..PPI .. there have been several i've done this check on and highlighted issues which are expensive .. .. some have been serious to the point you will get burned . Bore score is rare on these but to be honest i've seen 1 this year so far .. more on a 997 which is currently running at 2 so far . Tail pipes or a cold start and smoking more from one tailpipe than the other is a give away .. removing and inspecting the plugs is another .. don't always need a scope to see an issue . A/c condensers .. you are looking for a black spot .. or an oily residue in a small area .. that's a leak . More common on these is the a/c joint in front of the o/s/r wheel and under the undertray .. this is usually a pipe replacement .. it can get pricey . You won't see much under the car unless on a ramp and undertrays removed .. rear over engine coolant pipes and mainly the small one on the n/s/r where it goes into the steel retaining bracket .. ally and steel dont mix .. it corrodes . receipts .. yup .. thats whats actually been done .. a service stamp .. hmm .. a receipt and you have a list . R/T from cold .. if a car is warm when you turn up to view it then you have to ask why .. hiding a cold start issue perhaps .. Noises cold start and at operating temp .. Smoking from cold .. Tip should be a smooth gear change and no oil leaks at the rear of it ... A banging on up changing indicates low fluid at best . Indicators cancel left and right .. a small thing but not cheap . Suspension .. coffin arms .. A Boxster and they are the same so you will know what to look for .. A knock over bumps .. diagonal arms usually .. again owning a Boxster you should know this . Think ill stop here .. a PPI will list any issues .

@deMort - This is great advice, thanks. Any idea what the average cost of a PPI is?

So I took the 996 for a test drive today and....WOW What I actually failed to realise was that this is actually a C4 not a C2 and noticed straight away was this thing is bloody fast. I thought my 3.2 Boxster S was fast but this manual 3.4 is a different beast, it just flies. I also noticed that it felt a lot sturdier and even though the front of the car is basically a Boxster (sorry 996 owners) the big rear window and small side windows gave the impression of it being much bigger plus you have better all round visibility. The ride was phenomenal and the thing just stuck to the road as if I was driving a scalextrics car. But there were a few niggles that I found during the ride, namely the radio sat/nav didn't work, the a/c was dead, drivers side window didn't work, creaking from n/s front when driving over speed ramps all of which the garage will fix along with an MOT and major service. I pulled the carpet up beneath both seats and it was bone dry (drier than my Boxster) and there were the original tools, spare tyre (if you can call it that) and warning triangle in the frunk (I'd rather it was called a froot (front boot)). The garage is also going to get their audio guy to give me some prices for 3 replacement stereos and let me have them fitted at cost. So all in all a most enjoyable day and I'm calling them on Friday for an update on he work they're doing. As the guy put it 'We want this car to be perfect when it leaves here, because if it isn't you'll just bring it straight back.' Now all I need to do is flog my Boxster S.

:thumbs: Good stuff. The 3.4 996 is deffo the deal of the century still and better value for money than any other 911 variant.

Ok .. im cynical im afraid .. it comes with the job so an in house PPI .. Caveat emptor . Radio/PCM .. might just be a fuse but to be honest there are far better aftermarket units out there so an upgrade regardless i feel . A/C can get expensive .. condensers are the usual issue along with the join o/s/r from the front pipes to the over engine ones .. again this part can require an engine drop so not cheap but common as muck . N/s/f creak .. probably the coffin arm ball joint . Window will be the regulator .. hopefully they replace the membrane at the same time .. if not you'll have water leaks down the line . Major should include spark plug replacement and depending on year a fuel filter replacement . Water leaks .. far more common on a Boxster but the 996 still needs the front drains clearing .. or pushing out a grommet each side .. i didn't say that though You really need to have a look under the car and on a ramp .. look for oil leaks .. look at the silencers , they corrode around the seams .. look at brake pipes and Especially you want the L shaped panel n/s removed to look at the pipes there . 996 is a better car than the 986 but then its a model above it so to say .. C4 gives good handling so i'm not surprised you loved it . For me .. Boxster range is still my favourite though .. and i've driven quite a lot of these lol .

Have a PCCM+ installed instead of aftermarket, the best thing I've done to my car with cruise control retrofit close second. I'm so impressed with how the PCCM+ has taken a 20 year old car and made it more modern than our 2 year old Honda CRV. Worth every penny and relatively easy to install.

Is it worth the money? I see that they're ~£1000 and just wondered what the PCCM+ offers above and beyond a Pioneer system with Apple CarPlay?

I paid £150 for an Xtrons head unit that does above and beyond anything Porsche has ever (and still does now) done. I can even park up and watch every episode of Line of Duty on BBC iPlayer if I want. Anything an Android device can do, the head unit does. You could live stream a dash cam on youtube whilst wizzing round Oulton if you felt the need. Also integrates with stuff on the car if you want it too, like reversing cam, steering wheel controls (if you had them) and TPMS. I can view all the live data from the car's ECU and monitor fuel consumption, etc. Run any sat nav program you want - google, waze, off-line maps, anything.

unless you're wedded to porsche orginal i'd go aftermarket. I have a Kenwood (about £500 iirc) unit in mine which is wireless carplay and excellent. Wifes car has a Pioneer unit (< £400) which is also great and cheaper (but not wireless carplay). But each to their own.

Glad the xtrons works, I personally don't need more over what the PCCM+ can do and the fact it is designed by Porsche and was a huge step up from the 2000 era PCM2 and it uses all original connectors (including windscreen aerial for DAB+), the lighting matches, actually fits in the space in the dash and mounting points, works flawlessly with the MOST / BOSE and looks like its supposed to be there works for me. I weighed up all the aftermarket options before going down this route (non fitting double DIN, poor fitting adapter facia, adapter cable looms, stick on DAB aerials, etc) and decided I would never be happy with it; so glad I did because once over the cost - 1264 GBP there is nothing not to like. I did manage to sell the PCM2 for 350 GBP so round figures 900 it cost me and I would have been in for 500 GBP I guess with all adapters, cables and a branded head unit for the non PCCM+ route..... each to their own.

The main benefit of it is you can use whichever app you prefer. Never used waze much until I realised how good it got you out of traffic jams and also better notification of mobile cameras, etc. The choice is endless with it being Android based. Looks neat enough for me too: Do you have any pics of the PCCM+ in the 996?