Considering a 996 Turbo

Hi Folks. My first post and looking for some advice please on a specific car. Just really if you think the car is worth the asking price mainly. It's a silver 2000 996 Turbo on pistonheads: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/995279.htm I've been to look at it and it's in good condition. No dents, nice shiny paintwork and not many stone chips on the front. The only issue with the paintwork is the rear arch lips have a few bad stone chips on the actual lip. A few of these have started to rust, just a tiny amount - I guess because they have not been touched up. It looks like this lip has a thicker anti stone chip paint coating on it. Should be fairly easy to fix I'd think. Is this common? The wheels have a little curbing but not too bad. The tyres have about 4mm all round. The front brake discs have just been changed and its had new pads all round. It's got 63500 miles on the clock and has been serviced 6 times. 4 minors and 2 majors. Next service will be due at 72K miles and is a major. The car was imported from Germany in 2003 but is a full UK spec car. Forces maybe? It's a manual. I've driven it and it drives nice. Slick gearbox and pulls strong. Steers straight. Engine sounds good with no nasty noises. 29K is the asking price. What do you guys think. Is a private sale worth this much? Manual Turbos at this price point do seem a little thin on the ground. This is about the most I can afford so I am tempted. Cheers Simon.

PS - I'm coming from an Audi B5 RS4 with 450bhp, but this would be my first Porsche.

another 5k (or less) will get you a 2003 facelift UK car with less miles. I think it's too much money for a '00 import, by about 3 or 4 k. Just my internet 2p's worth.

Agree it is a little high import will have re sale problems Nice spec though. I would(and I will one day) seek a facelift Model Would be a good buy at 26 after a satisfactory ppi Chips can be fixed at little cost Do ppi it's a MUST

Thanks for the replies guys. The import side of it does worry me a little, come selling time. I'll take on board the PPI comments. Only trouble I have is manual 996 turbo's seem to be a bit thin on the ground sub 30k. I guess I can just bide my time for a bit.

You sat it's an import, but what is the country code on the sticker under the bonnet, or in the maitenance booklet. It starts with a "C". C16 is UK.

Thanks for the reply Richard. Whats the relevance? Could it be a uk car that was used for first 2 years in Germany? Would it still be an import? The seller says that he didn't have to tell in the insurance as it's full uk spec??

If it's a C16 car then I wouldn't let the fact that it had been used for a couple of years in Germany affect your decision. If it was a C98 Cyprus car, or something like an Asian spec, then I would. These cars don't have the additional tilt sensor and alarm siren required for Thatcham Catagory 1 approval. If it is C17, then it was built for supply to a British Service person in Germany, and you can make your own mind about that one. Not sure too many squaddies could afford a 996 Turbo though. Fact is that the majority of buyers in the know won't consider anything but a C16 car, so it does reflect considerably in the value.

Thanks for the info Richard, very interesting. I'll try and find out the country code.

So Richard. I have confirmation from the seller that the car is indeed a C16 - good news?? Does this mean I don't treat it as an import but as a UK car? Cheers for the help! Simon.

It means the car is 100% UK spec, presumably just supplied by a German Porsche Centre, and bought into the UK as a personal import. I seem to recall that VAT and duty had to be paid at the time of registration in the UK, and the VAT office issue a receipt which should be passed on from owner to owner for a period of (I think) 7 years. Might be worth checking, just in case. If it all checks out, it wouldn't worry ME in the slightest buying a car like this. Maybe others have opinions though.

Cheers Richard. Appreciate the advice. If I get it - I'll let you know.

So after sleeping on it a few nights I've decided that the import car is not for me. Maybe if it was a bargain, but it's not. So I've been looking further afield and I'm liking the look of this car: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/530520.htm Maybe not the best spec, but looks a nice clean example and I might be able to get it for my budget. Any comments chaps? Anyone know of the dealer or the car itself? Cheers!! I might drive down for a look on Saturday.

This has been up for a very long time I enquired but they offered peanuts for mine unseen. The price has been lowered recently This car is not a facelift x reg I believe I never viewed it but it does sound nice.