C4S - buying advice needed (clutch and/or exhaust).

Folks, my hunt for a 993 C2S/C4S may be coming to an end (my wife is not overly impressed with them to say the least and fitting a child seat seems to be fraught with difficulty). So - looking at 996 C4S at the moment. Got my eye on one, but the clutch is _really_ heavy - in fact I had to look twice, I thought I'd pressed the brake pedal by mistake (engine was off, so no servo assistance expected on the brakes). Is this is a sign of impending clutch failure, or just normal? Next thing, on the test drive the engine was far quieter than I was expecting. The car does not have PSE. What are my options for a louder (but still civilised) exhaust note. I've heard Oettle mentioned - a good idea and if so where can I order from?

The clutch generally gets heavier as it gets closer to the end of its life, however they seem to go on in this conditon for a long while. Hayward and Scott were doing mods to Boxster exhausts, which would be easier than sending your exhaust abroad.

Hi Neil's right about the clutch life/heaviness and there still could be plently of life left abeit a little heavy. We also had one car once where the pedal assist spring was broken which gave the same result - whats the mileage ? Even if it is close to the end of it's life clutches aren't expensive relatively speaking so if its a nice car I wouldn't let it put you off. Brakes are quite expensive on the c4s so worth having a good look at the discs. Like with all prospective 996 purchases, we usually suggest you factor a contingecy fund in your budget for getting the car properly serviced and checked over and the more pressing issues resolved (if any) once you've got it - we usually find new buyers have inherited a few of the previous owners running costs and people tend to let things slip a little when they know they're selling soon. Our general rule of thumb is to plan to spend at least £2000 once you've got it so if your total budget is say £27000, don't spend more than £25000 to buy the car. Grant

Thanks guys, useful information. I am 50/50 on this particular car at the moment. It has done 45,000 miles (2003 model) and is up for £29,995. It looks in good condition and will be serviced by a specialist before selling, the 6 month in-house warranty will not cover IMS or cylinder liner failure though. Being covered by a warranty is one of my main reasons for buying from a dealer, so I am put off by this. No evidence of brake discs being replaced, and I can feel a small lip forming around the edges of the disks - does this sound like I should budget for pads/discs? From what I can see OEM parts from somewhere like porscheshop would be about £600 alone. I have changed discs on lesser cars before so unless there's something particularly unique to Porsche I would probably save on the labour.

Noodle I've just written a post with a few observations we've made of why cars become available which may be worth you reading. In danger of being accussed of self-promotion (but I think its very relevant), if cylinder liner/IMS issues are of concern you could consider something like our Lifetime Maintenance Plan. We've just had our first claim for a cracked cylinder and it is covered (as is a failed IMS bearing). In normal circumstances the repair would cost a minimum of £3600 + VAT but the minimum cost for this on the plan would be c.£950 + VAT (all new gaskets/seals, new cylinder, etc). Whilst apart the opportunity for carrying out other preventative maintenance/betterment is available such as support rings for the other 5 cylinders, new crankshaft bearings, chain, modified IMS bearing/spindle, etc. As it happens, the owner of the car was just about to move on to something else and sell it and its a very nice example so we've bought it from him and are going to re-build the engine with all the upgrades etc. Good luck with it all. Grant

Noodle, as bazhart says, if it is a particularly nice car, don't be put off by the clutch issue. If it's any consolation to you, my C4S (2003) has always had a 'heavy' clutch pedal feel (compared to my Audi A6), and the clutch was renewed along with RMS etc last year at Autostrasse. I was always of the opinion the clutch was 'worn' as the bite point became higher and right at the end of the pedal travel. :dont know: I don't mind the heavier clutch feel, the Mrs absolutely hates it though, and more often than not, refuses to drive the 911.... :hand: I hope you find a car to your liking, I'm very pleased with my 4S :thumb: