996 cat D

Hi everyone, my 996 search continues I've recently looked at a 996 cabriolet on 103k , it's a cat d , due to vandalism all sorted now and looking fine you'd never know I've had an offer of 8 k accepted , what does everything ? Incidentally I've noticed it has an aireal just above the windscreen, I'm guessing this isn't normal as I haven't seen it on any others , it has an aftermarket sound system Bluetooth etc fitted .

Wow, 8k sounds like a bargain, is the Ariel like a flat stick on one to the glass? If so it's an aftermarket DAB.

It's fixed to the metalwork above the windscreen !!

Hard to comment when you've not given any information on the overall condition. A link to the advert would help.

At the end of the day 8k is fiesta money,if it floats ur boat just get it before somebody else does,and the suns out,it won't hang around long,

Here's the ad description ,I'll try and get some pics up . Excellent condition for year, just had major service, including gear box oil, belts, coil pack, - by Porsche specialist. In the last year it has had all new tyres, all new brake pads, new rear brake discs, new AOS, stainless steel exhaust back boxes and manifolds, AC lines, state of the art Kenwood 'CarPlay' head unit, and lots of other parts that were getting old and tired! Massive history file of services, parts and history with old MOT's going back to 2008. Not so good points, car classed as cat D in 2007, I was told by previous owner (manager at local Vauxhall dealership) this was due to vandalism, although I have no proof of this, of course! Stitches coming undone on small section of drivers seat. New indicator stalks don't self cancel! Likely fitted wrong. 20 years old so paint... Read more

Sounds fine for £8k....unless it's a 3.6 (then double check for bore score)...or if you don't mind it being a Cat D.

The cat d doesn't worry me , it's a 3.4

When I was looking 18 months ago, there was the odd 3.4 convertible at sub £10k - however they tended to have patchy/no service history. Sounds like the one you have found has been maintained. The mantra seems to be buy on condition - which would be my approach here. As you can sink a lot of cash into a poor 996 (regardless of whether its a CatD). Am not an expert on Cat D - but understand that you should assume it is worth 20% less than an equivalent Non-Cat Car. I think a non-catD car the same as the one you are considering would be a good deal at £10k. So £8k sounds good....

It sounds like it's been kept on top of and is a bargain. If it passes the usual used car checks and you like it, dive in and good luck. It will need something spending though, they all do. I'd be checking electrical things. Does the roof work? Does it lock and unlock? Do the fans come on? Does the spoiler raise and lower? None of these are disasters at that money, but you'd need to be prepared to fix them or work around them.

T8 suggests Cat D should be 30% less.

Make it yours... drive it and enjoy it just like i'm doing with my 9k C4

Cat D is no problem, just inspect the car as thoroughly as you would any used car purchase. As above it needs to be at least 20% cheaper than "similar" cars - i.e. ones with similar history and recent parts replacement and condition - not necessarily the cheapest alternative you can find. You can assume this story is made up without any evidence. Buyers of Cat D like to see evidence of what happened to the car and receipts for a quality repair. There are many charlatans around around that will say it was cat D for a scratch when in reality it was rebuilt on the chassis jig. Without evidence I would price it more like 30% under an equivalent (so long as it passes your inspection), but bear in mind if its in good condition an equivalent might be £13-15k which would mean this is still a very good buy. Do remember it will be harder to sell on when you are done with it and this is why it needs to be an attractive price.