Your thought on high mileage 996.

In my recent search for my coupe. I have came across a few 2001 996 with high mileage. Asking price is in the high 30k range. I have been looking at MY 99 for in the high 30's. So which way would you go if the price was the same? A MY 01 with high mileage or a MY 99 with normal mileage. Just wondering what the board thought of high mileage 996's? pros and cons

You need to define 'high mileage' for us.

Tough call. I bought a 1999 in March with 35,000 miles on it because it was the best car of all we looked at in 1999 through 2001 models. I was trying to be rational in my expenditure. You can make a good argument for buying the later model year car if you think you will only use it 3000 miles per year or less. After 5 years your car will be average miles. I drive my 99 a lot. I feel comfortable using it to run all kinds of chores and it is much easier to keep clean than my black 1995. If I would have bought a flashier color C4S (that I would like to have) I know I would not drive my Porsche as much. My previous history showed me to keep garage queens rather than enjoy the cars as much as I should.

70K

I would tend to look at a lower mileage car in the '99 - '01 MY range. The best car I found in my price range was a '99 w/ 26k on it and the thing looks and smells like it is brand new. It was really taken care of VERY well. Most people not privy to the later model changes actually think my car is brand new - I get asked that all the time. I have seen many '01's that look "beat" compared to mine. With no real differences to speak of between the years, I would gravitate to the cleanest, newest looking one I could find with the lowest mileage and features that i wanted. Wait, I did that!

I bought my 01 with 40k on it because the price was right, the color was right, and the car was in exceptional condition. High mileage did not bother me, because I buy them to drive them, since March I have added nearly 6k miles to it. The old saying is always true, "buy the car you like best". I love mine and have no regrets about buying it.

I just got a MY99 Carrera2 with 40k on it. I bought it while overseas and got it for a good price being a servicemember and deployed as I was willing to purchase it over the phone after my brother (who was locally in the dealers area) checked it out. It checked out; drove well, had the right color (arena red--> I've my dealer calling me already asking if I wanna sell cause he gets calls daily on it cause the color is so unique). I paid around $37k for it and other than a few screw that had to be tightened and a replacement storage compartment lid and mirror visor; I've had NO problems so far. I have already put about 500miles on it so far and love it as my "alternative" ride as my daily driver is a BMW 2001 325xi (all wheel drive). So I agree with all the above...buy the car that you like the best...just like the guy in the dealership last week who bought a Carrera GT (silver) while I was in the dealership last week in Maryland...NOW HE DEFINATELY BOUGHT THE CAR HE LIKED BEST! Enjoy.

I bought my 99 with 43k and was actually kind of happy it had higher mileage. On a certified car with 43k miles and no RMS history to speak of, you're pretty much as safe as you can be in terms of RMS (which seems like its not going to show if it hasnt shown by 35k). In my case, I kept my search to certified cars only in the 99-02 range with an upper budget limit of around $60k. Model year and mileage really didnt matter to me. Condition and options were my top priorities. I was extremely fortunate in that the car I ended up with had my dream list of options ($36k worth), plus the aftermarket headers and exhaust I would have wanted to add and was certified to boot. In some ways, I think I was better off buying used since there is no way I'd ever be able to afford spending over $100k on a C2 (original sticker was $105k), but yet I really would have wanted all of these options. I think model year and mileage are really secondary to condition and configuration.