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YOUR RESEARCHPossible 996 buyer
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FYI: It is not unusual for a MY99/00/01 996 to have had its engine replaced by Porsche along the way.
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I am in the process of selling my 88 BMW E30 M3 because the profit I can make on the car is to great to pass up. I am looking at the 996 911 as the new car. It will be a daily driver and DE car. What are the things I should look at before a purchase and what items are major cost for replacements? Any advice an help would be greatly appreciated. I am sure I will have a ton of questions after the replies. Please bear with me.
A few searches of this forum will give you lots to chew on. Terms like "PPI," "RMS," "IMS," and anything on finding a 996 should get you started. Then you can ask questions that don't require thousands of words that already exist here.
Many people have also found the book, Porsche 996: The Essential Companion, valuable.
Good luck!
Welcome
You will find this a great place to find information. Do a 'search' and you will find answers. These are great cars and just do your due diligence (PPI, CARFAX, etc) before you buy.
Go do 'buyers guide' on excellence mag website and read the article on 996's.
Let us know what you decide to pull trigger on and you will get lots of help from the folks here
The 996 is a gorgeous car, very appealing and ages well. The MY99 and MY00 can be purchased so cheaply that it is no wonder that many are purchased on impulse! I suggest you contact
www.pca.org
and get a referral to a local independent Porsche mechanic or two. Ask them if you can drop by to discuss your 996 plans. Be sure to ask about PPI, RMS, IMS bearing retrofit, and valve cover leaks--for starters.
Keep in mind that a used The 996 is an exotic that sold for $70,000 to $100,000+ when new. The cost of parts and service does not scale downward as the resale value drops.
FYI: It is not unusual for a MY99/00/01 996 to have had its engine replaced by Porsche along the way. Some see this as a good thing, others not so much. The CarFax I purchased said nothing about engine failure and replacement--both of which I learned about by calling the dealer directly. I was surprised that neither CarFax nor the seller mentioned this important (to me) piece of information.
I imagine that if you've owned an e30 M3, you know how to either foot the bill or get the work done yourself. Owning a 996 should be no issue for you although they might seem a bit "plush" after an e30 M3. Or maybe just a bit fast.
At least for now, it would appear that you are getting in at the bottom of the market if you buy a 996. But, I would not expect it to appreciate like the E30 M3.
Soon, early Boxsters will be seen as the second coming of the 356 Speedster. Early MK I 996's will follow shortly thereafter.
I don't think we've seen the bottom yet for the 996 (or Boxster). I believe they'll continue their downward trend for several more years and then level off. Boxsters may get really cheap in the years ahead.
1.Try and get an '02 or newer with 3.6 engine - there are some useful upgrades over the earlier models.
2. Very low mileage is a bad thing in these cars. They can easily run to 100K + if maintained- so look for one that has been driven at least 5K/yr
3. Biggest risk is catastrophic engine failure- do a search for IMS to read more about that - but don't be scared away - a driven and maintained 3.6 has relatively low probability of this sort of problem
4,. Other than that, it is mostly regular service items and these cars are pretty reliable. Budget around $4K for clutch (and to do IMSB upgrade, AOS preventative while you are in there) at some point
5,. A few minor electrical gremlins so far with mine - but nothing too serious.
6. Find one that has been taken care of - and yes - get a pre-purchase inspection done by an experienced Porsche independent shop ....
