New member looking for advice

Hi everyone. I hope this note finds everyone well. I'm a current Boxster owner looking to purchase the car I've wanted since I first saw a 912 on the street as a little kid living on Long Island. A 911. Many years later I find I'm in a position to maybe make this life long dream come true. I hoping you can help. I did a search to see if there are any 996 buying faq's / guides but found nothing on this forum. Where should I look to understand what to look for in a 996 (and more specifically a C4). Is there any place to learn about all the options, limited models, years to avoid, or whatever?? Thanks in advance. With any luck I'll be an active contributor by the spring! Matt

I haven't found one solid 996 buyers guide yet. But what you will find if you take the time to sift through some pages on this site, and some others like Pelicanparts.com and 6speed.com is a lot of info. I'm currently researching a 996 for myself, and so I have been doing a lot of lurking here and reading a lot. One of the best things about these cars are they were made to be driven and enjoyed for many years and miles. From what I've found so far, the biggest issue with any of the 996's seems to be the rear main seal leak problem. If you hunt around you will find each evoloution of the 911 line had one or two "weak links", and this seems to be the 996's.

Search ebay & autotrader. Call on the cars you have interest in. Print the sheets of all the cars you are interested in. Spend a weekend driving within a 200 mile radius looking at cars. You will be amazed how many have not been given TLC. When you find a car you want to buy you will already have the printouts from autotrader to help in your negotiation. 1999 model year will develop a coolant overflow tank leak. A '99 with 45,000 miles on it probably will have the replacement done, already. After 99 they came out with a reinforced replacement tank. Search the forum under coolant tank repair because there are some do it yourself links. I love my 1999 with 47,000 miles on it. I would like to have a newer car, of course but being retired requires me to conserve capital for the inevitable medical bills. No rear main seal leak on my car. Actually, other than tires this baby is not very expensive to operate. I drive it about 8,000 miles a year.

You can also get a history on the car from a Porsche dealer. While these cars are under warranty, owners are going to bring the cars to a dealer for service, so if the car is prone to problems, they should be logged in the national(?) database. Definitely drive a number of them. Please don't let the RMS issue scare you away and don't let this thread run away with RMS talk. If the car is under warranty, it's covered, and if it's not, it's only a $1,500 fix, as long as you don't run the car while low on oil. Some guys will say buy fast, but I say take your time and enjoy the process. Use cars.com, autotrader.com, and ebaymotors to get a general idea on what these cost. I would also look at dealers and private party deals to get an understanding of true market value. Some will be priced way to high and some will be too good to be true (for a reason). Keep reading here and use the search function to pull up some good threads. Oh, and have an independent Porsche mechanic to a PPI if it's not a car under warranty. I'm sure more people will follow with additional, helpful advice. I'm just sharing some of the things that worked for me during my search.

I bought a downloadable buyer's guide from http://www.performance2and4.co.uk/996_evo_1_n.htm It wasn't perfect but it was helpful in that it has a lot of inspection advice with pictures. It inspired some confidence in the car quality. I would still recommend a PPI, but this is still helpful in narrowing down which car might be worthy of your serious interest. It did not have a lot of information on models available, but that is all over the place on the web. Dealer order guides are available at http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showforum=2 to show options and you can get the option code list under the front hood of cars you are looking at and look up the options at http://www.kindel.com/Porsche/options.asp (although that is not perfect). Good luck with your search and have fun with it.

The old adage still applies....Buy the newest one that you can afford. Since you are already a Porsche owner, you are well aware that these cars are all about the options. The same year car can vary significantly in price based upon what is on it. Determine what your "must have" options are and go from there. If you can afford and '02 or newer, there were a lot of changes. From the sales '02 brochure: ...headlight system derived from the 911 Turbo. More discreet is the careful reshaping of the front and rear fenders, bumpers and air dam. The result is 25% less lift in the front and 40% less lift at the rear for improved high speed stability.... Reinforcements to the body structure have resulted in a 25% increase in torsional rigidity for crisper response and enhanced agility. The standard 17" wheels weigh almost eight pounds less than the previous design, while the optional 18" wheels are lighter by over 24 pounds. The front air ducts have been reshaped to increase the flow of cooling air to the radiators by 15%" You also get 20 more HP, a glove box, better cup holders and a glass rear window in the cab. I test drove a number of cars and spent a few $$ more for an '02. You could definitely tell the difference when you drive them back to back. Lastly, coming from a Boxster, you will find that the 911 doesn't handle quite as well. But if you replace the suspension, you can solve that issue. Take your time to find the right car. I spent 4 months looking before I found mine.