Looking to make an offer on this 996 - Any red flags you see?

Hi all! Given I'm considering buying my first 996 and from out of state, thought it was worth taking advantage of more experienced eyes of this forum. I've attached a couple videos that the dealer sent me - any red flags or things I should consider? I think I'm hearing a high pitched noise on the motor running video, but honestly I'm not 100% sure (the dealer says there is no noise). Car is from 1999 (which I understand reduces the IMS issue probability) and has almost 40k miles. Before moving fwd, I'm getting a PPI and am thinking about POMCAR (recommended by the dealer), as the local Porsche dealership doesn't perform PPIs. Appreciate any insights on their PPI to! Thanks!

Never mind. Fixed it.

Be sure to get a cam variation reading done while the PPI is being performed and possibly have them pull a plug or two and just take a peek at the bores. Does the driver side exhaust look darker than the passenger side? Is there any service history? How was it maintained? Is there any leaking anywhere? Don't let the armchair mechanics scare you away about IMS, bore scoring, etc..... just see if it's been maintained well (with only 40K I would assume the owner took very good care of it) and see what kind of history it has and go from there. Also, knowing it's a 26 year old car you WILL be replacing items along the way! Good luck and post some pictures of it! By the way it sounds smooth from the video!

Sounds like mine. I have two 99s (cab and coupe) and I constantly think I hear high pitched whine, I think I even have a thread on here about it. So far nothing has exploded...so far....

Sounds normal. Agree about cam deviation as part of the PPI, may or may not be an issue at 40k miles, but $$$ to drop engine to address. Because its a cab, ask the shop doing the PPI to check the rear drains to see if they were serviced, and definitely check under carpet for moisture.

Get the VIN and purchase the CarFax for it, unless the dealer is providing the service records. Do not buy this if there are no service records. Think hard about walking if the car has more than 4 previous owners. Is this at a Porsche dealer or Joe's car lot? I'd be a lot more comfortable if the dealer had experience with this generation 911. Engine sounds fine. High pitched whine is probably the secondary air injector, assuming the start up was from cold.

Thank you all! I found a shop ( https://beckseuropean.com/ ) that performs all the recommended checks (they charge 550 usd which seems a little steep, but I guess makes sense given the additional and more thorough checks). @996-CAB The car has 3 previous owners and its not at a Porsche dealer - I agree it would be ideal buying it from a dealer.

Question, what service records are available and what do they show? If it has a lot of good service records, and they show some major things like an engine rebuild, or an IMS bearing replacement, or maybe a trans rebuild, along with all the normal maintenance, thats all you need. But even if it doesnt, that doesnt necessarily mean you need to go pay someone for a PPI. Prediction, you spend $550 on the inspection, they find several thousand dollars worth of things that could be argued that need to be done, but could also be argued that they aren't urgent. You go back to the dealer with the inspection results saying "in light of this, I will offer XXXXX" The dealer basically says "that inspection means nothing to me, I know there are other people that will buy it as-is at my price, or close to it". So your inspection report gets you nowhere in the negotiations, and you walk away. And now you have a $550 inspection on a car you don't even own. I've been either a car salesman, a shop manager, a broker or a dealer for the last 25 years and Ive bought and sold 1000s of cars. Ive done inspections, Ive managed old car restorations, Ive bought cars at auction thousands of miles away, sight unseen, and sold them to customers thousands of miles away, sight unseen. A "PPI" is the most over-rated and often counter-productive thing in the car business. I dont know how many times people have had one done that didnt find anything, yet the car needed major repairs or they've had one done and it came back with nothing but things they could have easily found on their own (even from far away), or it came back with misdiagnoses that caused the buyer to walk away from a car he should have bought. PPIs often just give a false sense of security, and sometimes a false sense of insecurity . A PPI is just not the end-all be-all like so many people say and like I said, it often makes things worse. Ive bought 100s of cars sight unseen from 20 years old to 40 years old and never paid anyone a dime to inspect a car before I bought it. Do your own research, be your own inspector, get the CARFAX, get lots of pics and videos, study the service records, contact the previous owner if possible, etc, etc...and make an offer. Now that shop you found, Becks European, looks like a great shop, and Im sure they would give an excellent inspection, but Id be more inclined to pay them the $550 after I bought the car, rather than before. In fact thats exactly what I did after I bought my 2000 996 with 157k miles. It had records of a rebuild at 137k, so I knew I would buy willing to buy it for some price, and used other things that I could find myself to negotiate the price down. Then the first thing I did was send it to my local Porsche shop for a post -purchase inspection to help me baseline it. (And honestly, it wasnt even that helpful.) You said this car has only 40k miles? I would go ahead and budget in a IMS bearing right off the bat. You can use that as leverage in negotiations without even needing a PPI. Then the only thing you can get from your post -purchase inspection is good news, if they tell you "no signs of metal in the filter, no flakes", etc, etc... And at only 40k miles, I doubt it would have any bore scoring. So what other info do you need? Its a 25 year old car, you can assume its going to need other minor repairs. Also, it doesnt make any difference who is selling the car. Its all about the car. Thats it. I would argue that a small dealer with less knowledge of Porsches is more likely to have something that he doesnt realize the value of. I have found gems for sale from all different types of people and dealers, big and small, all over this great country, and theres no rhyme or reason to where you will find it. You just never know. There are just no hard and fast rules, there are exceptions to every rule, etc, etc... Even the number of previous owners is an over-hyped factor. That number is often inflated by CARFAX due to the owner moving and retitling or just clerical errors. Even if it has had several POs, thats not uncommon among sports cars, collector cars, etc, etc...and a relatively high number of previous owners, in and of itself, doesnt mean a thing. This is all just my opinion based on what Ive learned in the last few decades. Hope it helps. By the way, on the car, is it an early 99 manual? Or is it a late 99 Tiptronic? Theres a big difference in value between the two, in my opinion.

Quotes source post: 20010549

Three previous owners isn't bad. The issue is that this generation 911 was liked least and is the only one where you find so many with multiple owners over 25 years. No other 911 gen has this kind of flipping/not caring which is why its a bad sign for this gen 911. I have seen some 996's looking for its 10th new owner. And it's not an assurance that a Porsche dealer is better as a seller, it will certainly cost more, but Porsche dealers have a Porsche reputation to protect and some, like Paul Miller in NJ and Isringhausen out west, actually rectify weak points before selling them because they know the 996. You pay a premium, but they take care of the issues first. When I bought mine, I was not interested in paying for a PPI that might end up with a bill for me and no car, so I instead satisfied myself with a complete service history and that worked out. If the price of this vehicle begins with the number 2, you can budget lots to fix, If it begins with a 3 and second number is less than 3, it might not be too bad.

Quotes source post: 20010800

WELL SAID!

996 is the cheapest 911 to fix and best driving on small back roads. and don't mind giving it a beating compared to the others.

I bought a 997.1 that had a PPI from a Porsche Dealer and service records, and it is a joy to drive with the manual....... I did buy a 3-year warranty for the engine and transmission as they are expensive to repair and had the oil analyzed by Blackstone and it did not expose any concerns...... I had a 993 and the 997 is just as much fun...... I have read that the very early builds of the 996 were built on the same assembly line as the 993 and are of a higher quality and more dependable ???? IDK but an easy way to tell an early build is that it has 4 spokes on the steering wheel ,...... I make no claims to be a expert.....do your homework and if the car is right....buy it and enjoy it... life is a journy....don't miss it....

Quotes source post: 20011219

The number spokes that the steering has means nothing. I have a 2001 and the 4-spoke wheel was standard and the 3-spoke wheel was optional for a few hundred dollars. I ordered mine with the standard 4-spoke wheel and later switched it for a new 3-spoke wheel (and airbag hub) which the salesman should have encouraged me to get when I was ordering the car: the 3-spoke wheel has a leather (not vinyl) hub with colored crest vs. debossed logo on the hub.

Quotes source post: 20011219

Lol what? Spokes on wheel has nothing to do with anything. I have two early builds. One was factory ordered with the three spoke wheel. The other was not. OP look for amber lights in front or build sticker for date. Early 99s truly are better.

As you can see the experts discount any meaning to the number of spokes on the steering wheel....I will share with you my favorite Porsche Joke " How can you tell a Porsche from a porcupine? A porcupine has the ****** on the outside ".

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########### I will not be goaded by people on forums. I will not be goaded by people on forums. I will not be goaded by people on forums. Ooohhmmm.

I love that joke. It may be a great idea for a vanity plate: PRCUPNE

Look at the VIN sticker on the door. That will give you month and year it was built. Best is 4/98 and before, but really any year is great. 2000s seem to have more issues among the 996.1, but I wouldn’t pass up one in good condition. 996.2 (2002+) seem to have more bore scoring.