New member in SLC Utah (need advice on a 996 Im looking at)

Hello all, glad to finally take the plunge into Porsche ownership. Actually, I owned a 2000 Boxster S when I lived in England but for some reason it wasn't doing it for me. I've had various AMGs, Lotus Elise, Z4s, many MX-5s, Corvette (C4, blah), Alfa Romeo, etc, but never took a serious look at 911 until now. The reason is I want something analog but beautiful and interesting at the same time. All roads down this rabbit hole is pointing to a 996 for me. Unfortunately, living in Utah, I don't see these pop up so much, but one just became available and its local to me, I have an appointment on Friday to see it. Would the community mind checking this out for me and get your thoughts? --> 1999 996 C2 Some things to consider: CarFax shows two reported damages - once in 2013 and another in 2019, but the 2019 is more significant, The seller (who is a well-respected shop in SLC and also a BaT Local Partner) told me the previous owner claimed he hit a deer, but I have to wonder about that. To their credit, Morris Brothers added 4 Continental ECS tires, an alignment, oil change, air filter, brake fluid flush and cabin air filter before listing. Also, the car shows only ~600 miles put on it since 2019. Lastly, it is the most un-optioned 911 Ive ever seen. C02 - US Market Delivery 220 - Locking Limited Slip Dif (desirable in these cars) 222 - Factory Traction Control System 224 - ABD (active brake differential) That's IT. No sunroof, no sport package, no suspension package, no other refinements at all. I am partly attracted to that but worried when I go to resell down the road that will hurt me, along with the prior damage. This feels like a $29k-$30k car to me, but I could be wrong. Glad to be here, hope to have a Porsche in my stable soon, and appreciate the feedback on this one if can share it. Cheers, Chris What are your thoughts? IMO its not a $34k car

Hi Chris, I am a newbie to the 996 and have had mine for just over a year. A lot more experienced members here can advise you more, but from what I have read here and my experience reading here.... Maybe see if someone from the local PCA or Indy shop can do a pre purchase inspection? Can you see if there is other service history? Particularly to look at suspension service history, engine history. Has there been service to the usual items that break such as coolant expansion tank? Things like brakes are relatively on the 996 not so costly. Mainly engine, clutch, transmission would need checked by driving as well as it sounds like the car has sat for some time with the recent low miles added. Can you have someone check it with a Durametric scanner to check cam deviations? Just briefly looking at the rear picture, the exhaust tips may be not level, maybe worn engine mounts? The accident sounds interesting and I think you are correctly skeptical about the epidemic of deer related accidents..... However, if repaired properly with receipts, may be not as concerning. I think to try to get as much background on the service history and maybe see if someone independently can help you assess the car. Best of Luck Gordon

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Wow, what a find. 😳 Slick top will always be mega desirable stateside. It's still 27 years old, so expect to spend another $8k-$10k sorting it even if it checks out in inspection.

Did you say no sunroof? In pictures looks to have a sunroof. Yea try to get a PCA or Rennlist member to do a walk around nice to get �eyes on the prize� to visually rate body and paint condition especially after an accident and living in snow, ice and salt environment. If you like black cars this is an interesting one I own a low option 2003 C2 and appreciate the lack of Nannies and analog feel even more on the 1999 models. As for price I don�t think you are very far off from asking price if you could get it for $30K or close I think it will hold that value in the future and probably appreciate. Not trying to over reach my advice but try to negotiate the buying price before doing a professional PPI saves time and effort. Rich

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$8-10k ok, understood. If that's the case it might be a good thing I'd be purchasing this from one of the best Porsche Service shops in Utah (Morris Brothers). Perhaps I'd get some favorable treatment or pricing if I buy from them. I'll have to ask. (apparently I was wrong about it being a slick top)

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You know what, you're right! How did I miss that? They said it had zero options, no sunroof. I even did a VIN decoder, did not show one. PS, your white one is stunning, I love that color

1999 owner here in Kamas. I�m very jealous of the LSD. MB is a good shop, I�ve used them for my 911 and BMW I would definitely have them run a diagnostics to see over revs and more importantly IMO the camshaft deviation numbers. Redoing the chains on a 5 chain car is a big endeavor. Probably would not hurt to have the bores scoped too. Do they have a detailed service history? At 50k water pump and low temp thermostat should be replaced if they have not been done recently, and of course fluids. Do yourself a favor and add a Fister exhaust, it brings the car alive. Good luck and welcome to the club!

Yea I believe all US 996 coupes came factory with a sunroof if deleted option code sticker should show code 652 Rich

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Yes, a waterpump (Pierburg ONLY) Low Temp Thermostat and Porsche coolant could be in the $1000 range. One of the MB reviews said "breathtaking cost" for a oil change on a Boxster. AT 50k+ miles, a major P-service is required and it won't be cheap at MB. Also, things like coolant rez and 5-chain, etc are more expensive on a 996.1 than on a 3-chain 996.2. Maybe 60k miles early for "Bore scoring", but have a look + photos (through the spark plug holes) to see what is/is-not there. How much junk in the front rads/AC condensers? A sort of peek into what kinds of care the car was given. Are you going to do any of the maintenance yourself, DIY? Get a Durametric and the Bentley 996 Repair Manual for starters. I think $27k-$28k maximum. Local is (semi) OK, but why not look all over So-Cal, AZ, east towards TX? Warm areas, more possibilities in my opinion. I had PCA folks go look at cars all over 1000 miles away, and their reports led me to one I bought at 1100 miles away. And, if you really like "white color", then why buy a black car? I really wanted white, or absolutely fantastic Ice Green Metallic, but both are very rare. I would never buy a black or a red car, no deal. I also thought about the differences of 996.1>>996.2, and decided on a 996.2. That's just me, but you get "more" for your $$$ in a ,2 version. What's worse, I only wanted a 996 C4S, no 997, no Cayman, nothing else. Think about it, not just because it it the first car you look at, but what else is out there? Added: If you think a "Not-Many-Options" may hurt your value later on this car, then WHY doesn't the same scenario affect the car right now? It isn't a chameleon, doesn't change, so less "perceived value" is always there. In summation, I'd pass on this particular 996. JMO. Your choices. Oh, and 1 other thing: I like how quiet most of the water cooled 911s are, it is pleasant for me. I don't need "Loud Exhaust" that many prefer, just me. The car draws enough attention (some unwanted =LEO) by itself, don't need the noise. Change to 200 cel CATS for performance instead. YMMV

I�m just North of SLC and purchased my C4S a little over a year ago. I�ve spent around $14k on the car since I�ve owned it (that included things that didn�t absolutely have to be done, like refinishing the wheels and a PCCM+) and I�ve done all the work other than having Morris Bros do an alignment, so here�s some of my thoughts: - Without service records, it�s a gamble. Only 600 miles in the last 7 years? Not a fan of that, I�d rather see the car has been driven the last few years with some records. - These cars are old, lots of things will need to be replaced now or in the near future. The question is, how patient are you and are you cool with driving around on worn out suspension until you can afford to replace it all? I bought my car to enjoy and having crappy suspension took the enjoyment out of it. Other things popped up that took the enjoyment out of it as well, like the radio not working correctly, window regulators acting up, sunroof issues, etc. Again, problems that just develop with cars of this age. - Without service records, can you sleep well at night not knowing when xyz might break and leave you stranded? Or turn into a larger, more expensive problem? My car had lots of service records, so I assumed if it wasn�t documented it hadn�t been done. So I did it all. For me, the name of the game for peace of mind on a 996 is preventative maintenance. - Lastly, Morris Bros is selling this car on consignment I�m sure. They are in the business of trying to make a profit on this car, which is totally fine. However, it�s a conflict of interest for you to trust them to provide any kind of info or PPI on the car, so I�d take it somewhere else if you�re really into it. I wouldn�t worry too much about the accidents as long as everything looks like it was repaired well. If you want an opinion on that, take the car to the guys at Alpine and they�d probably go through it for ya before purchase. http://www.alpineautorenovation.com/ I agree it�s probably a $30k car and it looks very nice. But, after you put $10k into it, it�s still gonna be a $30k car. Just the name of the game.

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There are a lot of good thoughts in that whole post but these last few sentences are a great distillation of the reality of buying a 996. Not necessarily negative. Just a good reality check.

Think I saw it outside MB a couple weeks ago when picking up my car. Looked like a clean, well sorted example from the curb. Low recent mileage is concerning as others note. It's going to have cobwebs & you'll likely need to cycle through issues before it's a reliable driver. But on the good side, it looks like a good chassis & interior, and the drivetrain could have a lot of life left before a rebuild. Mule deer are huge, so the story seems believable. MB and their clientele are generally the kind of people you want to buy from. These are emotional cars at root, so if you connect with it the sorting process may be enjoyable. Probably worth negotiating toward 30 on account of the low documentation. GL

@elementex dont take my post as a negative, I just re-read it and it might sound more doom and gloom than intended. The car looks very nice in my opinion, my post was just intended to preempt you into considering those things before purchase, because you surely will after haha! If you�d like, I�d meet you down there to take a look at it! I�m no 996 expert but I have had mine torn to pieces, worked on about every inch of it, and have learned quite a bit about what things should look like. And, like you said, nice 996/997s don�t come around all that often in Utah. I�d rather pay $33k for this than $28k for a similar car on BaT that I haven�t seen. After fees and transport on a non local car, $33k on this car looks like an ok price.

I think the asking is a little high for a two accident car and unless they have some really good, detailed maintenance documentation, you can expect to (and should) spend about $10,000+ to do a baseline maintenance go around on the car. She is over 25 years old and unless quite a few things have already been addressed, they need to be as soon as you can. Do it now and then drive worry free for a good many years.

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PASS...

I wouldn't pass on this car based on what you've shown, it looks really nice. But I would absolutely get a thorough PPI from a reputable independent Porsche specialist who has no association with the seller. I just went through this process with my 2000 Carrera coupe with 74k miles. The PPI uncovered several issues that I was able to use to negotiate the purchase price, but just as importantly, it gave me a realistic idea of how much money I should set aside after buying the car. In my case, that included a worn clutch/flywheel, aging original suspension, worn seat leather, and some other items I expected to address during the first year. Fortunately, the IMS had already been addressed during an engine rebuild about 10k miles ago. One thing I learned, though, is that even a very good PPI can't catch everything. A few hundred miles after buying mine, I got a P1341 CEL/cam-timing fault. It ultimately turned out to involve a failing VarioCam/timing-chain tensioner, and they also found debris in the oil system that appeared to be residual from that previous engine rebuild. My Porsche specialist opened up the timing system, replaced the faulty tensioner and cam-to-cam chain, reset the cam timing, and cleaned/flushed the oil system. That was another ~$6k repair I wasn't expecting—and unfortunately it ate the budget I had earmarked for Bilstein PSS10s. I'd also ask MB when the oil was last changed and whether the filter was cut open and inspected. If they'll allow it as part of the PPI, I'd personally have the shop inspect the oil filter for plastic or metallic debris. After my experience, that's something I'd want checked on any 996 I was considering. All in, I'm at about $11k in repairs since buying mine, including the timing repair above and a new clutch/flywheel. And now another ~$700 for the Fister Sport Exhaust, which I obviously absolutely "need" I don't say any of this to scare you away from the car. I absolutely love my 996 and would buy it again. My takeaway is simply to get the best PPI you can and keep a healthy repair reserve after the purchase, even if the PPI comes back clean. This is a 27-year-old 911 now, and the purchase price is really only the beginning of the equation.

Nice to see a low-spec early car. The sunroof in 996s is actually quite pleasant to use. Tilts a lot and opens fully, and doesn't really impede on headroom. The very low mileage in several years is what would worry me. I bought a car like this (6k in 10 years) and spent 10 grand sorting various issues in 18 months of actually driving it. And none of these were the common issues we all know of, just random problems. Don't look at mileage too much, and buy based on condition & recent maintenance.