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YOUR RESEARCHIF I buy an early 996, what are the "Danger Zones"?
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A year ago at 45K miles I had a replacement motor installed by Porsche due to a slipped/cracked cylinder sleeve.
IF I buy an early 996, what are the "Danger Zones"?
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Engine blow ups without any warning....RMS leaks.....coolant expansion tank leaks.....rattles and other noises.....high repair bills....etc.
IF I buy an early 996, what are the "Danger Zones"?
Replace mass air sensor, a common item
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I also had to replace the Mass Air Sensor, a common item to go out in the first few years.
IF I buy an early 996, what are the "Danger Zones"?
Replace strong points, issues, etc
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I studied all the models very thoroughly before my purchase and knew all the yearly changes, strong points, issues, etc.
IF I buy an early 996, what are the "Danger Zones"?
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Am seriously considering the purchase of an "early" 1999 996, with approx. 80K on the clock, and (apparently) the original engine. I have read that there were numerous issues with the early 996 3.4's... can you folks enlighten me as to what issues are to be expected, and if the car has covered 80K mostly summer miles on it's original engine, with no obvious signs of decay, what needs to be done to ensure another 80K of trouble free driving?
What "upgrades" or mandatory services should have been made to this car by now? Should the clutch have been replaced? If not, how much to have a Porsche Dealer do the work? Any Transaxle issues with these cars? It seems the liquid cooling system is not all that it could be... any thoughts on that? How about suspension issues at 80K? Needs replaced?
This is a long list, but these are not cheap cars to fix, so I'd like to get the straight info going in... Thanks!
Not sure how reliable this article is but it scared me away from the 3.4s. At the same time, there are lots of early 996 owners here that haven't had any issues. Plus what you save on an early 996 may cover any issues that come up.
http://tinyurl.com/3a9xr3
Good luck with your search.
The first pitfall you need to avoid is asking an opion from a pre '99 911 owner. They think the world stopped spinning on it's axis in 1999 and Satin himself came to Deutschland to design the 996 and curse us with it.
I bought a '99 Cab nearly 4 years ago and it was off warrenty. A year ago at 45K miles I had a replacement motor installed by Porsche due to a slipped/cracked cylinder sleeve. I had to pay the labor. I had the updated coolant reservoir installed at this time as well as a new clutch. The original was worn less than 50%. I also had to replace the Mass Air Sensor, a common item to go out in the first few years.
Everything else has been exceptional. The car still feels new, handles exceptional and is a joy to drive. We also have a '99 Boxter we bought nearly 5 years ago with and extended warrenty. Never had to have any work done on it.
I bought the '99 996 because it had all the right options, color combinations, etc. I would have gone a '00 or '01 had it been the right car. I studied all the models very thoroughly before my purchase and knew all the yearly changes, strong points, issues, etc. before I made my decision.
I still stick by my choice of my '99 with no regrets and would do it again. I feel that once your are beyond the 50k-60K mile threshold, you are most likely safe from any catistrophic engine failures and the smaller minor problems have most likely already surfaced and been addressed.
Good luck
I think the only danger zone is not driving the sh*t out of your '99.
The pullquote on one of those pdf's which I have read before is:
�90 to 95 percent of early 996s are likely to be free of trouble�
I wouldn't buy a '99 996 ...they SUCK!! Especially the ones with high mileage!!! STAY AWAY!!!
Engine blow ups without any warning....RMS leaks.....coolant expansion tank leaks.....rattles and other noises.....high repair bills....etc. etc.
Sorry forgot to mention that I was only kidding.....my P is a '99 996 with 70K on the "clock" and I don't regret buying mine AT ALL!!
My only regret right now is that I didn't take it out of the garage for the last 3 days!! BUT I am going to do something about that FiRST THING SATURDAY!!!
Just take it to a good garage for a inspection..
Well... thanks everyone! Sounds like if the car has "dodged the bullet" during the first ten years of it's life, it may be good to go for the next ten, given appropriate maintenance. I guess we will see!
The key is to know the condition of the car you are buying.
A car that has been abused could be a maintenance nightmare regardless of how well it was engineered/built.
Look for cars that have complete maintenance histories. One or two owner cars with service records would be preferable rather than those from a wholesaler or auction without records.
And of course a PPI from a
trusted
mechanic is a neccessity.
Mmmmmm, you may want to review that position.
http://glenn986s.zoomshare.com/0.html
M96 engine, 92k miles, same old cracked cylinder head issue.
There is no safe mileage - and 'my car works just fine and has never had issues' is a backward looking statement and is no guarantee that it won't develop the 'quality control' issues down the line.
Given the option, I went with a MY03 996 this time, after having 2 for 2 engine failures with pre-MY01 986s.
This is a source reference. Confirm exact model applicability in the original material.
