New to Porsche realm, just bought 2k Cab

Just bought a 2000 996 Cab, Blk/gry tip with sound package/CD, rear windscreen, 18" turbo-look wheels. 8900 miles, paid $68.5, listed $75k My questions: 1.did I do ok on the purchase price? 2.the top squeaks like a cheap camaro. Is this normal? Can they fix it? 3.is it possible to retro-fit HID? How to you access the front headlamps? 4.anything in particular to watch out for on these cars? I know the E36M3 inside&out, never touched a P-car before. Thanks in advance Eugene Lou

1. Purchase price doesn't look bad at all. In this lousy economy people are nervous and Porsche dealers are having a tough time moving cars, looks like you picked up a nice one at a nicer than usual price. 2. Dunno, can't help ya here, it shouldn't squeak constantly though. My cousins got a 2000 cab and his doesn't squeak at all. 3. Does your car have the Litronic headlamps? If so, why bother with HID? 4. Just enjoy the car, E36 M3s are sweet too, the Porsches a different machine though.

Thanks for the reply Zamirz, I am assuming Litronic is the xenon system, mine looks like regular yellowish halogen lamps. I have retrofitted my M3 with a Philips xenon HID system and would like to do the same for the 996. Eugene

Price looks good My 02Cab squeaks when the hardtop is on, not soft top tho. You'll enjoy the tip more and more as you use it. Don Watson

Eugene, Cool car! (I've got a '00 996 Cab tip blk/blk!!) Regarding the roof, maybe it's a 2000 thing because mine squeeks too. Contrary to the other posts about the hardtop squeeking, I had exactly the opposite experience - hardtop = silent bliss. I took mine off recently though as I was missing the sun (even in the NW). One thing I noticed was that I picked up a new rattle in the assembly that locks the roof to the windshield - it only appears after a few miles over rough roads. I did get a rattle from the driver's side windows/roof with the hardtop on though. My soft top squeeks somewhere on the second rail (the one just behind your head). Retrofit HID - there are plenty of dealers selling this and I've heard of a number of people who have done this. I believe that there is still a difference in the assembly though - something about them not being self-leveling if retro fitted I believe. I'm sure someone will confirm/deny. In my experience so far, the main thing I've had to watch out for was the increasing number ot rattles/squeeks in the car. I bought mine with 2k miles on the clock - it was immaculate and obviously pampered - but it's gradually beginning to gather more irritating squeeks/rattles in the doors/rear seat panels. The Porsche legendary build quality is now apparently that ... just a legend. (My BMW X5 is MUCH better). Be warned that the wind-deflector also rattles - particularly if you fold it down when the roof is up. I haven't found the right combination of towel/duct tape etc to keep mine quiet yet. One thing I did that made a big difference dynamically was to get my tip upgraded to a more aggressive set of shift maps. It was important for me, your mileage may vary ... Despite the negativity of the note, I really enjoy my cab - it's a screamer of a daily driver!! Enjoy!! Graham

I too have a black cab w/ grey interior (2001). Despite having only 6500 miles, my car creeks and rattles horribly with the top up. The best thing to do is take the top down, second best run the revs up, and third best turn the stereo up :-)

Thanks guys for all the feedback. I may go ahead and buy a hardtop from Suncoast (they seem to have them available for $1k) to alleviate the squeaking. There is some stuff I use on my M3, a BMW product called Gummipfledg? It is a lubricant used for all rubber weatherstripping to prevent squeaks. My M3 has frameless side glass and there tends to be some squeaking from the glass/rubber interface after some time. I will apply some today to the cab glass/soft-top rubber contacts to see what happens. I am very impressed with the acceleration of this car. Especially for an automatic. the rear diff is about a 3.45 which is steeper than the 3.23 in my M3. Cab gets some P21S today, which will help me burn off my post new-year's haze. BTW where does the CD changer lie? I see a bracket in the bonnett(?) with an amplifier mounted to it just aft of the spare. Eugene

"I am very impressed with the acceleration of this car. Especially for an automatic." Unless you're willing to leave half your clutch on the line, the tip will "usually" out accelerate (to 60) a 6 speed. That said, there is considerably more control in all handling situations with the stick.

I had a '99 996 cab who's top did not squeak at all in three years of daily driving in NYC. In Oct. I got an '02 cab and the top squeaked from day 1. The dealer was able to fix it however after two trys. It seems that some cables in the top mechanism were rubbing against each other. (I don't have the work order with me right now, but it states what was fixed. I'll try to post the info later in the day so that you can take it to your dealer.) He also found some looseness in the engine lid. Definitely take it back to the dealer. I also found it helped to take the dealer tech person for a ride so that he could hear where the squeaks were coming from.

Graham, can you elaborate on the Tip reprogramming? Who did it? Is it something you can buy commercially or is it a "hack" . Does it 1) just change shift firmness 2) hold a gear longer 3) downshift at lighter throttle tip in ? My biggest gripe is the tendency for the car to go into 5th gear even in slow cruising.

Speed, I would be really interested in what they did to eliminate your squeaks. Top down the car is a rock, top up it is like my old 1978 Trans Am (noisy). Eugene

Eclou: As promised here is exactly what the dealer report stated: "Adjust screw at zusatzklappe due to knocking condition between screw and klappe. Locate additional noise at rear of top from rear deck cover, adjust rear deck to eliminate noise." Also, the Line OpCode (which may be standard among dealers) for these operations were 61010100, 61911999 and 61901000. Hope this helps

Thanks Speed! Eugene

Talk to Steve Weiner at Rennsport systems in Portland - they did the work for me. I believe it's a chip upgrade that they source ... i.e. not a hack. To answer your questions 1,2,3 - yes, yes, YES. Graham

Thanks for the info Graham - I'll check it out. One more question - does gas mileage suffer significantly ? I.e., will I now have to use the manual tip buttons to UPSHIFT more and hold a higher gear ( i.e. swing the pendulum too far the other way ?)

I'm not sure that gas mileage is significantly worse than before. I get an average of just under 21mpg with mandatory 'spirited' driving. This seems OK to me. Actually, I was quite surprised by that as I thought I'd get nasty mileage. Apparently not. Graham

Sounds good ! I'm getting 20 mpg with our crappy 91 oct Calif fuel , lugging "Tiptronically" into 4th gear at 25 mph and 5th gear at 35 mph. . I'll definitely look into it.