New Member, Considering a 2001 Carrera 4 Cabrio

Hi all, new member here. I've been a huge Porsche fan for years, and I was recently offered a chance to buy my uncle's Lapis Blue over Metropole Blue 2001 Carrera 4 Cabrio six-speed for a "family discount" price - roughly 75% of fair market value. He bought the car new, and I'm very attached to it since it was the first Porsche I ever rode in, the first one I drove, etc. It got my father and I into the cars, and my father currently has a 1997 993 convertible and a 1984 3.2 Targa. My uncle put 82k miles on his 996 and has been good about maintaining it; he doesn't want to get rid of it but he unfortunately can't keep it any longer. It runs well, the IMS issue was done proactively, it has a new clutch and about 50% of life left on the tires, although there's a minor leak in the soft top (I have covered parking for it and wouldn't need to drive it in the rain) as well as some minor electrical issues of the "typical old car" variety. I'm 26 and able to afford it as a toy in addition to my daily driver, which is currently a B8.5 A4 sport package manual, although if the 996 turns into a maintenance nightmare it might be too much to comfortably handle. I don't want to make a stupid financial decision, but I'd definitely love to have the car and to keep it in the family. I can afford to pay cash for it, although I'd probably take a note out for part of it just to keep liquid assets around. As far as I can recall, this car has been reliable during his tenure of ownership. I'm strongly considering taking the plunge. What am I in for here? Huge mistake, or likely a safe bet? Here is a picture of the car from late 2014: And here's the current DD, which is mostly stock because I'm in recovery of having a DD/project car (not possible), with my girlfriend's Q3:

If you can purchase it for 3/4 of market price, that should be something like $15K to $17K. Its OK at that price and if you budget $20K to cover the price and possible maintenance and repairs you should be good. Having owned an identical car (but with a tiptronic) I can vouch for the pleasure of owning such a car, and it might be a good sports car partner to go with your sports sedan. The only downside I could see is owning your relative's old "baby" and possibly having deal with his lingering attachment to the car. He is going to want you to enjoy it but modifying it or selling it might cause a little heartbreak or strain in your relationship. It all depends on your family dynamics.

Depends on what fair market value is.

Obviously you know this car better than anyone else here so unless you tell us exactly how much the sale price is, we will only be guessing if it is a good deal or not. NTL, best of luck.

Thanks all, he's asking $15k for the car if it goes to me. He hasn't listed it anywhere yet; as soon as I graduated college and got a job I asked for and was granted first shot at it if he ever had to let it go.

Face it, needs new top. Plus top installed, and electrical systems catch-up maint. Add tires, and maybe brake refresh. Market is anywhere from $16-20k. If you are paying $15k, that's barely 25% off on a good day. The best way to do this is to have him advertise it, then take some realistic offers from real buyers and then discount from the real world. Without a PPI, and better pics, we're all guessing of course.

Fair enough, and advice appreciated. Out of curiosity why do you suggest a completely new top? Do these not leak at all until they're completely shot? He had the top replaced a while back (maybe 5 years) because the rear window was damaged while it was parked. I think he mentioned that the front brakes were done within a year.

My advice is - if you love the car then buy it. It's a great opportunity to get an awesome car at a discount price. Plus, it's not like it has to be your daily driver so if an expensive maintenance issue comes up you can wait a while to take care of it.

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What he said.

Lapis? Buy it.

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In the face of this new info on the top and brakes, I withdraw my monetary advice. Sounds like $15k is a better deal now. The top looked pretty old in the pics, but like I said - without more info we're guessing.

Sounds like a good car to have. The Mileage is correct as mine has 78000 miles on it. A 1999 C2 Cab. If you are a DIY man go for it. Straight DIY maintenance on these cars is not overly expensive in any way. Now if the top is coming away at the rear window then that repair could be very awkward and pricy to fix. I always park mine in the sun with the windows cracked. I think the heat can build up inside the car to damage the tops in this way. The glue comes away under intense heat. At least with this car you know the history of maintenance. The condition of the car is more important than the asking price on these cars. I say go for it. What does your Father say about the deal? Take his advice before ours.

Yeah he gave me a brief rundown on the leak when it started a while back, I'll have to get more specifics as it seems like that roof is going to be the make or break factor here. I admit that the roof is the biggest stressor in the decision... It almost definitely wouldn't actually leak in my day to day use of the car, but if I move and need to park it outside it would be a big problem and even if not it would always be a looming, multi-thousand dollar repair bill. Shockingly he's completely for it... I expected him to talk some sense into me. I think he's looking at it more from an investment standpoint, though, and the ideal situation would be to not sell the car if I get it, given its family history. Also, he isn't paying my bills or the maintenance. Lol. These are his two 911s. His daily driver is a WRX STi. photo268.jpg photo813.jpg He bought the 993 5 or so years ago with those wheels on it... Some turbo twist wheels may be in its future.

After reading your initial post, I was ready to encourage you to pass. However, with the additional info, especially about your ability to pay for it, family history of Porsche ownership, etc, I think you should buy it. I think your overworried about the top, especially since it was replaced in the last 5 years or so. I'm betting it can be repaired, no matter what it is. You sir, are one of the few times I would say to a man your age to go for it!

What a great collection and congratulations to you for possibly picking up your new-to-you P car! Looks like you're all too familiar with Audi's. What was your previous project/DD car? I just actually added a B7 RS4 to the stable at home. It's 1 of 150 made in Sprint Blue. Seems like your family is full of gear heads. I have a GD STi in the garage. Any pictures of his?

Previous project car was a B8 A4 automatic Quattro, dropped, wheels, blacked out. The lowered suspension became a pain to deal with daily so I traded it in for the red one. photo66.jpg And this is my dad's STi; when he bought it new it was the 3rd one with that body style in CT. photo359.jpg

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Awesome! The RS4 has the Stassis coils that were in collaboration with Ohlins. The ride is so rough, so we'll probably swap out the springs for something that rides a bit more smooth. Very clean B8. Looks like you did the RS4 grille swap. I love those grilles. The B7 RS4 grille doesn't allow you to do the swap from the B8 RS4, but you can with the RS6 grille so that was the first order of mods on the RS4. What a pain in the butt it was to do that on the B7 platform though. Looks like your dads STi was the '08 hatch? Funny, traded the '08 STi for the RS4! Did your dad's STi suffer from the ringland failure issue at all?

It did have an RS grille, and I'll have one for the B8.5 shortly. As far as I know the STi has been bulletproof in all weather conditions, but he doesn't beat on it. As for the 996, thank you all for the advice! It looks like the car got a stay of execution and my uncle is going to hang onto it for a bit longer, so I have some more time to contemplate.

So if you are willing to invest time and your own labor into working on the cab top, you may be able to fix it for very little cost. That has been my experience anyway. My roof had a leak as well ('99 cab with 80K miles on it, always garaged). It turned out the the problem was with the seal between the roof and the frame above the drivers and passengers front windows. I took apart the front of the cab roof and it was obvious that water was collecting (and leaving water stains) near the seal. I took it apart and cleaned the seal, put some gummy pfledge on the rubber and put it back together, making sure the screws holding it together were nice and tight. Luckily we are having lots of rain here in CA so it was put to the test and the leak is now gone. I agree that these cars can be repaired and maintained at reasonable cost but only if you avoid dealers and do the work yourself. Otherwise it can get very expensive.