Sigh. BaT seller apparently f'd me over :(

Less than 500 miles into my 996 ownership I was driving back from the airport and the coolant light went on. Temp was normal. Slow blinking - so I figured it was low on coolant. Flipped open the engine cover - sure enough - coolant is low. Open the reservoir to a loud HISSSSSSSS. OH NO. NO . DONT.... I didn't even want to look, but i forced myself to. It was dreaded chocolate milkshake. I guess im f'd Not sure why im even bothering to post here - and good advice? or sympathy?

Sorry to hear that. If it's a cracked head it can be fixed fairly inexpensively (relative to other failures). Have it checked out by a trusted independent Porsche shop. Maybe someone here can recommend one in your area. A long shot, but I would look into any protection BAT or your state might have in this case.

We can give you all the sympathy you need. Now for some advice. Find a good reputable indy shop that knows about the flat six engine and can check some things. First up is a compression check on all cylinders, especially #5 and #6. Then have them do a leak down test on all cylinders. Oil in coolant comes from: bad AOS, leaking oil cooler or cracked head. All are repairable, just don't run the engine anymore until some checks are done. Also, oil in coolant tends to destroy all your coolant hoses. You have to drain everything out and flush the coolant system ASAP. Failure to do that will cost a lot of money replacing coolant hoses. There is a pretty comprehensive thread here on RL on exactly how to do a full coolant system flush.

Is it appropriate to ask which auction/seller this was? Might be good to let others on the forum know so as to avoid future heartache if they ever sell at auction again.

Did the vehicle come with any service history? Mike

Hey @jbob42 , I believe @myles engler was asking for the BaT link, not the seller's name, address, and phone number. I'm sure he'd appreciate if you delete his personal information before this gets stupid. I know you're upset but doxxing is not the way to handle this. Edit: Thanks for removing.

this is certainly one of the main risks associated with auction sites like BaT and Pcar and remote purchases. unless you check it out in person or arrange a ppi, you're running the risk of this happening. the sites tend to give you a false sense of confidence with their descriptions and accounts, but nothing should really be drawn from those minus maybe the service history, if presented. present condition, as it sits, is a different issue. these sites will go through a learning curve for the buyers until everyone realizes a well written description and 300 wonderful photos do not guarantee absolute condition. good luck resolving this one way or the other. any serious car guy with a substantial purchase history has been where you are and made it through.

If it is due to a cracked head, would that have been noticed during inspection? OP didn't state whether they had one done or not, so this is more of my own curiosity. Sorry to hear about the unfortunate situation. Like RS posted above, BAT can really glorify the cars posted for auction but it never truly paints an entire picture. Buying sight unseen is risky business, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Did you contact the seller? What did he say? it's not improbable that it failed after you bought it. Someone on this site was selling a 996 that was running fine while it was for sale. Out of the blue, the engine blew. Ran fine for years under his ownership. That's the risk with these cars. I wish more people would understand that these engines can literally blow at any moment. These cars aren't for the masses. It's a very unique cars for many reasons, and those reasons are both good and bad. Anyway, good luck in getting it resolved.

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+1. It�s impossible IMO to accurately accuse the seller. Just move on and get it repaired

which car was it?

OP there is a few good Pcar shops in SE PA that you can take it to

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https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...-carrera-4-19/

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If it is, that long winded description says almost nothing about this particular car. It is just stuff out of the sales brochure along with some other meaningless stuff like "they all came with cross drilled brake rotors". It appears that the person who listed it knows very little about the history of the car, or they were intentionally being vague.

Very sorry to hear about this situation. The seller on BAT does not have a history of selling cars and while I have nothing to substantiate this seems like a pretty dishonest move here. I would be particularly suspect if the fluids seemed "new" although probably hard to tell with intermix... Please keep us posted and best of luck as you figure out what to do. Also commend you for not just refilling oil and coolant and re-listing on BAT with some quick sale excuse like "not commuting due to COVID". Cheers and best of luck.

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Why would you say such a thing when you literally have no information on what went down?! Gotta love how people form opinions literally based on nothing. Smh

What happened to the original auction winner, soleil something? Did s/he inspect the car and decline to carry through on the purchase? Sounds like you purchased the car from the seller off BaT? In any case, it's really a drag when anyone buys something and it doesn't work out... I'm afraid that I've had to learn that lesson the hard way myself: Never buy a Porsche without a detailed (and I mean, like $1K from a specialist) PPI first... Doing it has saved me literally thousands of dollars, and not doing it has cost me, literally, thousands of dollars. Hope it works out OK and isn't as expensive as it could be.

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that�s fair, I apologize. There are plenty of times people unload problem cars knowing there is an issue they don�t want to repair and plenty of other times an honest transaction occurs. I probably jumped to conclusions based on the lack of engagement during the auction vs what I�m used to seeing from sellers on there, but your point is taken. either way a terrible situation for the buyer. Best of luck on sorting it out.

Crappy situation to be in but I must ask. What do you expect buying a 20 year old 996 with 165k miles on it sight unseen and no inspection from an auction? On top of that, paying 18 thousand for it. That just makes no sense to me sorry. I hope that you find a way to fix the car though and hope the situation gets better!

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Pretty standard fare at BaT. Some have some personal history, but they all are laden with brochure-speak.

Difficult situation to be in. It could legitimately be bad luck or some shady dealings. I had a turbo blow on an S4 I purchased years ago, don’t even think I put more than 100 miles on it, blew the day after purchase.

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That doesn't help him. He's looking for advice to move forward.

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The advice is to be more cautious buying old cars with high mileage in the future and do your due diligence. If you must buy an old anything from auction, expect there to be issues and dont pay high prices. I have been dealt crappy cards buying unseen items from an auction but I made sure to pay a low amount that allowed for issues. I bought a house a couple years ago that had literally thousands of roaches in it and was the nastiest thing I had ever seen. Worked through it and came out on top flipping it. The way to learn in life is make mistakes, realize where you went wrong and adjust accordingly. Atleast thats how I do it. I dont blame other people for an obviously bad choice on my part. I understand our culture encourages us to blame everyone else, but have a little bit of self responsibility. I find looking at my own error and changing it in future as more beneficial. Coddling does not help people. That being said, I am 100% sure I will make a bad decision in the future, maybe even tomorrow. Hopefully I can learn from it.

Again. It doesn't help him in his current situation. But thanks for reiterating the obvious. Again.

Thanks for all the comments guys! I came here to delete my previous post, but looks like some reasonable moderator did it for me. The advice has been helpful - especially the "just move on" ones -because really - what else is there to do? I learned a lesson. This is the same story seen on this forum over and over according to this forum: guy comes across a repair situation he doesnt or can't do and dumps the car on some unsuspecting dupe willing to buy it without a proper ppi. I thought the downside would be limited. I bought a nearly $100k car for $16k, still feel like I'm ahead somehow even though the car will have to be parked for a bit Now my biggest problem is admitting to my wonderful, but all-knowing, wife that she was correct that it was going to blow up. I just got done rebuilding a 944 I blew a head gasket on after 2k miles, it took me 7 months of using both garage spots. That car is running great now, if I can rebuild the power steering, it can do daily duty ... (don't say it)... until it blows up again. For the two that asked: according to BaT, soleil just didnt want to pay and the fluids DID seem new

Think of it this way, it sounds like you can get this fixed up and still have this car for under market value. You still may come out ahead. It's a good looking C4 ME after all. I'd be interested to hear what the seller says if anything and what the mechanic thinks about how much the seller might have known. I just went through the buying process so these situations still perk my ears up.

Wow, what a deal on a ME! I would have been tempted at $16K. If it needs some head work, and you can do it yourself, you'll still come out OK on a 996 ME. If it needs a complete rebuild, you'll be upside down on a really cool 996. How is the rest of the car? I have a friend with a ME with a tip that I've told him to let me know if he ever decides to sell it. It is a beautiful car!

Y2K syndrome strikes again. We see a big spike in reports of Y2K syndrome in the early summer months each year. Based on the engine this car has, it very well could have been an extreme case of instant bad luck for the buyer. I have had a Y2K syndrome experience happen to me while test driving a customer's car that sent it to me for an IMS Retrofit, following my work. The intermix occurred on my 52 mile test drive, and was NOT there when I pre- qualified the engine prior to the IMS retrofit. I got nailed having to repair it for free, and the customer got really lucky. That said, we no longer repair cracked heads from 2000MY engines. The head castings are proven to be weak, and I have had two occasions where a new crack formed after and engine was built, on the opposite side of the head from where our repair site was. The repairs have never failed, but the rest of the head has proven to be too weak to sustain repair. To the OP, see if you can crawl under the driver's side of the car and look at the water pump. See if the color of the water pump looks newer than the crankcase does. If so, I can likely put this whole story together. Intermix is a better failure to have than most, BUT time is of the essence, as the petroleum in the cooling system will destroy all 29 hoses within the cooling system of the car, and even the radiators, and heater core. I strongly suggest that you purge the cooling system ASAP using a mixture of Shout laundry detergent and hot water, and do not operate the car again. I have seen the hoses turn to a slimy mess within 3 months of intermix sitting in the cooling system. You won't hear this recommendation anywhere else, as I have learned the hard way that this HAS to be done.

Telling the wife is always the dreaded part. I have a car I told my wife it would be my final 911. A Year later I want to sell and get something different (slower and less pricey) but unfortunately I have too much money in now to get what I have spent in a year. Easier to just drive the dam thing for a few years. Not so bad driving a 02 Guards red C4S so I am not complaining, just planning. Good luck.

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What makes you think the seller if knew there might be an issue? These engine fail without notice all the time...

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Write-ups on BAT are done by BAT with input from the owner. They all have a very similar sound. So don't fault the seller for the vagaries of the description. -Tom

I hear that one daily. All too often the wife is proven right with these new purchases of "un- necessary cars" that go south. We have all sorts of requests.. Fake invoices, no invoices, no emails and etc.. I've had some guys tell the wife they were sending the car for a tune up, but it came back with a 30K engine installed that the wife didn't know about. The best one is when a shoebox filled with 30K bucks in hundred dollar bills shows up via Fed Ex to pay someone's invoice, and he requests NOT to receive a paid invoice. Me, well I have the opposite problem.. When thinking about buying something that isn't necessary I look for her to be the voice of reason... Nope, she tells me that I should buy it, because its better than money in the bank. She holds 5 Land Speed Records that were set in a 996, and isn't the typical "accountant".

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I have good news and more good news for you. Sorry this happened to you, but you secretly knew or should have known, because she told you. And you chose her for a reason, and never would second guess that decision I bet. However, you have to look at the upside. You moved forward anyway, and there must have been a good reason... My advice is to not lie to her. But explain that a 911 has been a dream and passion your whole life. Everyone has his or her thing in life that one must do because life is just too short. Ask her what hers is, and it will instantly click. Now for the better news: If you were into brand new minivans, and some of them are really super nice, you could spend $40k on one and still spend more on the minivan than your 911 (depreciation and such). So when all this in put into perspective, it�s just not that much money compared to all sorts of other hobbies or cars. I know families that spend six figures on horses, audio equipment, vacations, art, boats, landscaping, etc. $15k for an engine rebuild isn�t so bad when the car itself will hold it�s value. And it could be half that for a repair, although at this mileage, I would bite the bullet so to speak, repair and replace the engine if you think you�ll be in it for over $5k. Last thing: a basic 996 could be worth $30k in the next 5-10 years. They will become vintage soon, and everything else is going up in price/cost, so �value� of any 911 will always continue to be substantial in one way or another.

Well said. Now, this is where 3 critical things come into play. -Denial: Yes, it did happen to you. -Deliberation: What to do, fight, or flight. Sell it like it is, or make the investment to properly address the issue -Decisive Moment: Carryiong out what you believe fits your family best in the future I go over these 3 in this video: You Tube The next steps are the most critical. These things have bigger potential liability than what you've already faced. A poor repair, or done by the wrong person can waste more money than the car costs you. Then you have the SHTF moment. I see this play out all the time, guys crash, and burn due to their mistakes made at the decisive moment. The choice can be an investment, or a total loss. The record was one guy who had a failure with a car he had just purchased. He replaced the engine with a used one to get the car back on the road quickly. His used engine then ended up being a "patch up" that was from a dismantler. That engine failed within 2 months... Then, he used that core engine to send to a mass rebuilder... While the engine was there, the company went out of business, and he lost his core engine completely. (9k on Ebay for a 3.8 Carrera S core with bore scoring) Then, he buys another used engine on Ebay that had failed, to be the bases of a rebuild with another mass rebuilder. They built the engine, but he received it 8 months after their "promise date". It immediately had cam deviation codes, and he contacted me to help him. I had him do a simple test, and we proved the wrong intake cams were installed, and therefore the reluctor wheels were in the wrong position, so the car would run, and just shut off after the idle speed dropped from cold start. I refused to work on the engine, and told him to keep me in the loop. He shipped the car to them for repair, they left a fuel hose loose, and the car burned down on his way home. He only had liability insurance, and the shop didn't have any insurance. He sued them, and they filed bankruptcy. That's when the "dream" becomes a "nightmare". This all just unfolded a few months ago. Haste makes waste.. People can't wait to get ripped off... Here's another one, an oldie, but a goodie: https://flat6innovations.com/spare-p...-bad-decision/

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Your post had lots of good advice, but this was the BEST advice you gave!

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Yup, and that's why I chose you to rebuild my motor and not me! Do it once, do it right, and never look back! The wife's been prepped (unlike when I bought the roller, lol)

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Yep, I'd say the majority of my customers probably do lie, or at least they stretch the truth to the spouse. Its all down hill after that happens, and sooner or later they WILL get busted.

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My wife commented on your Facebook post the other day about renting an apt to kids who can't contact you on their own. I told her you were rebuilding my M96 engine someday if I don't do it myself. She just said, "oh, OK." I said "$25-$30K" as I started to walk out of the room and she just said, "ok." As I left I yelled, "there's a year long wait." From the other room and she yelled, "really?!" So yeah, the discussion has begun. Sounds like she is OK with the price, but not the wait. Ha!

Wow, imagine lying to your significant other over that much money.

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Imagine thinking you'll get away with it.

Nobody has tried the Amazon.com method with their spouse yet? I told my wife a new Porsche motor is $75,000. She'll be the one calling Jake Raby when she finds out they're only $35,000.

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:-) That post was my most commented on all year. I had 4 more contacts today, but 2 of them were the actual person who needed the place to live! They must have gotten the memo! Yeah, the time is the killer more than the money for lots of people, especially those with failures, as the car will be down for a full year. With a job like yours its not so bad, since we only need the engine for the final 4 months of the wait time. You can drive it while in queue, otherwise. Every few days someone will ask me why we don't increase volume. I respond that everyone here is happy, and never stressed out. My engine builders have been here for a long time (the newest for 14 years) and that I'm not going to change anything. The best way to ruin something really good, is by trying to make it "better".

I guess I'm just lucky. After two years of starting to hear something I tried to ignore I realized the bore scoring bug had bitten me. While looking at THE engine reconstruction guy's website he popped in and we talked. Went to the wife and told her the situation. She asked how much. I told her. She said do it! I did. Right wife. Right engine reconstruction guy. Drive more now. Smile bigger now. Sleep much better now. Best decision ever.

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I thought the 1999MY had the weak cylinder heads? Do both the '99 and '00 have weak heads or am I mistaken? Mike

Thanks all! This is like the 3rd time I've tried to make a reply to this thread. I keep walking away and getting logged out. I really appreciate the advice from @Flat6 Innovations and @Mike Murphy and all of you. So... after seeing @wildbilly32 's comment I just had to add: I drove the car 100 miles and parked it in an airport garage last Sunday for a week of work on the west coast. All that week, I was wondering about this ticking sound that I was hearing on the cold starts. Was it bore scoring? Was I being paranoid? Did some research and didn't really find that much on the surface. RIght now I'm watching @Flat6 Innovations 's video series (im through parts 1,2,3A,and 3B of.... holy crap at least 7). The car sounds just like the car at You Tube - i dont have an electronic ear - so that ticking that seems to be audible in the video before Jake uses the electronic ear is what I hear. I figured that was normal and leaned toward paranoia Maybe some part of a silver lining here, I can get this done correctly. I guess I'm wasn't feeling ready to commit to THIS 911, but now I've got to decide. Surely this car would be a relatively inexpensive way to get into the 911 world until i was ready to trade up to a sweet well-kept and well-used targa I guess it won't be long until all they make is SUV versions of the Taycan. Thanks again all - I'll start a new thread with a kinder title when I have some updates

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Here's how bad mine got before the engine was reconstructed. It is a progressive disease. If you have bore scoring the symptoms will increase. I finally "listened" to what my car was trying to tell me. You Tube Cylinder #6

not cool at all saying the seller f'd you over. you bought a 20 year old car that has 165k miles on it, you drove it for around 500 great miles and than theres an issue, **** happens but this isn't on the seller, move on and you should apologize to the seller

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Its pretty crazy when I can spend a whole week at the beach, and my whole week is made by the post I've quoted here.

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Hey...the TRUTH is always the TRUTH.

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Good lord. Poor guy. Ironic how often trying to �save� money often turns out to be the most expensive option.

The car is now on eBay for sale for 25k. Will the buyers know of the issues? Never mind mistook the car because it has the same wheels. https://www.ebay.com/itm/114285353027

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Ebay ad says #676 and original BAT said #605 so prob different car

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This car - Multiple owner 165K miles. Ebay car - One Owner 58k miles. pretty sure they are not the same car. Serial numbers are in both ads as well.

Thread could use a new title at this point, no? I think bringing this to the BaT thread is bad form. Yikes.

Sorry to bump such an old thread. @jbob42 Do you still have this car? Would you bet interested in selling it?