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YOUR RESEARCH996 base with 50k miles or 996 4 with 85k miles?
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Check pca as well
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Read evidence and context
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Repair these cars can quickly surpass the purchase price
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The cost of repairing these cars can quickly surpass the purchase price.
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Suggestion
Test drive both and do lots of cornering to experience what I am referring to.
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Hey guys. Which would you pick? Base with less miles (50ish K)or 4 with over 80k miles. Carfax on the 4 shows services done. No accidents for both cars but I haven't seen carfax on the Base model.
Both are black convertibles, although the 4 has a hardtop.
I like the interior of the 4 being grey while the base has black but includes a 2din radio. Price wise the 4 is around 4k less. Both are black exterior as well.
$4k less than what? What is the asking for each? How detailed are the records? IMS/RMS/AOS/Waterpump done on either? Private party or dealer? You usually get much more info from a private party. What years are the cars? Got links?
Buy the nicer, better maintained car. I would lean toward the C4 with the hardtop and gray interior. Don't necessarily fall into the mileage trap either. I was considering a local 2001 C4 coupe with 62,000 miles. Had all the services done but the ride quality was terrible and the car was already feeling tired, squeaks and rattles, felt like the bottom was going to fall out. I ended up with a 2000 C4 Coupe w/ 104k but feels fresh and tight as a drum. No regrets.
Thanks guys. So higher mileage doesn't necessarily mean worse. The 4 has 85k miles being sold at 21k. The base has 52k with hardtop is sold at 26k.
I don't know about the IMS thing, but on the carfax of the 4 it looks like regular maintenance has been done. On the base model i have to get the carfax still.
I will test drive both this weekend.
IMHO the Base one with 51K is overpriced, especially since it is a cabriolet.
If it has a tip instead of a manual transmission, then it is greatly overpriced.
The C4 with 85K on paper looks like the better deal.
What year are they?
I have never driven or own any 4wd car but my take is that they are heavier and more complex than the 2wd version.
If you do a lot of crazy Ice racing a 4wd might be better but the C2 is lighter (and thus faster).
Overall condition is probably more important.
Regardless of price options, etc � they are different cars. If you haven�t already, be sure you drive both the C2 and C4 versions before anything else. They do drive differently. I much prefer the rwd version, so much so, that I will likely convert my C4s to rwd at some point. Good luck, they are both great, just comes down to preference.
It's good that you are driving both. It would be good to read up a bit more about IMS since it is an important topic for the 996. What years are the cars and what options? Full leather is a very important option for me and I think for market value. Maybe it's just terminology, but the 2wd version is not really a "base" model (i.e. lesser model), it's just a different configuration. The 4 cost more when new because of the extra equipment, but neither version is better or worse than the other. If there is any difference in value at all now, I think maybe a 2wd has slightly higher value than a 4 (at a minimum, it's not worth less than a 4). Having owned both, I strongly prefer 2wd over the 4, though others have the exact opposite view. Just pick the version that drives best for you. It's great that you are driving both flavors to help you choose which is best for you.
Sounds about right!
my c2 cab with manual is 3324lbs with me (170lbs) in it, half a gas and some crap in the frunk.
Read on a forum that a SP996 (996 c2, gutted, caged, manual, some aero, no cf) is ~2950 lbs with driver and fluids. Dont know if the driver was 100lbs or 300
Sounds about right!
my c2 cab with manual is 3324lbs with me (170lbs) in it, half a gas and some crap in the frunk.
Read on a forum that a SP996 (996 c2, gutted, caged, manual, some aero, no cf) is ~2950 lbs with driver and fluids. Dont know if the driver was 100lbs or 300
I agree with the comments above. Drive both, and pick the car that’s best overall. The hardtop shouldn’t impact your choice too much one way or the other. One thing to consider is that all Carrera 4 models are equipped with PSM, if I’m not mistaken. This is not the case for all Carreras, especially the earlier models. This may or may not be important to you.
Thanks. I can say the base with hardtop is out of the question. Seller won't provide carfax or details on the car.
I mught hold off til after christmas, and go 4s route.
I'd buy the 4 case closed - The wide body 4 has much nicer cornering and IMO overall better design
80K car is nice sweet spot - Services done, probably new clutch/brakes and you'll have 15K of fun driving and sell before it hits 100K and retain a lot more value.
I've owned 2 996 C2's and 3 996 C4S's and will never buy another narrow body Porsche
Test drive both and do lots of cornering to experience what I am referring to.
Careful w/grey interior - Tend to show dirt and wear faster - Especially Cab sitting in sun.
thanks. That is my worry as well. Was looking at just 4 or 2 not 4s, but i don't want to regret not going widebody. Same thing if I go 997, i would prefer the widebody. As for interior I don't quite like all black as it looks too bland. My rover has brown i terior, my beater has grey. Maybe black with accented color but I haven't seen any.
yea c4s would be dope. I will take my time and not just pull the trigger on purchase. It's winter anyway lol... would definitwly test drive both first.
My two cents from the experience of owning both cars. I had the 996 4 and the front differential began to make noise and then leak. Getting a shop to fix it right was a nightmare and very expensive. Furthermore, I did not notice any difference in performance with the way I drive my cars. I consider that option a complete waste of money and I will never make that mistake again. Screw the widebody 4. It will not get you out of a ditch and once the snow is more than a couple of inches it's useless because of how low the car is. Get a Subaru Crosstrek for snow driving. Next., I also had the manual transmission and the pinion gears went bad. Again, trying to find a local shop to fix it was impossible. Those gears require some kind of 50 ton press to get them off...total nightmare again. Even the Porsche specialty shops didn't want to deal with it. These cars are getting up in age and moving parts wear out and fail. The cost of repairing these cars can quickly surpass the purchase price. What's in your wallet? For me any 911 with "4" or "S" is nothing but trouble.
I got rid of that car and bought myself a 1999 996 base with Tiptronic and a hardtop. Best decision I ever made as there is less crap that will fail and is much more affordable. The 1999 also has a dual row IMS so the probability of failure is extremely low. So with that said, these cars are getting older and things will break. When they do break, ask yourself these questions:
1. Can I afford to fix it?
2. Is there a Porsche shop near me that can actually fix it right?
3. Is it worth fixing?
Ask your local Porsche shop how much to rebuild the front differential and manual transmission. Their answer might put things in perspective for you as it did for me. Again, just my two cents. (Hint, hint get a 1999 Base with Tiptronic with a hardtop and as few options as possible).
Get what you want. It's a 911 fer cripe sakes. Color, int, options, year, mx, history. Something will come along and you'll hit 777. Grab it up and enjoy. Wait for the right one, no compromise.
I do not recommend that you get what you want - I did that and regretted it. You are better off compromising with the reality of what is around you - not what is in your head.
Are you looking for a deal or have the car in tip top shape at time of purchase?
Not to hijack thread, but have a 02 C4 / Tip / Convertible with Hard top in triple blue. 61K miles for $16.5
Rather car go to rennlister than auction.
It seems like the C4 is the better deal. What you should look on is, what would be the value of the car after adding 30k miles to both. That would determine which is the better value to start out with. I definitely would go for the C4 with the better maintenance history. I am all about maintenance history, so which ever is maintained better is what I go for.
Hey. Drove the 4 today. Didn't like it. Felt evey bit its age. Interior was not that good condition. But i did like the pull, feels like its hugging the ground, maybe because i am coming from an suv that's high off the ground.
Gonna keep looking.
I would suggest driving 5 or 6 examples to know how a good car should feel. I�d also suggest joining the PCA (you can still join without owning a Porsche) and look through the classifieds. I found mine through 6 speed online from a PCA member. He was in NC and I�m in CA, but it was worth looking nationwide to find the right car.
