New member here

I am in the process of buying my first Porsche, it may be a systems car, (get it out of my system then sell it) or a step towards a Turbo. I am looking at a 2003 911 convertible on e-bay. Car has 38000 miles. It is a 2 owner car that in July 2014 had a lot of maintenance done including the IMS retro fit, all the work and 4 tires totaled $8973. This was done at 33,525 miles. I am going to have a PPI on Wednesday. The only issues I can see are all cosmetic. There are a few scratches on the bumper and under the front bumper it is scratched I am guessing from bottoming out and the convertible top shows ware. I am not sure how much this will bother me, if at all. Car is silver with a black top, it also has the hard top. selling price is $24,000. That seems to be an average price. Any thoughts for a new guy would be appreciated Rock0324 is offline Report Post

Price seems reasonable. I paid $23k for a 2002 6 speed Cab less than a year ago with 58k miles. No IMS work.

Agreed, seems like a really good deal. Especially if you can get some pretty good service history on it. Checkout vindecoderz.com and post the options. Edit: whoops, corrected misspelled link. Ntouched has it correct.

Here's the link: http://www.vindecoderz.com/EN/Porsche After entering your VIN, scroll toward bottom to see "Exact Info" on the original purchase price and additional equipment (factory options)!

be sure you look at carfax, then go ask a dealer service dept to look up the service history. They can tell you everything done under warrantee, and find the last dealer they used and see if they have complete service history for the car And you have to have a complete inspection of course

I've seen so many mistakes on carfax I no longer really care about what it says. It's a tool, not the Pythia. If you like the color and options, the price seems to be in the ballpark. Low miles is a double-edge sword as it has been associated with higher incidence of IMS failure. At a minimum, I would have the filter media inspected carefully, and drain the oil through a white cloth to check for metal particles. You must request this PPI service specifically or it will likely not be done.

take really slow steps when buying a car on ebay - many people sell on ebay and similar to avoid thorough inspection/etc. make sure you make it clear to the seller that you either need a proper PPI or inspect the car properly prior to payment and try to make the deposit refundable. gets tricky working it out when buying on ebay

Sounds like a good deal. Looks as if it is no longer listed on ebay. If the PPI came out good, then go for it. I found all 5 of the Porsches that I bought on ebay. All have been good, easy transactions. My advice would be to fly out and pick it up in person and drive it home. Take a friend or family member. Take time to hit a couple of interesting spots on the way home. Here is a list of auto museums in the US - great time to stop by one: http://www.naam.museum/museum-list/ If you are coming through Kansas City, stop by here and I'll get you in free and buy you lunch. Enjoy!

I think the asking price is very fair based on the info. supplied, i.e. new tires and 'other' maintenance items, low mileage and only 2 owners to date. GlWP and post some pics after you own it.

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I'm not familiar with the current eBay car buying process, but there are SO many 996's on the market, it seems like it would be optimal to shop around. Silver is the most common 996 color - by far. Silver with a black top and black interior was the standard lease configuration for the 996 (Porsche leased a s**t ton of 996's) - and while many people prefer silver, you might prefer to hold out for another color. Even black - like mine - is far less common than silver. If this does turn out to be a temporary car on your way to a Turbo or whatever, it might not matter. Until I bought my 996, I churned through cars; 4 years later, I still have absolutely no interest in trading/selling my 996...so you may want to spend a little time comparing a few possible purchases. Who knows, you might wind up keeping it forever... My next point is often a bone of contention...but I'll throw it out anyway. There are two reasons to do the IMS retrofit and all the other $9K worth of stuff the PO did to the car: preventive maintenance OR repairs to address an issue, and it's really hard to determine which was the reason after-the-fact. My '99 was not yet retrofitted when I purchased it, so I had the peace of mind of knowing that the original bearing came out in good shape and the retrofit was 100% preventive. If this doesn't matter to you, of course, it's not a factor at all...some people agree with this perspective, and others think I'm a loony. 4500 miles over two years - just after spending $9K - seems kind of low unless the previous owner kept it strictly for weekend cruises. There is a fair amount of speculation that 996's that were not regularly driven might not be the best candidates. I personally don't feel this way - in my opinion, lower mileage trumps whatever benefit is supposedly derived from driving the wheels off of a car - but I thought I'd point this out since some people feel VERY strongly that an under-used 996 can be problematic. At the end of the day: I hope the PPI goes perfectly, and if you decide this is the right 996, I hope you have many happy miles in it. This is great advice, but you may find that dealerships are unwilling to part with ANY of the service info. I don't know how the eBay transaction works, but if you're buying from a vendor/dealer and you do not have access to the previous owner, check the registration and any other documentation you find in the owner's manual (or old envelopes you find under the seat, etc.) for the previous owner's address and send 'em a letter asking for the service history details. You might hear nothing back; you might also get back a ton of useful information.

When I started looking years ago I thought about a base 996 C2. Then thought a C4 might be better. Well, they all have the IMS so might as well get the sweet wide body C4S. Ultimately after a year on the hunt I ended up with a 996TT spending nearly 2x my original budget but sleeping well at night (no IMS issues, Mezger engine). If you're thinking you may step up to a 996TT I'd just wait and hunt for the right one. Pounce quick when you find it. Best ones (price, condition, history, options) are gone in hours from first listing.

Thanks to all who chimed in, I do appreciate the time you all took. I am using a shop called Rudners in Freeport Long Island. Bill the owner of Rudners is not available till this coming Tuesday. I have an appointment for the PPI and will keep everyone here informed. Anyone have any ideas about how much a new rag top is? About?

seriously just buy the turbo. so much less worry about the motor. also it will retain its value better and is much easier to sell IMO.

I hope these pictures post, this is my first try a adding pictures

Here are the repairs done, I hope you can read it

New top using non Porsche canvas at a third party installer approx 3k. New Porsche canvas at a dealer 6k. More If need headliner also.