50 captured repliesDiscussion pagination complete · Source accounts, not a confirmed diagnosis
THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHInterior Mods Valuation Question
Reported or suspected cause
least expensive and also seemingly easiest piece
Reported cause
No successful repair reported for this finding.
1
Identified cause
0
Suspected cause
0
Reported fixes
Read evidence and context
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that report identifying a cause
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Reported cause · Original poster
I've actually ordered another bezel as it was the least expensive and also seemingly easiest piece to paint.
Leading evidence: 'least expensive and also seemingly easiest piece' (1 discussions report identifying this cause; no attributable repair resolution). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'least expensive and also seemingly easiest piece' (1 discussions; 1 report identifying it and 0 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Check on your drying center console only' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
Source reports, not a diagnosis or a success probability. Counts refer to discussions and can overlap.
Replace speedo surround, hazard switch and three horizontal trim pieces
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
Read evidence and context
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that performed work without a confirmed outcome
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
- Replaced the speedo surround, hazard switch and three horizontal trim pieces with carbon fiber.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that performed work without a confirmed outcome
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
One came with my car, another I bought off ebay and it replaced the tape cassette deck holder.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that performed work without a confirmed outcome
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that performed work without a confirmed outcome
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
It was the center of the universe and crazy thoughts ran rampant through our minds.
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion
Remember that every piece of rubber or plastic in the engine bay/suspension will need replacing due to age and not mileage...I would focus on those first.
Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
50 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Rennlist: 1 discussions
0 evidence records excluded for query context · 0 excluded by outcome qualification · 0 adjusted by outcome qualification.
0 acknowledgements have no verified action link; they do not establish a repair result.
Generation: 20261026T163944Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
I'm new to the Porsche "experience". I've got my first 911 and the one I got is in pretty pristine shape with very low miles (19k). While I didn't buy it as an investment, I don't want to do things to the car that might hurt the car or make it "unpure". I know that some Porsche folks can get all out of sorts on certain things. I want to modify my interior just a bit to bring it up to more modern standards. Namely, I want to add some matching leather in places where I feel it should be and paint/get painted some of the other parts to the "alumalook" style.
I'm guessing that if I buy some of the Porsche parts from the many sources available, take off the originals, and keep them safe somewhere I can always return the car back to "stock" at my choosing. Where I run into trouble is the center console. I want to cover the main portion of the center console in the same Savannah Beige leather that camera on the car. I have a hard time swalling the $500-600 it would cost for parts, just so I can put the originals in a box. Since this was never an option on the car (I believe), if I do it to the original console, will someone raise a red flag in ten or twenty years? Might it hurt the future value? How do valuations work on the older cars for folks who added options with which the car was not originally built?
My current thoughts on modding are the following-
-I want to buy the least expensive vents that I can find on ebay or somewhere(left, center, right), disassemble them, and try my hand at following one of the tutorials here on spraying the slats and dial to look like they are "alumalook", anyone ever done this?
-I ordered the design911 alloy batwing
-Installing a smoker delete in the leather covered console and painting it alumalook
-(maybe) On my car I have the upper and lower shelves. I was thinking of ordering another set and painting just the bezels. If I did that I might paint the bezel on the climate control as well. I've actually ordered another bezel as it was the least expensive and also seemingly easiest piece to paint.
Lastly, does anybody make the black buttons in aluminum?
Do you guys and gals have any other suggestions? Here is a pic of what the interior looks like now and one of the outside for reference-
One of the few things that looks worse than a battered 996 interior is a battered 996 interior with a bunch of different colors and materials all over it. Resist the siren song of faux carbon fiber. Good luck!
I hate carbon fiber in a car's interior. In my opinion, I really wouldn't be adding a bunch of different colors at all, they are all already there. In reality, I'd be cutting down on the amount of black and adding alumalook.
I can't! I have OCD. There's a scratch in the center console. I can't have that. You must understand. That starts a whole chain of events in the mind of a person with OCD, nervous ticks, etc.
Fair enough. As long as it looks GOOD, the materials don't matter.
It's easy to repaint things and have them look worse. Example: The soft-touch paints on the interior (there is much more of this in a 986, such as the door bin covers) will melt and run if you use another solvent-based spray on it. You can use this to your advantage (like using brake cleaner to strip the crappy soft-touch paint off Boxster parts), but it can also SUCK.
Any prep work you do will be absolutely ruined if ANY of the original paint is left behind. It sucks to come check on your drying center console only to find that there's a big run right in the middle...
That brings me back to the actual question. I'm NOT painting the center console, I'm having a local upholstery shop cover it in leather. I'm mostly painting smaller pieces.
You just got the car right? Please, don't do a damn thing until you have had it at least 6 months. Especially if spending $500 - $600 is hard to part with. Your car may have low mileage but it is still 15 years old and all rubber parts fail with age even if never used. For example what's the manufacturing date on the tires? 5 years old or older and you need new ones. That's gonna be $1000. The car looks great I would keep it original.
Funny you should ask about the tires..they were 17 years old. The very first thing I did was replace them with Super Sports, and those were $780 after rebates.
If you look closely at my question, I don't have a problem with spending $500 on the car. Let me rephrase the question, "Is it worth it to spend $500 on purchasing a
second
center console to have it leather wrapped so that I can SAVE the original console for future valuation purposes?" I'm only asking because if I covered the original, fast forward 40 years, I'm dead, and my poor widowed wife is trying to sell my Porsche to afford a pine box in which to shove me in the ground. I can picture that guy saying "the 2000 Carrera never came with a leather covered center console, this car isn't original, it is worth far less than you think...yada..yada..yada"
Make sense? Like I mentioned a few posts above, I'm OCD?
Can't say I agree with EJ...the beige interior looks pretty good new, but it ages almost as poorly as the labia-red interiors. However, I don't know how I'd go about fixing it, since the solution would involve making it no longer beige.
Your question about value is a good one but hard to answer. Things that will come to factor is, did you buy the car to drive it or preserve it hoping to make money off it? If you plan on driving and enjoying it the value will not be as high anyhow down the road when you sell it so do what you want to it and enjoy.
I think body, engine and trans are the biggest things that hold the value.
I'm planning on driving it. Even so, with 19k on the clock, I've got 20 years of 1000 miles a year before it would even hit 40k. 2k miles a year and I'd still be under 60k. You don't really need to put on a lot of miles when the ONLY time you drive it is to have fun. All the while I will pamper and maintain it as good as humanly possible. That being said, it might be like looking at a 1980 model. How would these questions apply to a 37 year old car?
I hear you. I work from home so I only drive mine for fun too. Lately I'm doing more fun driving than normal.
The value really depends on the market and the car. The old supply and demand thing. These variables throw things one way or the other and really can't be reliably predicted.
I wouldn't worry too much about it and just enjoy the car. Things are going to whatever they do in the market.
OMG! Do anything and everything you want to it...and do it now. Who the hell cares what happens 20, 30 or 40 years down the road. Life is too short for that crap. It's a car and it's yours. So do what you want to make it even more yours. Love it, enjoy it, modify it as you like. Janis Joplin's highly modified/painted Porsche just went for millions. Pick your battles in life, because there are many. But make it yours. Do I care what somebody is going to think because I put an LN oil filter adapter in and magnetic oil plug? It's called "personal enhancement" and I love it. Go forward, modify away, keep it tasteful and there will be no regrets.
BTW - everything I replace, modify or take off the car goes in the trash. I'm not saving anything for the next guy!
Yes, I completely understand what you are saying, but it is not what I am asking.
Let's assume that the value of the 996's skyrocket
with completely original cars commanding the highest prices. If you had this car and desired to leather cover the center console, with valuation and originality in mind, would you?:
1.) Cover the console that came with the car.
2.) Spend $600 on a console and ebrak panel, cover the new pieces in leather, then indefinitely store the originals in a safe place.
Don't sweat the value in 10-15 years. There are lots of 996's still on the road and there will be almost as many in 10 years. Our cars are to be driven and most of them don't have anything special about them that would make them collectable (X51, targa's may be exceptions). They will always be desirable because they drive well and are generally well engineered and fabricated.
With that out of the way, 996 interiors are distinct and are different than newer interiors. There isn't much you can do to modify the existing look without spending a lot. You can remove the center console, you can paint some parts, you can add leather. Thing is the interior still has that 996 look, just with a change in the details. My recommendation is to fix the scratch and spend the rest of your money on gas and tires.
In short, no.
There really isn't a 'purist' market for non-Turbo 996's. The prices have been beaten to dust. Ones that look good and run well will always sell before crap boxes. On this generation 911, 'originality' is not a factor and I suspect it will never, ever be a factor. Except of course GT2, GT3 and perhaps turbo models.
(eg: you will NEVER see
For sale: 996 survivor... Last one on the planet with original factory genuine IMS bearing!
)
If what you do ends up looking good, your ahead. If it looks like amateur boy-racer mods, your behind. Besides, you can always buy the replacement parts
after
you fark up the interior
Might as well make it your own...
I hear you, but I tend to hang on to things and am going through this right now with a car that I bought and modified 20 years ago and am trying to sell. It's precisely why it is on my mind.
I spent the last year redoing my interior. Very happy with it. Especially the new shifter, console & delete section. There's another thread about a guy that's done some impressive, quality work to his interior. You might be able to solicit a bid for work on yours.
old interior
new interior
Thank you for actually answering my question. I don't know that I agree on the prices. If I were to guess, I'd say that the near term prices of the 996 are going to be flat at worst. I made a post the other day stating how I bought the car after looking for a year straight. I've looked online and I bet I could tell you a bit about every car for sale. I'm a pretty analytical person and I've watched the prices on the good ones start to rise, not a lot, but they aren't depreciating.
Mine is a 2000 C2 with 19,900 miles. I had a few color/interior combo's that I wanted, this one being top of list. It's pretty bare bones but it is has exactly the options I wanted, full leather interior and the draped leather seats. It's got a couple others, stainless tips, 8 way heated seats, and the BBS 2 piece wheels in the picture. It doesn't have anything more to break, if you can look at it like that; PSM, HID lights, etc. Minus the scratch in the center console that started this thread (caused by the seat belt dragging), the car is pretty flawless. There are 4 minor tiny rock chips on the hood and the right rear wheel has a scuff. I had looked at thousands online and a good number in person. When I'd call they'd say it was perfect, flawless, etc, you'd get there and it would be a turd. I talked to this guy and he said it was "bar none the best 996 C2 in the country". Whatever, I didn't believe him. I'm glad I took a look at it, when I saw it in person I just couldn't disagree with him. I paid $26,000.
Thanks - all parts added are OEM.
console - L.A. dismantler on eBay ($250), think it was from a 986
console delete - Suncoast... couldn't find one much cheaper, but there are some that come up for $150 every now & then
horseshoe - part from a GT car found on eBay for ~$200
trim - Suncoast.. don't ask how much, it was too much
gauge backsplash - $150 on eBay from a different 996 or 986
Patience + consistent searching are the keys for OEM parts. There are several vendors out there that do a great job, as evidenced by others in here that have had parts redone. GL
Every one of the people here telling you to PlastiDip the car because it'll be worthless in 15 years would be suicidal if they'd done the same to a similarly "destined to be worthless" 911/912/914. Not saying they're right or wrong...but nobody has ANY idea what people will want to buy in another 10 years. Remember pogs? Le Car? McRib? Trojan Magnum? All seemed like such good ideas, but in reality, I don't need a pog, a McRib, or... well, let's leave it at that.
Could be worthless in 40 years...do what makes you enjoy it the most!
Remember that every piece of rubber or plastic in the engine bay/suspension will need replacing due to age and not mileage...I would focus on those first.
I've had my car for 11 years and have often thought about this issue. At the end of the day if you want to do it, just do it. Unless it's absolutely atrocious, I can't imagine it will affect any future resale.
I don't have an expert opinion on the matter, but I would agree you have OCD, which makes owning a Porsche perfect for you. Good luck with your decision(s).
I know it may sound like a joke, but I sort of bought this car to facilitate my OCD. Keeping a perfect machine perfect, all while enjoying it. Enjoying the machine is the source of imperfection. Make perfect again, wash, rinse, repeat.
FWIW I just sent most of the soft touch plastic trim pieces on the interior to Eric at Bumperplugs to have painted. Can't wait to get them back! I agree with the OP that the monotone interior looks dated.
I think I'm going to give him a call tomorrow. I've been trolling his site for a few days and it looks like they do great work. To be honest, in my case, I'm in a little over my skis. I had to replace the tires on the car as they were the originals. I don't think the IMS has been done and I have to budget for that as well. In reality, the interior is near perfect and I should be happy, but I'm one of those guys who is never happy. As I mentioned, I tend to stick with my decisions and will probably have this car for a long while. Maybe I just need to slow down and enjoy the car for what it is instead of making it exactly what I want right off the bat.
A few more comments, I still want the center console in leather. I personally don't like the painted consoles. Let me rephrase that, if there were no other options I'd like the center console in alumalook, but I feel that the alumlook is an accent versus a centerpiece. I might be in the minority here, but I thing that the 996 interior was never intended to be plastic, the curves are stunning in leather. Why the center console was omitted from a "full leather interior" is beyond me. I also thing that the shiny black buttons must have been an absolute cost cutting measure. I'm at a loss as to what to do with those. In realit, I think I will have plenty of time to think about how I wish to change the interior to make it more modern and elegant. Overall, I think it has some great potential.
Leather on the center console will look great, if you can match the leather. It'll last the life of the car too. I see your point, but I doubt that would ever affect the price of the car, and if so, only slightly. Do what you want!
OEM (tequipment) mods are expensive,alumalook trim,leather options for trim pieces etc.theres no way around it,even if you are lucky to find parts on ebay or thru l.a. dismantlers or similar places,they are going to upcharge the parts.that being sed nothing looks better than oem in my opinion,there are a few places that will enhance(paint,recover in leather and or alcantara)out there that do super high quality work (Bumperplugs,Dallas Steering Wheel.com etc)to name just a few,but again not cheap,there a members on here that have had good results with DYI projects,and in turn saved a bunch of money,and thats cool...and like most of the responses its your car,look around the forum and see the different styles for interiors and do your thing.........dont worry about the resale value
I upgraded my interior and it looks awesome. Upgrades included:
- Tons of leather parts such as the center console, emergency brake, little triangles on the windows, overhead light, defroster vent trim, all from a MK1 GT3 from ebay.de
- Replaced the speedo surround, hazard switch and three horizontal trim pieces with carbon fiber.
- Recovered the steering wheel with Alcantara, shifter, the little side console pieces and had the sun visors done also.
Oh so worth it. My interior is SO MUCH nicer than original.
Here's the thread with all the details and pictures:
https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-upgrades.html
I've got a spare center console, horseshoe and set of vents that are good candidates for refinishing. PM me if interested. I went through the same process you're contemplating and ended up with extra pieces I scoured up through ebay and craigslist.
How about this approach .... change anything and everything on the car that makes YOU happy and increases the enjoyment factor every time you drive it or look at it. Over the next few years invest in yourself and follow a clear objectively measurable plan to develop your life, advance in your career or however your define personal success. Get that right and you won't give a damn if twenty years from now your 996 sells for $30,000 or $34,000 due to an original console. You will realize, if you're lucky, that health and relationships are the only things that really matter.
In your thread I noticed that the shelves in the center console look to be painted. Are they? If so, did you do this or did you purchase them somewhere?
These:
Well folks...the transformation has begun. I couldn't fight my OCD any longer. Question, how is it can DHL deliver a package from the UK that was ordered Tuesday night, yet the USPS can't deliver a letter to the next town in under a week? I digress, I ordered the "alloy batwing" from Design911 over in the UK and much to my surprise, it arrived today! Less than 15 minutes later-
Ferruccio Lamborghini didn't like a lot about the sports cars of his youth, especially Ferrari's. So he built his own sports cars. Sounds like you may be following in his foot steps.
Seriously.....not sure where you are in life or the financial resources you possess, or how many nice things you have now, but what you're going thru with this car reminds me of a saying we had when I was younger.
Every nice thing I bought or was given always had what we coined as "The Precious Stage". It was the center of the universe and crazy thoughts ran rampant through our minds. My first really nice bike was a Trek. Cost my folks $400 or $500. Mucho Dinero for them at the time. I wanted to paint, apply sticker to, and swap various components in a very bad way. I had dreams every night about doing this.
So....just a suggestion....own the car for 15 seconds first and see where you are on all these things you are OCDing over.
Remember, rock chips, door dings and idiots keying your paint await you.You'll spend plenty of coin correcting these things to satisfy your OCD needs.
6 months from now you'll realize it's just a car, a great car, but just a car, and will be more likely to do more reasonable modifications if you let "The Precious Stage" wear off first before secumming to every urge you are having now.
It took a bout a year to find an oem leather center console, but looks way better than any wrapped piece I've found online. I hear they come up for sale more often on german ebay vs us ebay.
I hear you, but I've also searched for nearly a year to find the right car. What I'm planning on doing won't cost too much and in reality is just a few things. I work a LOT and this kind of thing is therapy anyways. In fact, it is much cheaper than a therapist..
The madness continues. I got in the climate control bezel and started the 17 step process to paint it "aluma-look". I used a duplicolor paint I found in another thread here. First step was to sand the crap out of the piece, started 180, then 800, then 800 wet. 5 coats of plastic primer, with 10 minute stints in the oven at 200f between. 20 minutes on the last step. Wet sand with 800, then 2500. 5 coats of the duplicolor, same as above. Finishing up with 4 coats of clear. Then wet sand with 2500 and finish up with Meguiars Scratch X. The color is really close, the finish is "close enough", though if I was an expert in painting I could probably get it just a hair closer to the door handles. Next comes the trim piece above the climate control, below the vents, then the one below the radio, then the bezels on the storage compartments. I'll see how that looks before I decide to tackle the vents themselves..
To the OP, you nailed the things I hate the most about the 996 interior. The cheap plastic horseshoe and the ugly cheap buttons. I think with just those two things updated, it would be enough for people to not think the 996 interior sucks. I just finished designing my own headlight covers, one of my future projects will be to do something about the horseshoe and buttons.
On a side note, I tried to vinyl wrap my horseshoe with 3M brushed black metallic wrap. It definitely looks better than stock but I wouldn't call it a big upgrade. It was also a major PITA to do:
https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-metallic.html
