looking for your help - AND its my b-day

Hello, Hoping you guys can spare some comments / opinions for me today! I have been thinking about purchasing a 996 for a while now and ideally would want a coupe 2002-2003... This morning, (my b-day)....I pulled up to the breakfast spot and there is a dark grey 02 996 cab version..ended up chatting with the owner and he is looking to sell soon. 75k miles, older mature owner who bought the car with 20k, garage kept, well maintained, replaced struts and new tires...looks to be a gem to me...He was unaware of the IMS bearing so that's interesting to me... I'm looking for opinions on purchase price and anything helpful here.. Do ALL 2002 cabs have a hard top option as well? Thanks in advance. -Glen

The cabs were delivered with a hard top unless the customer specified otherwise when the car was ordered. Seal Grey was likely a customer order rather than a pre-configured (lease) vehicle. If the guy is unfamiliar with IMS, he's probably not really aware of resale value for the 996's, so he's probably not going to like it when you throw out a number like $25K. Happy birthday. Your birthday gift: free advice (YAY!). There are a great many 996's (depending on your locale, of course), so don't fall in love with the first one you see. City/state?

When I was shopping it seemed that, generally, only dealers knew about the IMS issue and private owners were blissfully ignorant. Enjoy your birthday, and buy a 911 before the next one for sure.

From watching the ads in the back of the various Porsche publications, 986/996 owners are becoming more and more cognizant of the IMS stuff, but there are still plenty of old-school owners who think drippy rear main seals was the worst Stuttgart did with the M96...

Did the guy have a Russian accent and no shirt?

Not surprising, when I was looking most sellers were ignorant of the IMS as they were not forum dwellers. I ended up going with a 996 Turbo and avoiding the problem entirely!

So the grey looked to be a "darker grey"....not quite that lighter battleship color.....is that the "Seal Grey"? Do you think IMS bearing job will have to be done still at that mileage now? (75k) Current owner bought it years back w 25k miles for around $30k, I was thinking of offering much less than 25k.. no? I am in bucks county, PA....suburb 30 minutes north of Philadelphia.

Absolutely, I only buy cars from Russians with no shirts. Always.

The IMS bearing is considered by many/most as a wear item; most agree that replacing it is better than NOT replacing it. If you can get the car for $20K, do it. If he paid $30K, he won't be expecting a ton. I was a little worried when you said he'd had it for a very long time that it was a CPO car that he paid $60K for and was going to crap when you tossed out a realistic number.

Get a PPI our cars are getting older and big issues could be hiding just under the skin. Example a friend asked me to look at an 02 coupe he was considering wanted me to do a walk around before he sprang for the 2 hours of labor for a PPI. Car looked clean 80K miles well cared for I give it a once over and then I do my coolant check. I use a long coffee stirrer from Panera into coolant reservoir and out it comes with tan residue indicating the mixing problem that can occur. So buddy moved on in his search lesson learned get a PPI! Great cars just buy the right one. Rich

Unless you specifically want a cab, stick with the coupe. I drive mine all the time with the windows down and the sunroof open. Gives the same feel as when I had the cab but you can change your mind at 70 mph and button everything back up without stopping. Plus the extra rigidity and lighter weight of the coupe is no small deal. And unless you really want the creature comforts of the MK II's, don't discount the MK I's. The extra horsepower they added in '02 was to make up for the increased weight and doesn't actually provide better all around performance. The '99 is my personal favorite. It's the lightest, nimblest, and IMO most fun to drive on the street or track. Take your time and enjoy the hunt. Service history is a big deal because it gives you a sense for how the car was taken care of. And when the right deal appears, be ready to ****** it up, contingent upon PPI of course.

I agree with Slakker I love my 99 coupe great social event car and it is always mistaken for a current Porsche at less than Honda money Rich

Shop long, shop hard, get what you want. Do you want a dark gray cab with hardtop? If so, have it checked out and make the deal. Do you want speed yellow with aero pkg? It's your b-day, but the present doesn't to come up today(or yesterday as it were). Decide on what's important to you, and wait for it. I waited 9 months. That time was spent learning and revising my choice a bit. I got exactly my desired 996.

I would say 20-23 is reasonable for that car. Has clutch been replaced? If not it may need that soon. If you do that might as well do IMS. Budget 3-4K all in for that. May want to see if 60k service was done also - serpentine belt, spark plugs and coil pack, water pump, etc.

Love the responses. Thank you....I definitely have mixed feelings about coupe vs. cabriolet but the fact that he has the hard top is making me think "best of both worlds?" I also love the seal grey/black combo(It will match my beloved 01 330xi).....We shall see how our next meetup and the PPI goes. Assuming that the previous owner did not replace, I definitely see a clutch AND IMS bearing job in the near future. It all checks out, I'm gonna shoot for $18k-$20k. Ps- My buddy has a 99 coupe and yes, it's an awesome strong car. We will see how this pans out but i will shop carefully. That ocean jade 99 is bad assssss!

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So, I didn't think I needed/wanted another convertible, but the '99 that found me was a cab with the hardtop. So I got it. I live in California so it will have much top down time. To note - I believe they are rather noisy compared to coupes when the hardtop is on. Mine groans and creaks quite a bit. But I can live with that.

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I wanted a cab, and got one, expecting to drive it primarily from April to October (upstate NY). I was OK with the soft top, figuring that it would be mostly a fair weather, mild temperature car anyway. Then I found a hard top listed on Craigslist for $400, complete with stand and cover. The hard top pretty much transforms the car. Mine has the old style bayonet mounts, yet it fits tightly and doesn't creak or groan. It rattles a little over bad pavement, but no more than my Acura MDX -- we have some lousy roads around here. In November or December I put on the hard top and snow tires; we usually get some dry, clear winter days where the car is quite comfortable with the hard top. That said, I don't think the hard top really makes the cab into a coupe. Bottom line? If you *really* like top down driving, the cab-with-a-hard-top setup is hard to beat. If your attitude toward the whole top-down thing is more lukewarm, take-it-or-leave-it, the coupe will have better performance and fewer mechanisms to break.

Friends, Took the test drive and had car inspected today with my mechanic. Super clean car overall with detailed service records. Drives beautifully and gear box shifts tight. I certainly love the car. Oh, and owner doe not have hard top...bummer but i would just be on the lookout for a CL find. Two major concerns that i am looking for advice on... 1.) There is definitely some oil where trans and motor meet. Not a massive amount but it's there. (See photos) 2.) Coolant leak... Seems to be a slow leak but i can smell it and see it (See pic with flashlight) End of the day, I am pretty much assuming I will have to get a new clutch and IMS bearing job done and would have to tackle the coolant leak issue, which that could be a simple loose hose clamp or a whole new water pump.....Is this a car you run from or what? Estimate on repairs / Fair offer price? Thank you in advance and sorry for the over-sized pictures.

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- Was your mechanic unable to answer your questions? "a car you run from" - Let's keep in mind you are looking at a vehicle that is 14 years old and has been on the road for 75k miles. It's not going to be perfect by any stretch. You mentioned the car is "super clean" comes with "detailed service records" drives and shifts "beautifully." Sounds pretty good to me. The price seems fair. Here are my rules of 996 ownership: If you can't enjoy the car due to reading this forum - do not buy a 996 If you don't have $5,000 in cash ready to burn in a moment's notice with no regrets what so ever - do not buy a 996

I am new to the Porsche Owners group and got my 2004 996 a few months ago. A few cost items to keep in mind that you may incur: Based on oil leakage, IMS/RMS replacement (with clutch kit and flywheel) since it has 75k miles will run around $4200.00. Coolant expansion tank (based on leak photos) around $500.00 installed, add another $700+ for water pump. Belt and Tensioners add another $500.00 At a minimum I see you spending around $6k in repairs plus the unexpected items from your inspection.

Well, Although I trust my local mechanic, he would have to sit down and price me out, plus I probably would have a mechanic who works on Porsche more regularly do this job. I think both of these comments are right on the money and ball is in my court now. Thank you all.

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Does this car blow your skirt up? If so, the stuff I see is fixable and nothing I would shy away from. RMS leaks are common failure items, there's lots of plastic in the cooling circuit so that leak's not strange. While you are in there later, do the clutch and maybe IMS. Things to do now: Remove the oil filter, and cut the media apart so you can inspect the pleats for metal particles. If none, drain oil through a cloth and look for debris in the cloth. If none, remove oil pan(20 min job) and inspect down there, and look for the little plastic chain guide bits. If none, button it up, fill with oil and then test the living spit out of the top raise and lower mech. If that passes, write the check. Shop for a hardtop on ebay or CL.

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I love this forum. Thank you.

These cars are not cheap to maintain but they are awesome to drive and well worth the cost to keep them running. Good luck with this one! And yes, get a dedicated Porsche indie to do the work on it.

You wanted a coupe get a coupe. Don't settle because of convenience there are to many out there to not get exactly what you want.

^^ And bingo was his nameo ^^ Except in a case where you are getting a smokin' deal that you could flip. I just bought a plane about $15k under market cuz I was in the right place with cash and the seller is facing a huge tax bill. Then, you can drive it or fix cosmetics until you flip for some $$$, and always keep looking for your sweetie.

Here is a pragmatic thought: When you get ready someday to sell the car with well over 100K miles on the clock remember that a cabrio will never be of interest to an enthusiast as a racer or track day car. Porsches are one place where the saying "when the top goes down the price goes up" is not always necessarily true.