Looking for info on this 996

Local luxury car place has a 2002 911 cabriolet in silver for sale. 60k miles, manual transmission, leather, bi-xenon headlamps and Bose audio for $29k. Looks like it should retail for $25.5k. The last digits of the VIN are 654980. Does anyone have any knowledge of this particular vehicle?

I've never bought a used car from a dealer w/o contacting the prior owner. They, no longer invested, tend to be truthful. It was with this input that I bought my first Porsche in November. Dealer should be cooperative. Name, etc., should be on the title.

That's a very good point. Thanks for the tip.

it would be nice to at least see the car. Have you got a link to the car? 25 grand sounds about right for that year.

Yes here it is: http://www.parkplaceltd.com/pre-owne...eriorColor_/16 There is a local independent Porsche shop who I would have do a PPI if this ends up looking like a contender for my wallet.

I think Park Place tends to have their cars priced reasonably - as compared to some others around the northwest. Often dealers buy the cars at auction and any maintenance receipts disappear during that transaction along with record of the prior owner. Sometimes further sleuthing can yield the dealer that sold the car to the auction house and the prior owner might be found that way.

@Spokayman - is there anyone in particular that you'd recommend at Park Place?

bal, I don't know anyone in particular at Park Place. I did talk to a salesman last year about a car they had but I don't recall his name. My comments about PP stem from looking at their prices for Carreras and Caymans over the last several years as both models were on my radar. To be clear, I am not recommending them per se, but I know they've been around awhile and they often have a decent selection of cars. Partly because of the difficulty in obtaining maintenance info of cars from dealers, I have bought all of my past P-cars from private individuals. Plus often a better price is obtainable via private sales. If I was to buy from a dealer, it would probably be from a company like PP. Hope this helps.

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Personally, I disagree. Park Place always has the highest priced cars in the area. Granted, they tend to also have the nicest examples of any given car you're going to find in the area, so sometimes they will command the higher price. If you like the car and it checks out, offer them what you think is fair for the car, and be prepared to walk away if they won't come to that level. There area a lot of 996 cabrios for sale in this area right now (for some reason), finding the right one shouldn't be hard.

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Capt, I was thinking about the better quality cars when I made the pricing comment, and in particular I was comparing against prices at local Porsche and high end brand dealers. This is the way to think.

Looks like a nice car, work em on price and get a PPI.

I've dealt with PPltd in the past but they were pretty rigid on the price tag. Find out whether it's their vehicle or on cosignment. Unfortunately, my cases were both on cosignment and they weren't interested in taking offers. Good luck!

Thanks pcst. A friend of mine who was able to do some research told me that it is registered to them so not a consignment. I'll be taking a look today. There are 2 others in the vicinity as well.

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Best time to buy a cabrio is in the winter? A guy at Barrier Audi told me that at the first sign of snow (and since you're in the area you know how nuts everyone and everything gets when there's a sprinkling!) they get a ton of people trading in their 2WDs for Audis.

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I sleuthed out the prior owner of my car. Found a scrap of paper with a name on it in the owner's manual. Did some internet searches of the name, sent out a few emails, and Bingo! He was very pleasant, gave me his phone number, and I called him to get info. about the car's history.

Just today three 2002/2003 996's with ~70k miles just popped up here (Los Angeles) on Craigslist in the $17k range. Can't believe how cheap these things are getting. I thought I got a deal on my 2002 with 77k mast may for $19k.

@Cuda - I did the same when I looked at an S6 a while ago especially after finding out that it had a new engine! On the solo test drive I found the PO's info in the glove box and called him. To say that he was surprised was an understatement. Had a great conversation and it turned out that the new engine was part of an Audi recall that replaced a number of the V10 units... Well I checked out the 911 today but I didn't get to drive it because the dealer thought that the engine was too noisy at idle. He thought it was missing. I thought it might be the idle adjustment. Anyway, I'll take another look when they're happy with it. Given that it has no history and has had 4 owners, I'm thinking that it is a pass. I did look at this early 2003 996 C4 complete with hard top and full leather . It apparently has just had a new clutch and rear struts "at a cost of $4k". I asked about IMS/RMS but nothing is known. It is a local car (looks like one or two owners). Puff of smoke from the left exhaust pipe when started from cold but sounded good and drove well. I did not get a chance to check the state of the cabriolet top but if I go back to take another look. I love that it has the full leather interior but I am not sold on the black exterior color...

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Like this one? http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv...314003646.html You seem to have more down there. Looking at NADA and KBB it seems to be priced well under market, which makes me wonder "why".

Yup, that's one of them. I would think a 2003 cab with 71k miles should be in the $25k range...

Yesterday I drove the 2002 that I couldn't drive on Saturday due to rough idling/misfiring. It drove nicely but here's what I was told happened and I'm interested to hear people's thoughts on the explanation: "The cold weather contributed to a low voltage output from the battery which tripped a coil pack into a misfire. The tech swapped the coil packs and plugs, charged the battery, and clear the codes. The car runs perfectly and the issue has not returned in 5 or 6 restarts. The car was road tested and driving correctly."

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I have to agree with Capt. on this - their cars are priced quite a bit higher than comparable cars in the area, however quality might not always be as good as you would expect, so be cautious. An example - a C4S I noticed: http://www.parkplaceltd.com/used-car...tual_~Year_/22 Here is the same car for sale, probably by the PO (?) for $10k less: http://www.trucks2cars.com/car-detai...046089022.html Apparently it did not sell for that amount given that Park Place bought it at auction (BMW Seattle sold a very similar car a week ago for $28k). The PO mentions a small ding on the passenger door but no mention in the Park Place ad - I suppose they might have fixed this? Also if you look at the pics carefully, you can see a mix of Hankook and Riken tires ... I'd have expected a matching set of new Michelin Pilot Sport tires given the premium price... Cheers, Michael

IMHO, there's a belief (myth?) in used car circles that prior owners are a more reliable source of info. than the selling party. Maybe yes, maybe no. Some prior owners are loath to say anything bad about their former cars, lest it reflect on them personally. The only "real deal" on car history are detailed maintenance records+receipts+PPI. relinuca

Tires IMO are one of the most easiest giveaways on the amount of care and passion the current owners/dealers have. Mixed match tires are a no no when selling a car like this, let alone a super cheap brand like Riken.