Going to look at a 996 4S

This will be my first Porsche (or German car) ever. I have spend many hours reading here and other places as well as watching videos in reference to these cars. Some are flat out scary others not so much. I have very good experience with American iron, have restored Corvettes, build multiple engines from the ground up and do all the work on all my cars. So I consider myself an above average shade tree mechanic. So things like replacing IMS and seals, water pump, etc. do not scare me, but splitting cases, well that does bothers me a bit, not so much for the how to do it, but because of the cost involved. Parts for these cars seem to cary a premium price. I have narrowed my search to a 2002-2004 994, 4s. I like the look of the 4s and 996 are in my price range and the car will be a 6speed. There is currently one for sale here close to me, but there is no history of the car, it is sold by a dealer, is an 04, 4s with 73k miles, the asking price is $25k. What is the consensus of buying one of these cars with no history? Should I assume I will have to change all the trouble parts out of the go, and budget that into the price? What is a estimated parts cost, is $5k reasonable assuming I be doing the labor. There is another one with full history, all the trouble parts replaces, IMS, etc, and the asking price is $29k, Would this be a better deal, I am thinking it is but this car is 2000 miles away. Don't mind fly in and drive it home, but worry how to get the car checked ahead of time. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

As a general rule of thumb, you should buy the nicest one you can afford. That said, you can live without a service history as you may be able to develop one on your own. Can you backtrack to any services through the Carfax? Call the shops if you can. Through inspecting the car, you should be able to see things like replaced coils, new water pump, etc. That can serve as an indicator of service. To me, the biggest thing is to ensure that the engine really saw some use (seems to prolong life). The guys on here here will want to know what brand of the air in the tires. That’s perhaps helpful, but inspecting the car is huge. It isn’t a space shuttle. These cars are well-built, well-designed, and even a little fun to work on (if you have a sense of humor and a bunch of extensions).

I have had my '02 C4S for 15 years (34K miles). I has been an excellent car overall and still drives great. It hasn't seen some of the bigger problems associated with these cars. It is used mainly weekend drives / HPDE. Other than the consummables such as brakes, tires, batteries, and rotors, my problems areas have been: 1. Front Differential failure: new part $ 5-7 K - yikes! Rebuilds available - but I didn't trust it - no warranty. 2. Ingnition switch failure -$20 part, need to be contortionist to install 3. Needs a motorsport oil/air separator if frequent track use 4. Front headlight washer nozzle cover broke off when acitivated while driving ($50) 5. worn front hub. 6. I sometimes question the accuracy of the fuel guage when full tank of gas. I would feel much more comfortable with a known maintenance history before buying this type of car. My shop guys are always looking out for any problem areas before they occur. A couple of issues could add up to big $$ in repairs. Used German cars can be a bargain, but the parts are usually not.

It seems like the happiest owners are those that go into it expecting it's a few thousand per year in maintenance with the potential for a rebuild. The best insurance against a rebuild seems to be a warm climate car that has not been run too hot. Running too hot for the oil breeds the internal wear or failure points that make a rebuild obligatory.

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^ Truth. I delayed my purchase by about 4 years after the scope of "affordability" was sharpened for me by some keen Porsche owners. Now I hop in with a grin and out with a smile like The Joker. Don't fret and let anxiety and fear ruin your Porsche experience. Be ready, and then drive your car like a Porsche should be driven without worry. The ironic part - it sounds like driving the car that way keeps it healthy, anyway. Could very well be the case that fear stops certain owners from pushing the car, which pushes the car toward further issues... *shrug*. You're going to get answers all over the map, but I personally would get a pre-purchase inspection done by a reputable shop and I would pay for the "deluxe" inspection which drops the sump, compression and leak down test, etc. It may be $600 you walk away from but it sure beats $25,000. Plenty of quality shops in the Bay area, locals will give you the skinny.

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Spot on here. And I�ll add: When you know what to look for, you can save yourself a lot. I do my own inspections and look for anything that�s strange or not original, not clean, etc. Cars that look like new have been week cared for usually. A car that�s had a bunch of repairs might sound nice at first, because someone else foot the bill to replace something you now don�t have to fix. But I�d rather have a car that�s had very little replaced. I�m after stuff that doesn�t break to begin with. If it�s been rock solid for 15 years - rather than a basket case - it just might continue on being a good car. No history means no �known� history, but it still has a history. Dig around and you can find a lot more than you think.

I also agree with deeper PPIs. If the car you like is 2,000 miles away, I would keep looking and test driving cars that are much closer. The more you look at and test drive, the better equipped you will be at spotting the wrong and right cars.

Maintenance history is big because it reassures the car was cared for (and well documented), but not a deal breaker. Of course the less you know about the car's history, the more wear parts you'd be wise to automatically replace as a result -- things like the water pump, thermostat, coolant tank, alternator, spark plugs, coils, coolant hoses, brakes, suspension bits and the list goes on. As such, I look at maintenance records (or lack thereof) as part of the purchase price: the more a seller can prove has been done, the more I'm willing to pay for a car. Conversely, buying a car that has less history but passes a PPI can be had at a discount and you can get to know your new pcar by replacing those parts once home. They really are fun to work on, I've found it far more manageable than anticipated. I'm no mechanic, but can replace parts and have done most of the aforementioned list without much issue. The IMSB is a genuine concern, albeit a bit overblown online given most of the noise you hear is from those affected vs the thousands of others that don't hop online to talk about the fact that their engine hasn't blown up yet. If you're the kind of person that can enjoy the car w/o worries of what might happen if you don't service this part, you're probably better off than most. I wasn't and spent the $ to replace the oem bearing when i replaced the clutch, flywheel, AOS and RMS -- worth the piece of mind for this guy. I would highly recommend you drive several 996's before buying. I've driven several and no two are the same. You're shopping for a great car in the C4s, that's what i wound up with and love the crap out of it.

Thank you guys, very good advice. So far I found 4 C4s close to home, they range from an 02 for $19k to a 04 for $36k, and two other in the mid $20k. I am making appointments with 3 of them to go see and test drive them. The one advantage I have is, I am not in a hurry so will not jump just into any car.

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Thats good. You�ll have to determine which features you want. The early 996.1 (mki cars) are anywhere from 50% to 100% cheaper than the later model cars that have all sorts of advancements and benefits. The 99s and 00s are usually the cheapest, some in the $16-$18k range, convertibles being the cheapest, whereas the latest model or 40th Anniversary edition or an X51 model with a sunroof delete might command a premium well into the mid $30k range. Then, of course, the condition will vary considerably, but I�ve found that price and condition are unrelated. I�ve seen pristine cars go for less money than cars that have been through the ringer, both inside and out.

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I wanted a 911 since before I could drive. 30 years later I finally could afford to write a check for a 996. However, I had never driven any 911 variant. I decided to go to a dealer to test drive one to see if I even liked driving the car before I wasted some individuals time looking at theirs. My test drive was in a '04 C4S Cab with 65K on the odometer at the dealership and I fell in love. I paid 30K for the car buying it at a dealership but it had some nice aftermarket upgrades. The only history was the last two services at a Porsche dealership in Miami. A little over a year later I have spent about 6K in maintenance with all the work done at an indy. I drove it a little over 1K and had the oil and Tip trans fluids and filters changed. Not having any records I wanted to put a few miles on it and look for metal. At eight months of ownership the AOS went out. The car seemed to shift hard 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 1st. So while the engine was out I had it looked at and the trans mount and engine mounts were just about shot. I replaced the AOS, the mounts, and the oil filler tube was cracked. While it was in the shop the alternator also went. At one year I hit a pothole and cut the right rear tire. I was already planning on getting new treads since the tires were close to minimums and were 7 years old. From what I have read on this forum the few but expensive problems are right in line with a 14 year old 996. It has been a great car and I daily drive it except for my one trip to and from the airport each week. I'll let the Hyundai take all the abuse of the airport parking lot. So my $.02 is if you like the car and can afford some repairs go get it. I would not just replace stuff because it may fail because without the history it may have already been done.

@shft22: Congrats on deciding on a 996 C4S - they're phenomenal cars for the money. Agree with @Dr_Strangelove: PPI is key on one of these. Important to pore through all service records as well. If service records don't exist for an IMS retrofit, expect to spend about $3,500 fitting a new clutch and an LN bearing. Even if the RMS isn't leaking, it's important to stay on top of IMS failure just as a standard maintenance point, and you might as well change the clutch while you have the trans out for the IMS job.