New Member with 996 Questions

Hi Guys - I've read bits and pieces of this forum for years but was more active on the BMW forums since I've owned an 04 M3. It's nice to be in here - the atmosphere is much nicer! I've been looking for a 996 C2 for another DD and may have found one that could work. Since the car is out of state, the next stage is to setup a PPI and take a look in person. I'd negotiating price with the seller at the moment and wanted some of your opinions. Details about the car: 01 996 C2 silver/black full leather, with 90k (service just completed), no RMS, IMS, clutch issues (seller says), aero kit (non-factory installed), comfort seats with creasts, headlamp washers, PSM, litronic, 19" Work Brombacher wheels, PSS9s, GruppeM exhaust. Know issues - cracked CF steering wheel, headlamp scuff, paint chips on lower front bumper, curb rash on 1 wheel, tires @50%, 1 key, PSM/ABS lights come on under hard braking - dealer didn't fix.. begs the 'why not?' question. I'm figuring this needs roughly $3500 and then whatever PPI finds. My question is about the pricing? Seller was asking $25k - I was thinking around $20k if PPI came back clean - less if issues were found. Thoughts? Should I just abandon ship? Thanks.

I think your budget sounds fair for elective and needed repairs. The headlight you should buy used from eBay or a breaker, they are mad expensive new. You might want to consider taking note of any suspension linkages and shocks showing wear from the PPI too. As for the rms and ims, change the oil every 5000, split open the filter and check for metal dust, or fit a magnetic sump plug, and keep it topped up to the max mark, and thrash the hell out of it. Address immediately if metal turns up, or oil falls out.

Quotes source post: 9535335

Whether you really should buy the car or not I can't say. For a price one approach is to determine what the car is worth in 'good' condition, which it certainly is not 'good' condition right now, then subtract the cost of putting the car into 'good' condition from this value and making that your offer. You can err to your advantage of course. I would arguing that it is my time having to after I buy the car then having it worked on to bring it up to an acceptable condition. Also, chances are pretty good that something else will be found in need of attention so you want to try to mitigate this as best you can. Oh, for numbers on what the car is worth, www.nada.com or www.kbb.com or a similar web site can help. Plug in the numbers/details of this car and see what trade-in, private sale and retail sale numbers come up. At what point you want to start is up to you. I'm a bit leery of and do not have much practice negotiating for cars that need much if any work to bring them up to what I would consider a suitable condition. Instead, I prefer to find an example that as best I can tell needs nothing other than possibly some servicing catch up, like the oil/filter is due or the brake fluid is due to be flushed/bled, etc. Of course, I still want the servicing history to have been pretty good. (For instance, I was told about a car the other day: 5 years old; and as best as anyone could tell it had never had any servicing...) What I do not want to do is buy a car with a leaking seal or gasket or signs of possible suspension/drivetrain issues, like horribly oddly worn tires, overheated brakes, leaking shocks, etc. I especially do not like a car with any warning lights on, unless I can get high confidence input from a qualified tech the reason is minor. Sincerely, Macster.

Price is always subjective it depends on what your looking for as to what you will be willing to pay. I would advise buying the best condition car you can as R&M is very costly. 25k for a car with 90K miles seems high to me. If you are in the market for a lower mile car but at a higher price send me a PM. My wife thinks I should sell my car because we do not use it much. I may consider for the right price.

Price sounds a little high for the miles and condition. Plan on finding things that will need fixing once you do decide to purchase a Porsche, whether its this one or another. As one person once told me, if you don't have 5k in the bank incase something goes south. A Porsche might not be the ticket. If you have the ability to do the work yourself you will save lots of money. In the end buy a Porsche because they are a blast to drive.

20k IMO would be a good price if it were in very good condition and didn't need any repairs for that year/mileage not taking into account any mods. This is also assuming that the clutch is in good condition (been replaced before), otherwise at 90k miles I would expect to be replacing that soon as well.

Quotes source post: 9535335

I would always be suspicious if things are already wrong with a 996. Its like, if the PO didn't put them right before selling, then what other things did he "slack' on?. It's more than "OK" driving one, anyone can do that, but keeping them "up to scratch" is issential and to NOT do that, it is irresposible of the PO. You are talking good money to be paying out at $20,000 on any used car no matter how many MODS he has done on the vehicle. For my money they mean nothing. In fact if he 'did them' then I would be very very wary what HE may have "effed up' in the doing of them that HE did not correct. In your words. I would abandon ship and swim for shore where you will find better deals on unmalested cars. The modding **** would scare me off. High milage, high price, high chance of other things will come to light during the PPI. Oh not to mention the 'cracked steering qwheel" .... How the hell did that happen?

Thanks for all the tips and insight guys - moving right along to the next one!

Macster gave some good advice. Unless you are into restoration, find a really clean car at a fair price. That said, if you are comfortable with what needs to be done, 19 or 20k would be a fair price assuming nothing new comes out of the PPI.

For 25-30k you should be able to find a nice 02+ well maintained and around 60k miles if you look hard. Much better bet than high mile 01 with abs issues ..even at $20k .....