Thinking of buying a 1999 Carrera

So I have found an automatic 1999 carrera with 105k on it. What should I ask the owner about the car and what should I look out for? Or just post a link to a thread already discussing this. I want to make sure to do my Homework before buying anything. Thanks

having just sold a 99' w/115k I can tell you what you are getting in to. service history - you need it accident history - you want to know upgrades - what / when and then a PPI at a reputiple PORSCHE ONLY shop then negociate the deal after you post inspection results then start saving for repair/maintenance and start learning to work on cars sound scary, well it isnt - its fun! that car can be made into a real beast for super fun driving or tamed for a nice weekend runnabout the possabilities are endless (as long as you have the money) get hooked up with the local PCA and start learning to drive the car - its not a honda and learning to drive a Porsche is one of (if not the most) rewarding aspects of ownership i wont talk price becasue that is between you and the seller - keep in mind an auto is less desirable than the stick, thats all

Also, you want to drive the Porsche and feel the brakes, does the car shimmy or pull to one side, do all the windows and sunroof work, can you detect anything wrong with the car after a 15 mi. ride. What is the condition of the car, is it clean inside and out, how about the seller's home/garage, is it orderly and clean which might indicate how he cared for his Porsche. Does it smoke at start up, any visible oil leaks, are the tires worn etc. as mentioned...paperwork and dealer repairs are important as well. GL

drive 5 of them - and like Steve said.. 15 miles... more like 30, take em out for 1/2 day. A good seller will understand the need to drive it and since you are looking at a TIP (not stick) there is less chance of screwing up the car (I never let anyone drive mine because once i get my cluch the way I like it, I dont want someone else to drive it wrong and screw it up)

I just went through this process and am willing to share what I have learned. You need to know what you are getting into Period. I am going to point you to some threads that will open your eyes and you can choose if you want to continue. I did and I have no looked back. The cars are great little toys to tinker with. This is the largest concern: https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ferrerid=36467 However at 100K miles the 996 engine could use quite a few more things. T-chain pads for one. Here was what I did to ease my mind over issue 1. https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ferrerid=36467 My car is a 6 speed Aero car. It had 103K on it when I bought it. It had been maintained very well to 90K miles then had a few owners that "just drove it" So when I got it a few months ago it had a whole laudry list of things wrong. Horns: $40 and 3 hours to fix Horn button $10 and 2 hrs Brakes and rotors on all 4 corners $1200.00 and 2.75 hrs The bearing in Post 1 $700 and DAYS The clutch in post 1 $500 and was done with the bearing Tires GY F1's $1100.00 Collant hose $40 and 2 hrs Clean up of the exterior $50 and 6 hrs And the keyfobs still do not work. But I am working on it. I paid 17K for the car. The car runs and looks great! Dont be fooled by a low asking price. I think the NADA REATAIL value of my car is only 18K.. So dont think you are taking advatage of anyone by buying one on the cheap... I have seen them go for as low as 14K

In the Bay Area a '99 with 100K miles are asking around +/- $15K. I know of a 6 sp with 85k miles, well maintained with service records, a new dealer top (glass window), 1 mo old michelin cup tires, AOS, sport exhaust, euro springs and clutch he's asking $19K. He has put $10k in the last year on those upgrades. Even at that price he is having trouble and is going to put it on a consignment lot. It felt fast and strong.

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Sounds like a no brainer if you are in the market for a cab, Who could have guessed that prices would be this soft for such a nice 911?

could we not bring up price - its depressing me (PS I got $22k for my 99' last month with 115k miles was only asking $19.5k)

You did well @ 22k, I have just under 50k miles on MY99 and I doubt I could sell it for 22k, although, you had many more mods...your new seats looked were a nice improvement. How did you do on the 'buying' end?

I am sure that in a normal economy you wouldn't see prices drop so badly for such an amazing car. But the economy is in the crapper and many of these sellers are experiencing job problems and are just trying to make house payments. The guy selling the $19k car, his wife is getting layed off and he wants to trim a toy. If you are trying to sell, find a public employee with a fat pension, they have money and job security.

I'm also trying to join the P-club. Been studying the market steadily for a month now, much to the chagrine of my patient wife. Very close to nailing down a deal on a 99 coupe. I have to agree with Ivangene. Good advice. You really have to do your homework regarding vehicle history, especially accidents and maintenance. Any "reported" accident on the Carfax will typically lower the sale price by 1-3k or more. Damaged titles by a much larger amount. This may be OK depending on your situation, but remember, future buyers will expect a similar discount. Also remember, a lot of significant body repairs will not show up on the Carfax. The inspection is also very important, but I've found you have to take the results with a grain of salt. I had my inspection performed by a competent local indy shop which had maintained the 99 since 2006. Yeah, he was thorough, but hints of his conflict of interest were present in a lot of his observations i.e his is fishing for a little revenue. In this case, he discovered a RMS leak and suspected leaking cam covers, which might actually be leaking plug tubes (much cheaper to fix). I'm trying to use the RMS leak as a price negotiating point. Hope to hear back today from the dealer today. That said, your best tool is knowledge of the vehicle and knowledge of the marketplace. As some of the guys have alluded, there are so many variables, it's hard to assign hard and fast rules, but after you compare a few vehicles of that vintage, you start to get a feel for what is a fair price. Personally, I'd rather shoot for the vehicle I want (features, excellent condition) at a fair price, than spend every waking minute searching for another $1-2k in the deal. I've noticed that most guys, dealer and private, are holding pretty high on price, due to the spring buying season. I had one dealer tell me he shoots for a 4% premium in the spring, over late summer and fall. I asked him if he would apply the same 4% rule to my G35 coupe trade value and he just smiled..... good luck in your hunt....

markman - perfect you have it nailed and last step, keep some money for repair/maintenance/mods these cars tend to eat holes in the wallet that way....like Kyle stated $1200 brake job (at home!) a simple oil change with "good oil" will set you back $100 if you do the work... just be ready and smart

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+1 If you can barely afford it, you won't be able to maintain it. And will cry when you can't mod. You need to dedicate a couple grand, at least, in the bank.

Seems to me you guys should be bringing your cars up here to sell - the prices for 996's are stupid up here and why a great many of us are heading south for P Car's - mine came from Vegas. A 996 selling for say $20K in Calf is selling for $30K up here all things being equal about the cars. And our dollar(s) are now even so you would think our prices would go down...yet they have not. Canadian Customs tries to scare people about how hard it is to import US cars when it really isn't. The s**ty part is Porsche Canada demanding your $$*****$$ on a plate just to get a stupid recall 'check' letter out of them that you must have before you can get title. Your prices are bad for sellers and great for buyers. Our prices are just bad for all as the cars up here (fewer to choose from) that are over priced are not moving and we are forced to the internet to get better pricing. I 'd rather have a car from the desert anyway then one that lived on the saltmines of Ontario's roads anyway.

right on....early in the hunt, I lost out on a nice Chicago located '00 C2 to one of my northern neighbors. Dealer said about 1/2 his customers are from the great white north.

Yeah prices in Cali have gone down.. I've been thinking of selling mine too but I won't take anything lower than $22k on mine. It's a 99 6 speed with 62k miles but a new engine with 28k miles thanks to Porsche and an rms leak. A torn achielles tendon currenly with a cast and a walking boot to follow for the next 3 months keeps the car stuck in the garage... Haven't decided if I should sell or just keep it but it's doing nothing right now except resting...

That really sucks...how did you do it? Long recovery time.

Keep it!

Keep the car Mike.. You will be glad you did and it will give you something to look forward to.

low prices are almost always tied to crap........ ebay especially.

I'm just in the process of bringing a 1999 up from Florida to Toronto. I managed to get a dealer in Florida to give me the recall letter so I'm good to go. I've got the bilingual airbag decals from a local Chrysler dealership ($13.00 each) do I'm off to the races. The Porsche dealership in Toronto have pissed me off so much (recall notice and $250.00 each sun visors for the bilingual air bag notice) that they will never see a dime from me for service. I've done comparisons up here and you could add pretty much 10 grand to the price tag to buy here. Can't wait to get it...it's on the truck (DAS shipping) on route to Buffalo where I'll pick it up and drive over the boarder.

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Good for you. How many miles, what color, auto or 6spd...

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Teach the girlfriend to drive stick.......problem solved! Everytime she grinds a gear she owes you (some sort of favor lets say).

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It's the one in my av. 99 silver with 51000 miles. It's tiptronic (I wold have preferred a 6 speed but this deal was too good to turn down). Has anyone had experience with the tiptonic? I've never driven one..can you shift like a standard? maybe??? lol dan

Yeah it's awesome for what it is. The ****s are fast and smooth.

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Really? Mine are slow and painful

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congrats on the purchase!! Yeah , sounds like a florida car; cab , tip....( mine came to FL via PA). there have been some excellent deals around as long as you can document the history ( carfax, PO). As fars as the shifting with the Tip, leave it in D then work the Tip buttons on the wheel to down shift as needed, or upshift ( which it does on its own after about 8 seconds).. If you want to keep it in gear, then slide the Gear selector to M and you can do all the shifting you want... For a DD and in traffic, Tip is the way... my .02 I might also recommend a hardtop if the car is going to be driven in bad weather; i.e. rain, snow

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fast as in its shifts at 1800 rpm !

I have a permanent home in Canada and a winter home in Tampa Fl. I just bought a 99 Coupe with 55000 on it . Clean carfax. ,good tires,brakes,spottless paint .Tip. $20500. It,s going to Canada. What will I have to do to import it? I imported a Dodge truck about 5 yrs ago and only had to turn on daytime running lights. Recall letter was free. What airbag stickers are needed? Thanks

The car I was looking at sold the next day. I waited too long I guess. Now I am looking at a 99 auto with 87k miles for $16k or a 99 6spd with 155k miles salvage title needs bumpers replaced and engine lid but the car comes with the bumpers and engine lid price could be less than $10k. I could probably do the work myself. A $19k 996 isn't out of budget but like most guys have said keep a couple $ks in the bank. I don't know how comfortable I am about the 155k mile car seems like a lot a miles never mind it doesn't seem like it is a lot. Does the higher mile cars have a less chance of failure because the haven't already failed? The 99 auto is silver the 99 6spd is black. I am thinking I could get the 155k mile car without the bumpers and get it cheaper and get some mod bumpers instead since they would have to be replaces anyway. But then again the mileage some guys on here have some with over 100k but nothing near 150k.

one word on the wrecked car --- STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THAT THING - MORE WRONG THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE was that one word

Middle Class Porsche ownership requires a good toolbox and a healthy set of hands....otherwise you cant afford the car. Regarding the tiptronic question....shifts are fast and precise. If your out of Manual mode...simply stab the gas pedal and the car drops to the lowest possible gear and your off...at first I was wary of owning a tiptronic car and I still get wierd looks from people and you may get a smirk and some jackass saying its automatic but besides the retards, those who have driven in the car or those who got "rocked" by the car dont smirk anymore. I like pulling away from my friends big turbo audis (had a few btw) with a few flicks of my thumb...my left leg doesnt get cramped in traffic anymore either.

Thanks! More wrong with it because of mileage or wreck?

I am actually thinking about only getting a triptronic because I had a completely destroyed me knee playing football years ago. Better for me I guess since they are cheaper.

I think we will see many more examples of 996s with higher miles as time goes on. I've seen multiple over 150k. That said, I would not buy a tiptronic under any circumstances, and probably not a wrecked car, particularly not site unseen. I think $19k could pick up a fairly decent example, a friend did just that two weeks ago for a clean stock car. I sold my last 996 (~93k miles, avg. condition with a few grand's worth of track related modifications) for $22.5k as well. I'd say that's a decent ballpark. A sub ~$18k 996 that's in decent shape is either an outstanding find, or not really in good shape. Remember, even something like not having both keys with working keyless entry can cost upwards of $500 to remedy. Buy a clean car, it'll be worth it in the end.

Cefalu can you get me some more info about those cars? And anyone else that knows of some good 996s

I/we have purchased a Tip car also because of a knee injury. I have a 1980 SC hotrod with a 3.6 and find I hardly drive it because of the clutch. My wife won,t even consider driving it. The 996 with a tip is an excellent compromise and as traffic conditions get worse and automatic trans get better (and we get older too)it makes more sense.It also avoids the $2500 for a clutch and flywheel every 50000 mi. I also feel the 996 is more of a grand touring car like the 928 was than a track weapon like an early S car or 951 m030. Re Canada importation What model Chrysler has the appropriate bilingual airbag labels mentioned??

I can't help but be amused by all the tiptronic rationalizations I've read in this thread. Relax, the only person who has to be happy with it is you. Plus they're cheaper than 6-speed cars. Hell, some of my best friends drive tips. We just can't be seen in public with them anymore....

jbturtle I sent you a PM

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yes

I hate to be seen in a Porsche with an automatic but five years ago in Highschool I destroyed my knee and had surgery. Anyone that has destroyed their knee would understand how much pain it can be to use a clutch. Sometimes my knee just gives. I also agree I want a GT car I had a 928 but it was a euro and the great state of California won't let me register it here. But since I use it as a GT car I wouldn't have to worry about the shifting that much like in traffic. Thanks for the leads on the cars guys. I prefer coupe but it seems like more convertibles are for sale.

JB- At your age you are a fortunate dude.......more power to yuh! I have underwear older than you.......

Ya I may be a little young to be part of the club. I use to be a sprinter in track now the only way I can get that type of enjoyment again is in a Porsche. I might be making a deal on a 99 convert arena red with 69k miles on the engine. If the owner accepts my offer I'll will be picking it up this Thursday which happens to be my 23rd B-day. haha

Well I am second on the list. Someone is coming from out of state to look at it. If they come all the way from out of state and not get it there must be something wrong with it. So back on the search.

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...Does laziness count??

A carrera 4 just popped up locally after checking it out I guess I just have to suck down pain pills because I got to have a 6spd.

Take your time and find the right one sir. They are popping up for sale all over the place with the economy so messed up.

The newer PDK trans is faster than a 6 speed. Now it might be a thing for the future to have guys saying they have to have a PDK instead of a manual trans. Anyway good luck thinking about buying a porsche and looking around.