2nd gear synchro going at 32K miles- warining sign?

I am looking at buying a 2001 996 C2 cab 6speed with 32K miles on it. It is a good-looking car, with most of the options that I want. During a test drive, we noticed a balky 2nd gear, and I suspected a synchro problem. When I got a PPI, sure enough - the 2nd gear synchro is bad. I asked the dealer doing the PPI to check the over-rev counter, and hopefully they will do that. I am concerned that the synchro went at only 32K miles, and suspect that it may have been abused. Anything else I should be looking at? The current owner has agreed to repair the tranny (about a $4.5K hit). The sales price is $29.5K. Options are supple leather, 18 inch wheels, PCM, comfort package, technic package, heated seats, 3 spoke wheel, brake/shifter in carbon, colored crests, no hardtop. Advice?????? Do I buy it? DO I walk away? Do I check something else for wear? It needs the 30k service, which also bothers me a bit. bvs

Lot's of good P-cars out there for sale. I'd keep looking unless this car is exactly what you want. Check that, I'd still keep looking. And for that price, the trans should be fixed and the 30k service should be included in that price.

I had the same problem when I purchased a 79' SC with 22k miles...2nd gear synchro was notchy, shifted hard...I called and wrote the Porsche dealer within a week of owning the car 'they' said was perfect, flawless. I made an appt. with the dealer to verify the problem with 2nd gear, same conclusion as yours, it needed a 2nd gear synchro. I bought the SC in 1994 so the car was 15 years old, I was the third owner. The dealer charged $1750 to repair it...I wasn't charged a penny, and it was one of the best Porsches I've owned after the repair. Your deal is slightly different because you haven't bought the car yet. GL

Synchro's go bad one of two ways. The thrust washers break or wear and don't allow the gears to rotate properly and line up when you try to go from 1st to 2nd - hence you have problems getting into gear. The issues where you can't get into 2nd from 3rd (downshift) are much more serious and ussually require a rebuild of the whole box depending on car. I've had both problems, 1st one with a mustang and the second one (downshifts) with my Yoda. It's the labor that is the killer here. I question why the current owner is willing to spend over $4K just to sell this car to you. The little worm in my head is turning and telling me 'what else is wrong'. Most people would drop the price and unload the car if the buyer discovered the fault. 32K miles?? I would find another car if it were me.

32K miles on a 2001.... that's a little low... can u authenticate the mileage by looking at existing records for EACH year with no spaces in service history... hmmm.... who is fixing the tranny? are they sending it to the USA... have you had a leakdown test done on it? that should be your first test... also compression test as well if your serious... remember your buying a 10 year old car...

I had the same problem with 2nd gear synchro a few months after buying 2002 C2 in Jan. 2009 with 45k km on the odo. It was getting progressively worse but I did not worry since I have an extended warranty contract which expires in June 2014. Finally I made a claim and got a factory new transmission. Nice. Some people here consider EW contracts a waste of money. I am sure that with this car it is just a necessity which one should incorporate into purchase price. Any repair starts at $1000 and it will only become more expensive with time.

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Not looking to hijack this thread, but on the subject of extended warranties...how have the RMS and intermediate shaft failures been handled by the EW companies? When a problem occurs, is coverage typically comprehensive? Thanks! Lee (dreaming of an '02 C4S)

Heat is the prime culprit with grinding synchros as it thins out the gear oil. But... your car hasn't had a 30k service and I believe that's when they first change the trans oil. If I were the seller I would try that first. Conversely as a buyer, you'd like the new trans, but it may well be completely unnecessary. Hmm maybe you should offer to buy it less the $4.5k repair quote and then have the trans oil changed. Worst case scenario, you just have it rebuilt...

So far (since Jan 2009 after I added 35k km) I had RMS AND IMS leak done twice. Once at the beginning to cure slow leak and second time while the transmission was being replaced; there was a small leak from both seals but would not be apparent had transmission stayed in place. At least I did not notice it before disassembly. Both times were fully paid by EW with a smile. I did replace oil after some symptoms of bad synchro appeared but it did not help and synchro died. In a hindsight it was a mistake considering I have a warranty since it only prolonged an agony. While the tranny was out I wanted to install this miracle bearing but my mechanic adviced against for the same reason and also it would invalidate the warranty (non stock part). Something to think about...