First time texas 996 buyer questions

I have been wanting a porsche for a while and have recently seen a couple of 1999 911 cab's in the Houston Texas area. Any thing I should look for with this MY? Can anyone recommend a PPI location in Houston? Thanks Jim

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3.4l engines (all M96 engines I've been told but it appears the 3.4l based on my info is worse in this regard) can develope a cylinder wall crack (usually middle cyllnder either bank). One sign this crack present is oil in coolant (dark drops of oil floating in coolant tank) or coolant in engine oil. Oil analysis can detect presence of anti-freeze in oil. A check of spark plugs -- their condition -- can spot a cylinder with a crack that is allowing coolant into combustion chamber. A compression test or even a leak down test can also spot a crack early on. Trouble is the development of this problem is pretty rapid. Engine goes from no crack to a crack to having a piece of cylinder wall come loose in sometimes just a few days of occasional use. It is rare that the early warning signs show up and are recognized for what they mean. Double trouble is even if condition detected early a cracked cylinder wall means engine block scrap. At least one UK company (Autofarm) and maybe one USA company (Flat 6 Innovations) can disassemble engine and bore out old cylinder liners and install new ones then reassemble engine. While this appears to be a suitable fix it is expensive. Not quite as expensive as replacing engine though. Check for signs of major (and shoddy) body/paint work, track use, general lack of care and proper maintenance. Really checking out a used Porsche no different in many aspects from checking out any used car. If Houston dealer has no skin in the game -- seller of this car not selling car to help finance new Porsche purchase for instance -- local Houston dealer can do a PPI for you. Sincerely, Macster.

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Interesting that you would include checking for track use in your sentence about body work, lack of care and maintenance, as if track use is a negative. Track use should not imply some form of improper care, although one would want to be aware of past driving history. Good luck with your search, there are pleny of great 996's available. Don't be afraid to drive it, whether on the track or commuting.

I've actually had very good experience with the service dept at Porsche of West Houston. Ask to have Hans look over the car. He will do a very thorough job.

Jim! Don't get too carried away with the doom and gloom opinions that some have about the 3.4L engines. There are a great many of us with those engines with high mileage driving around enjoying the cars. I don't know why Macster points out the 3.4L as the ones to watch out for...I've seen just as many posts for later models with the 3.6L that have had the same problems as the 3.4L and even then it is a very small percentage of the many many 996's on the road. Do your "due diligence", get a PPI, and if you can afford it, get a more recent one because of various upgrades in interiors, suspension, stereo, engine size, etc....but not because of fear mongering! Good luck! Pete

Any thoughts about a Cab? Wife likes the looks of those and if that is all it takes to buy her off a cab 911 is better than no 911! Saw one with a harttop in Houston. How is the fit and road noise? Anyone have experience with the hoists for removal of the hard top? Anyone had issues with storing the rag top for months while HT is on? Thanks Jim

If I still lived in Texas, I would have seriously considered a cab. I think the 996 cab is very nice looking.

I'm not a cab guy, but I can't imagine a part of the year where I would want to keep a hard top on the car in this part of the world. Maybe during August when it's so freaking hot. Otherwise, your as likely to have a top-down day in February as in June. If I were going for a cab, I would not worry about a hard top.

I drive my Cab. to work every morning, top down, what a great way to start the day. Just crank up the A/C for the drive home, again what a blast. Since it never rains in Austin forget the hardtop, you'll want to drive with the top down. I never bot the hardtop so I have no experience with fit. Seems to be just one more thing to store in the garage. On the wife front, I almost sold my Cab. last year for an above market price, but she wanted to keep the car. They are that much fun.

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UK Porsche mags report cylinder cracking more common with 3.4l engines, but other sources here in USA report cylinder cracking more evenly spread across M96 engine line. A low mileage example of any M96 is risky cause engine/car may not have enough miles on it to have brought any inherent problems. Once car passes the 50K mark the odds of something going wrong drop greatly. Sincerely, Macster.

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Tracking is harder on car/engine than normal driving. Making almost constant use of the engine's max. output followed by using the full braking force of the braking system takes its toll on engine and drivetrain components. That is there is margin almost certainly ensures that nothing untoward will happen while current owner is using car (though there have been exceptions) but this track use does consume margin that would have been available to the next buyer/owner. There is the problem of how good a driver the tracking driver is. Some are of course quite good and subject the car to less wear and tear while it is on the track than lesser drivers. Also, some owners treat the car as a DD and track car yet do not give the car any more frequent servicing. Other owners are of course more in tune with the special demands tracking a car puts on the various car/engine assemblies and treat the car to more frequent servicing. If you or anyone thinking of buying a car wants to consider track use as a neutral factor in considering the car that's fine with me. However, I wouldn't consider a car that has been tracked and that's fine with me too. Sincerely, Macster.

Owned a cab for 7 years and used the hard top only in some of colder winters. I never even touched it for 3 or 4 se of those years. The A/C on these 996's are so phenomenal that there is no appreciable cooling improvement with the hard top in the summers. If anything, it's the other way around. Whenever I had to park in the mid-day sun for an errand, for example, upon returning to the car I would open the soft top while still standing next to the car, and let all of the hot air just rise up into thin air. By the time I cycled the soft top back to a closed position, the interior temp had been reduced to the outdoor temp. I'd get in the car, close the windows, and blast the A/C. With the hard top, you'd have to drive around with the windows down for a few minutes to exhaust all of the hot air. Since Austin has milder winters than Dallas, I'd recommend ditching the hard top if you end up with a cab. Macaster, I agree that it is a good idea to inquire about track use. Good advice. But certainly you also realize that "making almost constant use of the engine's max. output" is absurd? No one drives on the track constantly close to the red line. If anything, they may actually try to avoid the red line since the higher torque provides no measurable advantage in speed compared to the next higher gear at a lower rpm, but does significantly make the car more prone to undesirable and rapid weight transfer (i.e. makes the car "twitchy" when you want it to be smooth). So track use does not equate to a red flag on it's own. It simply informs you that some follow-up questions should be asked (whose answers may just as easily confirm that the given car has been well maintained beyond the average non-tracked car). For me personally, I'd be way more concerned about buying a leased car than a tracked car.

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I agree with Russell on this. Also, the d-chunk engine failure has actually been associated more with lugging the engine rather than high RPM's. In shopping for a 3.4l, I would consider an engine replacement to be a positive thing in a car. From what I've heard, the replacement 3.4l engines have some internal improvements over the originals.

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Yup. Especially since the components aren't designed for anything but civil street use. Oh wait, aren't these cars German engineered for the track? Come to think of it, I see a lot of them at the track. Hmm, I seem to recall mine was at the track too... As with any 10 year old used car, you might get a good one, or you might get a lemon. There are some things you can do to try to improve your odds of a good one, but there are no guarantees. Since there are lots of cars to choose from these days, keep your eye out for a decent bargain, get a PPI, and cross your fingers. Tracked or not, there are a lot of 996's out there for sale. One of them has your name on it! -td

I really like my 996 as my daily driver. Every time I stop by the Porsche dealer I look around, and to me trading to a newer model just does not seem to be worth it. I have had a cab and now have a coupe. In MN a coupe is slightly more practical, but still miss the cab, especially in a great summer like we just had.

Women are funny (in many ways ) but especially that they always want a convertible -- but rarely drive with the top down..... The back seat is a little tighter and the car's a little heavier, but Cabs are great too.... Stick with a manual if you can....

Regarding the hoist I built one for $50 from stuff at Home Depot. Pulleys and rope are predictable. For a cross bar I bought a piece of galvenized fencing material and covered it with pipe insulation secured with nylon ties. I have all the eye bolts and clips, etc. Top has been hanging in my garage since and if it doesn't get used this winter I'm going to stick it somewhere else. Last, my wife also wanted a Cab and I got it to make the purchase move along smoother. My last sports car was an alfa that I had in Houston. It was little more than a go cart with a tarp. I really wanted a coupe this time around. I must agree with the previous posts about the good soft tops, the A/C, ease of operation etc. I love the Cab and now would never have a coupe. Well, of course I would have a coupe if it were my only option. I just love the Cab. Good luck.

I love my cab (even though it is for sale). I am hoping to get a turbo cab. Nothing like it, and I live in NY!! I especially like hearing the engine rev, like music. It doesn't hurt that people like looking too at convertibles too. BTW, my wife likes the verts more than me.

macster pretty much laid out everything you need to know. other than that, dont let the internet freak you out too much.

If you read the Excellence article you will see that many 3.4's and early Boxster motors let go due to INFREQUENT usage and at low miles. A good deal let go while idling at stop lights. Most of these made their way out of the market place. If you're worried, look for a car with a factory replacement engine. I did. You can usually get a great deal because of posts like these that are driving the prices down. I know of a GT3 that might be considered an "arrive and drive" vehicle because it's spent so much time on a flat bead. Does this make GT3's bad cars?

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Be aware that a car from Texas will likely have been run the vast majority of the time with the AC on and I would inspect the interior very carefully for sun damage.

There is a low mile coupe for sale here in Texarkana at a very attarctive price if you can use a coupe. It is a 2000 with 34k miles, Porsche Sport Exhaust I think (with the switch on the dash) new Pirelli P-Zero's, new battery, 6 speed, Guards Red, Savanah interior, all oil changes and service done at the Porsche dealer in Dallas or Houston. He wants $20,000. I have seen the car and the only real negatives are the headlights are getting a little yellowed which can be easily polished out and the console is a little scratche up from the seat belts as this guy is fairly good sized. A friend of mine looked at it and would have bought it but the seller was stuck at $25k so he bought a new Vette instead. If he had priced it at $20k then he would have bought it in a minute. If anyone is interested send me a message and I will send you his name and phone number. I don't personally know this guy, but my friend is a good friend of his and says he is a straight up guy. Tony