Requesting advice on potential purchase

I am a former Porsche owner ('95 993 C4 Cab) and I am now looking at buying a 996. I am currently looking at two cars: Car 1: 2001 996 convertible - 68 k miles, aero kit, turbo tail, comfort seats, and hi-fi sound Current asking price is $22,995. The auto check report shows an accident in the past and there are no service records to show any details about the accident. The car has always been local to where I live and the local Porsche dealer handled servicing the car. When I called the dealer to get information about the service history, they would just tell me that the car was serviced there and had the required periodic service items were done. No additional details were provided. The aero kit and turbo tail are not listed on the option codes, so I wonder if they were added afterward. I have seen this car in person and driven it. The car is not a garage queen and looks it's age. There are some scuff marks in the interior and the front end ground effect has some scrapes from curbs or parking lot dividers. Car 2: 2003 996 coupe - 48k miles, comfort seats, traction control, litronic headlights, digital sound Current asking price is $27,900. The carfax report shows an accident in 2006. I was able to get a copy of the service records and it looks like the car had the engine removed, the engine harness was replaced, #4/5 ignition coils replaced, exhaust bracket replaced, catalytic converter and bracket replaced, 2 mufflers installed, and 4 new tires were installed and aligned. The work came to around $5,600. I am currently requesting the service records from the body shop to see what body work was done after the accident. I have not seen this car in person. It is located about 2 hours from me. I am trying to decide if it is worth it to drive out and see it sometime in the next week. I am worried the accident was serious and I may want to avoid this car completely. Both dealers are fine with me scheduling PPI's to have the cars looked over. I will definitely be getting a PPI on any car that I seriously consider buying. I plan on putting 15-18k miles per year on whatever car I buy, so a car with reasonable wear is fine with me. I plan to drive it as my daily driver and really enjoy it. Thank you in advance for your advice.

Quotes source post: 7168006

Both cars have been involved in accidents. Absent any "before" "during" photos to show the extent of the damage and the extent of the repair effort I'd say walk away from both cars. There have to be similiar MY cars with no accident damage available. For the practice, experience, in inspecting cars that have been in accidents, arrange to go check out both cars. Do not have a PPI done. But inspect both cars and see if you can spot anything wrong with them. Check body panels for waviness, uneven gaps, uneven heights of adjacent panels. Check fits of both headlights in their respective fenders. Look inside front bumpers to see if you spot new (different color) A/C condesors (radatiors are mostly hidden behind condensors), new fasteners/hoses/connections. Is one headlight clear and the other yellow, pitted? The better headlight is probably the side that was damaged. Check edges of panels and under rubber stripping for paint roughness or even a lip/ridge of paint from paint masking tape. View car straight on from front, directly from each side, and from rear to see if you can spot any asymetery from side to side. Check tires and wheels. Newest tire or best looking wheel or wheel with newest wheel bolts is corner or side repaired, usually. Are brake rotors worn same? If not, newest likely on side damaged. Open trunk and engine compartment. At front look at bolts that hold fender down. Any signs of having been moved? Check around trunk and cover hinges for any signs hinges have been moved to help align trunk or cover. Lift front trunk weather stripping and see if metal underneath looks factory original. (This helped if you can view one or two original cars and get a sense of what factory original looks like.) Look at paint. Look for differences in color, shade, reflectivity. Look for differences in paint smoothness, finish. Feel along door jams for any roughness from overspray. Likely front bumper or rear bumper -- whichever one damaged in collision -- missing hardware or wrong hardware used in wrong holes. Porsche tech at dealer can detect this quickly. Porsche techs tell me -- and have shown me -- it is common and my experience is it is common that hardware will be missing or installed in wrong holes. Body shop techs do not pay much if any attention to which fasteners go where. To a hammer and sander all fasteners look the same. If you believe front involved if you removed front bumper cover you'd probably find some mechanicals hidden by cover not right. Wiring. Washer hoses, radiator or other wiring harnesses routed incorrectly, not installed wiring harness holddowns, etc. Feel along bottom of rocker panels to see if two sides have different texture. Look into all wheel wells to see if you can spot new/fresh or even different liners, panels, fresh liner hardware or new or different springs, etc. And so on. Sincerely, Macster.

Quotes source post: 7168006

First, you should probably decide Coupe or Cab? A coupe is a little more durable and weather-proof if you plan to put on a lot of miles. The coupe you're looking at is probably fine, but they should give more price break with its history, imho. It's a buyer's market, so it sounds like you might continue to look for the exact one you like, and then get a good/fair price and start driving! Good luck....

Pass on both. Why subject yourself to the nagging thoughts in the back of your mind regarding the accident history? This purchase should bring great enjoyment, not regret. Find a better example - if it's a question of the cost, if you're already reaching at these prices, you should reevaluate your Porsche ownership expectations. Whatever you do, don't settle. Save up, take your time, and get exactly what you want.

There are many deals out there waiting to happen.

Lots of fine used examples without accidents for similar $ out there, unless the accidents were 'minor' in nature I'd suggest looking at other 996s. GL

i would pass on them, i would keep searching, it sucks to have to wait but it will be worth while, make sure you know exactly what you are buying, with an accident damaged car its a bit of a crap shoot, its a big investment, dont rush into it good luck

For around $30 K you can get a solid low miles 996 w/o the questionable history of those two. CARFAX and PPI - NO EXCEPTIONS! I'd 1st make a list of non-negotiable specs: coupe or cab, Tip or Manual, etc and stick with it. There's enough good cars out there to not have to compromise. And the hunt is great fun too! Good Luck (And beware of yellow coolant tanks)

There is another car in my area that is a one owner, low mileage car, that has a clean history, no accidents, and was always serviced at the dealer. The owner bought a Panamera and is selling it via consignment. I am going to go look at the car and drive it on Monday or Tuesday. It's a 99 black coupe with 40k miles. The current price from the dealer is 26k. From what I have seen, this car's price should be several thousand lower. The options from the invoice are: 1999 911 Carrera Coupe 996 110 Price BASE Porsche Base Model 65,030.00 Z8 Black Metallic 805.00 Z8 Black Metallic Top 0.00 AY All Leather Seats Black 1,490.00 408 18"Wheels w/Technology Rims 1,685.00 425 Rear Window Wiper 335.00 490 HI-FI Sound Pkg w/Speakers 600.00 P72 Design Package - TIP 1,215.00 982 Supple Leather Front and Rear 390.00 692 Remote CD Changer (6 Disc) 705.00 P15 Power Seat Package 1,520.00 ------------------------- Total with Options $ 73,775.00 What would you think the proper price would be for this? The black color is my #1 color choice and it's a 6 speed, which my single must have. Thanks again for your advice.

Look at a 02 and later. Cabs are very popular ! Good luck.

Quotes source post: 7173230

www.kbb.com lists this car for $14950 trade-in with car in "good" condition. Private party sale is $17350. Dealer price is $21450 in "excellent" condition. Hard to see how a 10 year old car with 40K miles still in excellent condition though... My personal opinion is this car worth somewhere between $15K (roughly) to well, $21450. How close to the low number you can get is up to you and the seller, to state the obvious. You have to balance what the "estimated" value is to how bad you want the car, assuming the car has no and I mean no bad marks against it and is otherwise acceptable to you. Still giving my personal opinion with no concept of course of how bad you want the car, I'd have to say that anything over $17K is probably paying too much. Probably. Price is not a fact only an opinion. Car is 10+ years old. At some point a used car with low miles is just a used car, and a getting older every year car. There arises some "wear and tear" to the car that even though it not driven much still occurs. Hoses age. Corrosion starts to take its toll on the thinner cooling system components. Electrical connections start to develop surface corrosion that can result in hard to trouble shoot electrical gremlins. The car's other systems can start to need attention. It would help if the car came with a good service history that showed the car received say yearly oil/filter services, at least a couple of brake fluid flushes/bleeds, and a coolant change or two would not be a bad thing to see either. Sincerely, Macster.

Based on other MY99 Porsches, your car seems a bit higher than others with less miles, but I'd say you're close to a decent price. I may be in the minority with my 99 911, but I wouldn't steer clear of the 3.4 if it's been well maintained. Try to work in a coverage plan from the dealer into your price if concerned about owning the oldest(in the US) water pumper 911.GL

Those prices are what I saw as well. Further away from me (~2 - 2 1/2 hours each way) is another black coupe (2001, 30k miles) that has an original asking price of $23,990. The car was just listed by a dealer today. I am not in a huge rush and do not want to over pay. I am flexible in my preferences (as long as it's a manual transmission) and I love the hunt. I am keeping my eyes open to for two main things: low mileage 99-01 models in the 18k to 21k price range and 02-03 models in the 25k to 30k price range.