The 911 Carrera virgin!!!!

Finally I fulfill my dream to own a Porsche and I was able to buy a cabriolet 996 year 2004 with just 4000 miles!!!! Incredible!!!! One owner car collector in an a/c garage. This is going to be my weekend car as long as weather permits I want to keep it in top shape and I need recommendations like Should I take it to a Porsche dealer only for maintenance? Based on the manual it is recommended to have it checked every 2 years if you put less than 9000 miles per year? this car has the battery replaced and oil changed before it was sell it to me not by a Porsche dealer but from a respectable dealer is there something else I should do? The spoiler I know you can activated manually pushing the button next to the battery jumper I did it but nothing happened, this car has a fixed spoiler also will this fixed spoiler eliminates the other one I bet some of this questions may be answered already any links or your expertise is greatly appreciated

One garage queen to another.

Welcome to the forum. You bought a garage queen, you intend to keep it as a garage queen. Take the car to the dealer for the annual check up, change the oil every 6 months regardless of mileage. Replace the IMS bearing soon, as your car right now is that low mileage outlier that is most likely to brick. Cars need to be driven to keep all systems functioning. Try to put at least 20-30 miles of solid highway driving on it each weekend.

"Cars need to be driven to keep all systems functioning. Try to put at least 20-30 miles of solid highway driving on it each weekend." Words to live by. Your car will love you the more you drive it and vice versa!!

Do yourself a favor and read the first five posting from admin on this 996 page. You will learn quite a lot from your read and hopefully you will enjoy your time on this board. You have a gorgeous cab there for sure. Get those wheels rolling and keep your eyes and ears fully open. 4000 miles in 14 years? that is ridiculous and sickening. No doubt you paid 'top $ and paid through the nose' because of the ridiculous mileage, when in fact, although I hope not, you could have bought yourself a 'ticking time bomb' because your car has been standing all those years. It has not been tested in anyway shape or form. Change all the fluids right now and I mean ALL and get the wheels spinning.

Let's not scare him. Just enjoy it! Share your experiences good and bad.

Given your Florida location and acquisition of a beautiful cabriolet, perhaps you can make this a daily driver as opposed to a dust collector? These cars love to be driven, and people love to drive them. That is the win-win.

Wow... 4k miles! So, rude or not to ask, do you mind letting us know what price range you got if for? No need to go to a dealer for the servicing. Ask around for a great local Porsche shop, and take it there. Change all of the the fluids right away, unless you know for sure when they were all changed out. Great car!

Out of the door I paid 43K I know is overpriced but the condition of the vehicle is impecable, I will change all the fluids as you guys recommend, now I'm scared about the IMS bearing there is also a lawsuit about it http://www.imsporschesettlement.com/

It's a good day in the forum... Enjoy the car, don't fret the IMS - when you want to replace it, go ahead, but until then, take solace in the fact that it is a problem that fewer than 10% of the cars experience. Your low milage car looks to be one in 10,000 - and I hope it stays that way!

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More like between 1% and 5% so don't loose any sleep. It probably pisses me off that you could have got a 2 year younger 997 Cab C4 with less than 40000 0n the clock for the same money haha. I hope you are not going to leave it in the garage. The 996 will never be a collectors car. Drive it like you stole it after a gentle 'break in again' time. Drive it 'as is' or become a DIY man and change all the fluids. Otherwise you will pay through the nose for preventative maintenance.

Don't follow Porsche's ridiculous recommendation of 2 yearly service interval. Download the service manual for 2003 and follow that one which has a yearly oil change interval. Some people here will refresh their oil every 6 months.

Wow, what a find. Where in FL? I just bought an 04 and am up in Tampa. Ralph

Nice looking cab, very low miles, use a Porsche mechanic who is familiar with water cooled Porsches, update the service based on years (not miles) and enjoy driving your new car.

Thank you guys so much for all the info an support ,what a great Forum, I put 109 miles over the weekend, this is what the previous owner drove in 4 months . I'm so happy with my car I have an appointment not in a direct Porsche dealer but from a Porsche facility which only do maintenance, prep for track, restorations and everything Porsche only, it was recommended by PCA and also but a friend of mine who owns a 911, 2007. Well I got the car in Fort Lauderdale the car was received Tuesday as a down payment on a Camaro ZL1 on Wednesday had the certified pre-owned inspection, changed battery, oil, detail and listed for sale Friday July 25, I bought it Saturday July 26. I couldn't let this car go. I was looking for a Porsche a few months ago and I saw a Porsche Boxster 2006, one owner with 11000 miles I hesitate because I always want a 911 but that car was like new, I went back the next day when they open the dealer and it was gone I literally cry for 2 months, so I said next time I see an opportunity like this I'll take it and this time I was lucky!!!!!

Enjoy the car, you will LOVE it! Oh, and regarding your earlier post about the fixed wing/spoiler.... when that was installed, they disconnected the switch for the original movable one.

Awesome!! It's like getting a new Porsche, at half price (kind of)! I would check the tires, and if they are 10 years old, replace em fast, and start accumulating some rock chips on that pristine front!!

Congrats! Sounds like you knew what you wanted and were willing to make the decision when the opportunity arose! Beautiful ride by the way. You are on the right track by driving it for more than a few miles at a time. If the tires are original - you can check the date code on the sidewall - you might want to take it easy while you use them up. Old tires even with great tread tend to get hard and perform like hockey pucks. And not to add to the IMS hysteria, but after incurring an engine loss on my C4S - it had been a low mileage rarely driven car prior to my purchase - you just might want to budget around $1500.00 and have the bearing replaced with a retro fit. The best time to replace the bearing is when the original one is fine - waiting until it starts to degrade or fail just isn't what the retrofit was designed for. I see no need to spend money on all the other "while you are in there" items - except maybe replacing the RMS (rear main seal). The original RMS was prone to leakage but the latest seals seem to hold up well and it's just a few bucks more when doing the IMS bearing. You have basically a brand new car for dimes on the dollar - and lot's of life left in it to allow you to drive it often with no worry of it becoming a high mileage car. Don't worry about feedback on the price you paid, you got what you wanted and how much you paid isn't the point.

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Thank you so much for all the input, since Saturday when I bought the car I follow suggestions from this forum I stop by a local Porsche repair shop yesterday, to get some input they recommended to change the IMS, tires, because even they have great thread the rubber is old to change all the fluids, belts and check the clutch. I thought that was a little bit overboard. Today I stop at the Porsche dealer I told them about the IMS issue and the existing lawsuit, they quote me if I want to replace the IMS $8000 and they said in a car with that low mileage is not worth it, they will take the IMS and replace it for exactly the same so why should I go through that expense, my car had oil change and the battery replaced after the certified inspection by the dealer (Not a Porsche dealer), which I have a 2 months warranty unlimited miles. The Porsche dealer suggested, change the brake fluid, multipoint inspection, change the cabinet air filter and that's it. Is better for me to get an extended warranty to cover engine and transmission and drive my Porsche worry free. This sound reasonable so far.

The reason you swap an IMS, is that your car's engine internals have been sitting dry for the majority of it's life. Normal milage cars have had a good flow of high oil pressure. It really isn't good for an engine to be sitting around. IMS replacement is quite cheep, as independent garages will just swap it out. Porsche will change the entire shaft hence the cost. There is a 5% chance of a single row (2003 model) IMS failure, but with your mileage it will be much higher.

$8000 for a dealer IMSB change? Too bad they wouldn't be making any profit on that retrofit!!!

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Lol, find a new dealer or better yet, a good Indy.

Congratulations on fulfilling your dream and welcome to rennlist I'm really digging the color comb

If you paid that much (996 Turbo money) I feel it is worth the extra 2-3k to do the RMS & IMS $8k is outrageous. As some have stated the internals and the IMSB has not be used to keep it in good order. Failure rates, seem to go along with low mileage cars. The warranty is a good idea, but I personally would 'self insure' the engine and take car of ALL The Fluids, Belts, battery, tire, breaks, RMS & IMS, etc" now and not go with the warranty. From the looks of it a new engine for a 996 is 5 digits; a rebuild can be as low as 7k from what I've seen. When my engine goes, I'm going to have a turbo slapped on and rebuilt to a 3.8 or 4.0l and drop some serious coin to make it into something scary Congrats on buying a gem. I'd also suggest a clear bra.

I'd be a lot more comfortable buying a 996 with 64k than one with 4k. And $43k would buy a very nice 996TT.

$8k for an IMSB?! WTF? CB, I have two words for you--Daily Driver. It's what 911's should be and what 996's virtually MUST be. Get an Indy mechanic to change the IMSB (or ship it somewhere reputable) and then drive the hell out of it. Enjoy! TC

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Thanks, exactly around this time 8 days ago, I saw the car listed for sale the color combo, stick and cabrio made it for me. I have 3 Porsche dealers around my area sounds like a good idea to have another estimate The previous owner drove the car every week between 5-7 miles per week (sorry for using the word driving so improperly) which means the car never seat for long period of times, I have to find how much and Indy will charge to replace it. Thanks for the info, clear bra is coming next week, I have an unlimited miles warranty bumper to bumper until September 26 of this year, I'm going to drive it the next couple of months as much as I can, I made an appointment at a Porsche dealer to perform a multipoint inspection and change all fluids, except oil which it was changed last week along with the battery. After my warranty expires I will get the extended one and as miles go up slowly I will change parts as need it, RMS and IMS replacement as of today, I'm thinking to replace them when I get close to 20000 miles My original plan was to buy a 997 (years 2005-2009) because I like the headlights better than the 996. My ideal characteristics were Cabrio, stick shift, with black or gray interior and a black or dark blue color with no more than 45000 miles, price range between 42 to 50000. Finding a vehicle with my ideal characteristics I knew that was impossible, I almost take home a 2007 Carrera Interior: Black Exterior : Silver Transmission: 5-Speed Automatic with Tiptronic Mileage around 36300 I didn't do it just because the salesman was a complete jerk, car had 3 owners, clean carfax but not my dream car, eight days ago browsing for a Porsche around the evening hours, I found my new love which was newly listed one owner clean carfax with everything I was looking and more, so I said screw the headlights and then I bought it!! [QUOTE=AA717driver;11547773]$8k for an IMSB?! WTF? I know , I told the service advisor if it comes with a hot date with Maria Sharapova you can take my money He then starts laughing so I'm guessing it doesn't come with the date CB, I have two words for you--Daily Driver. It's what 911's should be and what 996's virtually MUST be. Get an Indy mechanic to change the IMSB (or ship it somewhere reputable) and then drive the hell out of it. Enjoy! Thank you, I'm driving it as much as I can right now!!!

Before start putting miles on it, I decided to take it to a Porsche dealer to get a through inspection and do the 3 year maintenance as suggested which will fit my miles and year of my car. Fluids were changed, transmission, brake, oil and filter also spark plugs, serpentine belt and cabin air pollen filter with the corresponding inspection.

Great looking car. I hope you drive it every day and enjoy it. The car will never appreciate in value, only depreciate, they are a dime a dozen, so there's really no reason not to drive it. Its like the guy who has a smoking hot girlfriend that he never screws, hes just saving her for the next guy.

Congrats, stay clear of the dealer when it comes to the IMSB.. Porsche is not interested in upgrading the bearing, so you will pay high dollar for the same problematic bearing from them. Go to LN Engineerings web site and look at approved installers near you. (or call them for a recommedation) The Indy shops that are certified to do the LN upgrade should have you fixed up for $1500

The original owner dropped about $80K depreciation on the ground. I wonder if he actually enjoyed his ownership "experience". Drive 'em! Its a car. relinuca

The car looks great and good luck, but too much $$$$ when you consider needing to replace the imsb and a complete tune up. Don't let the dealer take any more find a good independent to do all the work. You pretty much need a 60k service and transmission fluid replacement.

Help, Sound system!!!!! I have the original equipment which come with Nav I was looking at the manual and I don't see the option to load CD's anywhere else, I look at the hood and I didn't find a 6 CD changer just the amplifier, on the bottom of the Navigation I have 4 slots but the only thing they do is just to hold the CD's and when I placed the Navigation CD the system doesn't allow me to place more CD's which means I have to remove the Navigation CD in order to play the CD music instead, is that how it works? either you placed the Nav CD or the music CD? Thanks in advanced