Choices! What to buy, what to buy...

Hello all! LONG time lurker, finally taking taking the plunge into 996 ownership. I have a small dilemma. I've the choice between two cars: 1: 1999 C2 coupe, Zenith Blue. 85000 miles. Rebuilt title, repaired in 2003. Car is solid though needs paint overall. Has Aero side skirts and GT3 replica front bumper. New tires, runs VERY well. Grey interior need a DEEP cleaning.Present owner has a lot of money and drives it when he feels like it. He's done work to it as well including coul packs, window regs, etc. He fixes it when necessary. I can get it for $12.5k USD. Built 12/98 2: 2000 C4 convertible, midnight blue, tan interior. 144000 miles. 3rd owner, clean title. Present owner has had it for 8 years. Always garages, has put 10000 miles on it since he got it. MAintenance up to date. New top installed, water pump, 4 Bilstein struts, tires, new 3 spoke steering wheel...interior is mint. Haven't driven it yet, I kinda know the owner. I can get it for $15.5k USD. The 99 needs work. The 2000 I can drive away with. I'm torn. Thoughts? I can't buy both btw EDIT: I just got the build sheet for the C4...it's FULLY loaded. The 99 is bare bones, no LSD even. and added pics!

Personally, the '99 sounds more appealing to me. For one, I'm not a convertible fan. But aside from that, the '99 might have a rebuilt title, but the mileage is lower and it sounds like it has some minor modifications that I would want to do anyway. At that price the salvage title wouldn't bother me.

A lot depends on whether you want a coup or convertible. Much different driving experiencing in my opinion. You should also factor in maintenance cost in you decision to buy one of these costs. If you have that budgeted and expected will make the owning experience much more enjoyable and stressful. All things being equal i would pick the best condition car i can afford as a starting point. Doesnt guarantee anything but the odds are just better.

between those choice I would buy the 1. coupe 2. cheaper car all day long no question. at that price the title doesn't matter

I'm actually open to both overall. I will absolutely not track any of my cars, I do plan to put about 6-7000 miles per year on it in the nice seasons (it will sleep for 5 months during the winter). The coupe will need A LOT aesthetically including complete paint, that's for sure. No rust though VERY rough on every panel. The cab is ready to go as-is, albeit higher mileage. This is why I'm so torn!

just make sure you spend 1500$ on a boroscope and PPI before you buy it

Even a half way decent paint job is going to make the cost of the coupe much more than the cab.

For me it would be the coupe all day long... except paint is a big investment! Offer $10k flat as a decent paint job (I�d do zenith blue again that way they can probably do it without removing glass and entire interior) is going to run you $6-8k (without glass/full interior removal)...my $.02

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Yep, and I have close friends in the business and it will still cost me $3-4k for paint. And it really needs it. I know these cars handle mileage well when they're maintained, The mileage on the cab is holding me back in that one, and it's the paint/salvage title holding me back on the C2.

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I agree, and even why I'm considering the coupe still. The paint would be relatively easy. Prices on both cars are very firm though.

996.1 all day every day IMO. It probably has limited slip and cable throttle as well. And personally, I like .1 headlights 20x more than .2....but that's just me.

100% buy the vert, it is the logical choice. And BTW where is the coupe located....... In other words, I'd go for the coupe.

I would buy the coupe. Even with the rebuilt title, it sounds like a steal in today�s market

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They're both 996.1 thogh (at least...I'm in agreement1). The C2 does not have LSD on the build sheet, I didn't verify cable throttle actually.

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Both will have e-gas. A cable driven throttle was available on the C2 in 99. Here's the deal... get yourself a pre-purchase inspection by a retable Porsche shop in your area. Make sure they run tests for camshaft deviation, rough running index, manometer (AOS), and of course, scope the cylinders to rule out cylinder bore scoring.

Coupe and then drive the **** out of it. Get it wrapped if you don't want to spend the money on a good paint job.

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Thought of that, though paint for me will cost not that much more than a wrap. I'm really on a see saw here

Just based on some recent posts here in the last few weeks - find out why that water pump was replaced on the C4.

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Good point! And this is where the mileage question on the 4 Cab makes me hesitate. I'm going to ask him now...BRB.

So the C4 Cab was built in the second half of 1999, so an early car. In service date was Jan 20, 2000 and it was invoiced to the dealer Dec. 27, 1999.

Owner says water pump was leaking externally. As well, the coupe has (nice) 17" aftermarket wheels with new Chinese tires. The cab has 18" OEM Classix with recent Contis I believe. EDIT: I just remembered the coupe needs a windshield technically as it's cracked at the bottom corner. It's completely out of the field of vision and we don't have inspections to deal with here, though it is cracked indeed.

Are you a coupe or cab person? Both have there appeal. Personally I would not buy a Porsche from a friend, especially if your married. A ppi is recommended but with old cars, today and tomorrow can be way different.

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It's someone I worked with long ago, not close at all. As for PPI, I'm going to do a basic check on a lift and that's it precisely because the car can poop its shorts from one day to the next anyway And the coupe and cab really do eachhave their merits. I love them both.

Go for the 99 coupe. Get a PPI done in stages. First check for the obvious things, then have the shop drain the oil and check the insides of oil filter. Plastic and metal bits? Walk away. Just a few small plastic bits? Could be variocam pad or chain pad material. Shiny metal bits in the oil? Walk away. All clear? Check cam deviations with PIWIS (or whatever Porsche diagnostic tool the shop uses). All good? Then consider dropping the oil pan and check for scored cylinders. I bet the car will need some attention, as any 22 year old car would. If the motor appears healthy then roll out $10G cash and buy the car. At that price just drive it. You'd be amazed at how good paint could look with a random orbital polisher and lots of elbow grease.

Here are pics of each The coupe looks WAAAAAAY better in pics...in person each panel is bad.

And a poll is sort of silly with this group as we are all race car drivers that need that extra rigidity for that .0000754 savings in speed. Joking of course.

By the time you’re done, either car will be a $20,000 car. Whichever has the strongest motor (1), and least tired suspension (2). Then drive the snot out of the thing. Every. Single. Day.

You will have problems with either one, but far less problems with the coupe. The cab top is complicated and expensive to repair. See threads on here all the time about issues with the cab top, hydraulic cylinders, and it just plain not working. Why I voted for the coupe. Buy and send it to a good detail shop. Porsche paint holds up extremely well.

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Yeah, I plan to drive it as much as possible the 7 months per year there's no snow . I don't want a show queen, I want a driver. That's why I'm not so picky with overall aesthetics.

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The top on the cab has been replaced recently, so I'll assume all the rest is in good working order (assume... ). The issue with the paint on the coupe is that it's not original...has been (badly) sprayed. I will definitely try to wet sand and correct as much as possible before committing to full paint as I have pals to help me out with that. If I go the coupe way.

That wing on the coupe looks out of place .

Are those rear fenders on the coupe factory?

Coupe. Boscope, ppi blah blah blah. It's $12.5k if it blows a roller is worth around 7k. Oh yeah the likely hood it does low. Parrots. OP actually don't buy it give me the number I will.

I bucked the majority and voted for the C4 Cab. Aside from my convertible preference for coastal and mountain drives, no matter how much you fix up the coupe having a rebuilt (salvage in CA) title, that is what it will always have, a rebuilt stigma. The cab will offer pride of ownership. With 144k miles get it checked out but if the engine does implode to any degree with a bit of your own low level DIY work, you could have it rebuilt for $10-12k. After this spend and if it truly is "minty" you might be close to even money. That's worst case but best case if it is as well cared for as it looks, and keeping it that way, you could get many more miles out of it without major expense. Not a fan of the "4" though, might even remove it until ready to re-sell.

Is there a third choice?

Okay, so just did a quick inspection on the coupe. Clean overall underneath, one tie rod boot torn and will need it eventually. There is a major, long time oil sweat/leak on the motor, more driver's side. Hopefully the oil separater and not the RMS...no drops on the floor ever according to the present owner. The car runs PERFECTLY though, and is super solid.on the road.

If you decide on the rough one be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel, you�re gonna need it. 😎 Good luck!

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Already started watching I also work at a car dealership now and have run a couple shops in the past...I'm luckier than most as I have a number of techs at my disposal. I also have a few cars so I would never be in a real hurry for the car back should it break down. I'm still contemplating...the coupe really is sticking in my mond though even though it's rougher. It drove REALLY well.

12.5K... Ummm - what's the question ? You say it drives great - if the suspension pickup's are in the right spots and everything electrical works, I'd be all over that. For a keeper car, I don't really care about the salvage title. And for the price you're getting in at, doesn't even really matter for resale. You could part it out for more than 12.5K.

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Yep, it really does drive amazingly well! The accident repair was done in 2003 so it's been rolling a long time. As well, the cab was pulled off the market as the owner has decided to keep it. Looks like I'm getting the coupe after all! I should have it before the weekend...I'll make a new purchase post and showcase what I'll be doing to it!

So the deed is done. I am officially the owner of a the coupe. Was fun to read all the comments, and I'll make a proper introduction post very soon!

Most excellent!

So, car 1 gets maintained when it�s broken, has a rebuild title, rough paint, rough all around. Car 2 is well maintained, great shape, upgraded and replaced parts, well maintained and stored, with clean title. Seems like a no-brainer to me. New top alone is more than the $3000 difference in price. Let alone suspension +

If I wanted a convertible I"d get a Boxster. 911 would always be a hardtop for me. Have fun and post some pics of the paintjob (or wrap)

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As per post 40 above, the owner of the cab decided to not see the car. He was looking at a Corvette and finally didn't like it (no surprise there ). Put a number of miles on the coupe and is running like a top. I'm having my esthetics guy here at the dealer give the interior a deep cleaning and restore the headlights...I'll post my thread after that with before and after pics!