2000 Porsche 911 Coupe

Hi, I'm thinking of buying a 2000 911 Coupe with 29k miles. It's a one owner car and has a lengthy list of maintenance receipts including the IMS Bearing upgrade. Clean car fax etc. No expense spared on this car. Then I read an article from a Road and Track writer who says the 996 is a cheaply made car that will be a money pit. He lambasts the engine and claims cheap parts were used and it's super expensive to repair. Says the car will never be collectible etc. I'm buying it to enjoy not because it's going to be collectible. I had a 2002 Boxster that was very reliable. Isn't the engine similar to the 996? And don't they share many similar parts? The car is beautiful to me but I certainly want a reliable Porsche that requires normal maintenance etc. I've also owned 2 air cooled Porsche's from the 1980s that were far inferior to my Boxster yet the Road and Track author is goo goo eyed over those models. Link to https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cul...e-collectible/ on the flip side this guy absolutely loves the 996. Link to https://www.autotrader.com/car-video...can-buy-266225 ​​Input please. Buy or don't buy?

Buy it and enjoy it. Yes, the Boxster 986 and Carrera 996 do share engine architecture, although in different displacements. Matter of fact, from the doors forward they are pretty much the same car. These cars are reliable if properly maintained, deferred maintenance is the source of many of the ills reported by 996 owners. Having said that, it is a fact that in the development of the 986 and 996, Porsche coordinated with Toyota to identify potential cost savings which translated into cheaper parts and/or processes. Anyway, don't listen to that R+T writer, that guy's a dic*! It sounds like you've found a real nice low mileage car, pull the trigger, life is short, you deserve it, treat yourself!

Buy it and drive it like you stole it. Very reliable engine as evidenced by my �n� of 1. My 02 Boxster S was my track mule for 10 years. I recently sold it and it was still running as well as the day I bought it. Oh and most of those track miles were done on a track known for tearing up cars, Sebring Raceway.

Its a used car. It can go well or sideways real quick. https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...e-failure.html Personally i think the engines suffer from garage rot and feel the low milage cars are the time bombs.

Go for it. The 996 is a great way to get into the Porsche community! Have fun learning how to do maintenance, then decide later if you want to get a newer 911, or an older (air-cooled) 911. I�ve done this, and the practicality keeps steering me to stay with the 996 model after 3 years of ownership. Anything else will be 2x, 3x and 4x the expense of the 996. You�re not buying the car for a lifetime, you can always get into another one down the road. Or maybe you keep it forever. 😎

i bought a 03 4s garage queen in 2019, 21k total miles, only 8k in previous 11 years. In 17 months i've added 18k spirited miles, pushing the car as hard as a street car can be pushed. No problems!! Will my luck run out?....possibly...but until then i'll maintain it properly and continue to drive it hard. 10x more enjoyment than i expected before buying it, and that's an understatement. One owner, well maintained, well documented....that's the best you can hope for. Only you can decide on your risk tolerance. Good Luck

If the price is right. Buy it and enjoy it.

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There have been some areas where corners were cut and costs saved on this car. We know all these areas now (IMSB, AOS, RMS, tensioner pads, HVAC foam, ignition switch, window regulators, etc). Otherwise, they are well built. Saving costs by having to share many parts with the Boxster is actually a good thing. Those cars are reliable too. If you want more peace of mind, you could have the cylinders scoped (top and bottom). While there are plenty of items that could cost thousands of dollars to fix, the bores, if worn, would require a full engine rebuild.

I'd be suspicious of low-mileage cars, but I've been reading these forums too long. Have an invasive (check the cylinders for scoring), thorough PPI and enjoy it. My car is a 2000 and it puts a smile on my face every time I drive it and I have had no issues. It doesn't even burn oil.

Y2K Syndrome!

It's a mix bag of low and high mileage cars that have issues. All we see is anecdotal evidence here when someone does have an issue, because they want to either share their story or find answers on what their next steps should be. I'd be curious to know the total number of 996's on the road that we don't hear about because the owners are not on a forum. Are there potential problems, yes, are there over 100K cars with no problems, yes. Such is life. I purchased mine with 23k, it now sits at 34k after about 3.5 years, so much of it's life is in the garage. Have had some small issues pop up but nothing that couldn't be done on my own. It's honestly been fantastic all the way around.

Buy the lowest mile, best maintained car you can afford. A low mile car that passes a proper PPI is always better than a high mile car. In less you wear a mask, while driving alone. Then, it really doesnt matter because you are afraid of your shadow and should by a Honda not a P car! Joking. 996 are great cars. Not all blow up and have problems but they are expensive to repair when things do go wrong. Good luck.

Ι bought my 996 many years ago from new and i still love it. I have only covered 47k miles but have enjoyed each one of them. I found that the porsche sports exhaust XLF and the Porsche sports suspension M030 RoW totally transformed my 03 carrera to a far more sportier and enjoyable drive. I would strongly advice for a suspendion and exhaust upgrade.These two options ought to be standard in the 996 carrera. I love my 996. Never had any issues or whatsover. Buy it without any hesitation and Enjoy it.

I've had my '99 for about 5 months and had a lot of the same questions you do. If you had a 2002 Boxster, you've already had all the same risks/issues you mentioned with the 996. From that perspective they're the same. I read that article when I was looking too. Many of the things he says are true. They did cut some costs and the engines can have issues with the IMSB and bore scoring. Same with the Boxster. There's a good chance they will never be collectible or appreciate to $40K+. But to tell you the truth, no one really knows jack **** about what will and will not be collectible :-) . It's even a crapshoot for professionals like Wayne Carrini. One of my parents' biggest regrets was selling their 64.5 Mustang. :-/ I don't think the 996 is a good choice as an investment type car but at these prices, you do have a lot of protection from depreciation. I considered a Boxster instead of a 996. What it came down to for me was that the Boxsters have the same maintenance costs as a 996 but they depreciate down to around $4K in running condition while a similar 996 would be closer to $12-$15K.

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You don't mention the asking price. If it passes muster and the price is less than $20k, it's probably worth serious consideration. I bought my 2000 C4 Cab w/90k miles on it a year ago for just $15k but have already put $5k in "required" (but not any serious mechanical) repairs to bring it up to snuff and another $2.7k for upgrades ($1.2k for different wheels/tires) and the rest for repairs that were not actually required or were due to problems that I caused. Even so, I'm only about $3k "upside down" on the car (based on an estimated KBB value of about $20k for the car in my area) but this will give you an idea of how much it takes to "maintain" this car, assuming that you cannot/do not do your own work. So, IMO if you don't have at least an extra $5-10k available to spend on the car in case something needs fixing, you probably shouldn't buy it. And, this doesn't even take into account if something "major" happens to the engine which will require replacement and another $10-20k to address, which even if a "rare" event , will not help you if your engine blows up for whatever reason. In that case, you should be willing/able to "lose" your entire purchase price for the car (less salvage/parts value) w/o worrying about it, assuming you don't want to or can't afford to fit it. Don't mean to scare you but this is a reality w/this car that you need to assess before you decide to buy one. Just trying to be "real" about it. Good luck!

Get a through PPI and if the engine looks good, buy it! Really almost anything else can be fixed by a decent DIYer. A lot of it can be done by a beginner DIYer. Suspension and brake work can be easily done, and doesn't have to cost a bunch either.

Regarding the Road and Track article by Jack Baruth, he clearly just doesn't like the 996 and especially the headlights. To each his own, but a personal dislike doesn't necessarily translate to valid buying advice. The market already proved him wrong regarding the 914-6. "N obody will be nostalgic about the 996-generation 911. It was an unloved interregnum between two round-headlight superstars." -- The funny thing is that at this point in time, it appears that people start to like the 996 more and more. That said, I don't think anyone should buy a 996 Carrera as an investment. But with decent maintenance and the absence of catastrophic engine failure, you are likely to be able to sell it for about the same price as you bought it for eventually. That's a lot better than most other cars.

You have already owned three Porsche vehicles, so you should know more about the Porsche driving experience, reliability and maintenance expense than most, including the R/T writer. For most of us both in and outside of forums, the 996 offers that experience with a low $$$ barrier of entry into the Porsche 911 family. The 2000 Porsche 996 you are considering sounds like a gem and I hope you go for it! /X3

Anytime you buy a 20 year old car you are rolling the dice. I just recently bought a 00 C4. Single owner, 60kmi, records going back to new with annual service up until 3 years ago, great shape and clean PPI with no type 2 revs. Got it home and the top stopped working. Fixed that and the drivers window regulator goes out. Hopefully that's going to be everything but... Part of the problem is you are not going to drive the car like the previous (or in my case only) owner and that is going to put some stress on the car. The previous owner didn't take the top down often so it doesn't surprise me I'm the one who had issues with it. So far it drives great and for the $$ (even with a few extra issues) is hard to beat. M

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That's a coincidence. The 1st two things (among others) that I did to my 2000 C4 Cab was to change the driver's side window regulator (because the window didn't drop & rise as it should) and had the hydraulics for the top serviced (top worked but dealer said it needed service; lines replaced and new fluid added). Actually pretty happy w/the car overall. Only problems w/it were caused by me. Long story posted elsewhere. It's just the niggling worry that the engine might blow up that causes me pause but when I drive it I forget all about it, especially when I really step on it. LOL!

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I found that article when shopping for my 996. I think it was meant to be read as part of a pair, with the follow-up/sister article being this one: The Case For Buying a Porsche 996.

The 2000 has double row IMS(or at least mine did). 2002 I believe is single row. Double row is far better in earlier 996s