Need advice, looking at 996 Turbo S in WA

Hi everyone -- I am very interested in purchasing my first Porsche, and am very interested in a 996 Turbo coupe MT. I've been monitoring ads for quite a while, and I keep coming back to a 2004 Turbo **S** that is located on the opposite coast from me. (I am in Maryland, this is in Washington State). I was wondering if folks might be willing to take a look at this car listing and give me any impressions you might have on it? Listing here, from a Nissan dealer From the Carfax I can see an accident reported in 2012. It also seems to have 997 Turbo wheels on it. On the good side the miles are low, and it's the rarer "S" model (so a steel brake conversion might be in its future).. Does anyone have any impressions of this listing you could please share that might help me out? Thoughts on price.. etc? I'm thinking about flying out to see it. Thanks

Have them take it to the nearest Porsche dealer and ask for a pre purchase inspection. As you've mentioned it doesn't have stock wheels which is a bummer (to me at least) Its possible they're factory 997 wheels but also very possible they may be low quality knock offs). The car already has steel brakes. The 996 turbo S did not automatically come with PCCB so thats not a worry (actually a positive if you ask me). Other things I notice from the pictures are the lcd display for the air conditioning controls is going out (not a huge deal, it will still function properly, you may just not know the exact temperature its set too), non factory approved tires, clear corner side markers (looks much better than the stock amber, especially on arctic silver) and there seems to be some kind of after market button the dash to the right of the steering wheel (pictures 10 possibly for radar or something). In my opinion the car is a beaut. Low mileage! Manual! Interior looks clean and is mostly leather not the crappy wood or carbon that some cars had. Possible things that could be wrong that I would look out for...Leaks from the rear spoiler hydraulics, issues/leaks with the clutch assist system, clutch pedal feel, leaks from the front CV boots or axle flanges, window regulators, ignition switches and get the service history.

PTEC, thanks for this super helpful reply (and also for catching on that I was mistaken about the brakes). I'll post back if I take any action on the car. The 997 wheels are really bumming me out-- that's something I'd want to change.

Climate control screen is defective. Claims to have GT3 brakes, which would be 6-pot front calipers. I can't tell from the pictures. That's several thousand to install. Silver/black is the most common color combo. Nothing wrong with that. Wheels certainly seem to be 997. That would make them 19", which is not so great on a 996 imo. The original Turbo Twists show up frequently for about a grand a set. Pricing seems to be on the slightly high side of average. Not stated in the ad, lots of Turbo S had the X50 package (was standard on 2005's) which gives 30-odd more HP at the expense of longer spool times. If it is an X50 car then it's priced very well, as X50 seems to add 3-4k. Might post over in the turbo forum, too.

Keep in mind this is a Nissan dealer selling this car. The have no clue about anything when it comes to this car. The listing says it’s GT sliver. It’s not GT silver it’s arctic silver. Im also relatively certain there is nothing upgraded about the brakes, they look stock to me but it’s hard to tell in pictures. I’m 99.9% sure every turbo s came a standard X50 power kit but you won’t find X50 on the build sheets. The more I look the more certain I am that those are not factory wheels and are knock offs. Also another I just noticed is the car appears to have sport seats. Awesome car I think

Maybe this will help? No X50 and is it even an true "S" model?

Have the suspension looked at by a Porsche Shop. I'd bet the wheel change is do to an accident that may have bent more than the wheels...

The climate control screen is not very $$ and a fairly easy repair. https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?...jbQAa1qcQz9Fqc

All good points, thanks.. rael, thanks for the options list. Is it possible the X50 option wasn't listed on a Turbo S because it was "standard", or do you think it's a misbadged non-X50 turbo?

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Not sure. Here is the build sheet from the 2005 Turbo s that just sold on Bring a trailer last week. It does not list the x50 option either but the title says "s". Build sheets are all over the place depending on year and a few other factors.

I thought Turbo S was only made in 05, granted they were the left over 04�s being upgraded.

In '05 the Turbo S had X50 and ceramic brakes included. I though a Turbo S was available in '04, too, and did not automatically include X50 and PCCB though I could be wrong. Either way the price on that build sheet is far too low for a factory Turbo S. X50 was a $25k option so it's unlikely to have X50 either. Owners swap rims to 19's all the time so it's probably not crash damage that caused the wheel swap. Shame, too, because the GT3 wheels it came with are really nice.

Wouldn't a Turbo S have the Turbo S graphic on the Tachometer?

Porsche of Bellevue is literally across the street from that dealership, so it would be very easy to have the PPI done there. That Nissan dealer always has high end cars like that since it's in a high-income part of town.

I don't think it's an X-50 car after all. The dealer was nice enough to send me a picture of the options sticker and there's no X-50 anywhere on it. I am very bummed about that. :/

I think someone just added an S badge to the back. No other evidence that this car is an S, dealer is even just advertising it as a a regular turbo. Also wheels don�t have the offset and width cast in beside the valve stem so they are definitely replicas.

Don't be bummed about the lack of X50, a simple tune gets you far beyond X50 power with better spoolup times.

It's not too far from me, I might be able to help with going to take a look at it. If its located in Bellevue then its not far from Chris' German, they would be a great place to take it for a ppi.

thebutterson-- thanks for that kind offer. I think I am going to pass on this particular car-- the experts here have been super helpful. The search continues! For what it's worth -- I did find this Nissan dealer to be very responsive and willing to help so, if someone else may be interested, Saul seemed like a nice guy to work with.

http://howtoporsche.com/911-series/9...r-and-version/ According to this site, only two Turbo S Coupes were produced in 2004 compared to 598 in 2005.

Hi, Would you all mind giving your .02 on another 996 for me? This one is highly modified by a reputable tuner-- curious your impression on it. Assuming the buyer is comfortable with a modified car, do you see any red flags? (red seats != red flag, lol) Link is here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/2003-Porsch...xbUexq&vxp=mtr Thanks! =)

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This. Before purchasing my 996TT I looked at one at a Mercedes dealer locally. On the test drive while getting on the freeway the car started smoking so bad I thought it was on fire, I'm talking "tire fire plums of smoke" stuff here. Nursed it back to the dealership, found out a week later their "service technician" way over filled the oil.

Glad you passed on the first one. I did too. Its been advertised for at least about a month now. And, its $10k above some comparable cars that are real x50. The second car is not "higly modified", those are all mild things most Turbo owners have done or want to/will do. I see only positives with that one. Also, yes, you can get a stock turbo to make more power then a stock x50 with just a tune but you can tune an x50 and be around 515, 520hp which you can't get out of a none x50 car with just a tune. Not to mention you already have the larger intercoolers with x50. Doesn't really matter tho... on paper only. $17 to $25k more when new, now only 3-4K more. Most people do hybrid turbos anyways to be more linear, reduce lag and spool up quicker/full boost at lower rpm's, better on the street. Bigger intercoolers are cheap, relatively speaking. Exhaust always get swapped out anyways too.

Hi Michaelik, thanks for the feedback - Out of curiosity is there a "best" web listing site you've been using to find 996s for sale? I think I've covered most but maybe there's a 911-specific one I don't know about. I've been using Cars.com, Autotrader, eBay, Craigslist, and Autotempest. I monitored BringaTrailer for a while but I don't think I want to pay their premiums. Thanks

@rockos13, you are on the right track. BAT is over rated and over priced. Ebay is over priced and sketchy. I think CL and Autotrader are the best. Be patient. It may take you a year or longer to find the right car, thats normal and OK. Check CL in Florida (lots of retired old guys selling off cars) and the Phoenix, Scottsdale, Messa area....where fast cars go to die (also lots of retired old guys... there is a reason all the car auctions are there). CL in Cali is also good.