Need opinion on 99 C2. Would you buy this car?

Looking at possibly buying a 1999 C2 in ocean metallic. (check out the link at the bottom of the post). Judging from the pics it has some cosmetic issues (seat is rubbed, some paint chips/rub marks, windshield chip, center glovebox is slightly loose). I would prefer to get silver or black just because of resale value, but he only wants $28500 for a car that has 41K miles. New tires at 35K miles ( Bridgestone Potenza RE750's) and new clutch at 30K miles.I really appreciate the knowledge that I've found on this board and want to get an idea if this is a reasonable purchase. Regarding the seat rub, is it possible to recover the seat or repair it through a leather shop? Is this a good deal? http://pages.sbcglobal.net/stream41/911/911.html

I've just spent about 6 months looking at lots of 911's from '01 to '04 so I've got a fairly good idea of what you can get for different prices. I don't know where you are located but I'm in the SF Bay Area and you can definately get a much better car for about $32-35K. Personally, I would rather spend a couple of thousand more and get a car I would be happy with. Of all the cars I've looked at, I've never seen one with that much seat rub and cosmetical issues. I looked at cars that had up to 68K miles that looked better. I guess it will all come down to what is most important to you. Do you want a cheap car that has issues and will be happy with that? Or you are prepared to fix it up? Or do you want a car for a little more that has been well taken care of? Only you can answer that.

Nah! You can do better.

its at $27,000 on Ebay I was looking at this car. I love the color. What am i missing here. You dont often see a 996 with under 60k miles for less then $30,000 This is a full leather car to boot. It looks like a great deal to me. I had never seen the cracking paint before though, thats not good.

Great price for what it is. It does look like heavy wear for the mileage. I might suggest some deeper digging. I agree with swede_matt that for a few bucks more you can get a cleaner car.

i say if it passes PPI with flying color... i would take it... offer a liitle less telling him that you need to fix the seat and the paint......great color combo....

I think it depends on how meticulous you are. If the scuffed seat and a few paint chips don't bother you, that could be a great car. If they do bother you, spend a little more to get something cleaner. Or if you're like me, you'll buy a car with a few blemishes, tell yourself it doesn't matter, and then go waste some money to get them fixed anyways two months later!

Buy it for 25K, fix the seat leather and the dings for another 1-2K and you have a great ride with low miles for very little dough.

Yep, that was basically my story. I bought a '00, same colour as this, for a decent price from a dealer. Spent a bunch of cash getting everything fixed up, but still had way less invested than it would have cost me to buy a >'02, plus the car has been gone over mechanically with a fine toothed comb now. The only advice I'd offer is to look at the car's colour in person. I think Ocean Blue is gorgeous, but it does change with the light. In low light situations, it looks like these pictures. In sun, it's a beautiful deep blue. But if the light is coming from the side, like at sunset or in the headlights of another car, it flips to purple. Not everyone's cuppa tea.

BTW, Is that a black interior or is it Metropol Blue?

looks black.... if so i like it.... if not... i don't know......

I have to admit I love the color as well. Keep in mind...I'm totally **** when it comes to my cars and get a heart attack for any little small blemish. If the plan is to do what Discoganya did then it sounds like a good plan. Good look with the purchase

Price doesn't get much better than that, but I've always felt that you can tell a lot about how much care was taken for a car by the little things. I saw the listing for this car and thought to myself, "what Porsche owner breaks his center console and decides to just leave it, not even fixing it in order to sell? If this is a reflection of his maintenance habits that car might be riding on 41k mile oil. I'd rather buy a car with 80k miles and a maintenance history than 40k and looking raggedy. Just my 2.

I saw this car listed several months ago when he wanted $29,900. He is the 2nd or 3rd owner, is relatively young (young 20's if I recall), and says he had a great relationship with the local dealer, though he didn't say how he built that relationship. Could be the car needed work, but I didn't ask him that. I passed on this one - there are too many really nice examples for 30-32k with more options and without the flaws this one has. Can anyone explain how the paint cracked like that in several spots?

The only time I have ever seen paint "crack" like that was on plastic parts that were bumped or stressed somehow- wierd- like the color though!

I read somewhere that you can switch the instrument cluster out on the 996...for example if you have a 996 w/high miles you can switch it for one that you bought off ebay that has...say 40,XXX miles. Make sure you have a PPI done and have them check the OBDII computer. I think it lists the actual milage to make sure it is correct. Can anyone confirm this? If all checks out with the PPI, it seems like a killer deal. Good luck.

The bothersome thing about any of these transactions is trying to figure out the real story on the car, especially when you're buying from the third owner. We all tend to be guarded as buyers and with good reason. The worn seat doesn't go with a 41000 mile car, at least in my experience. So if you can get the real story and it is in fact accurate milage and you get a PPI that you're satisfied with then sure, go for it. But if the story doesn't add up I'd run away from it. Maybe the owner weighs 300 lbs or something like that and he killed the seat?

the car is not cheap. do u have carfax? post it here. the "paint chip" is from accident for sure. you need to check if anything else is damaged, i hope not, that's what bumper is for anyway.

The only times I have seen paint chip like that was over plastic filler - my bet is this 911 has had paint work. However the driver's seat looks like it can be refurbished - as long as it's not a tear-through. All-in-all: keep looking if this car will be an everyday driver, but could be a good track car if it has a good PPI and you can get it in the low $20k's or less. I agree with Dave S, finding the real story on a three-owner car is nearly impossible; most of the time, the best we can do is inspect the car and listen to what it tells us. I wouldn't let a clean Carfax influence more than 5% of my final decision.

I sold my '99 Oean Blue 996 with aero and 44k on the clock for a little over 30k, it was in much better conditiion than that car keep looking you can do better.

Thanks everyone for your help! I've also learned that the wheels and rims had been replaced partly because the previous wheels were warped and would vibrate at higher speeds. Sound kindof odd though. Even though its decently priced I'm going to have to pass on this one.