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YOUR RESEARCHFirst post... First 996.2 hopefully
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Use cars come
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Read evidence and context
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The car you are considering has half the miles but lightly/sporadically used cars come with their own disadvantages.
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Suggestion
If so, we will need to adjust our expectations for price...
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Suggestion · Original poster
My shops PPI is $450 and they recommend compression test and send a scope in engine to check for grooving I guess.
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Suggestion
Otherwise, always check the oil filter at change and enjoy the car.
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Suggestion
I will be changing the water pump this spring and always change the oil each spring and inspect the filter.
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I want some advice from you fellow obsessed enthusiasts. Looking at the following car:
2004 c2 coupe with 60000kms (so 40ish miles)
Original clutch, brakes, ims and maybe even water pump. It's been sitting for 4 months which is not good. Serviced regularly apparently but no records found.
Brakes are at 4mm no sensor on yet.
The clutch is pretty stiff compared to other 996s I've driven. Probably on its way out.
Owned by a rich guy who traded it in for a new luxury SUV. ...idiot.
I'm guessing I'll have to do ims retrofit and a few other things. I'm thinking about $4-5k to get it going.
My shops PPI is $450 and they recommend compression test and send a scope in engine to check for grooving I guess.
Anything else I need to consider? It's hard to justify buying a car for $30-35k and then have to drop another 5k into it. But I need to get a 996 so I can move on with my life. My wife is sick of hearing how badly I want it.
Any thoughts appreciated.
I have owned a '03 Targa for 7 years. It has 43,000 miles and original IMS, clutch, brakes, and even water pump. The car is not used during the winter but I do drive it to warm it up every month. I will be changing the water pump this spring and always change the oil each spring and inspect the filter. As long as you pass the PPI and change the water pump you should be fine. Any sign of a oil leak at the engine to transmission area or if the clutch is to be replaced, do the IMS. Otherwise, always check the oil filter at change and enjoy the car.
John
My $0.02:
If it passes PPI, and you can get it at a good price, buy the car. You will love it. Then, if you really feel that the clutch needs replacing, do the IMSB, clutch, water pump, plugs, AOS.
Otherwise, if you determine that the clutch feels fine, just change the various fluids, and enjoy the car. You can do the above items later.
Sounds like a car with investigating. Keep us posted.
Although you may feel like the first owner is an idiot, remember that those idiots take care of $50,000-$80,000 worth of depreciation for us...so cut 'em a little slack. If there were fewer rich idiots, there would be far fewer of us driving 996's.
This resonated with me - I recently bought an '04 C4S & these were strong motivators in the final purchase decision
That sounds like a very thorough PPI - maybe 3 hours of shop labor? I paid close to that but the shop only did a compression test, no leak down and no bore scope (they would have done both of those had the compression numbers been even slightly suspicious).
I'd also suggest having the shop pull the oil filter and examine it carefully for metallic particles - which would diagnose a current IMS issue.
I think the car is priced a little too high. Not sure where you are located (I'm in Seattle where the prices are generally a bit higher than the rest of the US) but I bought my '04 C4S with 80k miles for $24.5k, very well maintained but with similar needs to the car you are considering. The car you are considering has half the miles but lightly/sporadically used cars come with their own disadvantages.
Best of luck,
Michael
2004 C4S
You're buying it from the dealer who took it as a trade? If so that's good - they're more likely to negotiate on price than an owner. Try to find out what they would have given him for it as a trade and work from there. Since you mention km I assume you're outside the US so you'll want to find local sites like kbb and edmunds to get that info. Assume they gave him a value for his trade of "fair" to "good" and that they put a small amount of money to make it sale-ready.
Since there are no service records, you can only go by what the dealer tells you and that information is worth as much as a refrigerator in Antarctica.
If you are a Canuckian, this is not a bad range for an 04 C2, I would go:
$30k max as is, hence would start at $28k ;
$35K or less with all of those repairs done. Would start at $33k, if he is asking $35k.
You might be better off buying it as is as you'll control the quality of those repairs at an Indie you trust.
I would put $30k at the highest amount you should be paying for a 2004 C2. And then only if it's extremely nicely optioned to go along with its 40k miles. $35k I'd be looking at either 997's or 996TT's.
Thanks for all the replies and advice! (Including wife advice)
I am in Canada, so prices are a bit higher.
The car is well optioned. Sport seats, xenon, Psm, Bose, 18s my02s not sure if that was standard. Also suede roofliner, not sure if that was standard.
I'm going to negotiate down as much as I can. And then see if the PPI is good and go from there.
How hard/expensive is it to import one from the US? The options you describe do not sound exotic. Have you seen the option label to get a detailed inventory?
It's not particularly hard but it does get expensive. With the exchange rate right now, a US Car will end up costing about 20% more. Plus I like the 300km/h speedo...that's just me.
And it's true, none of the options are exotic, but it's a nice combination of the important ones to me.
Yeah I can see why seeing 300kph would be nice
On the options I just meant that they're fairly common so don't fall for the dealer saying they should command a premium. I definitely agree with picking the options that are important to you.
there was a number of $35-40k 996tt's for sale locally last season...I know because I am shopping for 2 budget 996TT's for people.... and yes they will be higher km's.
