Better deal?: High miles w/ PM servicing, or lower miles and no PM?

Hypothetical: Let's say you have two 996's, identical model and year and price. Which would be the better deal (or, at least, which would you choose): Car A: Approx. 50k miles. No known issues, but no IMSB upgrade, no RMS replacement, original plugs, water pump, hoses, etc. Only "normal" servicing such as oil changes. Car B: Approx. 100K miles. But: Recent servicing: LN IMSB upgrade, new RMS, new water pump, new AOS, new plugs, new hoses and belts/chains, new brakes and rotors, etc. (replacement of "typical" wear items). I thank you in advance for your most sage and venerated opinions.

Personally, I'd buy the lower mileage and have the PM work done on it.

I would go for the lower mileage car also, especially at the same price point, and get the PM work done myself.

Normally I'm a higher mileage, more maintenance kind of guy, but that's because I expect a lower price due to mileage. If they're the same price then I go with the lower mileage. I guess my question is why are they the same price?

I'd buck the system on this one. I'd go for the higher mileage example. If you don't turn your own wrench then the work left to be done will cost at least 5k. IMO, you would only need to ask a 996 owner whose engine went kaboom which car he would choose. Unfortunately, owners who loose engines and have to pay for a new one usually dump the car.

Without knowing the asking prices hard to say. I would prefer the first car. But it would have to pass a thorough test ride/drive road test and a PPI with no signs of any fluid leaks, etc. Also, services would have to be current and not just made current before the sale but a history of regular and timely services. I'm not a big fan of PM. There's the question of the quality of the work. What if any warranty there is on the work. And why after all of the work is the car now for sale? That kind of PM suggests the owner intended to keep the car forever and now the car is for sale? What gives?

Thanks for the input, guys (maybe some gals too?) OK, here's my logic (perhaps flawed): Car A, although in good condition, will eventually be needing essentially all of the items that were already replaced on Car B. And, with no IMSB upgrade, Car A wouldn't allow me to sleep as well at night. (I know, I know, IMSB issue may be overblown, but it is what it is). AS far as the other items go with Car A, personally, I would rather replace things such as a water pump on my schedule, rather than on its schedule (like when it blows somewhere out in the middle of nowhere). The reason they are the same price, is that one simply has low miles but no PM work. So, the low miles raises its value. Whereas the other has high mileage, but the PM work raises its value. The PM work offsets the mileage. Again, if you knew nothing more about the two cars than the mileage, the lower miles one seems to be the obvious choice. But, having had so many "wear" items serviced/replaced on the higher mileage one seems to equal out their value to the buyer. And, the IMSB issue has been addressed, too. I think I would want to do the IMSB upgrade right away on Car A. Certainly, there would be a bunch of other small stuff found during that process, so Car A would end up costing more than Car B, after that work was done. Seems to me that the higher mileage one makes more $$ sense, when you factor in all the PM work.

I'd go for the higher mileage car all else being equal. I'd wager it'd be cheaper to own in the long run.

But after you put in all that work in Car A it will be worth a lot more then car B with having all that work done and half the miles. So in the long run Car A is a better choice.

Cuda911, I understand what you're thinking here, but I don't feel that all the PM work is equal to 50,000 miles in value. How many miles have been put on since the PM work on car B? Keep in mind, that's not just 50,000 more miles on the engine alone. That's 50,000 more miles on everything, the interior, switches, electric window and seat motors, etc. You can see where I'm going with this. I would still pick the lower mileage car and get the PM work done myself. That way you know that the work was done and most importantly, done by someone you trust.

Thought you should consider mine for sale since in CA: http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/a...oem-parts.html But not sure if looking for cabriolet.

In an ideal world, the PM items will have been performed and all of the service records would be available, so the mileage wouldn't matter as much because you can read the records and see what was done when, what's due for attention soon, etc. If a solid service history is not available, I'd pick a car that is as close to stock as possible, without really caring about the mileage. I would rather catch up on the deferred maintenance items myself than have to guess a) when they were performed and b) if they were performed as PM or because the previous part failed. For example, an AOS might have been replaced as PM because it was old, or it might have been replaced after the previous owner shut down the freeway with clouds of burned oil and coolant. My 996, in spite of having loads of very nice body and suspension upgrades, was bone-stock mechanically, right down to the coolant cap. After today (AOS), I will have replaced the items we now know to be PM items for the 996, including water pump, IMSB, AOS, coolant tank cap, etc.

id go car B...all work is done so go drive it and enjoy it without worries. car a will need all that work done anyway...who cares if it increases the value UNLESS you are looking to buy, do PM, then flip. its at the age and miles when work will start to be needed.

Doing the PM work will not increase the value of the car - at least not appreciably. Car A is worth more because it has fewer miles. IMS bearing is like installing a swimming pool - might be your favorite investment of all time, but you're not gonna see that money ever again.

Quotes source post: 10654046

So by that logic KK's car will be valued somewhere close to $50k by the time he sells it?

LOL ^^^^ In the long run something with half the miles and same PM work will have more value

Thanks again, all, great feedback!!! Very much appreciated! OK, so , here's why I posed the question (I didn't want to bias your answers at the start): I bought an '03 C2 with 101,000 miles on it. I had two different mechanics (both Porsche specialists) do independent PPIs. Both found no real issues, just some minor stuff. Immediately after buying it, I took it to my local Porsche indy guy and had all the PM work done. My mechanic went through the car very thoroughly, and replaced the items mentioned above, along with a bunch of odds and ends here and there... Again, I emphasize, I did the vast majority as PM, not because there were any issues. For example, even though the water pump seemed fine, I have had enough water pumps fail on me over the years to know that I wanted it replaced. I know, many will say "do it yourself". I would love to, but I don't have the extra garage space for a torn-down car. And, the main reason is that my business keeps me extremely busy. I can earn the amount needed to let a pro do it way easier than I can justify the time to let a relative amateur (me) do it. (I do have lots of experience tearing down various engine components and rebuilding, but not on a Porsche... mostly Fords and MOPAR, and my '03 Turbo VW Beetle - that I let my daughter use). Also, my mechanic found a few little items I may well have missed if I did the work myself. The car runs fantastic! I am super happy with my mechanic's work, and I love driving the car (a daily driver for me). Now, I realize that in the real world, there is no way to recoup the value of the PM work if I were to sell it. A 50K car will always have a price premium over a 100K car. But, since I plan to KEEP the car, it seems that for the same money, I ended up with a car that I know has been thoroughly inspected, repaired, and, serviced. Even if I sell it eventually, at least for now I feel more comfortable knowing that it is highly unlikely that I will have the dreaded IMSB failure to deal with. I'm thinking of adding a 997 TT to the collection in a year or two, so am starting my generalized search now. So, I'm trying to refine my search criteria. I will probably look for a super-low mileage TT, and go a very different direction from the "logic" I used for the 996. TT is a very different engine, of course. But, I really wanted some feedback from the Rennlist group, since there are so many excellent and varied opinions. Thanks again! EDIT (I forgot to address this comment): Yes, a very excellent point. I figure if any of the "little stuff" fails it's not going to kill my finances to just get them fixed. But, I will keep my fingers crossed that the car will have few of those issues. Most of those, I can easily fix myself for just the cost of parts.

Fifty thousand miles is a BIG number. Maybe if car "B" had 75k on the clock I'd opt for car "B" but for me 50k is 5 years of driving, possibly more. If I were to access a dollar value to each 10k of mileage it would be between $2k and $4k. That's $10-$20k of added value I'd tack on to the 50k mile car. More than enough to perform all the maintainance tasks you described.

I think that a higher mileage car is interesting because it will generally have a lower selling price, and often the major issues have been addressed. This isn't always the case, but you can certainly find cars where it is the case. That being said, I also believe there is a point where the wear and tear on a higher mileage car and the associated costs outweigh the benefits mentioned above. So what's the magic number? I have no idea. I think every car and every deal is a little different. I would have no problem buying a 996 with 100,000 miles on the odometer if it was properly maintained and the key issues had been addressed.

Quotes source posts: 10656070, 10656115

You must have fallen and hit your head..... +996 To the OP, Take a look at my sig, you can see that I have had all the PM done as well. A car with 100K (mine just hit 60K) would truly benefit from tow additional non PM items: A new suspension (made my 8 year old car (in 2011) feel like it was brand new and removed the 4x4 look. You can get a brand new factory Porsche M030 Rest of World (ROW) suspension from Suncoast Porsche for just over $1K. It's about $900 to install if you don't want to do it yourself. That includes new swaybars, bushings, 4 new springs and 4 new struts. And New motor mounts. Easy to do by yourself in about an hour. No doubt your 10 year old 100K mounts have seen better days...

Mileage aside, people often overlook the time and environment aspect as well. If a car was used in Nevada and sat there for 10 years, the wear on the rubber parts could be different than a garaged car in NC. (think faded paint, dash cracks, accelerated wear on various interior pieces, window moldings, headlight/taillight gaskets, etc which are all time/environment derived rather than mileage) I'm currently facing this aspect with one of my other cars where the rubber trim is starting to deteriorate to allow some leaking to occur(both air and water). A 12yo car my friend brought back from AZ is suffering a lot of leaking in various engine gaskets due to the cooler weather and worn out rubber components as well.

Good suggestions on the suspension and motor mounts. I did replace the control arms and tranny mount, but should budget in some add'l suspension work. I would like it lowered a bit I can do the motor mounts myself, so will take care of that, too. I'd also love to toss in a Fabspeed, but hard to justify that cost for this particular car. I've still been trying to figure out, relatively, how big 50 K miles is on a 996. Certainly, for my Cuda, that was a huge number. But, for my Subaru, it's pretty inconsequential. This is a Southern California car. It spent most of it's life in Torrance/Palos Verdes area, so has never seen road salt or extreme weather (an "extreme" winter day in Torrance is 55 degrees F, and an "extreme" summer day is 85 F). The interior is pristine, other than some normal wear on driver's bolster. I read tons of posts in the forums, from all forum sectors. A fantastic learning experience! When I get the TT, I'll definitely go for a car with less than 50K on the odo.... I'll just be patient until the right car pops up. When I got the 996, I figured I'd be all set, but these P cars quickly become addicting.