What should he do?

OK, I have a friend who's wife has a 2000 Carrera 4. About a week or so ago she noticed the temp climbing, long story short, oil in the cooliant. Its at an indy shop now and they say they have to drop the engine to find out what's wrong but they're guessing it's shot. Crate motor replacement quote was in the $20K range. Here is the original sticker to show what the car has. I think he told me they added 18" stock Porsche wheels to it as well. I told him he could sell it as is, or get it fixed and sell it. I figure he could break even with a new engine installed, and that would obviously widen the appeal being that the market for a working car is broader than a non-working car, but I get the feeling he just wants to dump it. He's alreadt bought her a 2011 135i with an M package on it, so the 996 has to go regardless. Anyone out there care to take a stab at what his next move should be? Is there a market for "as is", or should he try to get it fixed? Can anyone speculate on a realistic cause and repair cost? The car has 115K on it.

That price seems somewhat high for a full motor replacement... but who knows? Questions like this have a lot more to do with an individual's finances, rather than some car-specific knowledge from one of us out here in internet land. But there would seem to be two choices: sell it for what it might bring (maybe 25% of value if you get lucky), or fix it and then either sell hoping to cover the repair cost or hang on to it. None of these is a happy solution.

My personal opinion is that since your friend has already bought the replacement vehicle and this one is ultimately gone from his inventory anyway, that he should check around with Porsche-specific dismantlers and sell the car as-is. My thinking is that by the time he replaces the motor and then sells the car within the current market, that he will end up with about the same amount of net cash in the end. I do want to point out that if it were my car I would get the new engine and keep the car another 10 years. That is because I can't buy a brand new Porsche or even a decent recent one for $25,000.

Is 25% of blue book the general starting point for a "non-runner"?

I have a 2000 C4 Cab that had intermix in 2008 at 50,000 miles.It was pretty bad, the coolant was like pudding and the oil like a chocolate shake, so it had been going on for some time before I found it (blinking coolant light was what tipped me off). Parked it for a few months and then dropped the engine in the spring of 2009. Started it disassemble it and found a cracked head, inner exhaust valve seat on cylinder #1, one of the most common sources of intermix. Spent about $1,000 on parts and $500 to have the head welded and a valve job. Plus my time. I now have over 66,000 miles and it is still running strong. Don't know if it will go 200,000 miles as the intermix was not good for the bearings, etc. but we will see. My point is that you should find out what the source of the intermix is before you spring for a new engine or part the car out. IMHO!

overheating & intermix means total disassembly to inspect main & rod bearings, cams & lifters etc. for wear