Possibly buying first Porsche in 2 days

I was the first to reply to this ad: https://waco.craigslist.org/cto/d/wa...817175656.html Looking at it Wednesday morning. Been lurking on here and avidly reading about 996s for the past few months. Wasn't ready to jump on anything and then found this deal. Feel like I could fix a few things, drive it for a while, and turn it around without getting hurt. What I really want is a Coupe (backseat room for kids), but you can't be too picky when scraping CL for deals. I'm curious if anyone knows how to validate the crate motor from Porsche. It would have been replaced in ~2015. He's looking into contacting the shop that did it in GA for some evidence. I'm curious what kind of IMS bearing a crate motor from that timeframe would have. No PPI planned. I'm fairly mechanically inclined and have done just about everything short of rebuilding a motor. Watched a few PPI videos and will print out a few checklists to make sure I hit the critical items. Overall, just looking for any feedback or suggestions before I head down Wednesday morning to check it out. For future reference (when the ad goes down): for sale: 2000 Porsche Carrera Convertible Good: - Motor was swapped for a brand new motor around by previous owner around 65k miles. IMS bearing and common mechanical failures for iteration have been taken care of. - Mechanically the car is in incredible shape. Engine sounds and runs like new (it is essentially!). All gears are tight and clutch is perfect. No check engine light and recently had the rear tires replaced and the car aligned. - 6 Speed manual transmission for that real driving experience. - Interior looks great for nearly 20 years of service. Driver seat has some minor upholstery tears but is still comfortable and form fitting. Rear seats are like new. Soft top has no tears or damage. Sound is pretty good for an older vehicle, and wheel only has one small wood trim piece that has come free. - Clean title in hand, and car is priced to sell. Record of maintenance I've had done is included. - Never been crashed or bumped, mostly garage kept, and no body damage to speak of. Car is clean and looks fantastic after a detail. - Brand new battery and brake light switch per routine maintenance checkup. The "rough around the edges": - Biggest concern is the convertible top has a leaking hydraulic cylinder and as such the roof is currently stable in the "up" position. I have a quote in hand for repair for the leaking cylinder at ~$1100, and replacement of both cylinders at ~$1400. I'm happy to refer you to the mechanics where I was quoted, but wanted to allow buyers to use their trusted mechanic. - Passenger side muffler tip was damaged and has fallen off. Any nearby muffler shop should be able to throw a new one on an pretty affordable price. - Some switches on dash are out of service, but the key lock system works perfectly. - Drivers side rear floor mat needs to be replaced. Why I'm selling: - I'm moving and don't have room for second vehicle, and I recently upgraded to a newer sport luxury car. - I'm sure someone can love this car as much as I have and have just as much fun driving it. Other info: - The car is priced to sell. I'm not desperate or in a rush, but would like to see it go to a good home. - The car values out for private sales at $12,500 on KBB, and I have come down 2k to accommodate the top and muffler repair. - Must have cash in hand for a test drive. Reach out to me with questions and I can provide any other information.

I would walk away from this one, too many odd things in the ad. " Some switches on dash are out of service," - Which ones exactly? " No check engine light" - Why state that? Probably because it was on recently, and he had if fixed, or disabled somehow. Crate motor - need to know who this was purchased from and who put it in. Like I said at the beginning, walk away from this, there's lot's better out there.

Engine serial number will tell you if it was a factory replacement. It will start out: M96/01 AT AT means it was a factory replacement engine. The IMS bearing from that time would have been the larger non-replaceable one. It is suggested that you remove the seal from the bearing next time you're in there. Switches out might not be a big deal. My defroster is out and I just haven't gotten around to fixing it. If PSM isn't working, or AC controls, or...? then it might be a big deal. The price doesn't seem too bad though depending upon mileage and condition in person. I'm a coupe guy too. I would probably pass it up because of that reason. I don't like the extra road noise and I hate driving with the top down. I don't really like the looks of the hard top either.

Get the serial # on the motor. Underneath drivers side. Google it for location if u need. Then post it here, I'm sure someone can decipher it. I'm sure one of top 5 questions buyers ask is if any check engine lights on. It gets annoying.

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Good points of concern. I asked about the switches and he mentioned the inside lock switches not working. The remote still works fine. I'll inquire about any others. He confirmed AC and Heat work great. I have an OBDII reader I'll bring along, but it won't help if he cleared a code and the issue is intermittent. He said a shop in GA put the crate motor in while the car was owned by his dad (3 years). He's owned it for the last 2 years. So earliest that put's the motor replacement around 2015. He's calling the shop today to see if he can get some records. I'll be calling as well to verify. I'm definitely not afraid to walk away if something doesn't smell right. But at this price I think it's definitely worth the 2 hour drive to check it out. Thanks! This is exactly what I was hoping for.. Yes, without a doubt I wish it was a coupe (and that it was red), but I also am not convinced I will enjoy driving a 996 enough to justify the cost/maintenance/engine risk. I used to have a Miata and absolutely loved the handling experience, but everything was dirt cheap and easy DIY. Plus no back seats. I've got 3 kids now and would really like to include them in the fun. Coupe has more room for them too. So at the end of the day, if I love it and think it's worth it, then I'll likely be selling this one (hopefully break even) and move on to a coupe. Haven't yet found a coupe I felt I could break even on if I don't like it. I'll see if I can get him to snap a pic of the serial number today. Will help confirm if the trip is worth it. And agreed, that's not a big red flag for me. Very common question.

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Don't overestimate the room in the back of a 996 coupe! My 12yr old daughter can fit in the back seat, but that will change fairly soon. My son probably could have fit until he was about 10 or 11. He's 19 now and there's no way he could ride back there now, at least he would NOT be enjoying the car then. I've had a couple of 12 year olds back there at one time, but they were cramped. The front seats are for enjoying the ride, the back seats just barely beat walking. The good part about the backseats being unusable once my daughter gets a little bigger? I'll finally get around to installing my RSS bolt-in roll bar that's been waiting since last April.

If I am reading correct your price is $10.5K which is pretty good. Here is a similar car on ebay for 9K with a lot more miles. https://www.ebay.com/itm/2001-Porsch...4:pf:0&vxp=mtr If its an new engine at that price it seems like low risk. Also, If you need parts for top I would check with Norspecdismantling.com I got a whole convertible top assembly for my boxster with glass much cheaper than any other option. https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_odk...tible&_sacat=0

At that price it would be hard to go wrong, be sure to remove the oil filter housing & inspect the oil filter for anything other than oil in it. If the oil looks like brand new on the dipstick do as long a test drive as you can, then inspect oil filter.

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My oldest is not quite 4 yet, so I've got some time still. Assuming I can find child seats that fit of course. Your increasing my confidence The first link is AT. I feel like MT is worth more generally. Not sure if that's true overall, defintiely worth more to me. Thanks for the link! I've been shopping around elsewhere and saw ~$700 for a new hydraulic lifter. Also found a questionable $30 rebuild kit, which goes against most of the forum recommendations. Will definitely start a fix up thread if I actually pick it up. Great tip! I did not know you could drop the filter housing without changing the oil.

I'm telling everyone right now, this car has had water inside. Prolly quite a bit of it. Be prepared for a lot of electrical tinkering for - ev - ar. Hyd cylinders can be rebuilt. It takes time, and close attention to detail. Just depends on how the orig was made. Some will never seal right without the specific press used when it was mfg. But, will be worth giving it a try. The other thing that troubles me is the comparative neglect shown. Things start to go bad, and don't get fixed. If the seller is admitting to several flaws, imagine the flaws in the car that aren't mentioned. Don't worry, you'll find them - eventually.

Go for it. You�re not risking too much at that price. I�d also started poking around on the Rennlist marketplace, Craigslist, and eBay for replacement seats up front. The driver�s seat especially looks to be in sad shape with some significant cracking. Upgraded interior is a nice touch, you�re going to love that bulkier shifter. And those Sport Classic wheels are a nice touch ....

This is the kind of ad I like... a roll of the dice! I'd have no prob jumping on this because I like cabs. Fair warning, I did a lot of my own convertable work on my boxster but because I loved the car, it was worth it. e I'd drive this with the top down and my two kiddos in the back with pride. Just pretnd you're in a 356 speedster climbing your favorite twisty roads! YOLO!

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just curious, do you see something in the pics that indicate that, or have you seen the car in person, or something else??

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I generally appreciate your cynical assessment of this car - it's keeping me grounded. Very easy to get excited at purchase time and throw caution to the wind. Got the receipt from Buckhead Imports in GA. It was not a factory replacement motor. it was a used motor (38k miles). It was replaced at 85k miles. The receipt shows IMSR20888 bearing replacement for $185. I'm guessing that's just a factory bearing they used. But in the end it's only 5k miles (2 years) old so pretty low risk. Total bill was north of $16k - god these engines are scary. Seller is getting a picture of the serial number. There's a lot of unknowns with a used motor in there. Agreed, that driver's seat is going to need replacing, and the wheels are definitely a plus for me. Hopefully the kids like the top down as much as I do You mean the convertable tops take a lot of maintenance to keep running? I really loved the Miata design, just flip the latch and drop it, but that's a bit too low end for a Porsche I suppose.

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Something else. 40 years experience with low-buck Porsche Targas, and cabrios. It's an opinion, all are welcome to ignore it, doesn't bother me.

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expound on your opinion then. What are the indicators you see from the pictures/ad that would reflect likely water damage? I�m genuinely curious.

^^^^x2. No reason to call you out, just trying to benefit from your years of experience. Perhaps because the car is from a known flood area, or you see. Some telltale signs, or because the top is known to be malfunctioning it is likely to have been left open in the rain, etc...

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My boxster was piurchased with an upgraded rear window(glass w/ defroster) because the plastic window was yellowed. It had a cable issue that was there when I purchased it, but I think I replaced some broken clips and that was the fix. My wind deflactors worked, but required manual installation each time and always had a little rattle, so highways werent fantastic with the top down IMO. Just many issues to chase down, which I happily lived with. One thing I never lusted for was a hard top because I felt the highway noise was fine with the fabric top. IMO

I see very little risk at this price unless engine is bad with 43kmiles....if the car is a lemon after you buy, you can part out or sell to norspec or another dismantler....likely they would buy close to you. So you would loose 2k tops...again as long as engine is good. However the upside is tons of fun. game theory says your in good shape at this price. This is how i would think about it.

You can rebuild the soft top cylinders for $20 as I did last year. I posted the DIY on Rennlist. Otherwise some guys on Ebay can do it for you for $500.

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I'll have a chance to checkout the highway noise on the 2 hour trip home. I would love to go to a glass window. My old Miata had plastic and it was junk. Good to know the softop can take some love. I don't mind getting my hands dirty. I'll be honest, I like the look and the back seat design of the Coupe better, but dropping the top is a nice option with the weather in Dallas. Thanks for the tips - yep that's what I'm thinking. There's a decently high stop-loss line here mitigating my risk. And I'm not likely to be a cash squeeze that would force my hand to a less than optimized outcome. Awesome! I don't mind tinkering to save some money. Will look this up.

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No worries guys. I have no magic beans, just a lot of history with foreign cars, and cabrio tops. Ferrari in my garage is a leaking SOB. The Porsche is no different. It takes care, and constant attention to keep heavy rain out of a cabrio top. Search on here for leaks, and water in the 996 from roof drains, seams, window gaps, etc. It's a very common failing. Given the comparative neglect of the rest of the car, it's an axiom that there will be times that water has settled into the inside. Lift the carpet and give a sniff.

I'm sorry. I misunderstood the subject. I was genuinely concerned for this poor chap that hasn't been able to satisfy that new Porsche purchase for more than two days. I'll show myself out...

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Ha ha I wish I had that problem Got the engine SN: M96/0466Y02120 Seems to indicate it's got a year 2000 engine in it.

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From my understanding: M96/04 is a 200-2001 engine 6 means 6 cylinder 6 is the engine version Y is the year built, which in this case means 1998?!? 02120 is the sequence number Certainly "Y" on the 996 M96 means the same year as on the 986 M96, right? Am I off on the original build year?

Reading through this thread it doesn't seem like a bad purchase provided you can wrench as you said. It sounds like the seller has been willing to find the info needed and the history on the car all lineup. At this price range, you aren't shopping for a garage queen and its understood that it will come with some issues that need to be fixed.

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A bit off I think, here's what I found: 66w is 1998 66x is 1999 66y is 2000 661-665 is 2001 - 2005 Not sure if anything can be learned by code at the end of the serial number. Yeah I'm feeling more and more confident as the details line up.

At $10,500 for 6MT Cab with Aero and 90k on the chassis and 43k on the engine, Isay hook-up on it. Even though it is not pristine, if you lay eyes on it and drive it, IF not too un-pristine for you, buy it ..It would definitely be low risk, and you could put more money in after you fall in love with it (or not) although things need to be fixed someone has to do it, may as well be you, and not everyone wants a pristine car as a DD..

You will spend some money to bring this one up to snuff. $5-7K I'd bet. Service history is important. If the PO paid for a new used motor he may have loved it and done all the necessary maintenance. Good luck!

I'm a very new Porsche owner. Not even a month. I had bad buyers anxiety and almost pulled the trigger on three others before I finally settled on the one I purchased. I's so glad I didn't purchase the others. Not that they weren't good cars, but I was just not patient and acting on my emotions and not my logic. There are a lot of 996's on the market. Some good, some not so good. I'm not sure how long you've been looking, but I wouldn't let the vision of driving through the twisties affect your buying decision. If you want the coupe, just look for a nice coupe. Just my opinion. I looked for a few months before I finally found the right one. I was very happy with my purchase.

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2000 makes more sense. The sequence code is basically the serial number.

Whelp, I'm a Porsche owner

You poor, dumb bas Uhm, I mean congrats! Well done, and happy motoring. (yikes)

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Well done and welcome!! Heh heh...little does he know the madness he's stepped into!

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Congratulations !! You dove right on into to Porsche Zone..Now go drive the **** out of it and try not to fall madly in love with it !! lol