996 TT Purchase Advice 2nd Gear and CA emissions

Been shopping for a while, 4th car to go through PPI, and need some advice on the final decision. The PPI comes back squeaky clean. But the mechanic notes that if you are working it hard, its hard to get into second gear. I know second gear is problematic. A reputable local to the seller shop said R&R and repair on the problem is 3K. I live in the Bay Area and want to make sure I'm not stepping into a time bomb... sounds like the eventual pop-out problem but can't tell if they are the same, and of course a salesperson is in between me and the mechanic. If what I am signing up for is $3k repair 4,000 miles from now, I'm fine.... but actually rebuilding the transmission I suspect is what at least 8? Secondarily, the car had a new clutch and upgraded GT2 turbos put in ~8K miles ago. And with it an after market tune, of a supposed reputable but vendor unknown. Seems pretty well broken in but I'm bringing it into California (SF). It passes emissions there (UT) but what about here? Thanks for the advice, Kelly

Is this a Utah car? Link?

Rebuilding that gearbox shouldn't be $8k. These days you can buy a 2nd gear idler by itself and no longer have to replace the whole mainshaft with 1st and 2nd gear attached. knocks it from $2000 in parts to around $350. Figure another $1000-1200 for synchros. Maybe a few bearings at around $800-1000. Add in labor of $1000-15000. My math puts that as around a $4000 service, half of what you feared.

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A hard to get into 2nd gear is not part of a squeaky clean PPI. The tranny can be in need of attention. My 03 Turbo's tranny was replaced -- under warranty -- due to a leaking selector shaft seal, at a cost of over $10k had I had to pay for this out of my pocket. The techs said had the car not been covered under warranty they could have removed the tranny and fixed the leak, but it would have still cost alot (relatively speaking) money. Get an estimate for a 2nd gear fix for your car from say Rector Porsche in Burlingame. Factor estimate fix cost into your offer price. As for smog, if the CEL is off and stays off after a 30+ minute drive and if all the readiness monitors are complete after this drive, the car might pass CA smog. Added: Visit the car with the engine cold. Be sure when you turn on the key the CEL (and all other warning lights) come on then go off when the engine cranks/fires up. You want to make sure the CEL wiring, bulb all works. With the A/C off let the engine idle until nearly up to temp. Say 10 or more minutes. Be sure the engine remains relatively quiet the whole time. Have the seller take you on a test ride -- 15 miles or so in length -- and give the car a good workout. No need to have the driver get all crazy with the car, but have him hard accelerate from idle to redline in say 2nd car then shift to 3rd keeping the pedal floored. The engine should pull smootly and strongly all the way up from idle to redline and in both 2nd and 3rd gears. Be sure you experience the car in traffic, idling, crusing and so on. After the test ride take the car out on the same route and drive the car the same way. You want to drive the car long enough in a variety of scenarios to give the engine controller time to id any possible faults: misfires, mixture problems, converters weak, etc. I've only had to smog my Turbo once since I bought it but the tech did use an exhaust pipe sniffer. Even if the CEL is off, even if the readiness codes are complete, if the exhaust is too dirty... the car won't pass smog. The presence of aftermaket turbos, a 'tune' by an unknown vendor... the risk is imho the car will fail CA emissions and some to all of what has been done to the car might have to be undone. Even then the converters may be shot and these to replace are not cheap. (For my 02 Boxster the cost, for one!, is nearly $1500 at a dealer.) If possible try to have the car smog checked in UT, taking it to a shop that can do the exhaust pipe sniffer test to ensure the car has a chance of passing CA emissions *before* you buy the car. If the car is questionable if it comes to passing CA smog walk away. Sincerely, Macster.

Thank you to everyone who replied, esp. Macster who I think is in the midst of a long haul trip. The car is a Utah car, its on consignment at the dealer there. 42K miles, with 10 prior owners, with a $40K ask. The turbo upgrades were done by Garrity, who looks to be familiar to the board. He quoted me a $3K repair cost if its the standard second gear repair but I'm not sure that it is - I've never driven it, but spoke with the owner who admitted its hard to find second with an aggressive downshift into second. The mechanic who did the PPI gave the transmission a pass on paper, but passed along to the salesperson that second was "noisy". The car did pass Utah emissions. I'm sitting the fence, I know I need to come down off the ask - I have cash and can pick it up this week. I like the upgrades but with the emissions likely? but unknown and the tranny issue seems like I should be waiting for another car. Advice appreciated guys. Macster, if I get out to buy the car, I'll take your adcvice on the test drive procedure and probably go get an opinion from Garrity to be certain. While I've driven several, this will be my first Porsche. The 911 turbo has been my cream car since I was 11 - I just don't want it to become my nightmare. Thanks again, all your advice is most appreciated, Kelly

I looked at that car on Sat, my brother sells at that dealer, has driven it and told me he'd buy it if he was in the market right now. He recently sold his '04 TT Cab, has a Turbo Cayenne as a DD. I heard this car has money down on it, is that yours? This dealer is a real straight shooter BTW, most sales people and techs have been there for decades. GL

Yeah, that's the car. I have a deposit down now. I think I've basically resolved to buy the car if I can get a 3rd opinion and another PPI from Motorsports there in Utah and get more specific about the transmission exposure. That doesn't address my emissions concern, but hoping that since it passes Utah emissions, I have a 70% chance of passing California emissions. doing a little digging I'm guessing Utah emission inspections are lower than some amount based on whatever car - wheras in California the emissions results are compared to emissions of a brand new model specific amount. It seems like several of the board members have had upgraded turbos and exhaust and passed California emissions .... am I delusional? It seems like Macster recommendation on the test drive (warm up, looking for skips etc.) will give me a sense of the general quality of the tune. Thanks again, K

The price seems right, but 10 owners doesn't, at least to me. Why did 10 different owners all sell the turbo, was it the 2nd gear issue or something else? GL with your next PPI.

4 of the early owners look like someone defulated on a loan at 3500 miles, it went to auction and couple different dealers. The last 3 owners are all the same guy, his company, his brother, then him but says it was in his possession that whole time and matches the timeline on some recent invoices. I think I'd be more like the 6th owner. Hoping the second PPI comes back clean, K

Just wanted to follow up on the note. I pulled the trigger and drove the car home on Thursday. No regrets, but like any 11 year old car that wasn't driven much there is a little to sort out. Made the trip home, and then immediately smoked an idler pulley and through the serpentine belt in downtown SF and had my first nervous tow. I do think I have some issue with the tuning that the car undergone, but had the car towed to S Car Go in Marin to replace the pulley/belt and see what they find. I may tap into the community again. I also just bought my Rennlist membership and am very excited to start participating here. Thanks for the warm welcome and advice as I acquired my dream car. Hope to get to know you all better.

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Kind of funny but my 03 Turbo had an idler roller bearing go bad -- started emitting a 'dry bearing' sound -- at around 35K miles (I bought the car with just 10K miles on it). Didn't have to have the car towed, though. I turned tail (I was in Tehachapi CA) and headed home to have the thing addressed. The car (and I) made it home with no problems. (And even though I found out on the way home the passenger side radiator fan was not working. This turned out to be due to a snapped fan motor shaft which dented the radiator. As with the idler roller bearing the fan motor, brackets, and radiator was all covered by the car's CPO warranty.) The noisy idler roller bearing was the idler next to power steering pump. Since the car was covered by a CPO warranty I do not know what it cost to fix but the tech that did the work told me it was the least expensive idler roller bearing to replace. All the rest are more expensive, due to I guess labor. Sincerely, Macster.

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Congrats on your purchase, hopefully all will get remedied for you so you can enjoy your new Porsche turbo. Please post some pics of your car so we can drool.