Buying C4S with higher mileage and no history

Too risky, or at the right price a good way into an amazing car? 996 C4S, 100k+ miles, but no service history. If I had £25–30k, I’d buy what I really want, but I don’t. I see this as a potential way into C4S ownership at a price I can afford, accepting that there’s obviously some risk involved. At the right price, would you take the gamble, or is a high-mileage C4S with no history something you’d simply walk away from?

100,00 miles for over a circa 23 year old car is more like a low annual mileage a lack of history is unfortunate but buy on condition and have the price reflect this

I would say this really depends on the condition of the car. You can sometimes get lucky with these things but these cars are money pits. If you only have a £15k budget and the car is in bad shape, you can easily spend £10-15k trying to fix that.

What cullen said.... Fabulous cars. But what is the price - and what does the MOT history tell you?

The MOT history is actually very encouraging. The mileage progression looks completely consistent, and although there have been the usual age-related advisories and failures, they appear to have been dealt with rather than repeatedly ignored. I’ve also managed to track down its most recent service in August 2023 at 121,583 miles. It clearly hadn’t had money spared on it. They carried out a minor service with oil, oil filter and cabin filter, replaced the front drop links, dealt with the offside steering/track-rod issue, carried out an alignment, fitted new discs and pads front and rear, sorted seized caliper pins and repaired a damaged rear wheel. The car has only covered around 1,300 miles since that work. The MOT history backs this up nicely. In 2023 it failed on a fractured rear wheel, track-rod play, front anti-roll-bar link issues and worn/pitted brake discs. The La Rose invoice shows that those issues were subsequently addressed properly. The latest 2026 MOT initially failed because of a leaking front brake caliper, which was then repaired and the car passed the same day. It currently has a valid MOT until May 2027. If I had £25–30k, I’d buy exactly what I really want with a comprehensive history, but I don’t. I see this as a potential way into C4S ownership at a price I can afford, accepting that there is obviously some risk involved. At the right price, would you take the gamble? Or is a 122k-mile C4S with much of its history missing something you’d simply walk away from?

Check for rust/corrosion particularly the rear of the sills and the jacking points , this is very important! It depends whether you can work on it or not, they'll all need constant expenditure, some years more than others and that includes the £25k cars. If it has no real rust issues and it all looks together and not been bodged I think £15-18k if it's a manual, less if it's a tip.

If you're comfortable doing so then why not post a link to the car on here for some opinions and maybe just maybe a member knows the car....?

As mentioned these cars can take your money in the blink of an eye but even good ones need money spending on them form time to time with the usual parts needing replacing over time. Do a thorough inspection of both car and history and as mentioned by Skoosh maybe post some photos for better feedback

Sounds like the maintenance plan was driven by the MOT. Personally I wouldn't touch a 996 3.6 with over 120k on it unless it'd already had a rebuild. Has it had a bore scope done? If so, what are the results? If it hasn't, don't bother with it. I know I might be sounding like a doom monger but I think most will agree, the engine will be your biggest concern on that car, so don't touch it unless you either know it's good or you don't mind chucking £20k at an engine rebuild in 3 months time.

Yes, absolutely have it checked for bore scorio.

Is the 996 like the porka unloved step child I find them cool looking, if the headlights are restored

Yes, purists didn't like the headlights and the fact they made a little brother for it that shared the same front end and most the parts. Also the fact that Porsche went to water cooled didn't help. ........and if purists didn't like them, nobody was allowed to.

I already know the member was here and have messaged so fingers crossed they get back to me!

You need to remember that the C4s uses many turbo parts, brakes suspension etc, so you need to factor that increase in budget in. Saying that, even if you paid top money for one, as soon as the warranty expires, then your in the lap of the gods. I can't advise whether to buy it or not, but being an owner, I really enjoy it for what it is, essentially car that needs to be driven. It's actually now my daily car and I put way too many miles on it but I don't care. I also have a 992.1s on the drive but, and I may be completely mad, I actually prefer the old car. Why, I don't know.

I bought a high mileage (165k miles currently) c4s that does have some service history but its not full by any means, I took the chance its been ok. I've had to do a few bits but nothing that you wouldn't expect for any car and from what I'd seen a low mileage one isn't necessarily going to be plain sailing as sitting around is probably worse for them than anything. Bore score is the only real concern which can be checked pretty easy without costing a fortune.

A properly sorted 996 is now north of £30k, if you’re buying it for less just consider it your first instalment Nothing wrong with doing it that way but sooner or later the rest will need to be paid ..

These are now considered classic cars, as such mileage in a way is irrelevant, buy on condition. I’d be asking why there is no history, what’s the current owner like? Is he an enthusiast etc etc

If you can get it for a reasonable price, get a full PPI and borescope, and are willing to spend the money to get all the postponed/delayed servicing and maintenance done (including oil, coolant, gearbox, diff oils), then it might be worth it. But if you don't have your eyes open and are not willing to accept that it's a classic car and a complete money pit, then move on.

The borescope will stop the deal.

@Alex because it’s guaranteed scoring

Without history it's impossible to know.................... borescope and ppi the only options and even then it'll only ever be a report on the current state of the car..... it's a huge gamble that could pay off or not.

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No it's not but if it is you're into serious money (more than the car most likely) to fix it. You should get it bore scoped if it's possible but you sound like you want it regardless and are prepared to take the risk..your choice.

It does sound like your budget is clouding your judgement which is a little mad. I completely understand you haven’t got endless amounts of money otherwise you’d be buying a car that’s completely sorted but by ignoring the warning signs you could be digging a very large hole for yourself with unexpected costs and those unexpected costs come with the very best well maintained cars

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They are prone to scoring from the moment they're driven out the factory if they've not been driven correctly (many different factors from hard driving when cold to traffic light Grand Prixs). The more miles on them, the more likely to be scored - basic stats. Also, once you're quite a way over 100k, the crank bearings will also be on their last legs and plenty of other stuff. This is most likely why the seller has it up at £15k. Get it checked out with someone who knows exactly what to look for and you could be ok from a bore scoring point of view, but that still leaves other tired engine components that may only see another 10-20k. If your plan is to pay less now, spend more as time goes by, then it's worth it. Personally I'd sooner do that as its easier on the wallet and you could've spent £30k on a C4S and be in the same scenario 6 months down the line (and believe me, it's happened to a few on here). I paid £10.5k for mine 12 years ago and apart from the rebuild 2 years ago, it wasn't any different on costs as any other 996. Just because a car is priced high doesn't mean it's not going to need the same spending as a £15k car. Posting the car in question on here will do yourself a massive favour - this place is an advice goldmine.

As everyone has said, it's pot luck. You can check pretty much everything for corrosion, rust, excessive wear, etc, and be confident you've got a decent car, but the engine is a known unknown. As Alex said, after 100k then main bearings could be gone, there doesn't seem to be much reasoning to it or prior indication, mine went at 85k. I hate to be a naysayer because I think the premature wear thing (commonly called bore score) is overblown, but it can happen and it could totally ruin your day and bank account.

I'm a bit late to this thread but here goes; Buy or not solely on condition today If it's rusty, it's going to be expensive If it's paintwork is scruffy it will be expensive If the engine has scoring, it will be more than just expensive If it squeaks it's just consumables to fix If knowing that 15 years ago the oil and filter was changed in some way makes you feel confident I can't help with that. In summary, you are buying a classic car, and with all classic cars buying one is as been already mentioned....a down payment. You will need to be able to either operate a set of spanners or a cheque book (do people still use them?). Price is irrelevant it's only down to condition

How much is the car you're looking at? £15k was mentioned somewhere but don't know if that was the OP. At £15k I'd take a gamble. If the engine loses it, reckon you could potentially have £15k of breakable parts. I may just be telling myself this (coz I want it to be true), but if a car's reached 120k and there are no current signs of borescore, I'd have thought that bodes well. Alex has far more mechanical knowledge and deep engine understanding than me, but you could easily have a 30k mile engine that's shot to bits, or a 150k engine that's in great nick. Not to hijack the thread, but speaking for my C4S, I bought it with 99k from the first owner. He'd spent the first 3 years up and down the M1 to his factory and put 80k on the clock in those 3 years. Couldn't have had a less stressful time. It took him another 16 years to do 19k at which point I bought it just shy of 100k and having been looked after by OPC East London its entire life including the RMS change. Now it has 112k. Even so, I was still shat up enough by the stories to take it to RPM technik for a scope, who gave me a video report to say: 'All liners are relatively clean for age/ mileage, light scoring is present which isn’t unusual. I have actually never seen a 996/997 model with no scoring but this is minimal and not of any concern' So from that I read that all liners will have some soring - pistons moving up and down can't not make marks. But having the right garage judge whether the scoring is problematic is equally important. I like to think my engine is in great nick - could do 200k without too much stress. Famous last words.....

Bore Scoring is 100% pilot error, so mileage (as in wear to the car by moving) is irrelevant, it's how those miles were done........and the more of them, the more chance of them not been done correctly. You only need 1 idiot owner to be late for work 1 day and tonk it from cold and it's game over down the line.

It was then abandoned after a fairly major service and sat for two years while a court dispute played out. It’s now up for auction as a result, so it’s obviously not a £15k car. It seems the only sensible option is to get the car at a low enough price that I’ve got the backstop of a £15k Hartech rebuild if, post-purchase, I discover it has bore scoring. The auction house won’t let me take it away for an inspection or borescope it, so ultimately it is a gamble. But at the right price, it might be a gamble worth taking. Or perhaps I hold fire and wait until a cleaner one presents itself and my bank balance has increased! The clutch has only done 9k miles since being replaced. There’s no evidence the IMS was done at the same time, but I’d have thought most careful owners doing a clutch would probably have spent the extra £800 or so, which I believe was roughly the cost back then, to do the IMS at the same time. After inspecting it at the auction and with everything I’ve managed to uncover about its history, I’d be reasonably confident I could rule out most of the other big issues. It seems the one thing I simply can’t rule out is bore scoring, so that’s the gamble!

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Every cloud has a silver lining, at least the IMS hasn't been f***ed about with.

Did you get to start it from cold when you viewed it at the auctioneers. That can give you a reasonable insight into potential issues.

All these are now £35,000+ cars now.* You either buy one cheap and spend £20k getting it properly sorted. Or you buy one that has just had everything sorted for £35k+. Or, you get lucky and you buy one cheap that the previous owner has spent £35k on. Someone is spending £35k though. You can easily be into £10-15k now just getting the niggly bits done. Then you have the scoring issue to contend with on top of that. That is why these car go one of two ways when they get to this age, through the roof price wise or to the scrap heap. *I didn't say the market has caught up with that realisation.....yet.

do you really think a 996 C4S is going for £35K ? I thought my 80K miles one was worth maybe £20K.......... but to be fair is is a flappy paddle one.

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There does seem to be a big price difference between manual and auto still, probably from people who have never tried the the auto. But my point was, these cars are more expensive than they are changing hands for currently. I know people say "A car is only worth what the market dictates." But often the market is dictated by buyers who have not lived with the cars they want to own yet, so have no idea what the upkeep costs are. They see the cars for sale, look at the cheapest price and that is how the market value is dictated. But why should a car that has had, new clutch and flywheel, new control arms, top mounts, drop links, roll bar bushes, engine and gearbox mounts, dampers and springs, coolant system, climate lines, starter, y cable, alternator, AC compressor and the interior refinished not be worth £10-15k more than a car that is going to need all that doing over the next couple of years when you get hold of it? It will cost you as much and a whole load of hassle as well to do when you buy it. If these cars were already £60k minimum, people would just get all those things done and not batter an eyelid. The fact they are changing hands for £25-30k means many don't want to spend the money on keeping them factory fresh because that £15k or so might as well be put into a newer car, sell you 996 for £30k and stick £15k in and you could be into a 991.1 or a 718 Cayman GTS, with a lot less upkeep going forward. Often it is not until you make the move that you appreciate what you had was what you really loved and think "Hmmm? Maybe I should have spent the money on the old girl." We are at that point where things are going to change, you will have £15k dogs and £40-50k cars that are actually worth £40-50k because they are minters.

......and not forgetting the £40k dogs rolled in glitter.

Well that is the other, so many cars I sae have had paint correction, ceramic coatings and serious money spent on cosmetics and are being sold at top dollar but still need £15k worth of work to get them to be decent mechanically.

I'm reckless when it comes to buying cars and buy with my heart not my head so I'd just go for it if it was what I wanted. I would also never take my advice. A tipper for auction here too: Lot 402: Classic Motoring Lot Bidding Ends: Wednesday 28th October 2026 at 12:50PM £12,000-15,000 - Brightwells www.brightwells.com

Sold for 13k https://www.hobbsparker.co.uk/onlin...gs/db54db38-cf7a-4e9a-b0ee-7702e1b4f618?ic=30

That's a rather nasty dent!

If the auction price is low enough to leave room for a rebuild fund, it’s a gamble worth taking. Worst case, you factor in the engine work and still end up with a fully sorted C4S at market value.

Looks like the auction car has had a new bonnet at some stage? Options sticker is missing and there looks to be possibly a different colour paint peeking our beside the latch and down the edge of the bonnet? It may have had some front end damage at some stage...