ADVICE NEEDED REGARDING USED 996

Hi, I' m looking for a 996 Coupe or possibly Targa, with a Tiptronic gearbox, ideally C2 but a C4 would be considered, I have a few questions. 1) The budget is £40,000, ideally the car should be a facelift model, with sensible mileage and FPSH, is this possible? 2) Which options are the must haves? 3) How much are servicing costs through a main dealer? 4) Is there a price difference on the used market between C2 and C4? 5) Are there any known issues with these cars that we should look out for when inspecting? 6) Has anybody got such a car for sale at the moment? Many thanks in advance. Chris

You can look at http://www.afn.co.uk/dealer_centres.html, then select anyone of the centres and either look at their local stock or use the search agent. I didn' t see a facelift model in your price range. Car needs servicing every 12K miles or once per year. I asked but I can' t remember excactly but it is something like A,B,A,C, where A' s are oil changes at about £120 I think, B' s are about £250. No dount someone with more recent experience will post an accurate figure. Otherwise phone up a dealer and ask. Re. point 4, you can have over £10K in options on the car, so 2nd hand values are influenced by this, so the initial 4-5K saving on a C2 over the C4 is swamped by the options list. An unspecced C4 will be cheaper than a loaded C2. Have a look at www.porsche.co.uk (select GB) and you can look at the options for each model and the costs. Their website is very good. Re. point 2, you' re the buyer. The hit on this is probably factored in, so I would go for a car with the bits you want. Re. point 5, I defer to others. Good luck. Rgds, Stuart.

I too am looking for a used 996, again budget £40k, ideally with GT3 aerokit, lowered, sports exhaust, sports seats in black leather (got to be fussy if your spending £40k) and have found various candidates all 1999 or pre 1999. The owner of a well respected independent garage advised me to steer clear of pre 1999 as in 2000 Porsche made 147 or so mods to the engine/car and that a pre 2000 would be trouble. Can anyone comment, give real examples both good and bad? Help please as I feel that 993' s are overpriced and due a drop whereas 996s have done a fair bit of depreciation already and I hate losing money. I already have a 964 and for £35k+ a late 993 over my 964 does not seem worth the change whereas a GT3 aerokit' d 996 does, but post 2000 models cost upwards of £43k. Do I wait? Questions Questions!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the advice Stuart and Poon, interesting comment about avoiding pre Y2K cars. The car is being purchased for a female who will be using it as a daily driver, she wants a ' girly car' in other words no GT3 bodykits, sports exhaust etc. Checking the classifieds it' s going to be virtually impossible to pick up a facelift model for under 50k, would anyone suggest increasing the budget to benefit from the revisions, or are the differences to subtle to matter. Come on 996' ers help Poon and myself out!! Thanks. Chris

Hopefully I can help. The facelifted 996 has larger engine 3.6l oppossed to 3.4l, with corresponding increase in power up to 320bhp. Also has I believe revised suspension and the clear indicators etc. Personally, I decided to replace my company car with a 996, visited nearest OPC to buy a second-hand model, but the Porsche finance deal meant I could buy a new 996 for the same monthly payments as a second hand one, if I accepted a 50% final payment afer 3 years. As I had £8K deposit, and assuming the car is worth more than £25K after 3 years it seemed to make sense for me to buy new! As has previously been mentioned the price of a 996 is to a certain extent influenced by the extras, so if you want traction control, and a communications centre, heated seats etc you will pay a lot more.

I saw this on the Portiacraft site....www.porticraft.com and thought it might be close to what you were lookingfor...incidentally I have no affiliations whatsoever with these guys, but I did my 964 from them and they seem a nice bunch 99mdl-S Porsche-996 Tiptronic S 99 clear light model Ocean Blue Savanagh full sports hide 18" Turbo alloys heated seats traction control sunroof PARKTRONIC ABSOLUTELY MINT LOW MILES LOW PRICE THESE ARE LOOKING LIKE VERY GOOD VALUE AT THE MOMENT I DEFY YOU TO A FIND NICER OR CHEAPER [ More Car Images ] £37995 36000 miles

Just a thought, have you thought about a BoxterS, I have had a 98 996C2 & the new facelift model & am happy to chat about the difference but the BoxterS is Porsches best Cab (in my opinion anyway) & your lady would love it as daily transport & it is also a great weekend car for you. I am lucky enough to have a Turbo now , but the other half has an S & it' s a great drive, especially with the roof down on a sunny day.If you are looking at 40k or less it gives you alot more options. Wadayathink?

Thanks for all the advice. Re the Boxster she doesn' t want a cab as she would feel unsafe driving on her own and sometimes with a young child with the top down. I' ve passed on all the info that you have given me and she has come to the conclusion that upping the budget to £55,000 and concentrating on facelift models only is wise. Here is the ideal spec: Facelift C2/4 Tiptronic Coupe although a Targa would be considered Park assist (she is a girl!) PSM (must) 18 inch wheels Sunroof PCM desirable though not essential No bodykits, power upgrades, fancy exhausts etc. A sober colour 1st class condition Have we missed any obvious options that are a must when it comes to resale? Thanks again P.S If anyone has such a car for sale let me know at [email removed]

I did the same as Gary; I took the cash allowance from work for a car and went to look at 2nd hand 996s. Seeing that the nearly new prices are not far off the new prices I went for a new one, since at least you get 2 years mechanical warranty and you get to choose the options. If you are happy with a monthly outlay rather than a one off up front fee, then the Porsche Preferences will get you (for example) a £68K car for £15K down and around £750 a month repayments. Final balloon payment of 33K I think. This will allow you to buy a C4S which has as standard leather everything, 18" wheels, PSM and sports suspension, plus get the following options, heated electric seats, PCM, 6 CD player, telephone, Xenon lights, sports exhaust, and most importantly embossed headrests. This gives you an idea, since you may not have considered it. The downside is you have to wait a while to get it (normally around a year), although I timed it just right and got mine in 15 weeks. It depends on dealer and stock allocations, plus good timing and making a quick decision. Still, good things come to those who wait. For your info, the Porsche sports exhaust adds no power, it just sounds good. Perhaps it is a little immature, but it makes me grin more than anything else on the car. However, there is a switch on the dashboard to set it to normal levels, if you are feeling shy or have an early start. The power improvement from Porsche costs over £6K and adds only 25 bhp at the top end. The torque curve is the same up to 6000 rpm. So unless you regularly rev it to 7000 I don' t think it is worth the money. Neither do Porsche in my opinion, since when you come to trade it in you might get an extra £1K for having it, so they don' t value it much either. If you are going for tiptronic because you think the clutch may be awkward, then I don' t think you need to worry. It' s quite easy to drive the manual, and the 6 gears rather than 5 means the ratios give a better response and the gear lever has a nice feel to it. The face lift added the 3.6 litre engine (as mentioned already), latest version of the variocam variable valve timing, revised damper settings to cope better with small bumps, front lights from the turbo that changed the shape of the bottom edge to make it different to the Boxter (although it' s not that obvious), restyling of the front and rear bumpers. The previous changes for Y2K, I am not so sure about. I believe these were to the interior. Rgds, Stuart.

Chris were you aware that Porsche will launch their new 997 facelift in Autumn 04, I know this is over a year away, but it is relevant if you are spending nearly new money, 60k would get you a decent spec new 997 !! This aside the facelift 996 is a fantastic car, the engine revisions made the car even better to drive than the earlier cars & there were several other useful " upgrades" . As an indication on values I sold my 02/51 facelift C2 to the OPC network for £52k trade after a year, this was then retailed for £57 ishk. With regards to your spec choice, you MUST try & look for a car with a sound upgrade, preferably the BOSE system as the standard set up is crap !! I also found the sunroof useless, too small & too noisy. It is also important to have a few alloy touches inside to lift the cabin, the alloy handbrake & gearlever pack (which can be retrofitted) makes the interior look better. Personally I can' t believe you are considering the Tiptronic option, this car was meant to be DRIVEN, oh well each to their own !! Let me know if you want any other info. I have found the best sources for 996' s to be the Sunday Times or Top Marques, but don' t believe the prices, the trouble is owners look at OPC retail & price their cars accordingly, when you find THE car phone an OPC buyer & get a trade value, then you know where you are, typically 4-5k less than OPC retail = trade so private is in the middle !!

Sorry, forgot to mention the example I gave was for 15K miles per annum. I agree with Grant' s comments. I wasn' t convinced about the sunroof; the dealer mentioned that upgrading the sound system was essential for resale, although I' m not sure if there is much in it from a resale perspective between the 10 speaker Porsche one and the Bose one; alloy bits are down to personal preference but can be retro-fitted if the mood takes you. If you could wait, a 997 would be nice. It' s not clear at the moment (since it is 18 months away) what the power will be, but there' s no way it will be slower. Nor is it likely to handle any worse, indeed I believe it will be wider so cornering will be even better. Of course you can always buy a pre-owned 996 (or older?) to tide you over till the 997 arrives [ ], if you can afford it. With some/most of the depreciation out of the way, this might not be sucha mad idea. Rgds, Stuart.

Grant/Stuart, If this car was for myself then I would definately be going for the manual. Buying new certainly sounds tempting however she would like a car now rather than being added to a waiting list (bear in mind she has been considering this purchase for over a year) also some of the depreciation will already have been ' swallowed' by the 1st owner. As regard the sports exhaust I now know not to be scared off if we see a car with this option so thanks [ ] Is the alloy pack an option from Porsche themselves or one of the independent aftermarket retailers. If it' s Porsche then perhaps I' ll be able to persuade them to throw in some goodies to make the deal taste sweeter [ ] Keep the comments coming and thanks again. Chris

Poon, Looks like you want my Car ? 2000 model 996 C4, aerokit ,lowered suspension, sports exhaust. 34K miles. unfortunately its not for sale yet. Keep looking there seems to be a few out there. [ ][ ]

The alloy bits and bobs come from Porsche. They have various different trim options. You can get an idea from their website. The bits Grant was mentioning are the ring round the base of the gearlever, the different top of the gearlever (which has a colour Porsche crest) althought the standard gear lever is fine IMO, and the handle of the handbrake. I think the door handles and the glovebox handle are alloy by default. Rgds, Stuart.

I' ve seen a silver C2 coupe tiptronic on sale at an OPC for £60,000. Options include PCM, PSM, Ruffled black leather, 18' inch wheels, Bose, Park distance, heated seats, white dials, alloy trim on interior, sunroof and various other bits. Only one possible problem, it' s a C16 import, bearing in mind it' s on sale at an OPC I imagine this is not an issue, however I' d be keen to hear your views. Thanks, Chris

Why do you think C16 is an issue? My car is an authentic UK car, I have just checked in the service booklet and first in the list of spec option codes is C16. My OPC informed me when I bought it that this was the correct code for a UK car and that they make sure all their cars are C16. (Unless it also applies to Malta or somewhere similar). From the spec you mention I guess this would have been 65-70K new. You don' t mention the age or mileage but I guess 12-18 months? It seems to have all the right options, white dials is a matter of personal taste, but I have not sat in the ruffled leather - I guess it is more cosmetic than comfort oriented so I doubt it makes much difference. I was asking about the 997s on Friday, since I was wondering what to do at the end of my 3 year deal, whether to pay the final payment to trade in for another. What they reminded me of is that it took several years (3 I think) for the turbo to appear on the 996 shape and another year for the C4S to appear. The C4S cabrio arrives late this year. Anyway the point being that whilst discussing this I asked about residuals and how the 997 would affect my car. They were of the opinion that the regular coupe' s (C2 and C4) would be in quite a different boat to the C4S, since these will be the first on the 997 shape. Whilst they may be non-commital, asking about the predicted trade in price in 3 years on whatever car you are looking at will give you a feel of the depreciation you are looking at. It may or may not be an issue, but at least you will enter into it with your eyes open. I gave you some duff info before. I asked on Friday about servicing as well and they didn' t give a firm price but said they were in the £300-500 mark every 12K miles, plus the cost of consumables like brake pads, wipers, etc. Every 48K costs more because the ribbed belt needs to be changed. I get the impression that the costs are variable - I have not had the car long enough to form an opinion. As it says in the 911 brochure (a 120+ page hard back book), buying a 911 is " the most rational decision your heart will make" . You have to see the vehicle, drive it, then once you' re hooked and have your mind set on a certain car, it doesn' t really matter what other people think. Spending your sort of money and getting it from an OPC, I would think you are pretty safe (famous last words?), so go for what you like the look of and enjoy it. Rgds, Stuart.

As Stuart says C16 isn' t an issue. Basically Porsche have a code for each country the car is built for. C16 is the code for the UK & this means that the car has the same standard spec as the official OPC imported cars. There were many many cars imported from Europe by non-franchise dealers & a lot of these weren' t C16. when I was looking for a BoxterS for the other half we came across many C98' s (Cyprus, Porsche say this spec is " non-specified RHD build" ) the problem with not buying a C16 is that Porsche are very cagey about exactly what specification these car' s have. So they may have different (non-Thatcham approved) alarms, stereo' s, not all countries have aircon as standard, underseal etc may vary. It really is a minefield so my advice is AVOID ANYTHING THAT ISN' T C16, you will find this code under the boot lid as part of the VIN number. Infact if you contact your local OPC or Porsche warranty head office(Uk only) they will give you build, spec & accident detail' s on a car from the VIN number. Don' t forget to look at private sales in the Times or Top Marques, you will save around 3-4k off retail & these car' s are still under warranty, just pay your £100 & have the OPC check your choice over.

Hello again, Right, with all your help we now know exactly what we are looking for, it' s a failrly exhaustive and fussy list so here goes. 1. 996 C2 or C4 Facelift model 2. Tiptronic 3. Targa, not convertible 4. Preferably blue, not yellow, red, green or silver 5. PCM 6. PSM 7. Can be UK car or C16 import 8. 1st class condition 9. No bodykits 10. 18 inch wheels 11. Stereo upgrade/Bose 11. Price upto £60,000 Other options such as aluminium pack, headrest logos, Park distance, heated and electric seats would be nice but not essential. We' ve seen a couple of cars that very nearly fit the bill so I' m confident that the right car is out there somewhere. If anyone stumbles across such a car please contact me via this site or at [email removed]. Thanks Chris

Hi Chris, I am suprised you have gone for the Targa, with due respect to owners out there, I have always felt it was neither fish nor fowl !! The Cab. has a more wobbly body & slightly less involving handling but compensates with wind in your hair, sun on face, exhaust in earlobes & a hard top for winter. The coupe is a more focused drivers tool, with better handling, less weight/more grunt & more refinement. It strikes me that the Targa has the heavier more flexy cab. body without the benefits, the roof is very noisy at speed, much like a standard sunroof but bigger. It does make the cabin much lighter & you do get a hatchback, I am interested to know what the appeal is, he says putting on his tin hat & running for the air raid shelter !!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Grant, Like I' ve said before this car isn' t for me, if I had a choice in the matter I would be searching for a manual C2 Cab or placing an order for a GT3RS. The car is for a girly to use daily, she doesn' t drive quickly and is unlikely to do track days therefore concerns over chassis rigidity during cornering are non existent. Part of the thinking is that the Targa should be a slower depreciator (As is the 993 model Targa) and that when Porsche introduce the 997 they are unlikely to release a Targa version immediately giving the car a longer ' new model shelf life' The ' hatchback' will also be very useful and like you say the larger sunroof gives some of the wind in the hair feeling with a very bright and airy cabin. Cabs are out of the question on safety grounds both in an accident and the possibility of car jacking. Having said all this it wouldn' t surprise me if she ends up with a C4 manual coupe in speed yellow with a GT3 bodykit [ ] but then that' s women for you [&:] Chris

Chris, two targa' s that appear to meet your criteria in the Sunday Times....... 02/02 11k miles £58k (Seal Grey/grey,Tip.,Bose,park assist,18inch etc) 01943 874045 or...02/02 7k miles £57k (Black/black 18inch..huge spec) 01707269445 Best of luck, let me know what you think, second hand you always have to compromise on something, spec/colour etc. having said this prices are coming down so no rush!!