High km 996s....

I have noticed a few 996 911s for sale with pretty high km on the clock.  Like the example here check out the interior and how good it looks. 337,000 kilometeres!  who says these cars a unreliable.. the more I read up on them, the more I feel that the 996 gets a bad wrap (and 986 too) and is such shame as they are still a  911 afterall. This doesn't look too bad for the mileage the car has done. I wonder if its the original engine???? Anyone here got one with lots of km on the clock?  I'd love to hear about it.

From the photos it seems to be in amazing condition for the Km's traveled. Interesting rego letters "SOS" he may need some of that to sell it..... My first P car had 120,000 km when i bought it and when I sold it it had 160,000 and it still had that new car feel.

Yes I'd say it's probably not cheap enough given the mileage on it and some SOS might be required!! I wonder if you got 2 996s side by side new, drove them exactly the same routes, same wash and care applied to both cars, same colours inside and out and same servicing if one car would be any different to the other after 200,000km??? So is it the car, the owner or a fluke that some cars feel more like new after 10 years of age???? Read this one these are a seriously good looking car.  I'd love to see all the documentation with it. Sounds like there's even a log book as to where the car has been driven!

I'd say owners are the biggest factor, not just in terms of looking after and maintaining a car but also in terms of how well they can drive. It may seem silly but you can tell the wear on a low km car (especially a manual) if driven by a 'bad' driver. As mentioned in many other posts, condition is the key- not necessarily measured in terms of km travelled. No fluke in my opinion.

I rang the owner a few days ago on behalf of a mate. Car has an exceptional service history but IMS not done. I understand the car is sold, subject to finance.

Odometer is just a vague guide to wear and tear. Probably plenty of country miles in that 996. It's the stop/start short trips I'm leery of. And cars left sitting around .

Condition.Condition. Condition. High K 996's are good because: 1) They're cheap & 2) They've already had large amounts of cash thrown at them. Buy on condition, not Km's.

good looking 996 for $35k, drive it for a year or 2 then engine rebuild maybe $15k, total $50k maybe up to $55k and a great car, sounds like a pretty good deal!

Or spend another $5 - 7K on one of the other 996s with less km on it and get more like 5 years out of it.

I reckon buy the cheapest one you can find that has a decent body and interior and budget for an engine rebuild, even do it up front with all the upgraded gubbins ; IMS , Water pump, Cylinder braces, Oil Pump and whacko you have a wonderful car that doesn't have you playing russian roulette sweating over an engine failure. Then you know you have a good car and you possess the invoices to prove it upon resale. No cheap porsches, just wise buyers I am afraid.

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I think you love to spend money Steve just sayin!

Amanda, I bought a 98 996 with 157k kms on it with a full documented service history. It lasted 8 kms (yes 8 as in singular) before the heads cracked and cooked the engine. Luckily I got my money back from Pickles auctions. Put me off watercooled Porsches completely. The wholesaler who put it through Pickles now has it up for sale at $39k after a $16k rebuild that didn't include an IMS upgrade. I read up a lot on early 996's and recommend you read the PDF write up by Hartech in the UK. It will give you the run down on the M96 engine and its issues. Hartech have rebuilt more M96 engines than anyone else in the market. I,m sticking with my 356's until I can muster up the money for a 993. Cheers Steve.

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I do like to spend the folding, yes. But I don't like to waste it either Wise words here. Barry Hart is an extremely accomplished 'wassergekuhlt' specialist and I would take note of anything that came from his mouth or pen/Keyboard. I'm with Steve though.......I am sticking with the Old ones as I don't trust anything(without a Mezger six) after 1996. I am deeply embarrassed about the M96 issues and feel ashamed that these cars have had such frequent failures due to design flaws/Production rationalisation(Cost cutting). They are lovely cars though, you just need to ensure you spend the wise cash on them to make them as they should have been from the factory.

matara - I remember your experience. Bummer and totally disappointing. Plenty of people are enjoying trouble free water cooled driving experiences. I refuse to believe all the Internet hype that these engines are lemons. Yes there's issues, not saying that. But before making these types of comments I think one should remember how many participants on the forum own water cooled Porsches and probably don't need to be reminded of this all the time. I've been making an effort not to ask about IMS issues and instead research elsewhere. I made this thread more as a good news story and to show what looks like, a fantastic well driven car. At this point in time I'm keeping a very open mind about what P car I will buy. It may end up being water cooled. I'm well researched and will make an informed decision on whatever I do buy. I'm still hoping it will be a 964! Just saw a silver go past on Elizabeth St - drooooool.

Amanda I totally agree with you there are plenty about with good mileage on them. In fact Barry says the failure rate is relatively low, but as the engines age, and high kms are put on them, you are only increasing the probability of failure. Factor that $16k into your purchase and running costs, and your fine. I got off very lightly. Here is the link to my ex-car. I still love the look of the car, and it was amazingly clean for a car with 157k on it. http://www.motorvehiclewholesale.com/stock/1998-PORSCHE-911-CARRERA-20968 I just want to mention, motor vehicle wholesale simply moved a "traded in" car through Pickles, they were the ones that refunded me via Pickles, took the $16k hit and are the good guys here. Cheers Steve

Your "old" 996 is just down the road from me. If it wasn't an auto I would take it for a drive to try a 996 on for size. I'd very much like one for a daily driver once I'd changed the IMS problem. After driving the wifes BMW for a few weeks it was hard to get back into my old 1989 Hiliux for the drive to work on Monday I can tell you.

It was the whole idea of the 996 being so "cheap" that made me want to get a porsche. I saw that $35000 high mileage black one in Qld.... i Live in Brisbane. After doing all the reading I was on the fence... so I went and had a look at one. It really made me feel a bit special... sure the car was 13 years old (2000 model) and the dash layout seemed a tad dated... but it still exuded special. People say that 10% of the cars can be affected... and that it's all hype... but I decided that if I got a 996 911, I'd get the ims upgrade done as soon as I got it. The funny thing was, of the several cars I enquired about, when I asked them if they had the upgrade done, not one of them knew what i was talking about... As for mileage, I'm not sure what is considered low, but the first one i enquired about was a 98 tiptronic cab in Syd with 72000kms... it sold for $40k. Another car I looked at in Syd was a Black coupe with roof... tiptronic in black with turbo rims from a 997. Asking price was $47800 but we areed on $40k. (he ended up selling the car to someone else before the ppi could be done.. long story) Seems that $40k is the price for a lowish mileage 996 911. I think it's worth spending a tad more for a 2002 with the 3.6l engine.... I think there are less issues with ims.. but not sure. There is a 2002 cab tip 996 with the 3.6; near me asking $47... i think he said he would take mid 40's... When I couldnt find the right car for me (i decided against a cab), I ended up with the Cayman S.

So Mike, after a couple of weeks driving the Cayman S, what do you think? Happy with the car? Any regrets? My 987 is away for the weekend awaiting a service on Monday. I miss her....

I don't think the 3.6 is necessarily more reliable according to hartech's site. It has a few additional issues due to a revised cooling path leading to some instances of bore scoring and if I am not mistaken, the handful of timing chain failures experienced in the last year or so have been the 3.6 model. For the 300,000 km+ car mentioned above, I personally wouldn't be concerned about that IMS, it has clearly done enough kms to have flooded the bearing with oil - probably before 100,000km and has had 200,000kms of oil lubricated IMS operation since then.

I bought my 996 3 years ago with 125,000 on the clock and it is now at 160,000. I thought that was high, mine still drives like new. I asked Ben at Weltmeister if I should look at bringing a motor or gearbox in from the states any time soon and he said it will keep going like it is until 300,000 if i service it on time.

Mine is a gen 2 996 and was entry level priced at the time.