Newbie Hello and car search help

Hello there, new to the board as I am now in the hunt for my first Porsche. My budget is around the £35k mark and ideally I am looking for 996 C4, GT3 Kit, Convertible, low miles, Porsche Warranty Just looking for some initial advice, I have seen 1 car for sales as above but only one. What are the variation over Models, I think there was a 2000 facelift, what were the main differences? Any known probs with 99/00 as it seems this will be the age of car available with my budget. Trying to get my head round things, thanks for the help.

Fairly new owner myself. When you find a car you like, spend a couple of hundred quid and get an independent inspection done or around £100 quid and take it to a main dealer who will do an inspection and offer a warranty. You're unlikely to find anything meeting your spec at a main dealer although a good specialist should help. Look here for a few: http://www.911-classified.com . It's not exhaustive. Otherwise, a full service history is a MUST, either main dealer or good specialist (JZ Machtech, etc.). In particular, look for leaky Rear Main Seals (see the thread on this) and the state of the brake discs which can be a bit weak and corrode. No doubt there will be more to come from others. Enjoy the car when you get it. Edited to say, make sure no-one has crashed it and that it hasn't been tracked.

Why?

If you are quick I have a one owner 3.6 facelift high spec july 2002 coupe in excellent at £40500-00 with 31,000 miles and FPSH. Full spec in for sale adds. I bought her new and she has Porsche warranty until july which is renewable. New 997 forces sale at PX price. Jonathan 07850 683344

The facelift came in for the model year 2002. Differences include: Turbo style headlights. Engine up 200cc to 3.6L - increase to stroke (but not bore.) Variocam became Variocam plus. Power up 20Bhp. Changes to induction and exhaust manifolds and exhaust system inc. larger dia tail pipes; exhaust note more, dare I say, [&:] 'air cooled like' as a result. Slightly different front and rear spoilers. 3 spoke sports steering wheel as std. Addition of glovebox and integral cupholders under the central air vent. The key now has an extra button to remotely unlock the boot! Good luck hunting.

Hail_Hail, I wish you luck in your search - I too had a similar mission upon my journey into 996 hunting - except for the convertible bit - although the first car I happened upon was a 98R cabrio - I got seduced by the OPC thing and ended up extending my budget to get a car from the franchised network - it turned out to be a C4 coupe, as PSM - Porsche Stability Management, was standard on all C4s - its the computer trickery that keeps you out of the hedges etc.... however since that inauguration and problems which resulted in my getting my money back I've been able to sample other variants. All I can say is that they are GREAT cars whatever you end up getting - PSM does seem to keep you out of trouble and in my opinion should, for the 911 novice be looked upon as a God send, but once you understand the dynamics - and by that I mean how to drive the things properly - all it takes is to keep a check on your right foot when its damp and you'll come to no harm - any variant I've driven thus far just gives you a buzz not experienced in any other type of car - they can be docile or manic....its all down to how you drive them. For me the 997 is taking away some of the pleasures especially the aural ones which I'm sure the air cooled brigade will endorse even more so. I had the good fortune to get later cars and then be able to progress to the GT3 - but I'm sure that any variant will give that "smile" factor. My advice is to buy from an OPC or get a second opinion from an independant if you buy outside, and just go for it...... I don't think you will regret it. The 3.6 seems a better package than the 3.4 but its like everything - they evolve...and some things get better other aspects diminish...... having just returned from an evening out in the C2 after a day driving my diesel Audi, the last 20 mins or so was great fun!! Regards Dave

Hail hail, All the above is good advice. Unless prices have dropped a long way without me noticing my guess is that you will be looking at a pre-facelift 996 cabriolet as low mileage facelift cards haven't got that cheap yet. Pre facelift cars don't have any particular vices although a full OPC history will give you peace of mind - it is unlikely however that anyone would have extended a Porsche warranty for 5 years or so. If it is a cab you are after (good choice) then pay particular attention to the state of the hood, the rear screen (plastic on pre facelift) and the lifting mechanism. All of the above are expensive to replace and could see you with a bill for a few £k's if you need to replace them - the rear screen cannot be replaced on its own. Rattles in the hood meets screen area are common and can usually be fixed by tighteneing a few screws or torx bolts. As with all cars look for a car that is well looked after and doesn't look like the dealer has done too much wotk to prep the car. I saw a lot of thrashed cars with badly bodged alloys and obvious signs of misuse inside i.e. torn interior trim, badly scatched sills etc. The bit I found difficult when buying my first 996 was spending the time to know what to look for. If you are anywhere near Milton Keynes I will happily take you out in my cab and let look over it so that you know what is normal and what may be an extra when you go to a dealer. Looking like you know what you are doing is, in my opinion, a plus point when it comes to negotiation - driving it and saying 'wow this is fast isn't it' may well brand you as a bit of a rookie. Any other points or queries put up another post..

made it over from scoobynet then did you? [ ] (sandycam)

thanks for all the info folks, a real help. From what I have gathered a full service is a must, preferably Porsche, but a good specialist is ok also. RMS is something to check carefully (seems to be a hot topic on the board!) Gmackie, thanks for the offer, i am in Stevenage at the moment, so not too far away! I am however in the middle of moving back to Scotland (hence the funds for a Porsche[ ]) I will still be working in the area, so may take you up on that in the next couple of months when I am near to actually splashing the cash. SCOTJC, you got it [ ], got rid of the scoob about 6 months ago when my little baby came along, so it was out with the STi and in with the Mondeo[&o] Still, when my nice 996 come along, I will probably miss the scoob alot less [ ] John Ware, you mentioned buying from a third party and getting Porsche to check the car ove and offer a warranty. Is this a service offered by all Porsche main dealers, what cost am I looking at for a 99/00 996? How comprehensive is the Porsche Warranty?

I purchased my 996 from an independent dealer however took the car across to the closest OPC for a full 100point plus inspection before commiting. Cost was around £100.00

Cool, assuming it passed, did they offer you a warranty? nice car btw [ ]

Indeed they would have offered a warranty on the car subject to it being totally clear. In my case they identified a sweating RMS (Which I have now had done under 50% good will) Corroded Disks (Now have been skimmed by local OPC) Noisy Baffle on PSE (Now replaced with brand new PSE) Uneven tyre wear (Now had OPC carry out full geometry setup and replaced tyres) With these now done I could if wanted get an official OPC warranty , which I think is about £700 a year. Have decided not to at the moment though. Hope this helps

Yup, great stuff, thanks MELUN [ ]

Message for GMackie. Hi, I can't go and look at my 996 Cab just now 'cos I'm nice and warm in my office and have just poured my mid morning whisky, but, if you can look at yours ( you have the same 996 model ? ), then I'd be grateful to learn if any of your various orifices and sockets ( on your screen rail, that is ! ) seem to have little plastic liners or grommets in 'em. I think mine did at one time, at least until I held the 'UP' button down for too long, at which the hood mechanism locking itself into place caused four little bits of plastic ( obviously 2 components each broken in half and one from each side) dropped into the footwells - 2 broken pieces from each side. Their loss hasn't caused to car to explode or anything, so I guess that they cannot be crucial, but I would like to know what the ----- they are there for ! Cheers, Marlin.

hail - hail I would also recomend an inspection by OPC or may be even better by peter morgan tel 01672 514 038 he is the guy who writes books on buying Porsches, I recently bought a 996 from a sports car specialist as there was a well known Porshce specialist up the road they did a full check and said it was a very well looked after car which with it's opc almost over serviced history i think it is, but they missed the famous RMS which was then reported on a serivce which i had done very soon after the inspection, luckly the guy i bought it from contrubuted to the cost of rms replacment, even though the car had no warranty. If i had stuck to my guns and got Peter Morgan to do the inspection i think i would have been better off, and saved a couple of £ all sorted now though. Not yet heard anything bad about the chap. Good luck and enjoy it. Phil

Hail_Hail I forgot to say I do have a buyers guide you can borrow on buying a used 996, it is quiet handy if you want to borrow it then drop me a line on [email removed] with your address and i'll send it on or give me a bell on 07841 511 592. Cheers Phil

The Sept 04 Edition of "911 & Porsche World" has a 10 page 996 Buyers guide. It has a lovely Arctic Silver C2 in the photos.........(I would be biased though as its my pride and joy!!!!!!!!!!)