Just bought 2000 996 Carrera / meteor grey metallic

anyone know a way to find out how many meteor grey metallic carreras were produced in 2000? I don't think I have ever seen one in person. I have not seen the car yet but it has all records since new from the Porsche dealer and just serviced last month. I called the dealer and he said you rarely ever see car that were this well taken care of based on all the records. Oil was changed ever 3 to 4k. I am curious about the options. Apparently it was ordered with full leather about a $3700 option, the comfort seat package with dual power and lumbar support, as well as the top sound system available. I have never seen a car with either if anyone can share their experience with them. I have owned several porsches now and ironically enogh I have never driven a 996. I have just read they are good daily drivers and I plan on this car being just that. Picking it up this weekend. thanks for any insight you can provide. John

Nice. Are you keeping your other 2 Pcars?

I sold the 86 carrera and am now selling the 914. Need to update the profile.

Nice!! I love the color on that car. I too have a well maintained 2000 996 and have used it as my daily driver for the past 1 3/4 years and have put 25,000+ miles on it since then, only replacing brake pads and an alternator that failed well over a year ago. I've changed the oil myself about every 5,000 miles. Here's my similar view as yours.

Congrats! I've had my '00 since late '01. Terrific car and very underrated by the community. Was running a driving school last Sunday and let a couple of old schoolers (one with a Carrera the other with an RSA) drive it. First 996s they ever drove. Had to smack both of them upside the head to get the heck out of my car. Best of luck to you!

That's a nice color! Not sure how many made. I Think there is a similar one in FL FS with a wicked redish/mauve interior color. In CA could you put some very light film on the 2 front windows (say50 %) and some 35% in the back or is that not allowed in CA? Regards,

Guys, I have to say I did not know what to expect when I bought this car. I had never driven a 996 and had many Porsches in the past. My first was a 1970 911T and over the years, I have owned various water cooled varieties. My last Porsche was a 1986 Carrera coupe in wonderful shape. I loved the car but realized that I could not count on it as a true every day commuter with A/C that would function properly for me or my clients with a suit on. I have come to realize that the 996 is the car I always needed. I am so amazed when I hear people tearing into the car for various reasons. A clean bill of health on the car I bought was included a check for RMS problem(which not all 996 cars had) I drove back from Beverly Hills to Austin and the trip was flaws. The 996 has it all...power band through every gear with loads of torque, quiet enough to speak on a cell phone at highway speed, comfort in seats like no other 911 I ever rode in, (my car has lumbar option and full leather package) and economy of 26.3 miles per gallon at an average speed of 68 miles an hour over 25 hours of driving including stops. Would anyone like to share their 996 experiences? I am remarkably impressed with this car and can not figure out why the prices have dropped so dramatically. I am going to drive this car as my daily driver and don't care if I run 300k on the motor. I have no worries about further depreciation as this car was meant to be driven. It is a complete blast!! For air-heads out there..believe me..you have to drive a 996. I think the best part about the car is that I don't feel like I am shifting a screw driver through a bowl of rocks anymore.. Let's hear everyone's stories on the 996. I will get some more pics out of the car as the ones I posted do not do it justice. It turns out that Porsche believes that my car may have been the only one factory ordered in meteor grey metallic in 2000 as my car was ordered from Steve Taub Porsche in Santa Monica and took four months to build. I smile when I think that the original owner paid $92,758 out the door for the car including tax and I was able to get the car for a fraction of the cost. Remarkable.

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We certainly agree on teh undervalued nature of the 996. I bought my car in '01 just as the '02s were coming out with 3500 miles on it. Traded a 1996 911 C4 for it. As I alluded to in my previous post, most of the guys who think the 996 is crap have never driven one. After they do, if they are honest with themselves, at the very least, they have to give it credit for being a great car. Yes, the 993 had a more solid interior and shifter mechanism. It might have felt just a tick more solid, but thats about it for me. The underpinnings of the 996 are pretty competent. While 996s have rear main seals, 993 have their share of expensive problems too... ceramic heads and valve jobs come to mind. I've driven 997 versions and it is an improvement, but is the difference worth nearly $50Gs? No way. Until the prices rebound or I just cant drive anymore, I expect to keep mine.

Mine has been reliable as can be for the almost two years and 26,000+ daily-driven miles that I've had it, and it was very well cared for before I bought it from its one previous owner. I've said time and again on this forum that the 996 really is a true sports car in the 911 tradition and is definitely not soft, as so many people who've obviously not driven one in anger like to claim. It is a highly refined, very quick (and fast -174 mph), very agile, and very well built sports car that can and does easily show its beautiful rear end to the supposed "real" air-cooled 911's on any road any time (highly modded and lightened air-cooled's not included, but then again, even those cars would be shown the door when pitted against an equally prepped 996, so it's still a true statement). Don't get me wrong. I LOVE my air cooled '84 Carrera and lavish a lot of time and love on that car; and drive it hard as often as I can. I plan to never get rid of it. My dad had an old early 911 for 20+ years and was as addicted to them then as I am now. I simply am not one of those people that feels that Porsche somehow lost their way. They haven't. They've simply moved ahead with the times, and in fact have stayed at the forefront of the market all along. The water cooled 996's were the benchmark sports car that all others strived to match until Porsche bettered themselves with the 997 and moved the game along once again. I invite those who have not driven one in anger to do so and then tell us whether they still feel Porsche has lost its way and gone soft. I bet they change their tune. There is nothing wrong with a great sports car that also happens to be comfortable too. Btw, I've tracked mine at Willow Springs raceway many times and have thrashed it mercilessly and yet it has never missed a beat, ever. That car is one tough machine, true to the Porsche tradition. And there's nothing wrong with this interior either. It's functional, stylish, solid and rattle free, and all leather (including the dash) At the track. Yes, these cars love the track. The two together

I agree with everything that has been said. I love my '87 911 and can't ever imagine selling it but I wouldn't like driving it everyday. I feel that's a good thing as it feels all the more special when I do take it out at the weekend. On the other hand my 2002 996 is a fantastic daily driver. I've put nearly 20,000 mile on mine since I bought it last year. I put brand new front rotors and pads on it as soon as I got it. Since then I have done all the servicing myself, including the infamous spark plug change. As far as non-service items I have had to replace a brake light switch, a battery, a side light bulb, the passenger side power window regulator, and I am in the process of replacing the voltage regulator due to dropping charging voltage as the engine warms up. Not too bad really and everything is so easy to work on. The whole car seems to have been designed with easy build and servicing in mind. As for the performance - breathtaking! I love the way the car accelerates, brakes, and corners. Highway driving is very comfortable and the fuel mileage is fantastic for a 3.6 liter car with over 300bhp. A friend of mine and fellow 996 owner back in England puts it perfectly - "The most everyday-usable sports car ever made"

Guys, your comments are fantastic. The everyday super car. The other day I was the light and someone asked if the car was new. (it's 8 years oldd) but the design difference between the new and the old from the rear for non Porsche people may be somewhat difficult to tell. I was curious about everyday running and had a question about start up. I have been advised that when starting cold, the 996 / Boxster has about a second or two of light tapping in the lifters until the oil circulates. Do you guys encounter this on first start up? It's only for about a second or so. I am running Mobil 1 0-40. Has anyone heard how long the alternators last? Mine is in good shape but it would be good to note. MyKnot, your car looks exactly like mine on the interior except the white face gauges. Gorgeous and comfy for every day use. What kind of tires is everyone running? I would be curious what tires get the most mileage out of them and what kind of wear you have experienced with yours. My new goal is to run this think 1 million miles and walk into a dealer one day and see if they will give me a new one I drive about 30k miles a year so I have ways to go

Man! I just love that color! As for valve tappet rattle for a second or two after a cold start, mine has always done that. I'm told it's normal by my mechanic. My alternator failed at about 47,000 miles. My guess is that they normally last a bit longer than that, but you never really know. When and if it does fail, have a reputable shop find a rebuilt one and prepare to spend more than $500 for the replacement and install. Those buggers are expensive on these cars.

Thanks. The closest thing I have ever seen to the color is the Tungsten Grey seen on the Aston Martin Vanquish. Very rich metallic pewter. These pics just don't do the color justice. I will find some more so you can get a better sense of it. That's good to know of the start up thing. You hear opinions from people but it is always good to get confirmation. Any word on tires that seem to last longer than others? I am running P Zeros but don't expect I will see these lasting for a long time even though they are new.

Mine came with Contis (yeah they're from the continent). I never thought I would buy anything but Pirellis, since that is what I have had for many years on 911s. I dont know if my new p zeros on my 911 out do the new continentals on my 996 (sorry that is the 996 handling ) I didn't switch them to Pirellis on the 996 because their tread rating was softer. Oh and they don't have alot of deep tread but they last ok. So what I am saying is that I like the continentals but the p zero system (that is what they call them) with the asymetricals in the rear are also awesome tires.

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I run Falkens Azenis which stick fantastically and cost at least 1/3 less then the big name performance tires. Not get in rain though, so be forewarned. Might not last any longer, but they are a lot cheaper.

I run the Falken Azenis RT-615's on my 996 also. Great tires with excellent grip for a non-R compound tire. They are not the best wearing tire, but like rjay said, they're inexpensive.

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I have to agree that the color of that car looks superb! I get asked whether mine's new all the time. People seem amazed when I tell then it's a 2002. That said I have noticed that the quality of everything on these cars, from sheet metal to paint and interior materials, is very noticable when compared to a 'normal' car. I think it is this quality which prevents one from seeing the effects of everyday wear and tear, hence the new apperance compare to say a Ford of the same year/mileage. I haven't noticed the tapping on start-up to be honest - I'll pay more attention. I run the factory recommended Mobil 0W-40. From what I have read you should stick with that even if you do have to buy 9 seperate quart bottles. My alternator lasted to about 70k miles. It might be worth mentioning that the alternator itself was fine and all I replaced was the regulator. I did this myself and it was very easy. All up cost was less than $80. The symptoms were that the charge voltage would drop off once the engine comaptment started heating up. It would only take two or three minutes from a cold start to see it dropping significantly. After fifteen minutes it was hardly charging at all and had dragged the battery voltage down to about 11.5 volts. I know it was temerature dependent as at a steady freeway speed the voltage would start to creep up again if I opened up the rear spoiler. With the freshly replaced regulator I am now getting a steady 14.0 - 13.8 V again. (I will do a quick write-up to post here during the week if anyone is interested - it's useful information). On to tires - My car came fitted with Kumho Ectsa's when I bought it (used). Since then I have put almost 20k miles on it and the tires are still OK. They are getting close to needing replacement, but I have been very happy with their wear rate. Grip seems fine although I have never explored the limits of grip of these. I think it is safe to say that it is well beyong what I would be comfortable with on the public road from what I've experienced so far. I'm undecided over the replacements. Half tempted to go with one more pair of Kumho's on the rear until the fronts wear out and then I'll probably swith to the Conti's as being as they are a Porsche approved and OEM tire. Good luck with your goal! My only piece of advice is this; If you are comfortable doing a lot of your own repairs then it is going to save you a huge amount of money. Personally I use original or OEM parts most of which are available from our host. None of the things that I have had to do on my car have been difficult but I think I'd have been lucky to get out of the dealer without a significantly lighter wallet on any one of them.

Excellent write up! I would be very interested to get a write up on your voltage regulator replacement. For $80, it is certainly worth trying that as the replacement first. I have been reading about the Sumitomo tires from Japan at a fraction of the replacement cost. I believe they run $109 from Tire Rack and my father in law runs them on his corvette and they have been stellar. I also have a very particular friend who put the Sumi's on his '02 996 and absolutely loves them. Tire Rack has some great deals and they ship next day to your house or your tire shop. Thanks for everyone's input so far!

2000 Porsche 996 vs. 2007 Ford Roush Mustang -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yesterday, I am cruising along at a leisurely 70mph in 6th gear on a six lane toll road and no one is on it...or so I think. Then I see a new Roush Ford Mustang closing in at high speed in my left mirror. This guy pulls up right beside me and he starts hitting his gas hard and letting off...saying ...."let's go." I have to admit..it was tempting. I had no intention to race. He began to pull in front act like he was coming into my lane. He was getting too close for my comfort. After a careful look around an visibility of almost 2 miles ahead of me with no one in sight...I decided to let him know how a Porsche 996 can run. I clicked from 6th down to forth and we both took off.... I am not sure what the Roush has under the hood but he tried desparately to keep up and the 8 year 996 stock Carrera continued to pull away as I pulled to 7000 into both 4th and 5th gear, with loads of power to continue accelerating hard..... the Roush was not enough to match to power of the stock 996...I could not believe how quickly the 996 pulled to 140mph where I decided to let off. The Roush guy was shocked..as was I. The power to weight ratio but me heavily advantaged towards the 911. Scary how fast the 996 Carrera is. I know this guy looked at my "boxster" headlights and was probably thinking the car was a glorified hard top boxster. (No disprect to the boxster, which personally love and am looking for a nice clean one as an extra fun convertible. Has anyone seen this Porsche ad on Youtube from awhile back..it's awesome!! http://youtube.com/watch?v=nzYEYWOJBbM Folks, anyone that has not driven a 996 is in for a real treat. Supercar performance at a bargain price that gets 26 mpg on the highway, with looks that could kill. Yet another day in the fantastic life and ownership of the best car I have ever owned. Thank you Porsche. There is no substitute. __________________ 2000 996 Carrera Coupe Meteor Metallic Grey

How well does a Porsche 996 survive under every day driving conditions? I drive this car every day and no longer keep another car. Rain, snow, sleet, or shine...this car has been thousands of miles since I have owned it and it continues to perform flawlessly. Not a single problem ever. The best part is that I now have almost 103k miles on it. Original motor and no RMS leak. I hear a lot of FUD on the web about these cars but I am convinced that this must be the majority. I don't think many people have run these cars over 100k miles to date. I am going for 250k and hope to get 300k. I am going to do this as an experiment as some other manufacturers have done with Volvos and Mercedes. How long can a factory water cooled motor go? There are some high mileage boxsters out there..but I think the highest mileage I have seen is about 175k. Next week, I am off to Dallas and Houston again from Austin..so it going to be another 1000 mile weekly jaunt but it's the most fun I have had driving in a long time. The only real flaw I see is on the interior driver lumbar support...It might be an easy fix, but wonder if there is a way to retrofit the newer 997 seats into the 996. I am willing to make that investment. Off to another week of "their is no substitute" driving.

Love that colour-reminds me of the 'Gun Metal Grey' on my 85.

I'm with you...I drove air cooled for many yeara but switched to the MkII 996 about three years ago. I loved my 911, but this 996 is simply a better car and perfect as both a daily driver and occasional auto-x track toy. My present car is arctic grey on black. I am at about 135K kilometres, that's about 83K miles and the car drives like new. Now, mine does have a replacement engine. Exactly why it was replaced 40k miles ago is not clear but of course I don't mind. My feeling is that this car will go 250k miles as well. I do about 16k miles per year so I've got ten years to go, which is about as long as I plan on driving the car. I've deleted my centre console (the one to the front of the shifter) replaced the brakes and a coolant expansion tank, and of course do my oil changes regularly...I'm planning a trans fluid change this summer and I have a set of Bilstien PSS9 coilovers in my shop which will be installed this summer also. I think a clutch in 2011, maybe 2012... Sure the 997 is prettier and the GT3 is a modern collectable, but the normal 996 C2 is such an incredible value that I figure I'll keep driving them forever.

Hello all, I just drove a 99 coupe this weekend my first time driving a 996 and I must say it was completely awesome in every way! I liked it so much I'm buying it! Red on black, GT2 front bumper and wing 3 pcs wheels has a rebuilt engine and a 1 year warranty from the seller!

I've bet the last three years writing a book on the 996 (and Boxster), because I believe they are great cars and will continue to be treasured and used into the future. I see them more as driver cars that are actually driven, versus collectibles, like the earlier air cooled cars. Congrats on your purchase! -Wayne

Wayne, I have 2 of your books already and I am eagerly awaiting the release of this one! Here is a pic of my new money pit, err P Car!

I just ferried my new um old 996 home one sunday 2000.c2 Have to say thx to all of you out there because some of these people can really have you believe you got a lemon,That was the bad news! wow This car is just plain awesome!!!!!!! I raced bikes and a gsxr 1100 an this is a four wheel gsxr!!Just getting used to it and trying not to stress the trany an clutch when shifting be another day or two,but its a keeper. I'm all smiles now

I wouldn't go as far to say it's a k6 gsxr1000 on 4 wheels. No way to launch past 5 cars in a couple seconds on a two lane country road. It growls and howls but doesn't come near my k6 1000. But its a cool car. No where near the 175 hp 400 lb bike with 14,00 rpm. The 996 would have to have 1,400 hp. But it is a cool car to cruise with.

Who can argue about the power an weight of a bike against a car , but these cars are about the closest affordable factory 4 wheelers your going to get to compare with a bike in performance and the fun factor ,if they could talk they would be saying come on lets go faster

P.S with 200 pound drivers on/in both the 996 would only need about 900 horse to be about on par, be kinda hard to see over the nose riding a wheelie at a hundred miles an hour though !

The cars a great cruiser. I really wish it had the power to liter of the new bike engines out there. What we don't need is pulling up to lights like hawaii has with magnetic sensors to change the lights and be sitting there in an aluminum, titanium and plastic car waiting for somebody with a steel car to come up behind us so the light will change. The newer porsche concept car is carbon fiber for a frame. I have to wonder if the engine, suspension and electric motor is non ferous also. It's a great car with lots of spoiled drivers

I can pretty much guarantee you that your electric motor will be ferous :-)