996 Tiptronic 1999. Thoughts and things to checkout.

I've been offered an absolutely cracking deal on a 30k 1999 996 tiptronic. Any thoughts and advice on what I should checkout on it. What "surprises" should I expect in long term ownership? If I get it it will be a daily driver covering about 25k miles a year.

My first Prorsche was a 99 C2 great car, First Have a qualified Porsche Mech go over every nut and bolt 0f the car, full check up 250.0. Possible gremlins, Rear main seal leaking. How much oil does it use ? Head liner viberates when the sun roof is down. other than that underside of the car carefully inspected. Ferd

My current daily driver is a tip and i bought it because it was an automatic. I've put about 20k miles on it this year already. It is like many other Porsches, so if well maintained (if not already then soon: fresh motor oil, coolant flush, transmission fliud, little bit of petosin for steering, tires brakes, plugs, cap and rotor) and has good compression, leakdown, there you go. PPI will tell you how much you can expect to spend in next twelve months. Good luck.

I bought my '99 with a Tip as daily driver three years ago. Works great and my wife can drive it.

This is some of the information I've gleaned beyond the usual checks and ppi of points that need an extra look: These cars are the first built to be as strong as they need to be instead of as strong as possible. In time there are consequences. The interior is not as rugged as earlier models. There may be more squeeks and rattles. The trim is harder to take apart and a previous owner may have done so trying to locate the squeeks and rattles. There is a good chance it did not come back together well and some plastic clips got broken in the process. Check that all the warning lights go off. Check the windows, these are prone to failure. Front and rear screens can be rattly - annoying. Check aircon, can fail or work poorly - expensive to fix. We all know about the RMS problem, it improved with the 3.6 but still happened. The fact that the seal was replaced is no guarantee that it won't happen again even if most replacement seals seem to be holding up well. Camshaft covers can also leak. These in reality appear to be more annoying than serious problems even if pricy to fix. There are some cases of random engine failures. These seem to be down to porous or cracked cylinder bores. Worth checking the oil filler cap for sludge indicating oil and coolant mixing. Check for coolant leaks at joints and at the pump as well as for a cracked header tank. Check that the tiptronic works in both manual and full auto mode. Make sure it goes through all the gears (it does start from standstill in second)

I purchased my -99 , Tip , because that was the only one my wife liked ! And gave me the permission and funds.... As she will not take manuals. And the (good ) looks of the 996 were very important.I kind of like the the way it looks , almost everyone will immediately know it is a 911. And yes , the 99 modelyear seems to be really cheap , and they are.Good value for money ! But if you buy it without a pro check up , you are asking for trouble. ( BTW : I bought mine without PPI ...) But it had good service records , and really low miles (20k) , and the seller had a good reason to sell it.And was also a very nice man.Including his wife. And the price was reasonable , for almost as good as new vehicle.This older gentleman really pampered the car.And it showed. And convinced me to go for it.... As this was my once in a lifetime chance to get a 911. Notice , that 99 Tip , if you want to drive it manually , you have to move the gearlever to manual side and then you can only use the steeringwheel padlles. The later ones are better , you can use the manual mode when ever , without moving the gearlever to manualside. Cant remember when the change happened. And the Tip learns ( I think it has 5 different "curves") , if the previous owner drove gently , it feels sluggish and slow. I was shocked how it felt.... then someone told me to use the pedal , PROPERLY..... so floor it. Drive hard. And then it worked a lot better. Not a single hick up with the vehicle since the purchase (last November ) And you guessed , my wife also likes to drive the car !!! As with the before mentioned Tip , it is soooooo easy to drive around. EDIT : The main reason why I could fulfill my chilhood dream of owning a real 911 , was me working in the States at that time.The 996 prices were and are shockingly low comparing to European prices. Especially with the current euro/dollar rates.The before mentioned vehicle is now happily living with me here in Finland.