The first steps toward a 996

Regards to you all. I'm seeking a serious upgrade after a few very satisfying years of Fiat Coupe 20VT ownership, and have ended up here. I'm rapidly reading through the old posts trying to find out as much as I can about the 911 before I purchase one. I've decided on an early 996 C2 and hope to pick up something reasonable like a '98 model with average miles for about £25K. I saw this at the weekend and had a drive. http://www.cridfords.co.uk/cridfords/car_details.asp?index=5 . It drove superbly but i guess they all do even the bad ones. It looked basically sound but the rear discs were worn and the interior was starting to look a little tired (wear on bolster etc). Anyone else viewed it?. It was just about to have its 48K service and preparation so didnt look at its best. Couple of questions. 1 Am I in a for a world of hurt running cost wise buying an early c2 with circa 70K miles or should I wait until I can afford a later model with much lower miles.? 2. The saleman fed me some figures like £500 for a clutch, 350 for a minor service, £650 for a major one. Do these sound realistic? 3) Im fairly handy with spanners so is working on these cars yourself a no no or will it be viewed dimly come resale time.? The RMS replacement doesnt look that hard on paper :wink: Compared to swapping the viscodrive on a Fiat Coupe anyway. Regards Rob Migration info. Legacy thread was 47997

doesnt look a bad car, some 18'' alloys would finish it off though £500 For a clutch when a clutch kit is £320 + vat and 6.5 hours labour? try and buy the lowest mileage car best spec and get a Porsche 111 Point inspection and put a Porsche warranty on it £725 far better than anything car care plan or the RAC will sell you Migration info. Legacy thread was 48017

1) no porsche is going to be cheap. and tbh i reckon the service costs will roughly the same on any model you buy. The way the servicing runs on these is due to age and miles. So my low (25k) mileage 98 c2 is about to have its major 80k equivalent service. Where you can really control costs is making sure you have a 111 point check and warranty by porsche, this will atleast show you what car you're buying, the one I bought (picked it up this saturday) appeared excellent to me but Porsche still found £1000 of bills for it. 2) i'd say the service costs sound right, i'm about to book mine in for a major at £625. (which includes brake fluid change). but the clutch is a £1000+ job from what I've read on here. Usually do the rms at the same time. ( i mean the other way round, if the rms goes you may as well get a new clutch at the same time) 3) no idea, not worked on mine yet. looks very cramped and reminds me of the bad backs I used to get when I worked on my old Mini. view a few cars and make sure the deal is right for you, you have the cash and its a buyers market. My mum always says "if its meant to be, then it'll happen". ;-) I nearly lost mine, untill the seller gave in and accepted my final offer. Migration info. Legacy thread was 48031

I bought mine from Cridfords, they seem fair enough people to deal with. Why not see how much they'd sell it to you for after they had the bits sorted. and a service done - I'm sure they'd get preferential rates at Porsche Guildford. Migration info. Legacy thread was 48046

Thanks for the replies. £725 is that for a year!? If so I think I might self insure. Im a bit puzzled on the practicalities of how you get an 111 point inspection done. The dealer surely wont do this unless I agree to buy the car by which time its too late. Similarly he's not going to take the car to Porsche on my behalf unless I commit to some sort of deal. How does this work? Migration info. Legacy thread was 48075

Think the consensus would be you'd be mad to. These things are pretty reliable & well built, but if something does let go, it can be very serious. Not many people could run to a 5 figure repair bill. Could you? I know this is an exception but a new engine for my GT3 would cost me around £40k so I'm lead to believe. Without the warranty in the unlikely event of it letting go I'd have to effectively write the car off. Cue comments about Porsche not honouring warranties........ Migration info. Legacy thread was 48084

You would have to sell your private Jet, and fly business instead ehh Rob, £40k for a motor, your aving a laugh!!! Daz Migration info. Legacy thread was 48088

Don't you start, gotta take Club to India next Monday, Claire's knicked the plane to go to Switzerland....... ....£40k for the engine or so they said on Top Gear, but it is a nice engine shame it's wasted on me.... Migration info. Legacy thread was 48091

i also viewed same car - there is paint chip on the front wing, passenger side i think and its been up for sale for quite a few weeks rich Migration info. Legacy thread was 48100

I would also like to know how to get the porsche warranty if buying from a trader such as Cridfords. Am looking to buy simiar car under 30k so would like to know soon thanks rich Migration info. Legacy thread was 48101

111 point check by Porsche main dealer if it passes or when they put the faults right you buy the warranty from the Porsche main dealer for £725 providing the car is under 9 years old and 125,000 miles standard on all my cars ( providing they are under 9 years old of course) Migration info. Legacy thread was 48102

ok, so basically buy a car and then go to Porsche and hope it passes. So a 98 porsche is now getting pretty near its last Porsche cover. So I guess buy a newer car or in another year it will be find your own warranty with another company Appreciate your help thanks richard Migration info. Legacy thread was 48105

As I said (before the thread was hijacked :wink: ) it looks like you have no option until you've bought the car, unless your dealer gives the opportunity to bail out, if the result isnt favourable or he does it as standard like Mark. Basically you wont find out there are problems until its too late. I still cant quite grasp this concept of paying £250 for have the opportunity for someone to sell you a warranty for £725. Mmm nice work if you can get it. IMO its also pointless getting a warranty if they wont renew it the year later. Sods law says you will get the problem in the second year of ownership. IF I had a 03 GT3 I would feel differently but seems overkill on a £25K 996. Migration info. Legacy thread was 48116

a 111 point check is about 1.5 hours labour so it shouldnt cost £250 I believe all OPC 's charge £99 +vat an hour dont forget that the warranty covers RMS and if you buy the warranty and get an RMS out of it then its paid for its self And if your intermediate shaft snaps and its £8K + for a new engine you also get at home cover and european roadside assistance Migration info. Legacy thread was 48135

The Porsche warranty seems a good investment, and definitely seems to be longer than other OEMs, i think BMW only allow their warranty up to 100k.... However, due to the prestige of 911s and most people buying the older generation cars, aging around the 8-11 year mark, how do you get around this 9 year porsche warranty? Reason i asked is that i have been bitten in the pasts by independent garage warranties being @!&£ and not worth money and not honouring what they claim they cover. Last year i replaced the oil rings on my 3 series, and then had a tappet failure about 1k miles after (after it had gone to the BMW OEM), where they wouldnt cover their work (they said their engines werent suppose to last more than 100k, mine had 103k on it) and i ended up having to buy a rebuilt engine. Now I am currently researching and looking to buy a 993 and after what i have been through with the 3 series, and what im digging up in the forum, i would be scared not to have an expensive car in parts and servicing costs, not covered by warranty. Do you guys who have cars over 9 years just bite the bullet and sit there and hope nothing goes wrong or is there a good after market warranty firm that you would recommend? Great forum btw. Stu (oh apologies on the length of the reply but new to site and using it to research the 993)... Migration info. Legacy thread was 48180