996 - more spec or lower milage?

Hi there, I was wondering if anyone could advise me on the following. I am about to buy a 996 from a PC. There are 2 options A- 996 09/2001 37000mls with tons of spec including sports exhaust PCM1 sat nav, tel, sports seats, sports suspension, 18" CD, bose and so on. Very long spec list. This one is for £41995 the other option is B- 996 11/2002 20000mls less spec but sports suspension, and 18" normal Porsche radio etc. This one if for £40995 Both cars are similar in colour and look great. I love the the sports exhaust of A on all the specs but I know the PCM1 is not the greatest sat nav and in any case I want to keep the car for at least 5years. B has less miles and is nearly a year younger. In now in the end it is a personal choice but was wondering what you think. I believe that the sat nav ad all the other specs wont be worth a penny if I want to sell the car in 5 years. Let me know what you think. Your feedback is very much appreciated! elliotts

Well the PSE is worth £1500 and the Bose and sports seats are very nice. Sat Nav as you say is worth nothing. I assume these are both OPC prices. I would say A, but the miles are loads higher. Porsche's seem to book at 7K miles per year, so theat is 2.5 years worth of mileage. I would have a got at B and say that you will buy it if they include the PSE for free - cheeky but worth a try. The radio will not be so good - does it have speaker in the front doors?

DOn't forget you can always play the card that you have seen one privately with everything you want, but would like to buy from an OPC!

as long as they haven't read this thread :twisted: :wink:

True!

Hi, thanks for your feedback so far. Just copied the specs from the website I could get B and buy a fabspeed exhaust? A- 18" SportDesign wheel 3-spoke steering wheel Airbag driver and passenger Alarm system Automatic climate control Automatically dimming interior/exterior mirrors BOSE Sound System Boxster S England CD changer preparation Charcoal filter Cruise control Electric windows Electrically adjustable exterior mirrors Gear+handbrake lever aluminium Handset for PCM Heatable seats, left and right Illuminated vanity mirrors in sun visors Leather interior Litronic /Bi-Xenon-headlamp incl. cleaning system Natural leather On-board computer Porsche Communciation Management (PCM) Porsche Stability Management (PSM) Porsche crest embroided in headrest Radio preparation Rear wiper Seats: partial leather Side airbags POSIP Six-speed manual gearbox Sports chassis Stronger battery Wheel hub covers, colored crest Windscreen with graduated top tint B- 18" Carrera wheel Electric slide/tilt sunroof ParkAssist Porsche Crest embossed on head restraints Porsche Sound Package with amplifier (digital) Porsche Stability Management (PSM) Rear wiper Sports suspension (- 10 mm) Top tinted windscreen

B does have the sound pack which is pretty good (much better than the standard prosche stereo). Other than that (and the PCM and Xenons) not that different specs IMO. I prefer the wheels that B has - much less likely to corode in the future. Plus the sports suspension on B does make the car sit a little better. Certainly don't think A has a massive spec compared to B, just lists more standard features that are on both. What colour is the interior on B? Not sure about the fabspeed, have been mixed reports on here about it. I would still try and get them to add the PSE ro B.

Best thing to get the actual spec (not OPC padding) is to take a picture of the VIN sticker on the underside of the bonett. It will tell you all the options codes.

I would choose B, assuming condition is identical to A. A has a long list of stuff, but I bet B has some of that as well, it just isnt listed on the website. Get the option codes from the Vin, as So Poo suggests. make sure you listen to the different exhausts before you decide on one. for example i personally find the PSE a bit raspy and prefer more of a gurgle, so to speak... , but I know that pretty much everyone else on here loves it. horses/courses, silver linings, bears in the woods etc etc

If they are both at the same OPC then get them to explain clearly the difference in the spec of each car. They should do this from the option codes as mentioned before. They are selling the cars after all make them work for their money. The mileage consideration depends on what sort of miles you will do. You say you are going to keep it for 5 years, so if you do 20k pa in five years you are selling one car with 120k and one with 137k not really much difference to the potential buyer. If you only plan doing 5k pa then you would be selling one car with 45k and the other with 62k which would be a bigger difference. But having said all of that sensible bo11ocks - buy the one which floats your boat - go with your heart. You will have a much bigger smile on your face with the right car than you will thinking that you are saving a few quid but compromising.

Buy both! Drive them on alternate days & see which one you like best Flog the one you don't like, simple. :wink: Failing that haggle hard for car A, although in my mind its easy 5k overpriced.

They are both way overpriced - you can get a C4S for that money.

boh overpriced, I was offered £31k for 52 plate 996 c2 with43k miles (same OPC I purchased from paying £39k)

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Personally I'd go for A. OPC cars are expensive, but they are well prepped, warrantied etc. I paid under £40k for an 02 C4S from a specialist dealer, but have already needed to shell out for a new set of brakes after less than 6m