Is Speed Yellow a bad idea - Part 2

Thanks to all those forumites who replied to my first post. Encouraged by your replies, I went down to Camtune this afternoon to check out their yellow C4S. As the price was relatively low, I was expecting there to be one or two issues with the vehicle. The car looked nice and drove well (except in one aspect - see below) but I was disappointed to find the following and I'm now wondering whether to go ahead or not so I'm looking for advice 1)The big downer as far as I'm concerned is the service history. There is a gap in the service book history between Dec 2003 when an annual service was carried out by an OPC and the next stamped service in March 2006 carried out by Strasse. Camtune could'nt offer any explanation for this. 2)Next, it was clear even to my unpracticed eye that the vehicle had had bodywork repairs front and back. This looked professionally carried out but the stickers were missing from under the bonnet 3)Whilst the car handled well on the test drive and was relatively free from rattles and sqeaks, I was disappointed with the performance. I was expecting a step up in performance from my existing C4 3.4, especially considering the C4S had a sports exhaust but the engine felt flat and a bit unwilling to rev. In fact, driving my C4 home afterwards, my car was definitely faster. The Camtune guy said that all C4S's were a bit 'heavy' to drive and promised to check the engine out 4)The vehicle has had 4 owners in 5 yrs which worries me abit 5)The vehicle has a sports exhaust fitted which sounds great but is NOT switchable. Camtune said it was an early Porsche sports exhaust which was'nt switchable although could be modified to switchable for about £500. Is this correct? So the question is whether the above is enough for me to walk away. I want a yellow C4S especially with a sports exhaust and the price is good at £37495 What does the panel think?

I would go & test drive another C4S to see if it was just that particular car that dissapointed you or will they all feel the same to you ? P.S IMHO number 1 & 2 of your comments would be more than enough for me to run a mile[ ]

Agree with Blade_UK . re: point 4 - Not untypical for 996's IME & certainly not a reliable indicator of "a bad 'un".

Ditto. The bodywork damage would concern me most. I'd keep looking if I was you.

Personally, the accident repair would put me off straight away. I would have nightmares about trying to sell it on in future. It's not that I'm a pessimist, more an experienced optimist really! Regarding the missing service stamps, my OPC had forgotten to do this on two occasions previously, so that might not necessarily be an issue - if you give your OPC the VIN, they should have any PMDS history on file - otherwise I would consider the missing service history dubious. Lastly, the comment about 'all C4Ss being a bit heavy to drive' is a bit too "Arthur Daley" for my liking!

I think you now no why the price is relatively low. If you bought this vehicle and had any issues major or minor you would always regret buying this car and seriously dent the pride of ownership good feel factor these cars should bring to their proud owners. There are so many great and genuinely good cars out there I would personally continue the chase for that great car which is waiting to be snapped up and deliver 100% pleasure 24/7 [ ] And the chase can be as much fun as the end result. Good luck

Are there any receipts or guarantees for the repairs? Who did them? It it was an OPC it shouldn't be an issue but the low price does reflect the problems.

agree with all above-it seemed 2 good 2 be true-definately a good idea to testdrive another that you know will be ok-ideally at an opc perhaps-as for the damage and service history-both are absolute no-no`s.dont go near it

IMO....walk away.....to.....the...nearest.......996......turbo..........for......... around.......... the same.............. price!

I'd walk ... 1) Missing stamps in book may not be issue if you have receipts for the work. Personally I'd prefer receipts as you know what has, or more importantly, what hasn't been done. But look ominous to me. Who in their right mind would not maintain a car of that value properly ? 2) If it were a 15K 964 with body work, maybe OK, but for paying that money. 3) If you were expecting a step up in performance from your existing C4 3.4, you should be looking at a turbo. "The Camtune guy said that all C4S's were a bit 'heavy' to drive" ... agree with comment above (re Arthur Daley) - I'd walk at that point ... they clearly don't know their stuff. 4) Me too. Personally I think the more owners, the less people will maintain / look after their car as they're not in it for the long term. All the best cars I've had over the years (and its been a lot ... of cars, not years!) have had low numbers of owners for age. Even if it doesn't bother you it _will_devalue it come resale. 5) Don't know about that one.

rsj at slough have a really nice looking low mileage 4s (albeit at 45k) -if you drive that you will know what agood one feels like-hopefully! agree tho that if you want power go for a 996 turbo-great ones out there for 40-45k

Have you seen the one Hartech have? It has the switchable exhaust too. I haven't looked at it properly but I did see it last time I was in there - a fantastic looking car and a delaer you can trust!

Yes I got quite excited about that car having seen the ad but according to the downloadable service record, it's done 78k miles which seems more than a bit leggy. Anyone got any views on 996's with this sort of mileage? It's a weekend car for me so mileage does'nt bother me per se but I don't want to be stuck with a lemon (ho,ho geddit?)

To be honest, I'm starting to think along the same lines especially as there seems to be less price difference between good C4S's and Turbo's than I thought Am I right in thinking that the Turbo engine is a different block to the standard 3.4/3.6 engine and has'nt suffered from the same engine failures? Any other reasons to go for a Turbo rather than a C4S other than the obvious performance difference? Did Turbo's get the same facelift upgrades as the other 996's in 2001?

The Turbo block is entirely different. I think things like the new lights came out on the Turcbo before the Carrera.

:GROAN: [ ] My 996 C2 has 95,000 on it now - I can't wait until it's run in so that I can start opening her up [ ]

The turbo uses the GT1 derived engine block which it shares with the GT2/3 and is much more reliable than the M96 block found on the Carrera. There wasn't a facelift as such, but the MY02 model got the Bose package as standard, auto-dim mirror with rain sensor, and a glovebox. PCM2 instead of PCM1 in MY03 (52 plate cars). From the MY04 (53 plate cars) year the PCM satellite navigation was standard.

A month or so ago I saw a speed yellow 996tt in OPC Reading but it is gone now - could have been your perfect car

If your looking at 40k (ish) MK1 GT3's look great in Speed Yellow [ ]