Things you found that the previous owner never addressed properly

After buying back my 2001 996 after 12 years there were a few areas that needed addressing. One of the recent previous owners was a porsche factory trained mechanic who has his own shop and many needed maintenance areas were taken care of... but I kept noting that the decklid fan would run after every drive. Now living in South Florida in the summer it is hot and humid but running for @ 20 minutes seemed a bit much. I did some research and looked into the temp sensor that was supposed to be in a grommet held in between the runners of the intake manifold - could not see it so I fished around for the wires and found it sitting near the head where the temp was hotter than the sensor should be reading. Ordered a new grommet ( way overpriced from porsche at @ 30$ so bought from another source for 11$ for the exact same part) inserted the sensor and then inserted where it belonged. Now the fan only runs when it should instead of after every run and running down the battery. Let's continue this thread - what did you find that needed addressing that the previous owner ignored or did not even know about? This should not be about the big areas that were trying to be hidden, just niggling small things.

I imagine the previous owner had a good reason for doing that.

Where to even start. I have a big list but the one thing not caught on PPI was the absolutely drenched cab carpet foam. I mean, like 80 lbs of fetid standing water that had to be extruded after disassembling the interior. One of the most miserable and hated jobs ever. I'm sure the next owner of my car will be shaking their head at some boneheadedly-simple thing I've ignored or missed. I will, however, spend the 10 minutes to inspect and clear the cab drains once a year.​​​​​​​

Quotes source post: 19638332

The "open tray" cabriolet roof drain design is one of the most questionable things I've seen these so called superior German engineers push out.

I also had to clean all the drains - most were clogged with leaves and misc. So glad the car was not used in rainy weather... and have to change out both window regulators at some point, sure I will find out more as time goes along. Look at it as a hobby Its like an excavation - one never knows what one will find unless we dig a bit deeper

Things I found that weren't addressed properly on my 996: 1. First thing I noticed were several dents on the roof. After some investigation, the sunroof would not open and apparently the owner or someone else tried to move the sunroof manually and probably couldn't get it to move back to the proper closed position; hence, several dents probably created in frustration. I replaced the motor, recalibrated the sunroof, and got my PDR guy to remove the dents. Works great! Why some people think that beating something will make it magically work is beyond me. I've seen it many times. 2. The previous owner installed an Alpine radio, wasn't horrible, but after closer examination, the owner wired it up wrong and cut the original factory wire harness in the process. I had to rewire the car and solder the connection back to the original factory setup with proper ISO plugs. Using a proper wire harness, I installed a brand new Alpine radio system and replaced all the speakers. Added a factory subwoofer that sits behind the rear seats. 3. The first owner unfortunately had a low speed accident that bumped the front bumper skin, then later took it to a tire shop that didn't realize the car had a staggered set of wheels and ended up installing the 10" backs on the front causing the owner to drive off and damage the corner of the bumper skin at a sharp turn. The wheels cracked the bumper beyond repair. It appears a body shop tried to repair it with epoxy, but the paint didn't stick well to the repaired areas and eventually the epoxy cracked. I replaced the bumper with a new OEM bumper from Porsche of Atlanta. 4. The owner apparently wore out the driver side seat leather and had a upholsterer replace it, but sadly had them replace the leather with vinyl. Looked wrong and felt rubbery. Ugh! I replaced the covers on both seats with true leather color matched with a Porsche logo embossed on the head rest. 5. Brakes and pads needed replacement. Replaced with Brembo. Every one of my Porsche had excessively worn brakes and pads. 6. Wheels had curb rash. Smoothed out with a dremel kit and touched up with silver paint 7. Had to remove the bumper to clean the radiators and condensers of crud. Another area that owners forget. Thankfully, no leaks or problems AC or engine coolant system. 8. The window drop wasn't working. Replaced the window regulator and the driver side lock assembly. All works great again. 9. Rear passenger brake light enclosure was cracked. Replaced. 10. Headlight enclosures were oxidizing and turning yellowed. Cleaned them up, but got a deal on some brand new OEM BOSCH headlight enclosures. Sold the existing ones and the new ones look and work great! 11. Battery was seeing it end of life. Replaced 12. Drains were clogged. Shop Vac to the rescue. 13. Wiper blades were shot, replaced with BOSCH. Yes, I drive my Porsche in the rain! haha 14. Engine mounts were shot cause the tail pipes were drooping badly. Replaced with OEM. 15. Replaced all filters. 16. Owner broke the hinge on the center console cubby. Replaced with a OEM leather color matched replacement. 17. The graphite grey steering grip had turned black. Dyed back grey. Thankfully, the previous owners had the engine and other mechanically serviced regularly. No leaks or coolant issues, no DTC or CEL, but after some diagnostics with a Durametric, I've noticed that the wear pads are border line of wear and replacement is definitely on my horizon. Plus the clutch is showing signs of wear too.... grabs late and it rather hard to apply pressure. But the car is a blast to drive in spite of the small issues along the way.

I have an '03 C4S 4.0l 6 speed manual. 1. PO had KW V1 coilovers installed and dropped it as low as would go which threw alignment WAY off, chewed up rear tires super fast and made the back end super squirrely in the wet. I installed adjustable rear toe arms, raised the car to GT3 ride height (yes, it was that low), proper alignment and new rear tires. 2. Removed factory stereo and the hardwired rf transmitter for playing phone through radio which drained the battery in days. Replaced with PCCM+. 3. Cleared roof drains. 4. Replaced motor mounts w/ OE replacements. 5. Removed K&N intake and replaced with factory airbox. Those were things I did immediately when I bought the car in 2021. Since then, I have... 1. Full LN Nickies 3.6 --> 4.0 rebuild w/ Hoffman Cyl Head work to address bore score. Was a huge challenge, but incredibly rewarding upon completion. And holy smokes is it a monster now. 2. New rotors and pads along with caliper rebuilds at all 4 corners. 3. CFS front rads. 4. New clutch and DMF I love this car, it can get expensive. But it sure beats hard drugs.

Bought mine sight unseen from Westmont Napleton Porsche in 2021 and had the car shipped East. The owner didn't skip anything, but whoever detailed the car for them overlooked a lot. Under the seats were: two 3 lb. hand weights, a 3 lb. mallet, a photo ID, a one-day complimentary pass to the University Club, two parking garage receipts, broken glass, dried fruit, broken pretzel sticks, a lipstick a mascara and a quarter was stuck in the rails. In the glovebox was an old postcard from the owner's dad and one of his medical bills! On the plus side, because of this, the original owner and I are now connected on LinkedIn.

My PO owned some sort of canine that, judging by the amount of pet hair on the headliner and interior roof, really enjoyed going on rides.

I bought mine sight unseen too. It had most of the usual issues, now mostly addressed. The worst were the almost total lack of brakes as the front discs and pads were mostly rust. Also the clutch was slipping. Then the air and cabin filters, no AC, coil packs, plugs, all of the fluids, crappy stereo with the bass not working, lose windscreen surround, curbed wheels, random budget front tyres, cracked bumpers. I should have started a YouTube channel on what not to buy but how to fix it when you did. The PO was a mechanic and garage owner here in the UK. Based on the condition of the car, not a garage that I’d recommend! It’s been a journey over the last year and more is still to come. However, the car is now running and driving so sweetly, I’m loving it. I’ve got a couple of rattles to chase down, the brake callipers need an overhaul and then it’s on to the cosmetics over the winter.

What I find so interesting is that it isn't the bigger issues that can be easily noticed and fixed - it is the endless small issues that either go unnoticed by the previous owner or he just learned to ignore them. We all go through this with a new (to us) vehicle purchase, and create a long list to eventually get to. Most are simple but some are so annoying that they jump to the top of the list! This forum has been and continues to be a great help! Thanks to all!!!

My AOS was starting to fail, PO said he was �chasing down a rough idle�. So he changed the spark plugs and threw his hands in the air. I ended up getting the Durametric cable and tracked it down. Dropped the engine for that and chain pads, and learned that my 1999 C2 actually had a single row IMS because of engine replacement early in life. I remember the PO being so confident in the 1999 + dual row fallacy.

Quotes source post: 19641223

This was my situation. Few things off the top of my head: 1.) Driver's door window popped up right after opening (door lock mechanism) 2.) Glovebox microswitch failed so the PO taped it in the closed position. Tape had come loose so the light was always on. 3.) Microswitch in the rear hatch area also failed so the PO cut it out and used electrical tape to tightly wrap the wires together in order to make it so the roof could be opened. 4.) Various interior lights burned out. 5.) Engine and transmission mounts shot. Upon acceleration an audible thump was heard. All this passed PPI. Weirdly, brakes, engine, transmission were all good.

Quotes source post: 19638671

Where are these drains located from the top? I have a cab and would like to do this but unsure where they are on each side?

The drains are located under the back windows. If anyone has the directions to remove the panel the speaker is in, I'm interested. I took out all the visible screws, but couldn't get the panel off to get at the tray.

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It was a long journey to address the aftermarket stereo situation. 2 amps under the cover in the front trunk, dual cd players, a subwoofer that was permanently affixed to the spare tire and all the crazy wiring finally removed! I now have a basic Continental stereo with the original m490 amp in the proper location.

Quotes source post: 19643013

I just...what the...what would the PO do if they had a flat tire? That one takes the cake...

Quotes source post: 19642837

Thanks for this!