Buying help please

Hello again, I'm faced with a choice, which is never good, but unlike a previous post I have a tad more consistency in what to go for: 99 T C2 cab with 80k @ £20k- lots of work done and fully stamped book 01 Y C4 cab with 55k @ £25k - full history from non-specialist dealer 01 Y C4 cab with 40k @37k - from OPC 02 51 C2 cab with 32k @ 36 - from OPC Can't decide but any guidance appreciated Thanks [:-]

Does it have to be a Cab? If not then I know of a Coupe for sale on an 03 plate with 20K on the clock, loaded and FSH, Etc.... for about the same money. E-mail me for details. Adrian.

buy on condition not age,and get the best you can afford- simple really in theory!!

only the 02 51 plate car is a facelift if that is important to you (3.6l engine instead of 3.4etc). £36/£37k cars are not going to hold their value as well as the earlier cars - for low £40s there are good 997s about. If you want to be mischievous, ring a different OPC and tell them you have a lovely 51plate 996 cab and ask what they will offer you for it. You will be amazed and disappointed.

get the 02 51 facelift - provide milage reflect condition - tyep of use and garage vs street can have a big impact drive a hard bargain - values are falling - 997s are coming onto the market if ken wins in london tomorrow then values will fall sharply

i would agree that the opc ones seem as usual overpriced[ ] given you can now get 997`s for only£5-6 k more why not find a good indi and see what you can find?

....too right! I bet they took that 51 plate in for about £28K - against another car going out. Mike, you can buy privately and just get the 111 point check done and get a Porsche warranty put on it (circa £900) - that way there's absolutely no difference between buying from OPC or privately. If you get any problems you're covered - just as you would be if you bought from an OPC, except that you'll still have the best part of five grand in your back pocket! It's a buyers market and it's set to get worse - for the seller that is. OPCs must be bricking it. Find a car you want privately and just tell the seller that you'll buy it providing it passes the 111 point check - which you can get done in certain OPCs for £99 until the end of May! Then tell the seller that you want to put the warranty on it and ask them to meet you half way (circa £500). This way you'll get peace of mind on whatever you buy and, in my opinion, a better deal. Trust me, OPCs offer you nothing more than pretty receptionists, leather sofas and free coffee.

I dont know if I can post this reply here but I'm looking at maybe selling my 2002 c2 cab. Had the opc 111 check & got the warrenty also full opc history email me fo further info. So Sorry if Im not allowed to advertise here.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm moving toward the 99 C2 mainly because it's already had the depreciation (and having read the very entertaining road tax thread!) and seems to have had a lot of work done recently with an OPC. New clutch, flywheel etc (It's on pistonheads in Manchester). It does need to be a cab really as my little boy loved that bit - and I'm not a real petrolhead - sad to say but more of a poseur? I drove the non-specialist C4 today and though I'm no expert I have driven some bangers (fords) in the past I know the smell of burning oil and it seemed to have that odour - I don't know if this might be normal but the trader met me halfway and had given it a blast down the motorway, lucky really as I'd have pottered a few miles and missed it but is this normal/ acceptable on a 6 year old 996? The two OPC cars though much more expensive could be lease financed with a residual value which makes them potentially attractive. My preference though is not to have finance but it was tempting. All cars are manual though - ideally, as a daily commuter car, an auto would be the one, and a 4S at that but then I get carried away - colour too. 2 cheapest and the dearest are all blue... where do I stop? I'm due a free 111 point check as we have a cayenne from an OPC and that's how I got lured into the 37k bracket. Maybe I can use that check on the private one? Thanks again.

I was going to add ... but you've sort of answered it yourself ... there's a huge range in prices you've quoted. The 01 car at £37K WILL depreciate £17K in 2 to 3 years. The £20K car WON'T depreciate £17K in 2 to 3 years. The car tax is less on the older car, obviously, but that is small beer compared to depreciation costs. The only thing you can't have with the 99 car is an OPC warrantee (only renewable up to its 9th birthday - well, maybe you'll get one year depending on time of year it was registered) - so look to an alternative indi servicing / scheme for peace of mind. HTH. It took me 18 months to find the right one

That's a very valid point, you may have just convinced me to keep mine for a few more years now .

In my rambling reply above it may have been overloked that I noticed a smell of burning oil - is that to be expected or is it acceptable? Thanks

no - totally unnacceptable - walk away it may be minor or it may be major but it certainly shows the dealer hasnt been bothered to try and fix it (maybe coz its major) and is looking for a chump dont be that chump there are losts of cars out there and prices are falling if you have very specific requirements it may take a while to find what you want if you are less fissy on exact colour/spec etc then one will turn up soon

They all smell hot and rubbery around the rear wheel arches after a bit of a run. However, if it's an oily smell, I agree - could be a simple fix, but why take the risk?

"Rubbery" you say... Maybe it was that and not an oily smell. I worried it was much cheaper than the OPC and might be so because there's a problem but it seems the OPC was more likely to be off with the pricing fairies. I'm away at the weekend so will ponder/ dither and have a look at the private one when I get back. Dealer told me the indi that last serviced it was unit11 in Warrington (offshoot from 9meister apparently). I rang and spoke to them but they didn't recognise the partial reg I gave them (SAP something) and I never knew the owner's name at the time. Minefield isn't it.

It needn't be, Mike - just keep it simple. My 996 always gives off a "rubbery" smell when I give it the beans. (I tried to explain this to an Asian friend of mine but he said that he didn't think it was rubbery at all - in fact he thought that it was awful). I've never had any cause for concern though, I think that it's just one of the many quirks of the car. I've always put it down to the fact that I so rarely push it above 6k revs that there's just residual oil and general oomska that's been laying there for a while - which then gets fried by the old flat six giving off a bit of heat!

there is a big differnce betweenan oily smell form exhaust (vv bad) vs elsewhere (??)