Wanted: 996 Buyers guide - any owners willing to share their experience?

New to the site and I am hoping to get a 996. Is there a 996 buyers guide available on this forum? Or can some exiting owners give their opinions on life with a 996? Any help appreciated Mike

Welcome Mike! Take a look here: http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=269468

Thanks Richard for the quick reply and welcome note. I'll take your advice and will start reading through those links. Mike

Welcome Mike, Now is a great time to be buying a 996! Good luck with your search

Very useful reading - I guess always great to hear from actual owners. Any recommendations on security? Brand of tyres, brake pads and discs? Suspension upgrades? Peoples general view on the price of parts and servicing - what are the major intervals and the routine regular ones?

Looks like I have a deal done on a 996 [ ] Won't post any pics until the deal is fully done - ie no chickens to be counted ! Any takers on my last batch of questions above?

Some insuarance companies may require you to have a Tracker fitted, otherwise the standard alarm system is fine. Michelin Pilot Sports are very highly regarded tyres, whatever you get, they should be 'N' rated ie Porsche approved. You can get most of your parts from www.Eurocarparts.com who are very well priced. They offer Textar pads and Sebro disks which are cheap, which you can install yourself using this guide http://www.bombaydigital.com/boxster/projects/brakes/change_pads/ http://www.bombaydigital.com/boxster/projects/brakes/change_rotors/ http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm Services should be carried out every 12k or year, whichever comes first. But from model year 2004 they became every 12k or 2 years. If you cover under 9k after a major service you can substitute the minor service for an annual check at Porsche (where nothing is changed) for £128 A minor service at an indi is around £250, a major around £400 and the big 48k service around £550 Porsche service prices can be found here:- http://www.porsche.com/filestore.aspx/default.pdf?pool=uk&type=download&id=porscheservice-servicepricing-type996&lang=none&filetype=default Very reliable cars and relatively cheap to run!

I was in your position a year ago, MikeIRL. Did all the research I could, got frights along the way about how everything will leak and then blow up but then realised all other cars have faults and maybe more common but the 996 had a lot of bad press. Godd from my point of view in terms of prices. Figured for what I paid for an older but good one, there'll be money in the pot for emergencies. Got a '99 996 C2 Tip last year and I still get a buzz when I look at it. It has a minor RMS leak but the car is 10 years old. Use independents for servicing and costs are reasonable. If not a major service at OPC including plugs and belts is about £750. Indy about £450-500. I get my parts from GSF, Eurocarparts or OPC with PCGB discount. Brakes at GSF are all OEM except not in Porsche boxes and half the price. I have a tracker on mine and use Continental SportContact 2 and I find them quieter than most and wet grip is v good. Michelins are better in the dry but are more expensive. The Contis do wear out quite quickly at the rears. Enjoy the car!

Can't make much of a contribution yet as I've only had my 2004 S a week! I got quotes from half a dozen insurers and surprisingly not all of them required a tracker; best I got was from Admiral with my older brother on as a named driver. I actually went for Porsche's own insurance (which is Norwich Union via a broker) in the end as it seemed less hassle when it came to loan cars (none of the other companies were prepared to cover a 911) plus includes two track days. Security-wise, it lives in a locked garage and I'll never leave it with the roof down. I'll probably get a Thatcham-approved steering wheel lock for it to for when its away from home. My 18" Carreras have Pirelli P Zero Rossos all round and they look pretty new - don't know how long they'll last with all the roundabouts in my area! It came from Porsche Silverstone so has their 12-month warranty and I'm going to be renewing it as well. Not sure if this actually requires servicing to be done by them, or just using Porsche bits. I'm still amazed that the service interval is 2 years!

Not sure if this actually requires servicing to be done by them, or just using Porsche bits the warranty is dependent only on porsche genuine parts-not where its done -so an indy using porsche parts is fine

Thanks dyllan - just realised my posting is almost completely irrelevant anyway as the original poster was asking about a 996, not a 986. I think driving to work with the hood down is affecting my brain...

at times like this i too sometimes wish i had got a cayman cab!!