A 996 with 146K miles?

Hi, This my first post. I am looking at buying a 1998 996. It has 146K miles on the clock. It is my first Porsche and it is mainly because of what the asking price is at £15K. However, would I be buying trouble and end up with a money pit? See links below for ad. http://search.autotrader.ie/www/car...=20&SUBMIT.x=29&SUBMIT.y=8&id=200817188640620 http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index...&carID=1022964 Any advice appreciated.

Welcome to the forum. It is about as low as a 996 has gone but looking at the spec, it is virtually a standard "no extras" car. These are about as rare as hen's teeth but very difficult to sell because there are so many 996s out there. It might be a good buy, but you would be well advised to have a specialist inspection done prior to committing. Having said that, an inspection would cost you a few hundred £. I guess your dilemna is that if the cost of this car is pushing your budget to the max then if anything needs doing, you'd be knackered because bills for these cars are not cheap. To put it into perspective, a decent 964 (1989 to 1993) will cost about the same money and a really good one even more. The 996 is a bit of an enigma because it was Porsche's first venture into mass production so the values are reflecting that and a full recognised service history is a must. If you can cope with a more dated interior and a complete lack of driver aids, coupled with the need to learn how to drive a powerful rear engined car then I would say that the 964 would be a better introduction to the world of Porsche, if not then an early 996 would be a leap of faith and you might be better off looking at another make of car. A new clutch for instance will set you back the thick side of £1,500 as it's nearly a complete days job and the parts are more than the fitted price of a clutch on the average car.

As Seagull as has, buy on condition not on price, will be cheaper in the long run !

Is that the highest mileage on a 996 or has anyone else done more? Only curious as I do 15k a year :roll: TB

Spotted it myself last night, looks very tidy on the other pics on the trader site! if you are prepared to spend a bit here and there in the future and the inspections come back ok i would think it could be a bit of a bargain? Looks more like Cobolt than Zenith to me but think its prob just the pics :?

Difficult :chin: It may just be fine, but as Seagull says, it wouldn't need too much to go wrong before you are faced with a big bill. Clutch is nowhere near £1500 though (IIRC mine would have been about £800 at an Independent if it hadn't been part of an RMS warranty repair) Personally, I wouldn't buy it unless I was sure I could lay my hands on a few thousand in an emergency and/or I had another car I could use if something went wrong

You're right about the clutch Wattie my figure was based on OPC 3 years ago charging £1,100 and of course Porsche bumping up the parts prices last autumn. Having said that, there's every possibility that the flywheel would need replacing unless it has already been done.

911 ownership costs include the initial outlay, plus a reasonable annual maintenance charge. Being brutally honest, if you can only just stretch to a 15k budget to buy the car, can you afford the maintenance? Don't want to seem negative, but wouldn't want you to not be able to afford annual bills and see your lovely car deteriorate in front of your eyes. If you can afford it, go for it! (PPI, buy on condition, bla bla bla...)

bear in mind its a Carrera 4 so its meant to be an engine out job for a clutch(thats if its the same procedure as per 964/993 C4's)

. thanks for all the helpful replies... I need to think about it more. I accept that things will break and I am prepared for the cost that may bring. If I am to buy I really need to bring it to the nearest Porsche dealer and get it checked for peace of mind first. Given the mileage what do you think is a fair price for it?

Mine is a Carrera 4 (I know it doesn't say that in my garage entry, but I don't seem to be able to change that!) My 993 C4 had a new clutch for much less than £1,000 at an Indie a few years back...

Hi, don't take it to a porsche dealer,take it to a porsche specialist they will look at it properley, all a dealer will see is a 996 with intergallactic miles and tear it tp pieces... A clutch installed by us is currently £600 plus v.a.t you leave engine in on 996 even turbo/GT3. Thanks mike www.sportsandclassic.com

I think all in all that you might want to pass on this one. Lots of miles, 10 years old, service history? :?: Once you've bought it its yours, and if a few large bills come in :help: this can put the whole Porsche ownership experience at risk :boxin: . Try and see if you can increase your budget and look for a car with a good service history then a higher mileage could be considered with a little more confidence . Regards Big Bob

Thanks Bob... :x So what are all us guys supposed to do that actually use our cars as intended and do a few miles in them? Scrap them? Give them away? Not exactly going to do much for my Porsche ownership experience if everyone advises people to steer clear of 6-figure mileage cars... :blue-no:

[ Thanks Bob... :x So what are all us guys supposed to do that actually use our cars as intended and do a few miles in them? Scrap them? Give them away? Not exactly going to do much for my Porsche ownership experience if everyone advises people to steer clear of 6-figure mileage cars... :blue-no:[/quote] If I was a combative sort of person (which I am) I would suggest Wattie that you might have misunderstood my point :nooo: . This is the guys first Porsche, if you have grown up with a car and put the miles on you know it intimately, so your confidence of a hile mileage older car, is supported. Would you as your first Porsche buy a 10 year old 146K mileage 996 with no service history :?: ? If you would then I'm wrong, and I must apologise for the second time this week to a Forum Member Regards Big Bob :bye: