New member looking for advice

Hi been looking around for a few days now ,great info but can't seem to find what I'm really looking for Firstly a little about me , my daily driver is an Audi A3 and my weekend / fun / show car is a VW Corrado (my baby) due to an RTA in July 2005 very soon i will have a fair bit of money coming my way enough to change my toy for sometime a bit more special namely a 996 my daily my baby the reason I'm looking for a 996 I'm looking to spend £15k to £25k on an 2000/2001 as I'm thinking that pre March 2001 I'll miss the road tax rise con, but by going there I can't go face lift is the face lift front end worth living with the road tax rise for ,is triptronic a good thing ? (I have mobility problem with my right foot post RTA) but this is the big one the option list is doing my head in is there a list of must have's or a list of don't waste your money for. for example is rear wash wipe worth turning down a cars for or is it worth paying extra for , I really want an aerokit in a loud colour but most cars on sale tend to be blue or silver is speed yellow really that rare? thanks for your answers , hopefully this will be my first post of many NOTE Mods couldn't find a section for this hope its ok here Rob

My car sounds perfect for you[ ] . I have a loan 997 at the moment without a rear wash wipe and I would say yes it is a must unless you have parking sensors. Right foot wouldn't make any difference for tip or manual?? I would say if you are going second hand get as many extras as you can find there is a lot of choice at the moment - as someone will have paid a fortune originally so reap the benefit. Admittedly the PCM1 sat nav is very dated now but the display is nice for the info etc. Oh, and in my opinion get an OPC warrantied one for a peaceful nights sleep. Remember its not just stumping up the cash to buy one - they are expensive to maintain / insure / run etc but very worth it [8D].

Thanks Vron thats what I'm looking for rear wiper worth looking for , i was thinking tip then i could left foot brake if needed ? the bit about fixing and running them , got a mate who's porsche trained and my price range should leave plenty spare as the figure thats been forecast has 5 zero's but i think £25k should be enough to get a good 996 Rob Rob

http://www.911uk.com/ads_item.php?id=587 This one is for sale bright enough! - nothing to do with me, and in Sheffield - i've never seen it though [&:]

Thanks Vron If my money was sorted that would be one i would look at ,its the right colour for me and the kit ,sports exhaust hopefully things may be sorted on the money front before that sells by the way whats RMS and are the gear boxes problems normaly ? Rob

RMS is the rear main seal - one of the 'weak' points with 996 engines (along with the intermediate shaft and cylinder liners). Some 'stats' were collected over on Pistonheads porsche forum - here's a link to page 18 of a 27 page posting where stats were summarised. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=48&t=400915&i=340 In practice, the reliability will be better than stated there as it is more likely people will post when they have a problem, rather than not. Gearbox probs are less likely, though not unheard of. The only issue is the cost to repair when things go wrong.

some good info there thanks , but as you said people do tend to report problems and not report no problems , so the RMS is the crankshaft seal flywheel end does this often cause clutch failure ? is clutch replacement covered by Porsche if its due to the seal failing ? Rob

From what I have gleaned an RMS seal is not critical unless you have a carpetted garage. Usually, the small drip can be lived with until a clutch change is require (due to normal wear and tear). The RMS is only a few pounds, but the labour is expensive (several hundred pounds), but the work involved is the same for clutch, so its sort of 'BOGOF' if you have clutch and RMS done at the same time. I've never hear of the seal fail causing clutch probs, but I guess if that happened and could be proven an OPC warranty would cover both (normally it doesn't cover wear and tear).