First time Porsche buyer. I'm looking at a 2004 4s Cab. It's 6 speed with 33k miles. 2 owners. All service records. No oil leaks and no history of RMS IMS work.

I was thinking I would get the RMS done when the clutch needs to be replaced.

Everything checks out with the car. PPI pending. Anything I should know before I buy?

I appreciate any input.

 

With that age and mileage you should be able to get an extended warranty. Depending on the warranty you might be covered for rms, ims, etc but it would be for failure rather than preventative maintenance.

 

Since this car has been sitting, I would plan on getting a new water pump, doing a very good inspection of the area where the AOS is located. Tires probably need to be replaced and a flush on the brakes. I have 107,000 on my car. We love our 04 C4S Cab. Prepare to get a lot of attention. Congrats and pls post pictures.

 

Thanks. It's been driven regularly over the past 3 years. About 7k miles per year. 65 yr old, very particular owner. I'm mostly concerned about the rms and ims, but I can't tell how common this issue really is. The owner claims no oil dripping. Any recommendations for extended warranty? My credit union doesn't offer them for Porsche's.

 

How much is he selling it for? I recently purchased a 2003 C4 with less than 10k miles . The car is a dream, however the potential issue with IMS is driving me crazy. I was told that the cars that were garage princess's are at higher risk ( that could potentially include your car) . I would look in to that before buying this car. However I agree with pervious comments. It's a beautiful car .

 

$35k. His original asking price was $37.9k. It's very clean. I guess I can see about getting him down another $1 or $2k?

 

Take a look at black books which you can access here http://www.cudlautosmart.com/Researc...eInValues.aspx

Use the trade as the starting point and work your way up.

 

Thanks for the info Bal - $35k is just about clean wholesale pricing for this car. I might be able to beat the guy down a bit more for the IMS potential.

I've read a lot on the IMS and it seems catastrophic failure is 1-2% of all engines.

Fingers crossed. I really want things to work out with this car.

 

Personally I think the IMS manufacturer is making a lot of money. I have read more than 80% (threads on rennlist, POA etc) or better from the folks that have did the IMS. What many have said is when they pulled the original out it looked good. So I decided that I was not going to spend the money to do that. I do most of my own maintenance and keep an eye on my car. I have 107+ now.

 

I spoke to a few dealers. They all pretty much say the same thing "it's a possible problem that may cause a catastrophic failure." They've all said it's probably worth fixing when the clutch is replaced.

I may be able to leverage this information for a bit more off the price.

 

i think 35k is a fair price. 33k would be stellar

at the end of the day, get the car. dont worry about the IMS / RMS issue. It's a bout $1500 to have it done and you can do it at clutch change as you said. If you don't see any leak now, it isn't going to leak so i wouldn't even touch it for now.

there is also a law suit on ims. if it failed, you can get reimbursed

 

I agree, $35k for this car is a pretty good price. It has some really nice options, including sport exhaust. It stickered at $105k.

At this point, I think I'll move forward but I'm going to see what the seller says. He really didn't understand the IMS issue.

I'll let you guys know and hope to have pics to post within 2 weeks. The seller is out of town until then.

 

One other fact I discovered by calling a dealer that sold the car. It had the RMS replaced at about 10k miles. The tech said it would have been unlikely that they also proactively replaced the IMS at that time (2007) since it wasn't a warranty item or part.

 

My guess is that the majority of 996 owners are oblivious to IMS issues. I don't know whether the IMS settlement resulted in letters to registered owners but certainly one second owner I spoke to had never heard about it (at least that's what he said.) I sent him a link to the IMS settlement website and it sounds like he immediately called his local Porsche dealer who told him that they had a "special on IMS replacements" for $2k...