I think the concern is for most people is they just have an aversion to paying good money for a car that is not in good condition and then to add insult to injury to have to then spend even more money to bring the car up to good condition so they can drive it without worrying about the issues the car is manifesting.

I mean this assumes the car was priced as a good car and not one that needed the work to bring it to good condition. It is rare to find a car priced honestly to its condition. Most often the car is priced at real good to even an excellent level with the car not even qualifying as a good car.

 

My overall reasoning behind buying the old 996 was as the follows:

I have always paid cash for my cars and I was really missing driving a manual. I have a bmw 535xi and a lexus gx470. I never bought a car brand new. I have done most of the basic maintainence including brakes myself. Long term I wanted to get an aston Martin vantage but I have couple other things I want to spend my money on first. Also close to paying off my house.

I certainly could buy A newer 911 but that was my reasoning.

 

There's no need to explain your reasoning. It is your business what you want to buy and how much you want to spend.

Many here can buy more car than they do. Personally I would rather buy less car than I can afford vs. buying a car that has me at my affordability threshold.

One always likes to have something in reserve. And with a used car this is very important. The general rule is to have set aside 10% of the car's purchase price just in case.

In the case of a Porsche (or similar expensive luxury sports car) I would hazard a guess that 15% maybe even 20% is a more realistic number.

If you buy an Aston Martin, though, make that 100%.

J/K.

Sort of.

 

"Something in reserve!!!" Preach on Brother Macster! Yes, that's the best advise ever considering buying a Porsche over 10 years old. I paid 26,000 for an 04 C4S about a year ago and have put over $4k into it. Tires, water pump, AOS, oil changes, headlight switch, coils and plugs and a new top. Yes, these cars will set you back, but I really enjoy my car and don't intend to buy or drive anything else.

"

 

I myself wanted to start with something relatively cheap as a "starter" Porsche as I've never had one before with the intent of upgrading later. I had the means to get a 997 at the time but ended up paying cash for my 996.

Well 5 years later, I'm still very happy with my "starter" and find it hard justifying an "upgrade". Although I took out a 15yr mortgage with 10 years left, keeping my 996 has me looking into paying it off in 5 years.

I think you'll get the same enjoyment and find tremendous value out of one if you pick a good one.

 

Please get a PPI if you decide to drive it again prior to making an offer.

 

i would remove the word 'non', i would get a ppi even if i was buying from a porsche dealer, unless you trust the dealer to have given it a thorough ppi already and fixed every issue they found

 

This is true but in my experience, Porsche dealers are willing to give some kind of warranty if you ask or negotiate with them, making it slightly less risky IMO.

 

sometimes the good ones really do cost the most. Some are a dime a dozen some are more rare. The options like the aero kit or the carbon fiber interior or the two piece rims jacks up the price. My car had a warning light turn on 50 miles into the 700 mile trip back home. a $700 mass air flow sensor...needless to say the mechanic ripped me off once will never take it to him again..then two new rear tires and recently had the power window regulator fixed because the person who changed it out forgot to remove a bolt....the engine runs fine. no oil or fluid leaks and the engine is spotless. I would part with it for the right amount of course...

 

I just saw another one, a 2001 C4s. Car has 91,000 miles but had ims failure in 2006 at approx 53,000 miles. New engine replaced by porsche dealer. Current owner has all receipts that I went through. Looks like it was a well maintained car ran very well best one I have seen and driven in the last 18 months.

We went for a long test drive, no oil leaks or transmission problems. He's asking 17500, I think I'll probably make an offer.

The only thing I don't like is that I was really looking for MKII version and I was looking for a C2 instead of C4 due to maintainance issues with the awd etc. The price isn't too bad though. I'm going to try to post a link for anyone's opinion.

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/5009863159.html

 

Very clean, if the price is right and you like it - make a deal.

 

Looks good to me. Go for it!

 

Just re-read your post. Don't buy this car if it's not what you want. Patience, good luck.

 

2001 C4S? Sure it wasn't a 2002? They didn't make C4S's in 2001. $17,500 for a 2001 with low miles seems cheap to me? Most 2001's have over 100k miles on them. I would be afraid of the ones with less miles unless like in your case they had the IMS done or just put in a used engine?

 

I'm pretty sure its a 2001 based on the front headlights and the title.

The engine and transmission were brand new from porsche factory according to repair receipts that I saw. Not sure about how porsche handles ims when they replace their engines.