Hello, I'm new to the forum and I'm very close to finalizing a deal on my first Porsche, a 02 996 and looking for advice. I've spent hours reading up on the IMS, d-chunk, water pump, air/oil separator, etc. so here it goes. The car has ~80K miles and no maintenance records from 35K-today, about 8 years. Visually the car looks/drives great but there is trace oil leakage where the rms and ims are located, oil smells fine, but there is a faint coolant smell around the rear of car while running.
If I decide to buy first up is a major including IMS upgrade and all of the above items but I'm concerned about the 200mile run home and the engine going 'boom'. Also, am I missing anything? Big items to check? Experts please chime in....

 

The best advice would be to probably keep looking. Don't rush into your first Porsche purchase and buy a headache. You want to enjoy the car not hate it. No service records is bad, oil leaking and coolant smell is bad. I know you are excited to jump in, but absolutely do your homework, get a PPI and make sure you get a solid car, they are out there just have to find them. Best of luck with your decision!

Bingo:

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...911-turbo.html

 

I may be wrong but this is how I'm looking at it. I have a bad habit of taking each car I buy and tearing into everything till its safe and I'm happy. On this car I've factored in several grand in parts (ims solution, clutch, water pump, hoses, brakes, etc.) to put the car in tip top shape plus I have a full shop with lift at my home, none of these jobs look beyond my capabilities. Also, just by observing the general overall condition of the car it appears well taken care of, heck many of the big items may have already been addressed but I won't know till everything's apart.

 

That changes the ballgame completely. In that case, buy which ever car tickles you and have just as much fun working on it as you will driving it!

 

Several grand allotment and mad DIY skills don't matter one bit if the block is junk.

Check for cylinder scoring as part of a ppi as a used block will be close to $10k in itself, or close to that to get nikasil cylinder liners put in with all the other "while your in there" parts.

Even if you have an ims on the way out that sheds metal, some consider it too late. There will be micro metal elements all over the engine passages that will be lodged and the only way to get rid of it all is to take the block/heads apart and dip/ultrasonically clean them. Failure to do so can lead to ims failure/collateral damage regardless of what retrofit you go with.

I'm not trying to scare you but just want to lay everything on the table so you can make a better decision when it comes to risk management.

There are plenty of cars out there that are ready to drive so unless this has a special rate color combo or you are starting from a dirt cheap example and don't mind the associated risks, I'd keep looking.

With that said, I'm still running original ims for over 5 years and a little over 125k on it using factory fill m1 oil. My RMS has been done twice(by dealer) ever since I got it and still drips a tiny bit. It doesn't bother me and I'll attempt a 3rd try myself whenever I get to it to do the clutch.

My $.02

 

I have had a lot of these cars, a trace oil leak would not bother me, but the coolant smell would be some concern, especially if planning on driving it 200 miles. Even that would not be a deal killer for me, just keep an eye on the temp gauge.

 

Thanks guys, it seems there's a lot of risk involved so I contacted a good local shop and spoke to them about a ppi. They are very familiar with the 996 series and for about $400 they'll complete a full ppi plus drop the oil pan to inspect for bearing debris, this includes an oil/filter change. Probably cheap insurance.

 

Near trigger pull looks more like a bullet dodged. I agreed to the seller's (dealer) price subject to a ppi at my expense (around $400). He replied that a $500 non-refundable deposit would be required along with the car not leaving the property, this would severely limit what my mechanic could check. Oh, well. The search continues... Thx everyone.

 

I think you made a good decision to walk away from this car.

Just a comment or two... While the RMS is not that big of a deal -- when I talked to my SM about the RMS leak in my Boxster before a long (~8K mile) road trip he said he had never had one turn severe. The thing just drips a bit of oil until it is replaced.

Thus a 200 mile drive wouldn't concern me. Just be sure the oil level is good before you leave and have an extra quart of whatever oil the owner was using to top up just in case.

But the smell of coolant bothers me. At the rear of the car that's probably a sign the water pump is leaking -- it was the odor of anti-freeze from my Turbo one hot day that prompted me to take it in and on the lift the tech instantly spotted the signs of a leaking water pump -- but it could be an AOS leaking as well.

Or a coolant tank.

Regardless I do *not* like to drive a car with a coolant leak. It is pressure that keeps the hot coolant from flashing to steam and with a pressure leak the pressure never develops and the engine can suffer from localized overheating.

 

The plot thickens... I responded to the dealer that I would need a refundable deposit since the mechanical condition, specifically the IMS bearing was largely unknown, he didn't respond so I figured the deal was off and I posted above. Four hours later I receive a text saying that they would be happy to drop the car off Monday for the PPI and that a deposit was not needed. I let the wife know we had a deal and she was excited. This evening I receive another text saying they had sold the 911 today. Guess I'm used to ethics when purchasing higher end vehicles, needless to say I won't spend a dime with this outfit, GP Elite Motors Fort Myers, FL.

Hopefully my next thread will be a happy one with a new to me 911 in the garage.

 

Not sure you had any claim on the car unless you have some kind of agreement granting you right of first refusal.

Generally the first person who shows up with the money buys the car and that appears to be what happened.

You snooze you lose.

But don't jump head first into a 996 purchase just because you may have missed out on this car.

One of the primary rules about used car buying is there is always another car. Keep looking. You'll find one you like.

Oh, as an aside, keep an eye out. That car while "sold" sometimes these sales deals fall through -- the buyer back out or can't get financing or whatever -- and the car comes back on the market in a few days.