Considering 996 Turbo as a third/weekend car. I have always loved the car and feel like it may be time to treat myself. What should i be thinking about when buying?

1. Pre-buy inspection-points to focus on?
2. Maintenance/repair issues?
3.Thinking about 2001-2003. Is there a yr to stay away from?
4.What are the critical mileage points for major service intervals?
5. Lower mileage = better (i figured that out on my own), but what is the sweet spot for purchase?
6.At what mileage levels do you get concerned about major issues/reliability? (how it was driven is clearly an issue, but assume little to no track time)1-15k? 15-30k? 30-50k? >50k?

I am new to the Porsche community (except for my Cup car, which is hard to compare to Sunday drivers), so thanks in advance for your insights.

 

Congrats on your decision to get a turbo. The PPI should focus on 2nd gear pop out in addition to the usual points. I would get a 2002 or newer- 2001 has increased 2nd gear pop out, no glove box, and solid wheels on earlier models. Major service is at 30k and 60k (plugs have to be changed-this service costs anywhere from $1-2K depending on where you go). These cars are very reliable (some say to 100K mi or greater). However, given the surplus of cars available, i would get one with less than 40K mi. My last point of advice is to stay away from 6 speed, otherwise your car will have more than 500hp before you know it.

 

Awesome, thanks.

One more follow up: How do you check for the second gear pop out issue?

 

Sticky at the top of the forum!

I used at CPO checklist for a PPI, then added a dump of the DME for all codes and over-rev data.

As far as 'sweet spot' for mileage, I'd say that once you start buyign under 15k miles, the 'price per less mile' gets very steep, or increases in steepness... I think it is more important to find the color and options you want- WITH the records to support the owners care, irrespective of mileage.

I'd only buy private party.

A

 

My advice adding to the good points above is to take your time in finding the right car for you. The more cars you see and test the more you learn about them. Took me months to find mine and I am very happy with the purchase. I saw several in Dallas that I wouldn't touch with a barge-pole when I was looking.

When you take a look at cars find out what mods if any they have done and then search or ask on here. I would have liked to have found a car with PSS9 or X73 suspension for example, if I had known more about that at the time I may have carried on looking for longer. These cars look and handle better lowered to some extent!

 

+ 1 good advice

 

Make sure you know what options are on the car. Most everything is extra and when buying a used one, you pay very little extra for the options.

 

+2 i wish i had test drove more

 

Could you elaborate on what exactly has caused you to reject a car? Mods? Lack of maintenance? Accident history?

 

Whatever you do, have a thorough PPI done by a competent independent party. I just got mine, you'll love it!

 

If you are looking to mod the car. Buy one that is already done. Will save you big $$.

 

I agree with everyone on test driving... You'll absolutely something is fine on a car, until you drive the next on and it doesn't do the same thing. I've driven a few 944t, Boxters, 996, and 996tt, and kind of knew how they drove. I tested a couple before buying and I'm glad I did...

 

What seemed to be a re-occuring problem were cars with relatively low mileage (<25k - one even with 12k miles) but with obvious clutch problems.
One, a three owner lease car with CPO had paint issues, looked much older than its years, and a rough clutch.
I didn't know about the 2nd gear pop-out issue back then so didn't try the already mentioned method to look for that.
Another car that I was tempted on had a rear-end repair show up on CARFAX, the seller had no documentation of any sort as to what extent of repairs were made. That car would have tempted me if the documentation was there and it was minor repairs.

After those experiences I really concentrated on looking for one owner non-lease cars. Found something I was looking for, test drove great, PPI clean, wrote the cheque! (and it was an X50 too!).