Sounds like it was ridden hard and put away wet.

 

What is this "RMS Issue" of which you speak?

The 996TT does not, to my knowledge, have a known(common) RMS issue.

 

I know it is a problem on the 996's in general. Did the 996TT have the engine and transmission fit speced better so this was not an issue? I honestly do not know.

BTW I appreciate the quick responses to me from the forum, it has been very helpful

 

The 996's were plagued with RMS issues. I have not heard of a single 996 turbo to have this problem....yet. Could this be the first? Not likely...

 

FYI

OP, the 996NA and the 996TT are different motors. The latter is derived from Porsche's race motor... while RMS issues were rampant in the NA 996, they are almost non-existent in the turbo. Search here and on rennlist to learn more about this important distinction.

 

Ah, thank you for the clarification. I forgot about that little fact.

 

My 03 (bought used in June '09 with ~10K miles) now has over 59K miles. Runs as good as ever. Original engine and original clutch too.

The car received a new transmission (6-speed) (under CPO warranty thank goodness!) due to leaking selector shaft seal at around 35K miles.

Porsche figures approx. 6K to 9K miles per year, so you do the math. But 60K miles doesn't sound that severe.

In your car's case that engine tear down to reseal could be just imprecise language that results in something getting passed on a couple of times. The car might have had an RMS replaced or some other seal replaced. In almost all cases the engine has to come out of the car. A complete engine tear down is rare.

But if I were you I'd like to know more about this though, to know the details: who did the engine work, why, and how long ago.

8 owners is a bit troubling but these cars are very expensive and it is not unknown for someone to buy one with the idea of keeping the car say a year and then turning it around and selling it to avoid 1) big service bills; 2) big repair bills; 3) big depreciation.

Not a clear cut walk away but not a clear cut grab it while its hot deal either. I am not up on 996 Turbo prices so I can't say if $39K is 'market' or not.

Be sure to have the car inspected for more than just a bumper cover replacement and give the car a real good checkout, longish test ride, test drive. Last but not least a PPI by a really 996 Turbo knowledgeable shop/tech. DME overrev readout and a sanity check of the miles vs. engine run time.

Sincerely,

Macster.

 

Well, while it doesn't have 300K miles my 02 Boxster has over 241K miles and is on its original clutch and engine.

Sincerely,

Macster.

 

As others have responded, the Turbo engine is a different engine than that of the NA cars and the Turbo engine is considered a very good engine, but the Turbo engine simply by being an engine (obviously) can have leaks. Maybe not an RMS leak, but the turbo seals have been known to leak and there are other places that oil can leak from too.

Sincerely,

Macster.

 

While you did right in getting a quote from the dealer for a RMS and spoiler fix are you sure the RMS is leaking? I'd want a bank vault tight diagnosis. An RMS leak, while rare, is one thing, but another sort of leak masquerading as an RMS leak might be a bigger thing, way bigger and way more costly.

The engine's turbo's could be bad. Or worse.

But if you are sure of the leak's diagnosis/source and the rest of the car is sound -- don't focus completely on the more obvious things 'wrong' with the car and miss/overlook other things that might in the short or long run cost you even more to put right -- then if you can get the car at a good price that is adjusted down for what it takes to put the car right there's no reason to stay away from this car. You just have to be very sure what you're buying.

Sincerely,

Macster.

 

I agree with this -- but it just seemed unlikely to me that 7 owners in a row just coincidentally came to this conclusion.

 

i might be crazy, but i don't think i would ever, under any circumstances, buy a 7 owner car that was only 10yrs old. Like everyone else said, the mileage is nothing to worry about if the car has been maintained.

 

7 owner car ? walk away $39k is too much for a car like that.
i would pay $25k for it, and keep it as a spare parts/rolling chassis car if i ever needed to.

 

This!

 

Indeed. Thanks to the feedback I have decided to pass on the original car. I recently found this sweet 02 with 60k for about 38k. Was a CPO car from the previous owner so hopefully all the issues were fixed I would be the 5th owner if everything goes well with the offer and PPI.