Sold my Carrera 996 a few months ago and I have been looking for a replacement. Have been checking out Maserati Spyder / Grand Sport, Ferrari 308 through 355, Aston Martin DB7 Vantage and came back in a circle to Porsche. Each of the cars listed have some major shortcomings or problems with either engine or gearbox that make these cars somewhat unreliable or unsuitable for a DD. I must say, I have the same feeling on the Porsche money pit but have concluded that, from all the recent production the Turbo 2002-2005 is the best suited for my type of driving. I was born with two unrelenting heavy feet and I have been able to beat a few cars into submission including my last Carrera. I am very familiar with the turbo story, as I owned and flew 6 cylinder turbo airplanes, much more finicky and dangerous than a street driven sports car. Things like manual waste gates, high altitude stuff, detonation etc will make your hair stand up. So based on the research I have done, I have narrowed my ideal vehicle down to have the GT1 block engine (even with the intermediate shaft problem) that,as it happens, sits in the 996 Turbo and GT2 ( GT2 is out because I really need my car to be a DD. As stated, I am after total (almost) reliability, car must not get me stranded, not even ONE time. It totally puts me off.
I am amazed to find that the majority of the P-turbo's, out there, sorry to say (my personal opinion of course) are either black, silver or grey and are typically paired with another boring interior color (must be because there are some many of these cars leased and thrown over the fence after 3 or 4 years) so I am looking for something eye-catching. Red, yellow, green or paint to match on the outside with a nice color combination on the inside. A color means no grey, no black.
I am in the SF Bay area and I am sure it will take 6 months or so before I find the RIGHT one. Coupe or Cab and manual versus auto is still up in the air. So if there is anybody that has this eye-catching 2002-2005 Turbo, shoot me an email. CPO / PPI and all that jazz will be required of course. reasonable mileage and 2-3 owners preferred. Some tire / suspension improvements are fine. Xenons and Bose (or equivalent) a must, could not give 2 hoots for the GPS entertainment system. Hardback Sport seats and sunroof would be great. Stock for all other components is best. Thanks!

 

Here's a clean 03 yellow with yellow/blk interior

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/160610222591

More:

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail...&&aff=national

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail...5&aff=national

 

If White is a color (hint, it's the best color on 996tt) - I'm 10 min. away and right in your backyard.

CPO for 3 more months, all the right modes, documented history and and a rare Carrara white with the X50 package.

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...e-x50-cpo.html

 

Not sure the color=leased equation is correct but a Carfax will quickly show the validity of that hypothesis. I won't consider a car that had been lease. It's like a high priced hooker. Drive it as hard as you can then dump it. Given the unwarranted depressed pricing of the 996TT, you can afford to be picky regardind color and options. A TT as a daily driver works fine. A GT2 is no more or less reliable than a turbo, but its track oriented performance and wet weather behavior if you stick with the factory N spec pilot sport cup tires or similar makes it a poor choice as a DD in wet weather. As with any exotic, maintenance is going to always be more expensive. A flat tire in any of these types of cars is the equivalent of getting stranded. If you don't want to get stranded not even once, don't by an Italian or English exotic. Parts can take weeks to show up. Coupe Cab Manual Auto are also major decisions. The 996TT is very much different in each configuration. Either you want a Cab or you don't. Same goes for a manny tranny. Do an extensive test drive (several hours at a minimum) to decide.

 

Your original post seems to say that some of the 996TTs have the IMS issue. I thought that was only a 996 NA issue and that the turbo engine did not even have an IMS - different engine and set-up. I'm also in the market and have a 996TT high on my list, higher than a C4S in large part to avoid the IMS issue. Can you clarify?

 

Xenon headlights, full leather and bose were all standard so you get that no matter what - along with some IMS noise. IMS noise and failure are two entirely different things. IMS rattle is very common with the turbo RMS failure is not.

 

Agree with Nikolas, at least to a certain extent. The Intermediate shaft's job is to keep your timing chain in time with the rotation of the engine. If ANYTHING goes wrong with that, your Bank and you will have a serious conversation and you will have a very nice metal ornament in your living room possibly being used as a glass-topped coffee table. Now, so far I must say I have seen that most of the problems are a result of "laying on " more power (larger turbo's, chipping etc) and / or over revving due to miss-shifts and all these little "holy-shi*t" events that can happen over the course of a few years. That's why an automatic gearbox may save you some hard cash (preventing overrevs on downshifting). Or, you might track your car, spin it, get the wheels turning backwards under power on the roll-out and you might be done for the day and get that beautiful coffee table after all. That shaft rattles as Nikolas said but the rattler will tell you more about " how bad" the bearings are on that shaft. A great tell-tale on events to come your way. It's going to be an engine out job. Interestingly enough I have never seen ANYBODY suggesting to actually use a stethoscope to listen to the music (shaft rattle) so to speak rather than to open the engine cover and stare at the engine listening to the the exhaust, cams and all the other noises that might hide the problem somewhat... LOL. I bet I am going to get some real technical responses on this one but hey that is what this forum is about.