First time poster and newby in need of help as I am considering a purchase. Hopeful to join the P-car family at last.
I am considering the following purchase from a private party:

2006 C4S, black on black (standard color, not Basalt). Options include:

19” Classic Carrera Wheels
Power Seat Package
Bose High End Sound Package
Heated Front Seats
Rear Wiper
Wheel Caps with Colored Porsche Crest
Self Dimming Mirrors
Instrument Dials in Black
Black Floor Mats with Porsche Lettering
Sport Chrono Package Plus
Remote 6-CD Changer

Exclusive Options:
Sport Exhaust
Sport Shifter

Original sticker was a little over $97K.

 

Two-owner car (first had it for no more than 1K), under 9K miles presently.

First question – how much is a reasonable range for this car?

Secondly, having the 2007 and 2008 booklets, I am not sure if the 06’s came with certain items as standard. For example, the rear tires are listed as 295/30/19, while the last 2 years they seem to come standard with 305s (obviously not a big deal).

More importantly, I didn’t see on the window sticker if PASM was standard. If not, looking at the window sticker I can tell the car did not come with it. Should this be a considered a turnoff?

NAV retrofit – given that the car has the standard PCM, is a factory NAV easy to retrofit? Is it a simple plug-and-play, or is it best left for the dealer (if it can be done at all)? Any idea of the cost of such upgrade?

 

Bluetooth and i-Pod retrofit – is this possible? Through factory options or do I have to go purely through third party vendor solutions?

Servicing – given the small mount of miles, I believe the car was not serviced for it’s first planned one (I believe 20K miles, or two years). How much can I expect Service I to cost me and what does it include other than an oil change?

Warranty – I imagine I will have the factory 4yr/50K miles. Can I have this extended through Porsche USA, or do I have to rely on a third party warrant prover (e.g. AAA)?

Lastly, are there any things I should look for, specific recalls, chronic known issues? This being the first year of the 997 C4Ss, is there anything to be cognizant of?

Thanks in advance!

PS: For some reason I couldn't post this all under one post - is their a character maximum?

 

All S models have PASM. If you don't have Nav, consider yourself lucky, as it is a lousy system anyway. Instead of retrofitting it, buy a Garmin which is better and easier to use. 20k service will likely cost close to $800 at a Porsche dealer, and about $260 at an authorized Porsche service shop. For the $800 you essentially get an oil change and cabin filter replacement, plus a quick check of fluids etc. It is a ripoff. Do a search on this forum for how to change your own oil. Re tires, I think the C4S often has 11.5 inch rear rims which lend themselves to 305/30x19 tires. Cars with 11 inch rims usually run 295/30 tires. I'm planning on putting 305/30 on my C2S when I change tires, as it will help reduce the odometer error.
A CPO warranty needs to be obtained by purchasing through a dealer. 3rd party extended warranties are available, but the jury seems to be out as to whether they are cost effective. Again, do a search as this has been discussed on numerous occasions, including recently. Look on Rennlist as well.
From what I've read on these forums, there doesn't appear to be any chronic issues you need to be concerned about on the 997. Sounds like a very nice car you are considering. Get it and enjoy it.

 

First I agree with much of what what already stated .
I do have a question though --supposing the best case scenario is that the car checks out beautifully and you buy it in the low 70's after afew hurdles. A new one could be gotten in the high 80's .

With a two year difference do you think at this 70+ price level that a new one is rather close?

 

You should check out the Pioneer AVH-P6800DVD, I see many 6speed member's with this setup. Look and function very well, alot better then the oem Nav.

 

Hey Dr Ferdinand,

First of all you own the company why don't you just get that GT2 out of the shop!

Just kidding, welcome to the club.

I just ordered my C4S 08,it comes with 305's and like mentioned the Navi is not worth it.Get a garmin and you can bring it in your other car when not using the porsche.

I had the same decision to make a couple of months ago on buying a used C4S or a new one?

It depends on the price diffrence from the new one,in my case the used one was 10,000$ cheaper, but don.t forget the car had 5500 km and I didn't have the opportunity to choose all the options I like,such as (red stiching on my seats). We all know your paying lower because the car is worth lower.

Now if the car is impeccable and your okay with the options and the price diffrence is acceptable than you should consider it.

One more thing you buy lower now and you will sell lower later, buy new now and you will sell it higher in the future if you intend to.

Is there a particular reason your interested in 4 wheel drive?

I chose it becuase of more handling in curves and of course the wider back, I know it's a little wider but what a difference from the back.

See ya Keep in Touch
Hope you get the C4S

 

If you are buying the car from a private party,

Then you have to get the car certified by a porsche dealer in order to get two extra years of warranty. That should cost you around 1000$.

No known issues on this particular model so far, I think you should get it new and enjoy your baby for years to come!

 

As a follow-up to 911Rocks (??), my rule of thumb is to try to ensure that a used one is $15k lower per year from a new one. If a new one would cost 95k, I'd generally aim for 80k for a 1 year old and 65k for a 2 year old. Obviously there needs to be some allowance for extremely low mileage, good options, etc. The new one will drop in value more (ie, about 15k per year for the first 2 years), whereas a used one will depreciate at a lower rate after the first couple of years. Finally, check the in-service date of a used car to evaluate how much factory warranty it has left.

 

Add the price of delivery, plus a CPO, plus the service, plus a new $1700 set of tires to the price of the car and compare to a new one with the options you want. The car you are looking at will need tires very soon. A new car is a pretty good value by comparison to most used cars in this market.

I bought the one I am driving used because a new one with X51, Aero, painted seatbacks and center console, and GT3RS wheels was out of my reach. I had to stretch my budget to get to this point.

Many C4S's seem to have nicer options than the 2S's you see second hand. Does this car have the sport seats? Does it have full leather? It appears to have everything else. The factory nav is a pale shadow of last year's $400 Garmin Nuvi, not to mention this year's new Garmin, unless you attach importance to a built in unit.

On the question between 2S and 4S, both are great cars. It is like audio speakers, pretty much a matter of what you attach most importance to. The rear fenders on the 4 look a little more striking, but also a matter of taste.

Have fun.

 

Do some searches for the Bluetooth (Tooki, Nav-TV, etc) and iPod (IceLink, 2point5, etc) kits. There are a lot of threads on these systems and pros and cons to each. But the short answer is yes, they are available.

 

First off, thanks for the feedback, guys. Really appreciate it as I am strongly considering the purchase. I'll answer/clarify each of your queries in concession.

BTW, it seems I can't post longer than 2-3 paragraph posts. Is there a maximum word count per post, or is it perhaps a function of my current low post count?

I took a look at the car in person today, and drove it too of course. I was really impressed by the car, had just about every option I would have opted for myself except full leather (or Nav or Turbo wheels, which I can always add myself later should I choose to).

 

The owner by his own admission was not an absolute P-addict, bought it for its looks and overall appeal to him, rather than something that boiled his blood for years, or for track use. Nothing wrong with that necessarily, but despite my overall superficial knowledge of Porsches (relatively speaking, and at this stage - soon to change LOL), I found that I knew more about the car than he did!

The C4S checked out just fine, no issues other than a bad chip on the rear wheel which also took a good deep inch off the lip of the tire (something that the owner didn't even know, yet I feel is unsafe to continue to be driven that way). The tire definitely needs to be replaced and he agreed. The other rear rim has visible curb rash, but other than that no cosmetic issues.

 

I would personally want to either recondition the two rear rims if possible, or more likely – replace them. I will need to check the cost of such, and will likely come to an agreement with the owner to deduct it off his asking price.

I was a little surprised that the owner never detailed the car, and given it is black you can see surface marks from repeated car washes, but nothing that a nice detail job can't cure. As an owner of a dark car, I know what it takes to keep such cars dynamite – lots of TLC!

 

Inside everything checked out well except the latch for the cupholders, it stays semi-open and looks like it is busted. I imagine this is a chronic thing as the part looks so fragile and non-German like, perhaps just made to cater for us American consumers? Can I replace it, or even better, buy the European part/aluminum trim piece? The leather was in good condition, though never conditioned. In summary, cosmetically the car has been neglected, but nothing that cannot be uncured (always garaged though).