Buying a 996 and living with it for a year. 

"Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!!" (eurylokhos) 07/14/2018 at 09:36 • Filed to: None

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It’s been a 13.5 months since buying my 2001 Porsche 996 Carrera 4. That’s a bit over a year of expensive German car that is almost old enough to vote ownership. My single biggest fear in realizing my life long dream of buying a 911 was what it would cost to keep it on the road. Now that I’ve got real numbers, it’s not as bad as I thought.

About 15 minutes after writing a $14k check. $14k doesn’t cover a tank of gas, apparently.

The Search

I decided last year I was finally in a place where I could justify buying a 911. Total budget was $25k-$30k. That put me in the realm of seriously roached out early 997, or just about any 996 on the planet. I’m 41, the 996 came out when I was 22, and I’ve always really liked the look of them. I think they have the nicest ass of any 911, and the headlights work for me. The interior isn’t the best, but again, it works for me when it’s in good shape. My requirements were it be a manual, solid mechanically with some sort of history and clean title. C4 or C2 I didn’t have much of a preference, I saw advantages both ways. If things weren’t where I wanted the price needed to be low enough for me to justify putting the money into it to fix. Mileage wasn’t much of a concern, and higher was better in my mind, 75-130k was fine since it meant the car had been driven regularly and I’m not looking for an investment.

I’ll be bringing up the IMS a few times. For those unaware, there is a bearing on an intermediate shaft that can fail on the 996 and early 997. When it does, that’s the engine. The failure rates vary from 2%-7% depending on what source you look at. Replacement at a local shop that is certified to do it and does a full qualification to be sure the engine is healthy is $1800. IMS is the boogieman in the 996 world. Some people claim it’s not an issue, some claim it is. I’m an inherently paranoid person, so if a replacement hadn’t been documented in the car’s recent past I was going to do it. Plus, the clutch is right there and no additional labor at the time and I was looking at higher mileage cars, so I could get the car at a good baseline for my ownership.

I drove a few cars. I drove a 2005 and 2006 997 C2, a 2003 C2, a 2004 C4s, and the 2001 C4 Cab I ended up buying. The 997s were nice, the biggest thing to me on those were the interiors were much nicer, and if I had my choice I’d prefer the headlights and front bumper of a 997. However, they were both near the top of my budget (25k for one, 27k for the other), and in those years the IMS is still a concern. Also, condition wise they weren’t the best. Worn tires, strange sounds from one of them, and the other the dealer that had it wouldn’t put it on a lift for me to look at so it was suspect from the beginning.

The 996s were all similar. Initially I only looked at the 03 and 04. Driving wise the C4s was not as fun as the C2, the C2 felt more lively. Condition wise they were both nice and well maintained, although the interiors suffered from scratches like so many 996s do. Neither had an IMS service done. The C2 had 60k ish and was asking 22k and was sitting on aftermarket wheels that I wasn’t a fan of even though they were very good expensive wheels, black wheels on a black car with a polished lip just isn’t my thing. The C4s was a 90k mile car and was $25k. The C4s was red with turbo twist wheels and a grey interior.

The Purchase

I decided to sleep on it, and the next day woke up to a message from my father that he had seen a Cab on a tiny used lot about 30 miles away, right by a breakfast place we like. He’s my partner in crime on things like this, so we decided to go have breakfast and check it out.

The dealer I found the car at.

After breakfast we drove to the little shop that had the car. Nice little spot, family owned local place that I know has been there for years. I start walking around the car checking the details like tires, curbed wheel, scratches etc and things look good. 2 wheels have been curbed, front has clear film on it, and is in excellent shape, no dings/dents, no red flags at all. The top is decent, the rear window is a bit foggy, but serviceable. At this point I go inside to ask the guy for the keys and more info. He has no history on it, but shows me the clean title which shows that he’s had the car for about 5 months.

Go out and check the interior, and here’s where it’s a real mixed bag. It’s a grey interior, but there are a lot of scratches. Cruise control stalk is broken off, but everything else works as you’d expect. Seats are in good shape, steering wheel shows wear, shifter scratched and worn, all the things that show the car has been used and are easily replaced but are great for driving the price down are there, just the way I like. Take it for a drive, and it drives like new. Runs perfectly, handles well, no lights or red flags mechanically. 105k miles on it, and even has good AC!

Thankfully, NOT my car.

The guy lets me put it on his lift and check it out, for the most part things are good. There’s a leak from the rear main seal, torn boot on a front axle, and a rattle in the left muffler. I say thanks and leave to go do some thinking.

After we leave, I decide to google the name of the last owner that was on the title. He is in MA (I’m in NH), and he comes right up, and thinking that if I owned a Porsche at one point for 15 years, I’d probably enjoy talking about it to someone else, I give him a call. Turns out he’s a really nice guy, loves cars, has had multiple Porsches and other sports cars. He had traded it in at the Porsche dealer when he brought it in for service and he fell in love with a new one. He had service records, and had kept the car maintained, and even had the second key that the dealer I looked at it was missing! No IMS service, still original clutch. I thank him for his time and go back to talk to the guy selling the car again.

He’s asking $19k for the car, with a 6mo warranty on it. I tell him that I’ve done some research and thinking, and want to know what his best deal is. He comes back with 17k out the door. I reply that I don’t need his warranty, and will write a check today if we come to an agreement. He looks at his computer and says $15k to which I reply $14k is where I would feel comfortable on the car due to the lack of records, no IMS service evidence etc. He laughs and says that he had no idea when he bought it what an issue the IMS would be with people and he could have sold it a dozen times if he had proof of that service. At this point we had a deal, and I had the terrifying prospect of having bought a 16y/o Porsche.

Intitial Investment

So day 1 I’m sitting at $14k for the car now. $11k-$16k under my max budget. I’m pretty comfortable knowing that if it needed a full engine rebuild tomorrow I could make that happen with my budget, sell the car as a roller, or part it out and get my money back out of it. It’s not my daily driver, it’s a toy, so I don’t need it to get me anywhere. This is a good place to be to keep paranoid me from freaking out.

Registration and title is $350 on day 1. I do an inventory of all the stuff I want to do, and I’m left with misc interior pieces, new cruise control stalk, clutch, IMS and RMS. Call and make an appointment with South Shore Autoworks in Kingston MA to do the Clutch, IMS, RMS, and axle boot and give the car a good going over to give me reliability for the next few years and drop the car off.

They came very well recommended and were excellent to deal with. During the qualification for the IMS they found a few other things and ended up dropping the engine. Plugs, coils, plug tubes, cam chain guides and a few other small things since I told them to please replace anything questionable that was a bitch to get at without dropping the engine to hopefully save that pain in the future. $5300 total. I’m now at $19650 but should be good for a long time engine wise.

First (and thus far only) service invoice

That left things easily addressed in the parking lot in front of the condo I was renting while my new house was being built. The interior came all Graphite Grey, including all the plastics. They were pretty scratched and ugly, and I prefer some contrast, so I took advantage of Boxster parts commonality and started shopping junkyards and ebay. Approximately $200 later all the scratched interior plastics were replaced with black ones in good shape. $40 got me a used black shifter and boot, and $60 got me a new set of stalks for the car to replace the unit in the car with the broken cruise control. This brings me up to $19950.

Now it’s time to make it more livable. Searching on Crutchfield I found a Pioneer head unit that blends in well with the dash and looks very close to stock so I have bluetooth. $250 gets it coming my way with the wiring and kit to make it fit. I’m not a fan of the stock lower center dash with the tape holders in it, so $300 later a console delete from the GT3 is in the car. We are now at $20500.

Not mine, but very similar, I’ve replaced the center of the dash and middle console with black bits.

Now it’s July of 2017 and the car is comfortable, everything works, and I’m driving without worry, all at $9500 under my budget. Top down is a blast, it’s comfortable and fun. About a week after getting it back from the shop I started noticing that the battery was dying, so $120 fixed that. Did several 200-300 mile drives up into the mountains with my son and really enjoy the car. Really didn’t do anything else to it all last year beyond putting gas in it until I put it in the garage for the winter. Always fires right up, drives well, top doesn’t leak, all is good. Renew registration in November, $350.

2018

Spring 2018 rolls around, and I finally get around to changing the oil. I know, I know. I should have done it in the fall when I put it away, but I was busy. $140 from Rennpart gets 10gt of DT40 oil, filter, gasket, and a magnetic plug. It’s March now, and I decide to go for a drive and put the top down like an idiot. It’s fairly cold, but nice and the heater is like an inferno. When I go to put the top back up the stitches on the back window rip. Damn it.

Bring the car to a couple different top places, 2 of them have extensive experience with these cars. Both say the same thing, they have to pull the top off to resew the window, and the labor is half the cost, plus the top is 17yr old so may as well replace it. $1700 with plastic window, $2100 with glass. For now I’ll patch it up myself with silicone and budget for the top in the winter when I’m not driving it.

The car has the PSE Porsche Sport Exhaust. There is a valve that opens and closes to make it loud or quiet. The one on the left of the car is rattling badly. I pulled off the bumper and discover that the ball on the actuator arm has broken off. This leaves me with it bouncing around and sounding like garbage. I decide to just safety wire it open so it always sounds good, and do the same on the passenger side. Already had the wire, so this one is free.

Progressively there has been a noise getting louder in the back of the car on cold startups that goes away after 10 minutes or so. I pulled off the airbox and belt and start spinning pulleys only to discover the waterpump is noisy and has play in the pulley. Back to Rennpart for a Waterpump kit. Pump, 160 degree thermostat, gaskets, and a couple gallons of coolant. $320 to my door and a few hours in the garage.

That brings us to today.

Current total

$14000 - 2001 Porsche 911 C4 Cabrio

$350 - 2017 Registration

$5300 - IMS, RMS, Clutch, Plugs, Cam guides, axle boots etc

$200 - Interior plastics

$40 - Shifter and boot

$60 - Steering column stalks

$250 - Pioneer headunit and wiring

$300 -GT3 console delete

$120 - Battery

$350 - 2018 Registration

$480 - 1 year full coverage insurance

$140 - Oil change

$320 - Waterpump, thermostat

Add it all up and the grand total for everything including registration and insurance is $21,910. Not bad since my budget was $25-$30k. It’s now sitting at 112k miles and I’d feel comfortable hopping in it and driving it cross country tomorrow. I’ve been averaging in the 18mpg range, so I’ve also put about $1200 in gas into it.

How I feel about all of this

Fairly good. I own my dream car. I love every second I’ve spent driving it and I feel like I can depend on it at this point. It’s a fairly useful car, the trunk is a good size and the back seat can fit my 10 year old for trips up to about an hour. If I decided to sell it, I could get most of my money back out of it, I’d imagine $19k or so would be a realistic price, although I don’t intend to sell it. If I did, I’d probably go with an E46 or E90 M3 convertible since I have a lot of experience working on BMWs, and they have a larger back seat since the kid is growing and my back seat becomes less useful by the day for him. That said, I don’t see myself selling it. I love my car.

Just a couple of car nerds.

LOREM IPSUM > Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! 07/14/2018 at 12:11

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Living my dream. Well, almost anyway.

I dream in Turbo.

Congrats on owning an awesome car. I hope it continues to treat you well for many years and  miles to come.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! 07/14/2018 at 13:15

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My friend has a 996 and he doesn’t drive it a lot because of maintenance, tires aren’t cheap either. But you probably shouldn’t keep tires more than five years on a sports car anyway. To be fair he has five cars so he has other maintenance stacked up. Your insurance is lower than I would have thought, but your aren’t 22 or something so it makes sense . I put all four of my cars in one place so they do mileage and repeat customer discounts. Your insurance for the 996 is less than my 1952 Dodge M37 bill.

Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 07/14/2018 at 14:59

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Yeah, being 41 with a clean record and all my banking and insurance with USAA means low rates. My wife’s 2014 Odyssey is actually my most expensive car to insure at $550. 

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! 07/14/2018 at 22:25

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One question, why not have the water pump done with the IMS replacement? Seems like it’s apart, or does IMS not mess with the timing chain? I would’ve thought new timing chain and guides and Full reseal while it’s out and that far torn down?

I guess that’s why my decarboning on my S8 turned into new valve cover gaskets, plugs, coolant flush, air filters, serpentine belt, and oil change. Figured once i was knee deep, might as well grab anything else nearby. Should’ve done the oil cooler at the same time, but didn’t know it was bad, but i should have known... I replaced the coolant reservoir at the same time because it was just pulling one more cover off by that point. But the nose was already off....

when my water pump puked on my Dakota, I ended up doing the timing set as well, because the old, well I’m only three bolts away, might as well...

those are nice cars, and for 20k, you’ve got a really nice one to play with.  That’s one that’s on my, when I get a bigger garage list, or for when my boys get older, list...  that or a C5/6 Z06.  

Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! > merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc 07/15/2018 at 06:18

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The water pump and thermostat sit right at the back of the car and are easy to get to. There was no sign of failure when the engine was out so I didn’t change it. My thought process was basically that if it was a bitch to get to and was a normal wear item or suspect, change it. WP didn’t fit in that category. On the chains, it was up to my shop. They have a lot of experience with these engines and what goes wrong and I gave them free reign to make it a reliable DD. They didn’t see a need to change them, so they didn’t. 

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! 07/16/2018 at 00:10

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Gotcha, wasn’t sure the layout and all.  Sounds like a very fun ride.

EngineerWithTools > Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! 07/22/2018 at 13:31

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Oh man, you’re doing a 996 right, I think, and exactly how I hope to do it someday. I’ve always thought I would do the engine work myself as I’m not afraid of pulling an engine (and have a lot of the tools) but that service  bill is VERY reasonable!

One question: This may seem impolite, but... your body type is similar to mine. How’s the car, comfort-wise? I tend to sit close, so despite being 6'2", I’m very comfortable driving a VW CC for extended periods. Thanks in advance!

Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! > EngineerWithTools 07/22/2018 at 20:39

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Not rude at all. Big guys unite. I’m 6’1” and about 300lb, trying to lose some, but that’s where I’m at. I’m long in the torso with a 30” inseam.

I’m very comfortable in the 996. I tend to sit pretty close, if my back is on the seat I want the wheel to hit me a few inches above my wrists if I put my arms straight out and rest them on the wheel. At that position I’ve still got about 4” I could put the seat back and my legs have plenty of room. The center console from the GT3 helped a lot with comfort for me as stock my right leg rested on that console. The wheel telescopes but doesn’t tilt, sadly. Ideally I’d put the wheel up an inch and the closer to me by an inch or 2 when I’m doing spirited driving and open it up a bit for long trips.

Last week I drove it to work in Boston, about 1.5hr each way with traffic. I was perfectly comfortable. 

EngineerWithTools > Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! 07/23/2018 at 10:12

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I’m 6'2" and just a touch heavier (also trying to lose, but it is what it is right now) and like about the same driving position, so this is excellent news. Our son is only 1 year, so it looks like I could get ~9 years of motoring in before the back seat becomes a problem.

Also... the wheel doesn’t tilt? Do you know if that was an option? I’ll have to do some research. As long as I can get underneath the wheel, it’s not a killer. (A colleague has an ‘85 500SL that takes a ninja move to enter because of the bus-sized, no -tilt wheel.)

Thanks for the info!

Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! > EngineerWithTools 07/23/2018 at 14:24

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No tilt on any 996 as far as I know. I have the seat up a bit from full down and have plenty of clearance to get in and out where I prefer sitting, and could go down another inch or so if I needed more. When I bought the car I was about 10lb he avier and it wasn’t an issue then either.

RE: back seat, the killer on mine is it’s a Cab. It still has the same leg room, but the coupe is a lot more comfortable because the back seat is tilted back some where the cab is straight up and down if not tilted forward some. I sure as hell don’t fit back there but my wife (5’7”) is fine as is my son at 5’ ish, albeit not for long journeys.

If you find yourself in SE New Hampshire you’re welcome to come by and take it for a drive to see how it fits, although I bet you can find one on a used car lot much easier. 

superdave847 > Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! 10/29/2018 at 22:50

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This is an awesome post and I hope you have more like it! I’m in the market for a second weekend car myself and basically looking at 911s, the E36 M3 coupe, or either manual cabriolet or coupe  E46.