Buying a car is beauteous breathtaking for immoderate car enthusiast, particularly if the conveyance you’re buying is 1 you’ve wanted for a agelong time. I cognize that’s existent because, implicit the past week oregon so, I’ve been engaged successful purchasing a car that I’ve wanted for astir my full life: a Porsche 911.

Now, being an automotive writer without well-to-do parents, my prospective 911 isn’t my archetypal prime for procreation oregon model. But it’s what I tin spend (especially with 911 prices going brainsick still), and information beryllium told, it offers the afloat 911 acquisition with precise small compromise. I’m talking, of course, about the 996 generation, which spanned exemplary twelvemonth 1999 to 2005.

Now, earlier you keyboard warriors commencement losing your corporate crap implicit rear main seals, intermediate shaft seals and fried ovum headlights, I’ll accidental that, arsenic idiosyncratic who worked with (specifically successful parts) Porsches for years, I’m good alert of the imaginable hazards of buying a 996. That’s wherefore this nonfiction is astir helping idiosyncratic dodge the slug of buying a atrocious one.

996 Porsche 911: The Hunt

The archetypal measurement successful uncovering a bully 996 (or immoderate bully utilized car) is really uncovering it. That seems obvious, but with the wide assortment of online listings, forums and car nine pages, determination are mode much places to look than determination utilized to be. To simplify things, I usage AutoTempest to deed astir 90 percent of the large listing sites. I besides similar to cheque forums similar Pelican Parts and Rennlist due to the fact that often, cars listed determination don’t spell up connected sites similar Craigslist, and they’re enthusiast-owned, which tin beryllium good.

Now that you cognize wherever to look, you request to cognize what to look for. Using the 996 arsenic an example, you person a fewer antithetic variants to prime from based connected your budget. I wanted a rear-wheel thrust car with a manual transmission. I’m besides not excessively fond of convertibles and wanted to debar non-black interior colors.

That narrows the tract down a ton, but determination are inactive much criteria to consider. With the 996, you request to determine if you privation a first-generation oregon second-generation car. An aboriginal (1999 and 2000) first-generation 996 came with nary operator immunodeficiency different than ABS; it had a cable-actuated throttle alternatively than drive-by-wire, and a much robust dual-row IMS bearing which is the slightest failure-prone of each the designs. 2001 and 2002 models got an physics throttle and the slightest stout IMS bearing.

Later second-generation cars (2002-2004) came with a larger, much almighty 3.6-liter engine, somewhat revised styling, a glovebox, amended prime interior materials and wide headlights. They besides athletics a revised, somewhat little failure-prone single-row IMS bearing and an physics throttle.

I honestly didn’t person a large penchant betwixt archetypal and second-generation 996s, truthful knowing each that, I recovered a precise promising looking 2003 Carrera successful Arctic Silver implicit achromatic with a six-speed manual and a boatload of work past for a not-insane price. This leads america to…

The Test Drive

My prospective car was listed connected Craigslist, and the advertisement offered plentifulness of information, halfway decent photos and what seemed similar a reasonably honorable practice of the car. Of course, anyone who has tried to bargain a utilized car online knows that things tin beryllium deceiving.

My archetypal measurement was reaching retired to the seller, Jon, who instantly came disconnected arsenic an enthusiast. We settled connected a clip to conscionable truthful I could cheque retired the car and thrust it, and not lone did helium amusement up connected time, helium brought the car successful its earthy state: clean, but intelligibly being utilized regularly, and the motor compartment hadn’t been cleaned up oregon detailed.

After shaking hands and bullshitting astir cars for a fewer minutes, I began visually inspecting the 911. This is important due to the fact that keeping your eyes unfastened and knowing what to look for tin prevention you a ton of clip and wealth earlier getting further into the buying process.

The car presented good and looked overmuch the aforesaid arsenic it did successful the Craigslist listing. The assemblage was successful wide bully condition, with immoderate erstwhile parking batch harm (since repaired) that had been noted successful the advertisement and pointed retired by Jon successful person. A 911 is simply a debased car, truthful peeking underneath is tough, but determination were nary evident drips oregon smells of burning lipid oregon coolant. I opened the decklid and the frunk and, again, nary surprises. For a car with 136,000 miles, it seemed successful bully shape.

The trial thrust offered much of the same. While I didn’t get to spot a acold commencement due to the fact that we met astatine a neutral determination adjacent Jon’s work, the car felt similar a 911 should. The steering was direct, the brakes were beardown and the motor pulled good and sounded great. The gearbox felt bully too. The aerial conditioning worked, and the interior felt good cared for, if emblematic 996 cheap.

After the trial drive, I went location and collected my thoughts. I wrote down immoderate notes astir the drive, the ocular information of the car and the vibe I got from Jon. This is an important and overlooked step, particularly if you spell and look astatine a batch of vehicles and person to support way of each those experiences.

I checked retired a mates of different cars but decided that Jon’s metallic 2003 was the close 1 for me, which led to…

The Inspection

One of the astir important things you tin bash erstwhile buying a European car retired of warranty is to signifier a pre-purchase inspection, oregon PPI. (This applies to different vehicles too, but it’s particularly important with German cars of this era.) This involves you taking the car to a store oregon a trader and having them professionally inspect the conveyance to springiness you a wide representation of your imaginable purchase’s condition. People skip these due to the fact that they outgo money, but — and I accidental this from precise costly idiosyncratic acquisition — delight don’t.

Asking the seller if they’re amenable to having a nonrecreational inspection done is an important trial successful and of itself. If they’re enthusiastic astir it, past it’s apt the car is being represented fairly, and they person thing to hide. If they don’t hold to taxable the car to a nonrecreational inspection, locomotion away.

Luckily, Jon was chill with maine having the 911 looked over, truthful I arranged a PPI with a well-regarded Porsche store connected LA’s westbound broadside to marque the drop-off and pick-up convenient for him.

We’re fortunate successful LA to person a immense assortment of prime Porsche autarkic shops, and successful the end, I went with 1 that I had immoderate acquisition with (I’d worked with the store previously) and which could acceptable maine into their schedule. That store is called Auto Werkstatt, and I’d urge them to anyone with an air- oregon water-cooled Porsche successful LA.

Auto Werkstatt was benignant capable to fto maine travel and oversee the PPI process, and papers it for this story. They’re a large store tally by enthusiasts that services astir German marques, and if you’re successful the area, they merit your business.

The happening astir a PPI connected a 911 that mightiness propulsion a batch of radical is the cost. Auto Werkstatt charged maine astir $630 for the service. That sounds similar a lot, and it is, considering they don’t hole thing during the inspection, but a truly thorough introspection takes clip (around 3 hours) and clip costs money.

My mechanic, August, started the PPI with a ocular inspection. Unlike my educated-but-still-amateur eye, he’s a pro with astir 2 decades of experience. He besides has a lift, which means helium tin spot things I couldn’t successful a Lowes parking lot, similar the information that the nuts connected the swaybar extremity links aren’t original. Is it asinine to constituent thing similar this out? Yes. But this is the benignant of happening you privation your PPI mechanic to notice.

As the net volition archer you repeatedly, the large happening to look for connected a 996 (or 986 Boxster) is an lipid leak astatine the associated betwixt the transmission and motor case. This typically means either a rear main seal leak oregon a leak from the intermediate shaft bearing cover. Neither is good, and fixing either means removing the transmission. Luckily, this car was wholly bony adust underneath. Score!

The large pitfall avoided, we proceeded with the inspection and did find a mates of issues. It’s a 19-year-old sports car with 136,000 miles, aft all. The large 1 is an air-oil separator that’s past its prime, which isn’t mega urgent, but it’s a $2,000 occupation to hole if you instrumentality it to a shop. Parts unsocial are astir $600. Next, 1 of the rear shocks is leaking, and each 4 could usage replacing. I privation to enactment coilovers connected the car, though, truthful portion this is simply a bummer, it’s yet not a large deal. Lastly, arsenic we moved towards the interior, August discovered the aboriginal informing motion of a failing model regulator. This 1 is simply a reasonably casual DIY with the regulator costing nether $200, truthful again, not a large deal.

Not bad, right? So, with that retired of the way, August took the car for a little trial drive. The car had sat overnight, truthful we got to spot a bully acold start, thankfully with nary large plumes of fume oregon thing different untoward. The trial thrust proved uneventful, and August confirmed my sentiments connected the wide driving experience. It’s solid.

The past portion of the PPI is thing you, arsenic a location gamer, aren’t capable to do, nary substance however skilled. It involves hooking up a Porsche dealership computer, aka PIWIS, to the car to spot however it’s been driven, and cheque for immoderate stored occupation codes.

By “how the car has been driven,” I mean however overmuch clip the car has spent astatine oregon astir redline, and adjacent however overmuch clip it’s spent implicit the indicated redline. I don’t cognize if this benignant of physics tattle-tale is unsocial to Porsche, but it tin bespeak however hard a car has been driven. This car lone saw 11 ignitions implicit 7,900 rpm and didn’t suffer, which is good. But the motor did amusement 18,202 ignitions betwixt 7,300 and 7,900 rpm, which August explained is simply a lot.

That sounds insane, and it benignant of is, but this is simply a car that’s meant to beryllium driven hard. Given the wide mechanical information of the car, high-rpm driving isn’t the extremity of the world. It mightiness enactment disconnected immoderate buyers, which would beryllium understandable, but I privation a car that’s been well-used and cared for since I program connected driving the hellhole retired of it anyway.

In the end, August gave the car a thumbs-up, adjacent going truthful acold arsenic to notation that the thorough inspection generated 1 of the shortest post-PPI lists he’s seen. This is simply a large win, and it means that I’ve recovered a bully illustration and 1 worthy buying. Which I did, for little than $30,000.

A Final Word About Porsche IMS Bearings

So, arsenic I mentioned previously, if you speech astir 996-generation 911s oregon 986-generation Boxsters, you’re going to get a clump of radical informing you astir the perils of the IMS bearing, and its quality to instrumentality retired an full motor if it fails. The contented has been wide publicized, and galore radical person made a batch of wealth disconnected the merchantability of replacement bearings and their installation.

Here’s the thing, though: it’s not that large of a deal. The nonaccomplishment rates are a batch little than you mightiness think. Just breathe. Everything is fine. Nothing is fucked here, dude.

The IMS is specified a blistery taxable due to the fact that it’s a small, ticking-clock benignant of occupation that tin crook into a massively costly motor rebuild. It’s thing you can’t easy spot oregon definitively test. It’s casual to fearmonger radical into spending $3,000 to regenerate the bearing preventively (and the clutch portion you’re successful there, if it’s a manual car).

Porsche claimed the nonaccomplishment rates connected the aboriginal dual-row IMS bearing cars are betwixt 1 and 3 percent. That’s tiny. Even the astir failure-prone version, the constrictive single-row-bearing 2001 and 2002 cars, person a claimed nonaccomplishment complaint nether 10 percent. That’s not nothing, of course, but present that we’re 20 years on, astir of the cars that were going to person a nonaccomplishment person apt had 1 already.

So, the motivation of this communicative is that you shouldn’t beryllium frightened distant from a brilliant, affordable sports car conscionable due to the fact that of a superior but over-reported problem. If a car you’re looking astatine has had the bearing replaced with an aftermarket solution, that’s awesome, but those cars volition person a terms premium associated with them. If it hasn’t had the bearing done, chill. Look astatine your lipid filter during services (which you should beryllium doing regularly) to cheque for metallic particles. If you’re other proactive, nonstop your lipid retired for investigation by a spot similar Blackstone Labs and bargain a magnetic drain plug due to the fact that the bearing worldly is ferrous and volition cod connected the magnet.

If you request to bash a clutch alteration oregon person a large rear main seal leak oregon IMS screen leak, you should regenerate the bearing portion you’re successful there. It’d beryllium dumb not to. But there’s nary crushed to walk a clump of wealth if you don’t person a circumstantial reason. Just bask your car the mode it was meant to beryllium enjoyed. That’s what I’ll beryllium doing with my freshly-PPIed 996.