911 996 targa - 02 plate 35k

[The Saint 911]

hi, a mate of mine going to see a 911 Targa on an O2 plate- looks great for 35k with all the extras 50_ miles tanned leather etc-
apart from obvious questions anything we should look out for or ask ?? its at a garage

[hoges11]

Mine has sprung a leak in the roof so the rear offside footwell is very wet under the carpets, a real pain in the a***, other than that its great although not the open air experience I had hoped for, more like a big sunroof with poor rear vision when the roof is open.

[The Saint 911]

many thks, appreciated,,,,we will bear it in mind,,,!

[mbutchers]

The Saint - don't mean to take the p*ss, but if the car's not up to scratch, and your mate fancies 'proper' open top motoring, then I'm considering chopping my 03 Cab in soon for not alot more.....

[bermyandy]

Check the roof and blind all work properly, as they are a complete pain to fix

As hoges said, they can leak, so lift the seats of the back and have a look thats not covering anythign. Also, this one is hard to explain, but the roof section has a strip of elasticy fabric stuff - check this for water marks as another sign of leaking

They do make a bit of rattle, or atleast mine does

Check the boot opens (back window) and closes properly

Thats all the targa specific stuff i can think of atleast

[ballcock]

The Saint 911 said:

tanned leather etc-
apart from obvious questions anything we should look out for or ask ?? its at a garage

It's my favourite interior .. But as a result , I've no mates..

If you like tan (savannah) then great , but if it's a compromise in your mind , you'll also have to take a trousering come the day it's for sale..

[hoges11]

Bermyandy,

any thoughts on who to take my leak to, tried a couple of independants and they didnt manage to fix it, is it OPC or bust ?

[deevee]

Hoges - Had mine fixed at my local OPC whilst in for servicing - it was covered by the Porsche warranty (although that may be of no help to you).

Turns out my leak was caused by the windscreen being incorrectly fitted when the stone-cracked original was replaced.

Sorry, but can't offer any advice on ability/costs for an Independent fix.

[hoges11]

Thanks, think the OPC route is probably the best for me as well.

[bermyandy]

hoges, mine didnt leak, but had some problems with the blind - took it to rga porsche in vauxhall.

know they're stuff, and good labour rates!

[loach]

ballcock said:

The Saint 911 said:

tanned leather etc-
apart from obvious questions anything we should look out for or ask ?? its at a garage

It's my favourite interior .. But as a result , I've no mates..

If you like tan (savannah) then great , but if it's a compromise in your mind , you'll also have to take a trousering come the day it's for sale..

D'you remember the interior tan colour offered for the 993? It was a really nice caramel colour and it was applied sparingly to the seats and dooor panels, leaving the interior with black carpets, black doortops, black dash and a black steering wheel. It really bugged me when the 996 arrived that some of the nicer colours such as marble grey and polar silver were dropped; and that specifying a beige interior meant that you now got a colour more akin to an alcoholic's pee, which when specified, looked as though it was applied to the interior (somewhat ironically I suppose) by an acoholic with a paint gun and no clear instructions as to where not to apply the colour. My first 996 arrived in late '99, and I had ordered it in the new midnight blue (the much nicer ocean blue had been dropped) with savannah. To say I was disappointed when I first saw it is a massive understatement. I'd have hopped back into my 993 and driven off it I hadn't already sold it. Given what a shoddy piece of crap early 996s were, I still find it hard to grasp that they did so well.

It's taken 10 years, but as far as I know, Porsche have now reintroduced the two-tone interior colour scheme on the 997 allowing you to choose a more advenurous interior colour without having to be mortified.

Edited by loach on Tuesday 31st October 22:46

[steve996]

loach said:

ballcock said:

The Saint 911 said:

tanned leather etc-
apart from obvious questions anything we should look out for or ask ?? its at a garage

It's my favourite interior .. But as a result , I've no mates..

If you like tan (savannah) then great , but if it's a compromise in your mind , you'll also have to take a trousering come the day it's for sale..

D'you remember the interior tan colour offered for the 993? It was a really nice caramel colour and it was applied sparingly to the seats and dooor panels, leaving the interior with black carpets, black doortops, black dash and a black steering wheel. It really bugged me when the 996 arrived that some of the nicer colours such as marble grey and polar silver were dropped; and that specifying a beige interior meant that you now got a colour more akin to an alcoholic's pee, which when specified, looked as though it was applied to the interior (somewhat ironically I suppose) by an acoholic with a paint gun and no clear instructions as to where not to apply the colour. My first 996 arrived in late '99, and I had ordered it in the new midnight blue (the much nicer ocean blue had been dropped) with savannah. To say I was disappointed when I first saw it is a massive understatement. I'd have hopped back into my 993 and driven off it I hadn't already sold it. Given what a shoddy piece of crap early 996s were, I still find it hard to grasp that they did so well.

It's taken 10 years, but as far as I know, Porsche have now reintroduced the two-tone interior colour scheme on the 997 allowing you to choose a more advenurous interior colour without having to be mortified.

Edited by loach on Tuesday 31st October 22:46

Loach, my car is a 02 996 with two-tone savannah. It has dark carpets and dash (difficult to tell if the dash top is a really dark grey or black) and savannah everywhere else, so there are two-tone ones out there. I like the savannah colour but got to admit it's easier to live with in the two-tone context. If I could only get photos to post consistently I could show it to you....I'll keep trying!

Edited by steve996 on Wednesday 1st November 16:47

[loach]

steve996/ said:

Loach, my car is a 02 996 with two-tone savannah. It has dark carpets and dash (difficult to tell if the dash top is a really dark grey or black) and savannah everywhere else, so there are two-tone ones out there. I like the savannah colour but got to admit it's easier to live with in the two-tone context. If I could only get photos to post consistently I could show it to you....I'll keep trying!

Cool - sounds really nice. I stand by to stand corrected. I have ordered 996s with contrasting carpets, which doesn't cost much extra - about 200 quid or so. Any time I tried to specify door tops, upper dash, lower dash, centre console f+r, parcel shelf, rear side trim uppers etc in a contrasting black it involved getting Porsche to individualise the car at huge expense so I never bothered.