Why are 996s so cheap?

Author
Discussion

poppopbangbang

1,785 posts

140 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
quotequote all
From my point of view as someone who has owned three 996s now, all of them purchased for not a lot of money, I think they are cheap because people are easily led and let's be honest everyone loves to knock a German sports car. Tales of them exploding right left and centre are common, just look at the first page of this thread! Some specialists are a little to blame as well as the "prevantative" engine rebuild no doubt helps their cash flow on occasion.

My first 996 was a 98 3.4. It had been used and abused massively and covered 133K miles. I then proceeded to stick another 22K miles on it with the same approach and sold it for £500 more than I paid for it. In the 22K miles the total bill was service bits and tyres plus a clutch - at the same time I did the RMS and IMS bearing, the one which came out was 13 years old and 145K miles old, it had no play and looked pretty perfect!

My next one was an Aero kitted C2 3.4 which was lovely and had Bilsteins etc. on it, this was originaly a supercharged car and I purchased it on the cheap after the previous owner had nicked the supercharger for his new to him 997 and traded it in. This car had quite a trick Autofarm engine with steel liners etc. etc. I put 38K miles on it without a single issue. It didn't feel any different power wise to my previous one or used any more/less oil.

The one I have now is a 3.4 C4 again with Aerokit (I'm a bit of a narrow body 996 fan) and has covered 101K miles as of last weekend. I borescoped it over the weekend and it is as close to mint as I would dare describe 100K miles worth of engine. No reason to suspect it won't do another 50 - 60K without much issue. Again when it's due a clutch I'll do the RMS and IMS at the same time but have no reason to suspect the IMS won't be as my last one - it's £90 of bits so hardly worth not doing.

I think in total the cars which have had serious issues with bore scuffing, ovality and IMS failure is around 5%. At 12 years old and 100K miles odd most of the ones left will either have been fixed previously or are very unlikely to fail by this point. They are a truly lovely thing and at the prices they are now rediculously good value for money. Yes you should keep a slush fund to one side just in case but the just in case is far less likely to happen than on a Speed 6 TVR, E-gear Gallardo etc. etc. in fact when stacked up agaist other performance road cars of similar vintage the 996 is actually a pretty reliable and cheap to run thing.....

mdowning

218 posts

205 months

Thursday 24th April 2014
quotequote all
Out of curiosity - is it safer (specifically re IMS & scored cylinder linings) to buy a higher mile 996 than a lower mile one?

I once recall speaking to a well regarded porsche specialist and they thought if the car had made it past 80k miles, it was probably fine. At least in terms of said pitfalls.

NNH

1,515 posts

131 months

Thursday 24th April 2014
quotequote all
steveo3002 said:
996TT02 said:
NNH said:
Durzel said:
Also, they're old. They stopped selling them in 2005, and the 997 is imo a pretty substantial step forward mechanically and aesthetically.
They're old and they made lots of them. Still, it's a lot of car for the money and the IMS/RMS thing can be put off for a long time by adding oil. I loved my 2002 996 dearly, and took it up to 100,000 miles before I traded it in.
I wonder how a trashed bearing and wrecked engine can be sorted by adding oil!
HEHE yeah just put some more oil when the engine grenades , will be fine
Just in case anybody else is too dim to watch their engine oil, the RMS is an oil leak. As the seal failure gets worse, it starts to let more and more oil out. This can also damage the IMS and the bearing underneath it, which can kill the engine. However, and this is the bit I'll explain slowly for the hard of thinking, if you are seeing oil under the engine or the oil level is dropping without any hard driving to explain it, then you can top up the oil till you have time to get the RMS checked and replaced.

Source: ran a 996 NA engine to 100,000 miles, including an RMS change at 60k. I now run a 987 which is at 60,000 miles, and I keep an eye out for oil drips on the drive.

GC8

19,910 posts

189 months

Thursday 24th April 2014
quotequote all
Bibbs said:
DanielSan said:
slipstream 1985 said:
eh? subaru flat 6?
From the SVX.
Or the Outback (for something more modern).
Alcyone SVXs were a rarity even in Japan and the 3.3l engine is good for about the same as a fit 3.2l aircooled 911.

Hungrymc

6,643 posts

136 months

Saturday 26th April 2014
quotequote all
SrMoreno said:
You'll be waiting a long time before you get a good one for that price.
We'll be seeing Evoras in the high 20s by the end of this year.

FeelingLucky

1,082 posts

163 months

Saturday 26th April 2014
quotequote all
GC8 said:
Bibbs said:
DanielSan said:
slipstream 1985 said:
eh? subaru flat 6?
From the SVX.
Or the Outback (for something more modern).
Alcyone SVXs were a rarity even in Japan and the 3.3l engine is good for about the same as a fit 3.2l aircooled 911.
231hp

jayemm89

4,007 posts

129 months

Saturday 26th April 2014
quotequote all
I don't mind it so much, it means I could afford one smile

What a superb car it was and, in my opinion, vastly better than the 993 in all the ways that really count.

FeelingLucky

1,082 posts

163 months

Saturday 26th April 2014
quotequote all
jayemm89 said:
I don't mind it so much, it means I could afford one smile

What a superb car it was and, in my opinion, vastly better than the 993 in all the ways that really count.
Except one, 993s are so very pretty, most attractive 911 to date IMO, 996 possibly the least.
To drive, I'd take a 996 every time.

GC8

19,910 posts

189 months

Saturday 26th April 2014
quotequote all
FeelingLucky said:
GC8 said:
Bibbs said:
DanielSan said:
slipstream 1985 said:
eh? subaru flat 6?
From the SVX.
Or the Outback (for something more modern).
Alcyone SVXs were a rarity even in Japan and the 3.3l engine is good for about the same as a fit 3.2l aircooled 911.
231hp
And 240PS for the SVX. A long way short of the 300PS found in the first 996s. My point was that it was a pretty rubbish suggestion.

hondansx

4,562 posts

224 months

Saturday 26th April 2014
quotequote all
Surely a pretty simple answer - there's loads of them, and they're bloody ugly inside and out!

The exceptions are the C4S and GT2, which i imagine will be the ones worth keeping hold of.

SrMoreno

546 posts

145 months

Sunday 27th April 2014
quotequote all
Hungrymc said:
We'll be seeing Evoras in the high 20s by the end of this year.
But they'll be in unwanted specs or high mileage. Good ones will still be a fair bit more. I've been watching prices for a while, waiting for them to come down to a level I can afford, and don't think they'll drop significantly for some time.