£8500 996 C4 with GT3 Kit

[Jonesy997C4S]

Alright Guys,
Not that I'm buying at the moment although I am always looking I came across this today. There was an article on PH last week about a buying a cheap as chips 996 with a contingency fund. This seems like one of those. V.high mileage but looks ok. Would anyone else take the risk on this one?

View item:
PORSCHE 911 996 - CARRERA 4- FULL GT3 BODYKIT- SUNROOF-LEATHER- HARDBACK

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=...

[Magic919]

Not at that price. Brakes and aircon will gobble up a few bob.

[996TT02]

Magic919 said:

Not at that price. Brakes and aircon will gobble up a few bob.

Depends.

Diy, pads and discs (not from Porsche but something like Pagid) are not expensive.

Same goes for aircon condensers, which I'd bet my willy is what the problem is likely to be. Obviously a re-gas is de rigeur.

Unfortunately rads may be on the way out if the condensers are rotten.

But if it's the compressor then I am not sure what the alternatives (i.e. non Porsche) are all about, no experience of this, thankfully. Having said that wherever there is great expense there is great opportunity and the alternative market rapidly fills the vacuum.

[MrC986]

the ad says rear brakes were done in 2013 & a pair of front discs/pads is probably about £250/300 if bought wisely & fitted by a local garage who charges sensible hourly rates. The air con might be a re-gas although it depends how much you drive the car as to whether having it working is important? You'd need to understand whether the coffin arms on the suspension have been changed as the mention of gearbox/diff fluid changes should be a good sign. A friend has a similarly "leggy" C4 & it quickly chews £s in the early stages of ownership. I'd also be asking who serviced it recently so you can see if you can ask them what the car is like to get a good gauge of its overall condition. If in doubt, there will always be another in the future which you can get a friendly techie to check over before committing.

[MontyC]

Most jobs can be done DIY I fitted new coils the rear ones are a little tricky to maneuver around the manifold also changed front brakes and disks, rear inner cv boots, radiators are just a case of removing the front bumper. I brought my car at a very low price with the view if something serious was to go wrong I would break the car up and recover most of my money.

[was8v]

996TT02 said:

But if it's the compressor then I am not sure what the alternatives (i.e. non Porsche) are all about, no experience of this, thankfully. Having said that wherever there is great expense there is great opportunity and the alternative market rapidly fills the vacuum.

Air con compressor on a 996 is exactly the same as on millions of Zafiras, Mercedes and Audis etc. Denso 7SB16C

The difference is in the pulley / clutch on the front, so if that is shot too you will need a matching one. Some Audi V6s use the same pulley if you want to get a used one.

Cheapest I;ve seen for a new one with correct pulley is £164:

http://www.adrad.co.uk/prices/aircon_prices.php?ty...

These cars don't have to be scarily expensive to maintain!

[edc]

Decent aftermarket aircon condensers are only about £50-60 each too.

[996TT02]

was8v said:

996TT02 said:

But if it's the compressor then I am not sure what the alternatives (i.e. non Porsche) are all about, no experience of this, thankfully. Having said that wherever there is great expense there is great opportunity and the alternative market rapidly fills the vacuum.

Air con compressor on a 996 is exactly the same as on millions of Zafiras, Mercedes and Audis etc. Denso 7SB16C

The difference is in the pulley / clutch on the front, so if that is shot too you will need a matching one. Some Audi V6s use the same pulley if you want to get a used one.

Cheapest I;ve seen for a new one with correct pulley is £164:

http://www.adrad.co.uk/prices/aircon_prices.php?ty...

These cars don't have to be scarily expensive to maintain!

Fantastic, good to know, one for the "just in case" knowledgebase.

Only replaced condensers and receiver-dryer on mine (and the latter was also a shared-with-many part). Plus some Porsche O-rings which obviously cost around 500 times more than they should have, but the sizing was very particular.

[996TT02]

MrC986 said:

The air con might be a re-gas although it depends how much you drive the car as to whether having it working is important?

It does help (immensely) with demisting apart from simple cooling which may or may not be necessary in the UK.

I would not just re-gas it however because if it has actually lost its gas there would be a reason for it. If it's not leaking the gas should last indefinitely. A not-always-incredibly-visible oily stain on any condenser indicates that it's gone, and a cheap UV torch will show it up even more brightly.