what is an 'early' 3.4 996?

[Dammit]

I'd say it's a £25,000 car once you'd rebuilt the engine and changed the suspension out for fresh (if that had not been done).

[ATM]

Is there much involved with taking a 3.6 complete engine and transplanting it into an early 3.4 car and could you retain the cable throttle?

[edc]

That is not a simple job. You could have your engine built up to 3.7 though.

[996lee]

I'm probably biased at it looks similar to mine but this looks good

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

The mileage may have put me off a few years ago but mines on 100k and is running strong as ever and after refreshing top mounts , bushes, coffin arms etc it drives better than It did when I purchased it on 56k

[edh]

Dammit said:

I'd say it's a £25,000 car once you'd rebuilt the engine and changed the suspension out for fresh (if that had not been done).

At that point it's a 25k cost but in value, 13, maybe 15 if you're really lucky.

We did a bit of a comparison with two 996's last weekend. Both cable throttle manual 3.4's. One with 120k, new m030 suspension and Hartech rebuild, the other with 57k. Two owners & a third (impartial) driver ventured out into the Derbyshire hills...

In everyone's view there was no doubt which the better car was, and I can't see it being worth even 20k any time soon (but I'm open to offers over 20k ).

The higher mileage car had a sweet engine, no doubt, but it also feels its age, whereas the 57k car feels almost like a new car in comparison (the verdict of the 3rd driver, who is more used than me to new cars..current motor is an M4). I think you'd have to go through and renew an awful lot more before you made the two cars feel similar, and at that point the Hartech rebuild would start to offset the higher mileage.

[ATM]

996lee said:

I'm probably biased at it looks similar to mine but this looks good

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

The mileage may have put me off a few years ago but mines on 100k and is running strong as ever and after refreshing top mounts , bushes, coffin arms etc it drives better than It did when I purchased it on 56k

How fat are those back tyres?

[Fast Bug]

Just dropped the boy off for a sleep over and we took the 996 as it's been a little neglected over the past few weeks. It's been sat outside as we had a new bath suite in the garage and it's covered in crap from the builders. Hopefully they'll be gone tomorrow and I can give it a clean off and put it back in the garage.

It's nice to drive something that you can actually feel beneath you, we went to France last week and as capable as my C Class is, it's a little dull compared to the 996! Much better mpg though

996lee said:

I'm probably biased at it looks similar to mine but this looks good

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

The mileage may have put me off a few years ago but mines on 100k and is running strong as ever and after refreshing top mounts , bushes, coffin arms etc it drives better than It did when I purchased it on 56k

That looks nice

[Porsche-nige]

996lee said:

I'm probably biased at it looks similar to mine but this looks good

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

The mileage may have put me off a few years ago but mines on 100k and is running strong as ever and after refreshing top mounts , bushes, coffin arms etc it drives better than It did when I purchased it on 56k

This chap was on Rouge Traders for being a con-man car trader. Was trading under a different name then. Here is the video on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwwxYSezwVg

[Porsche-nige]

was8v said:

The miles are no problem on a 3.4, just check it has a number of recent replacement parts (suspension, engine mounts etc) commensurate with the mileage.

Might well be a much better buy than some with half the miles.

A 174,000 mile Porsche will be a tired, sloppy thing to drive that will inevitably be a money pit to keep going. Save a few extra £1000s and buy one with half the miles.

[Porsche-nige]

edh said:

At that point it's a 25k cost but in value, 13, maybe 15 if you're really lucky.

We did a bit of a comparison with two 996's last weekend. Both cable throttle manual 3.4's. One with 120k, new m030 suspension and Hartech rebuild, the other with 57k. Two owners & a third (impartial) driver ventured out into the Derbyshire hills...

In everyone's view there was no doubt which the better car was, and I can't see it being worth even 20k any time soon (but I'm open to offers over 20k ).

The higher mileage car had a sweet engine, no doubt, but it also feels its age, whereas the 57k car feels almost like a new car in comparison (the verdict of the 3rd driver, who is more used than me to new cars..current motor is an M4). I think you'd have to go through and renew an awful lot more before you made the two cars feel similar, and at that point the Hartech rebuild would start to offset the higher mileage.

Absolutely agree. The car would never be worth £25,000, so buying it and then spending that money on it with the view to it being some kind of investment would be daft. If you were buying it to spend said money on it to keep and enjoy it then fair enough.

[bgunn]

Porsche-nige said:

A 174,000 mile Porsche will be a tired, sloppy thing to drive that will inevitably be a money pit to keep going. Save a few extra £1000s and buy one with half the miles.

Hmm, ppbb might beg to differ - admittedly his car is a special case, but. I think it all depends upon the car. I've seen cars that have 1/4 the mileage that are, to put it bluntly, fking awful.

I'd rather pay 'peanuts' for a car with 174k, spend 5 grand putting it right and have a car that's better than a 60k 'cared for' example (that's actually mostly fked)

[ATM]

bgunn said:

Porsche-nige said:

A 174,000 mile Porsche will be a tired, sloppy thing to drive that will inevitably be a money pit to keep going. Save a few extra £1000s and buy one with half the miles.

Hmm, ppbb might beg to differ - admittedly his car is a special case, but. I think it all depends upon the car. I've seen cars that have 1/4 the mileage that are, to put it bluntly, fking awful.

I'd rather pay 'peanuts' for a car with 174k, spend 5 grand putting it right and have a car that's better than a 60k 'cared for' example (that's actually mostly fked)

This I can agree with but 5k doesn't go far with these cars. I don't see any mention of any recent work done except air con regass.

[bgunn]

ATM said:

This I can agree with but 5k doesn't go far with these cars. I don't see any mention of any recent work done except air con regass.

Depends what's wrong. Also, if you're paying someone to do the work, no, it won't. If you're just buying parts, 5k gets you plenty to target the ills of most cars out there.

[porkey]

As a recent buyer, low miles was something that I was looking for. I would rather put money into a low mile car needing some work than a high mile car that needs nothing. The latter may well be better value but in the long term the lower mile car is always going to be more desirable.
That's my logic anyway.

[jonny996]

porkey said:

As a recent buyer, low miles was something that I was looking for. I would rather put money into a low mile car needing some work than a high mile car that needs nothing. The latter may well be better value but in the long term the lower mile car is always going to be more desirable.
That's my logic anyway.

True if you have £25K (£19 for car & £6 for work) but if you only have £15 then this is a good way to get in

[was8v]

Porsche-nige said:

A 174,000 mile Porsche will be a tired, sloppy thing to drive that will inevitably be a money pit to keep going. Save a few extra £1000s and buy one with half the miles.

Possibly. But it would struggle to get that far without lots of replacement parts.
It could have just had all new suspension and a rebuilt engine and clutch. Then it would be like new.

Mine has 130k on it, and all new suspension. Does it handle better than a car with 80k on it? Probably. The engine and interior have more miles on them though.

[ATM]

was8v said:

Porsche-nige said:

A 174,000 mile Porsche will be a tired, sloppy thing to drive that will inevitably be a money pit to keep going. Save a few extra £1000s and buy one with half the miles.

Possibly. But it would struggle to get that far without lots of replacement parts.
It could have just had all new suspension and a rebuilt engine and clutch. Then it would be like new.

Mine has 130k on it, and all new suspension. Does it handle better than a car with 80k on it? Probably. The engine and interior have more miles on them though.

What have you got - lets have some pics!

[porkey]

jonny996 said:

porkey said:

As a recent buyer, low miles was something that I was looking for. I would rather put money into a low mile car needing some work than a high mile car that needs nothing. The latter may well be better value but in the long term the lower mile car is always going to be more desirable.
That's my logic anyway.

True if you have £25K (£19 for car & £6 for work) but if you only have £15 then this is a good way to get in

£19k should get you a nigh on perfect 996. For £15k you'd hope that it needed very little. I'm only basing this in my recent experience.

[was8v]

ATM said:

What have you got - lets have some pics!

Vesuvio on sport classic IIs - see p43 https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[edh]

bgunn said:

Hmm, ppbb might beg to differ - admittedly his car is a special case, but. I think it all depends upon the car. I've seen cars that have 1/4 the mileage that are, to put it bluntly, fking awful.

I'd rather pay 'peanuts' for a car with 174k, spend 5 grand putting it right and have a car that's better than a 60k 'cared for' example (that's actually mostly fked)

I wouldn't advocate anyone buying a poor car....

ppbb's planned maintenance schedule based on lifed components is pretty extensive and instructive. A one-off though.