Porsche 996 turbo

[philallan]

hello new to pistonheads and new to porsche. One of my friends from work has got me quite interested in them over the last few months. I have found a silver 996 turbo for sale its 2000 on w reg. It has full service history mainly main dealer with few specialist dealers too.

Car has had new :

forge turbo actuators
rear disc and pads
mass air flow meter
rear control arms
front top mounts
battery
3 front radiators
both turbos

is there any thing else to look out for??????

whats typical running costs/service costs?????

going to get porsche to do a ppi is it worth paying the extra and getting them to do a full check where they check revs, electrics etc

thanks
phil

[Adam B]

philallan said:

hello new to pistonheads and new to porsche. One of my friends from work has got me quite interested in them over the last few months. I have found a silver 996 turbo for sale its 2000 on w reg. It has full service history mainly main dealer with few specialist dealers too.

Car has had new :

forge turbo actuators
rear disc and pads
mass air flow meter
rear control arms
front top mounts
battery
3 front radiators
both turbos

is there any thing else to look out for??????

whats typical running costs/service costs?????

going to get porsche to do a ppi is it worth paying the extra and getting them to do a full check where they check revs, electrics etc

thanks
phil

all the front rads

new turbos! how many miles?

[philallan]

76000 on car 21000 on turbo advert says :

Note: Both turbo's replaced in 2008 under warranty by previous owner. Problem was 'seized' wastegate. Although in my opinion far more likely to have just been a sticking swivel point which a bit of TLC fixes no problem. Anyway, nice to know the turbo's have only done 21,000 miles.

Edited by philallan on Sunday 29th April 18:48

[monthefish]

philallan said:

76000 on car 21000 on turbo advert says :

Note: Both turbo's replaced in 2008 under warranty by previous owner. Problem was 'seized' wastegate. Although in my opinion far more likely to have just been a sticking swivel point which a bit of TLC fixes no problem. Anyway, nice to know the turbo's have only done 21,000 miles.

That sounds perfectly plausible on a 2000 car.

[philallan]

monthefish said:

That sounds perfectly plausible on a 2000 car.

oh thats ok then went down to nelson porsche today to see what they thought and he said seems ok had the parts which wear out quickest/fail replaced.

car is having ppi this week so that should pick up any thing else but apart from that all should be ok and hopefully collect on the 12th of may

[marky911]

You don't want one of those 996s mate.
They only go down in value and they've got funny headlights.

Good to see you on here Phil. Nice to see my constant Porsche patta has sunk in.

The car looks mint. Let the inspection do its thing and you'll be fine.

Collecting from Aberdeen on the 12th!?
I hope you're going to make it back for Shauns do.

See you at work.

[Rockster]

philallan said:

hello new to pistonheads and new to porsche. One of my friends from work has got me quite interested in them over the last few months. I have found a silver 996 turbo for sale its 2000 on w reg. It has full service history mainly main dealer with few specialist dealers too.

Car has had new :

forge turbo actuators
rear disc and pads
mass air flow meter
rear control arms
front top mounts
battery
3 front radiators
both turbos

is there any thing else to look out for??????

whats typical running costs/service costs?????

going to get porsche to do a ppi is it worth paying the extra and getting them to do a full check where they check revs, electrics etc

thanks
phil

"is there any thing else to look out for??????"

Yes.

In short everything.

The car is just a used car and going on 10 (or more) years old so a thorough used car checkout is paramount.

What my pro techs recommend and based on my own experience you need to drive the car. But before you drive it you need to ride in it.

Visit the car cold. Be sure the A/C is off (you can test this after the test ride/drive).

Be sure the check engine light (all warning lights in fact) come on when the key is turned to On then go off right away after the engine starts.

Let the engine idle. I won't cover the details but you or someone with you needs to know what healthy and sick Turbo engines sound like.

Let the engine idle and I'd consider letting it idle long enough the oil is hot enough to take an oil level reading.

One nearly warmed up -- it won't get to full temp idling -- arrange the seller to take you on a test ride of around 15 miles. The route wants to include a good mix of various roads so you can experience the car in as many different situations as possible.

Back at the starting point take the car out now as a drive and follow the same route, drive the car the same way.

Pay attention to the oil pressure, boost, voltage, how the car shifts, turns, handles, the engine runs, pulls, and so on.

Back at the starting point then subject the car to a complete used car inspection. Make sure everything works.

Couple of Turbo specific things: During test drive be sure tranny doesn't pop out of gear (manual transmission only). 2nd gear is sometimes a problem but check all gears. Hard as you can acceleration in the various gears.

Check the spoiler goes up/down quietly and there are no leaks.

Under very hard acceleration at around 3K rpms engine should show 0.7bar or 0.8bar (sources vary as to what's nominal) and under some conditions even more boost. Mod'd cars/chipped car boost? I have no clue. Boost drops off as rpms climb, but you should see the boost stay steady for a few seconds. But the car's fast so give yourself plenty of room.

In your area trash buildup in the radiator ducts can have the condensers/radiators corroded and leaking in just a few years. So look around/sniff around (with the engine hot!) for any antifreeze/coolant leaks/smells.)

Tire wear across tread faces should be even. If not alignment. Or car bent from bad accident damage repair.

Afterwards, if you still like the car and believe you can buy it for an agreeable price (agreeable to both you and the seller) arrange to have the car PPI'd. This includes pulling the overrev counters. Post here and someone will I'm sure advise you.

The PPI then checks for any fluid leaks. This is best done *after* the car has covered 30 miles or so for this gives any leak (which may have been cleaned) time to make itself known.

All hoses, seals, gaskets, fittings, boots, and such need to be checked. This requires in some cases some of the underbody panels be removed to fully expose say the transmission, cardon shaft, front diff, steering rack and so on.

Check the CV boot and sway bar links/boots too.

If the car passes muster buy it.

Running costs... I can supply some of what I have had to put out with my 03 Turbo after 90K miles (80K I've added since I bought used with just under 10K miles): Rear tires: 20K miles or a bit more if one behaves. Tracking I don't know. I don't track the car. Fronts double to 40K miles. The fronts get hard/noisy and slick so 40K is about all I'll run them. I have the alignment done every full set of tires.

Oil/filter changes every 5K miles. In the spring/summer hot weather I use Mobil 1 5w-50 (not a typo for 15w-50) and in the winter Mobil 1 0w-40. But many run Mobil 1 0w-40 year round. I could but I encounter some real high temps (100F or hotter; hottest: 119F) sometimes in the summer where I live/drive. One owner has over 300K miles on his car's engine using 0w-40 oil.

Other vital fluid changes/services done when due or a bit early. For instance I just have the 6-speed/diff fluid changed after 40K or so miles. The tranny was replaced at around 40K miles when a leaking selector shaft seal was found. Hence my strong advice that that PPI needs to remove the panels and check *every* seal!

Brake fluid/clutch fluid flush/bleed very 2 years. Coolant every 4 to 5 years.

Plugs every 24K miles. I have not been paying attention and this last set has been in for 60K miles...

Let's see... a set (4) of tires (N-rated): $1800. Alignment: $200 or sometimes less if a special is on. Oil/filter service: $120 or thereabouts. I supply the oil. Tranny/diff fluid change: $50 (approx) per liter and 3 (or is it 4?) liters required and 0.3 hours.

This gets done every 45K or so I don't sweat the cost of the fluid and I note my 02 Boxster's 5-speed with regular fluid changes has held up for over 250K miles. (Oh, the price of a new/replacement 6-speed Turbo tranny is over $10K! Skimp on fluid or try to find a discount brand? Not likely!)

Engine and cabin air filters I do. Serpentine belt when due but I can't recall the price.

Spark plugs? Last time I think I paid just under $500. (Rear bumper, intercoolers have to come out.)

Car is on its original brakes though I can and will do these myself when time. (At the dealer the cost is roughly $1000/per axle. DIY, a bit less than half that, and its all parts/hardware and a couple of hours (no rush) labor on my part.)

I can't recall the price of a brake fluid/clutch fluid flush/bleed. It ain't much. Hour or two labor and a few bucks for fluid.

For fuel costs you do the math: My 03 gets between 19mpg (city/highway) to 25/26mpg highway if I'm good.

Sincerely,

Rockster.

[Nobby Diesel]

Rockster,

That's a really good write up IMO.
It brings together just about everything I have either learnt or discovered in 5 years of 996t ownership.

Your economy from rear tyres is impressive.
I have my car geo'ed by a very well respected company here in the UK, don't feel that I drive the car hard and certainly don't track it, but I can't get anywhere near 20K on rears. Also, the wear is biased to the inside of the tyre, due to the geo'. I'm told, this is how they should wear.

A great piece of informed advice though.

[willmac]

Rockster has pretty much covered it there. Good write up.

In short don't expect to run it on a shoestring, it is not possible. They were expensive to buy new, and although they are now at bargain prices to buy 2nd hand, the running costs are just as or even more expensive than in 2000. But I'm sure you have read or heard that a million times by now.