experiences looking for a 996 C4S...
Discussion
afternoon all
new to the porsche forum, been hanging around in general gassing for a while and reading some of your conversations recently.
so, i'm in the fortunate position of looking for a used 911. I'm currently thinking of a Midnight Blue 996 C4S, mainly because i'm going to be using it as my everyday (live in London and can only really have one car) and i absolutely love the turbo body.
been doing a bit of asking around the dealers - 911Virgin, Camtune, Chiswick Porsche to name a few. Saw an almost perfect one at an independent dealer the other day, but it looked a little overpriced given the condition and spec, and the part ex was low too. I expected to negotiate at least a couple of grand off, but the dealer said he could only knock a couple of hundred off. Is this normal? I was also surprised to learn that the car came with no warranty - there seemed to be little difference to buying privately other than you can assume they always buy good cars.
Is it easy to buy privately? Anyone have experiences they'd like to share? Or does anyone have a midnight blue C4S they want to sell to me?!
cheers
Rich.
new to the porsche forum, been hanging around in general gassing for a while and reading some of your conversations recently.
so, i'm in the fortunate position of looking for a used 911. I'm currently thinking of a Midnight Blue 996 C4S, mainly because i'm going to be using it as my everyday (live in London and can only really have one car) and i absolutely love the turbo body.
been doing a bit of asking around the dealers - 911Virgin, Camtune, Chiswick Porsche to name a few. Saw an almost perfect one at an independent dealer the other day, but it looked a little overpriced given the condition and spec, and the part ex was low too. I expected to negotiate at least a couple of grand off, but the dealer said he could only knock a couple of hundred off. Is this normal? I was also surprised to learn that the car came with no warranty - there seemed to be little difference to buying privately other than you can assume they always buy good cars.
Is it easy to buy privately? Anyone have experiences they'd like to share? Or does anyone have a midnight blue C4S they want to sell to me?!
cheers
Rich.
Hi Rich
I bought a 996 C4S back in March of this year after a fairly long look.
I bought privately without any issues at all. I got the car inspected by an independent inspection company - the guy turned out to be the editor of Total 911 magazine so he knew a thing or two..
I slapped a Porsche warranty on as well (£895) - I'm guessing the reason independents don't include warranties is that all the warranty companies I spoke to don't cover 911s.
Since being on this forum I would advise anyone to get the OPC 111 point check ahead of the purchase for the extra piece of mind that gives, since it's a pre-requisite for the warranty anyhow.
I am absolutely over the moon with my car and thoroughly recommend the C4S ...
Which options are you looking for?
I bought a 996 C4S back in March of this year after a fairly long look.
I bought privately without any issues at all. I got the car inspected by an independent inspection company - the guy turned out to be the editor of Total 911 magazine so he knew a thing or two..
I slapped a Porsche warranty on as well (£895) - I'm guessing the reason independents don't include warranties is that all the warranty companies I spoke to don't cover 911s.
Since being on this forum I would advise anyone to get the OPC 111 point check ahead of the purchase for the extra piece of mind that gives, since it's a pre-requisite for the warranty anyhow.
I am absolutely over the moon with my car and thoroughly recommend the C4S ...
Which options are you looking for?
If you are set on the colour, which will be relativly rare, then it will be much harder to get a good priced car as you need to shop around a little and there just arent many out there, widen it out to black and grey as well and you have more chance, i do think the C4S is overpriced compared with the TT though and there seem a good number of TT's around at the moment. As for knocking down the price I've not dealt with many independents who would be keen to knock £2k off the screen price £500 maybe, fix some bits and throw in a service possibly. Part ex's seem to vary more than you would expect but are probably as a result of different marks ups on different cars. Two guys who have keen prices and seem to offer fair Trade ins are Joel at RSJ and Ray Northway but I think even then it really depends on the two cars involved.
I could be tempted to part with my Fully loaded 2002 C4S Cobolt blue full blue leather Spec list too long to print here 10 months Porsche warranty and recent Porsche service 41,000 miles and immaculate would need £40,000 but willing to take a part exchange any interest? What do you have to trade in
I want to upgrade to a turbo X50 !
Paul
I want to upgrade to a turbo X50 !
Paul
DirkDiggler said:
afternoon all
new to the porsche forum, been hanging around in general gassing for a while and reading some of your conversations recently.
so, i'm in the fortunate position of looking for a used 911. I'm currently thinking of a Midnight Blue 996 C4S, mainly because i'm going to be using it as my everyday (live in London and can only really have one car) and i absolutely love the turbo body.
been doing a bit of asking around the dealers - 911Virgin, Camtune, Chiswick Porsche to name a few. Saw an almost perfect one at an independent dealer the other day, but it looked a little overpriced given the condition and spec, and the part ex was low too. I expected to negotiate at least a couple of grand off, but the dealer said he could only knock a couple of hundred off. Is this normal? I was also surprised to learn that the car came with no warranty - there seemed to be little difference to buying privately other than you can assume they always buy good cars.
Is it easy to buy privately? Anyone have experiences they'd like to share? Or does anyone have a midnight blue C4S they want to sell to me?!
cheers
Rich.
Dont buy a 4s..you will only wish it was a tt within 3 months.new to the porsche forum, been hanging around in general gassing for a while and reading some of your conversations recently.
so, i'm in the fortunate position of looking for a used 911. I'm currently thinking of a Midnight Blue 996 C4S, mainly because i'm going to be using it as my everyday (live in London and can only really have one car) and i absolutely love the turbo body.
been doing a bit of asking around the dealers - 911Virgin, Camtune, Chiswick Porsche to name a few. Saw an almost perfect one at an independent dealer the other day, but it looked a little overpriced given the condition and spec, and the part ex was low too. I expected to negotiate at least a couple of grand off, but the dealer said he could only knock a couple of hundred off. Is this normal? I was also surprised to learn that the car came with no warranty - there seemed to be little difference to buying privately other than you can assume they always buy good cars.
Is it easy to buy privately? Anyone have experiences they'd like to share? Or does anyone have a midnight blue C4S they want to sell to me?!
cheers
Rich.
Admittedly I've only had my C4S for 3 months, but I don't seem to be yearning for a TT - TTs are fantastic cars but the C4S for me has enough power and has the look I like..
One other thing to add is that buying privately you may encounter some resistance to allowing you to test drive the car, understandably due to test pilot syndrome.
One other thing to add is that buying privately you may encounter some resistance to allowing you to test drive the car, understandably due to test pilot syndrome.
I thought I would regret buying a C4S v tt as well after 3 months. But after getting the C4S, I can honestly say that the power is plenty enough (certainly as an everyday London car!), and you don't have the servicing costs or breakdown costs that a tt would bring with it, also the insurance is a lot lower than a tt. Get a C4S!!!!
audi321 said:
I thought I would regret buying a C4S v tt as well after 3 months. But after getting the C4S, I can honestly say that the power is plenty enough (certainly as an everyday London car!), and you don't have the servicing costs or breakdown costs that a tt would bring with it, also the insurance is a lot lower than a tt. Get a C4S!!!!
Yep - fully agree...8 months into my C4S ownership 
Dreammeister said:
Hi Rich
I bought a 996 C4S back in March of this year after a fairly long look.
I bought privately without any issues at all. I got the car inspected by an independent inspection company - the guy turned out to be the editor of Total 911 magazine so he knew a thing or two..
I slapped a Porsche warranty on as well (£895) - I'm guessing the reason independents don't include warranties is that all the warranty companies I spoke to don't cover 911s.
Since being on this forum I would advise anyone to get the OPC 111 point check ahead of the purchase for the extra piece of mind that gives, since it's a pre-requisite for the warranty anyhow.
I am absolutely over the moon with my car and thoroughly recommend the C4S ...
Which options are you looking for?
Thanks for the advice dreammeister. i'm looking for something reasonably well spec'd, thinking about resale value. The one i saw had quite a low spec.I bought a 996 C4S back in March of this year after a fairly long look.
I bought privately without any issues at all. I got the car inspected by an independent inspection company - the guy turned out to be the editor of Total 911 magazine so he knew a thing or two..
I slapped a Porsche warranty on as well (£895) - I'm guessing the reason independents don't include warranties is that all the warranty companies I spoke to don't cover 911s.
Since being on this forum I would advise anyone to get the OPC 111 point check ahead of the purchase for the extra piece of mind that gives, since it's a pre-requisite for the warranty anyhow.
I am absolutely over the moon with my car and thoroughly recommend the C4S ...
Which options are you looking for?
Bought a C4S last year privately. I think that (in my experience) once you meet the owner and see where they live and how they have kept the car then you get a pretty good idea as to whether they are genuine or trying to sell you a pup! Also, back that gut feeling up with an HPI check. Obviously if you get any suggestins of 'odd' payment terms then run a mile.
When I bought mine, I agreed with the seller that I would pay for the 111 point check and warranty, but that he would pay for any work that needed doing. A risk on my part as it cost over £1000 for the warranty. But all went well and I had a car with a year's warranty.
On the C4S vs TT. Just sold the C4S for a TT! Took a year. Still loved the C4S. The TT is awesome, but more of a handful as an everyday car. I had to spend another £25K to get a TT that was as good as my C4S (although it is an S cabrio, so may be not a fair comparison)
Sold the C4S privately as well. Great guy. Once we had met at my house there seemed to be trust from both parties.
IMHO - go for the C4S, you won't be disappointed and it will probably be easier to use everyday in London.
When I bought mine, I agreed with the seller that I would pay for the 111 point check and warranty, but that he would pay for any work that needed doing. A risk on my part as it cost over £1000 for the warranty. But all went well and I had a car with a year's warranty.
On the C4S vs TT. Just sold the C4S for a TT! Took a year. Still loved the C4S. The TT is awesome, but more of a handful as an everyday car. I had to spend another £25K to get a TT that was as good as my C4S (although it is an S cabrio, so may be not a fair comparison)
Sold the C4S privately as well. Great guy. Once we had met at my house there seemed to be trust from both parties.
IMHO - go for the C4S, you won't be disappointed and it will probably be easier to use everyday in London.
I had the C4S vs TT dilema recently and went for the TT without any regret. I had drooled after a C4S, but realised that for 'just a bit more money' I could get the ultimate. The TT is terrifyingly fast and the C4S (comparatively) isn't. The C4S really does look the business I must admit (being the only model in the 996 range with the reflector at the back between the rear lights), and with the switcheable exhaust sounds fantastic. However as one of our number said in past posts "the C4S is all mouth and no trousers" 
.... or something like that. Personally, I am happy I went for the TT.
Good luck with your choice.
Rgds, Brin
.... or something like that. Personally, I am happy I went for the TT.Good luck with your choice.
Rgds, Brin
I've just signed in and found these pages really helpful, now I've figured out what TT means. Am taking delivery of my first Porsche, a 2002 facelift 996 C2 Cab Tiptronic Sport tomorrow. Can't wait. I went to an independent dealer (Cameron Sports Cars) who seemed v decent and had the car serviced by the local OPC, full 111 point check, full MOT and taxed at their cost and I paid for the £895 warranty.
This is a good thread, I didn't dare bring up the (996) C4S / TT debate for fear of the old 'been there done that 1000 times' comments.
For me, I came to the conclusion that having had a couple of 300/400 bhp cars, a C4S would seem quick initially, but not devastating as I might like. A ride in a C4S did make me totally sure however, that it is also a great car. I've not been out in a TT yet, but look forward to the opportunity I am presuming the dynamics are C4S, but 'bloody quick'.
It seems that prices at dealers for C4S / TT are hovering between the 40K - 45K mark in both cases, and the 5K extra for 100bhp more seems quite reasonable really.
Would anyone like to comment on the differing costs of ownership / reliability of both (as a second car).
Thanks
R
For me, I came to the conclusion that having had a couple of 300/400 bhp cars, a C4S would seem quick initially, but not devastating as I might like. A ride in a C4S did make me totally sure however, that it is also a great car. I've not been out in a TT yet, but look forward to the opportunity I am presuming the dynamics are C4S, but 'bloody quick'.
It seems that prices at dealers for C4S / TT are hovering between the 40K - 45K mark in both cases, and the 5K extra for 100bhp more seems quite reasonable really.
Would anyone like to comment on the differing costs of ownership / reliability of both (as a second car).
Thanks
R
thanks for all the pointers, much appreciated.
on your advice i took a TT out yesterday.....awesome, absolutely awesome. I did think that i might get a little bored of the performance of the C4S, but i can't see that happening anytime soon with a TT, and of course they are quite easy to tune.....
bizarrely, the quote i've had for insurance is CHEAPER than a C4S!!! Only a couple of hundred more than my existing policy too.
so i think i'm going to go for it. Anyone had any dealings with Specialist Buying Direct at Staples Corner in London? They're a specialist i hadn't come across before, but apparently have been going since 89. Don't tend to advertise much - word of mouth the owner tells me.
on your advice i took a TT out yesterday.....awesome, absolutely awesome. I did think that i might get a little bored of the performance of the C4S, but i can't see that happening anytime soon with a TT, and of course they are quite easy to tune.....
bizarrely, the quote i've had for insurance is CHEAPER than a C4S!!! Only a couple of hundred more than my existing policy too.
so i think i'm going to go for it. Anyone had any dealings with Specialist Buying Direct at Staples Corner in London? They're a specialist i hadn't come across before, but apparently have been going since 89. Don't tend to advertise much - word of mouth the owner tells me.
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