Running a 996 on a budget
Discussion
Afternoon all,
Taking into account the known engine issues with the 996 I was wondering about buying a well looked after early 996 and putting the rest of my budget into a rainy day fund. What would yhou say is the minimum I would have to spend to get a decent 1998-2000 996? 10k? 11K?
If I had an overall budget of £15k that would leave me with a £4-5K maintenance and repair fund.
Do you think it would be better to buy the best I can afford and use all my budget of go for a car at the cheaper end of the market and bank the rest?
Taking into account the known engine issues with the 996 I was wondering about buying a well looked after early 996 and putting the rest of my budget into a rainy day fund. What would yhou say is the minimum I would have to spend to get a decent 1998-2000 996? 10k? 11K?
If I had an overall budget of £15k that would leave me with a £4-5K maintenance and repair fund.
Do you think it would be better to buy the best I can afford and use all my budget of go for a car at the cheaper end of the market and bank the rest?
I paid 22.5 for my C2 15 months ago - that looked like a good car, but to keep it in tip top condition, mechanically and cosmetically its cost me at least 5k since. Very little expenditure was to do with the engine, and I put 16.5k miles on it. It could have been cheaper if I'd taken it to a specialsit rather than the OPC, but I prefer OPC. These cars will need work of one kind or another doing on them. I really think the engine is a low priority risk - the suspension components on the other hand will all be getting on in price, and to do the job properly isn't cheap.
In our experience cars reaching the market place usually need a bit of attention catching up on routine work which the previous owner may have left knowing he'll be selling it soon - sometimes it's even the reason for sale. It's usually sensible to get it properly serviced once you've got it and if you assume it may need a few basics like brakes, igntion coils, maybe a couple of track rods, a/c condensors etc (just picking a few random things here), you can very quickly spend £2000 plus. I personally think buyers should have an "overhaul fund" ready to spend straight away and I generally suggest £3000. Hopefully you won't need it all but better that way round than spending the full budget on the car, discovering the various issues and having nothing left to spend. You then more often than not find the car's quite cheap to run for a period relatively speaking. Of course, others will disagree but it's what I see weekly.
Grant
Grant
hartech said:
In our experience cars reaching the market place usually need a bit of attention catching up on routine work which the previous owner may have left knowing he'll be selling it soon - sometimes it's even the reason for sale. It's usually sensible to get it properly serviced once you've got it and if you assume it may need a few basics like brakes, igntion coils, maybe a couple of track rods, a/c condensors etc (just picking a few random things here), you can very quickly spend £2000 plus. I personally think buyers should have an "overhaul fund" ready to spend straight away and I generally suggest £3000. Hopefully you won't need it all but better that way round than spending the full budget on the car, discovering the various issues and having nothing left to spend. You then more often than not find the car's quite cheap to run for a period relatively speaking. Of course, others will disagree but it's what I see weekly.
Grant
that sounds reasonable (and a view backed up by experience)Grant
Looking at the classifieds, looks like there's quite a lot of choice of decent cars at the £12k mark. Go for it!
Edited by monthefish on Friday 6th July 15:22
I had exactly the same concern when I bought by 996 C2 convertible 2 years ago. I spent ages looking for one and found one that fitted the bill in that it had the requisite full service history, was well priced and had the bits on it that I wanted. I bought the best one I could afford (£25K) and got it independently inspected. I also put aside 15% of the purchase price At day one as a contingency and apart from having to replace the alternator after 6 months, there have been no surprises at all. I use it every day and it's been faultless. I also put aside some money via standing order into a maintenance fund as a safety net but happy to say, not had to dip into it yet.
So I'd say that the advice given by others is spot on and is absolutely borne out by my experience.
Hope it goes well!
So I'd say that the advice given by others is spot on and is absolutely borne out by my experience.
Hope it goes well!
Ironically, and happily 
, Grant inspected the early 996 I bought around 3 years ago (now sold) and the bill for recommended work came in at pretty much £3k. It was a very well looked after example and not being offloaded because of the work, the guy was emigrating to Singapore.
Maybe it's just me, but I don't necessarily feel the selling price reflects a car which needs work. They are 10+ years old and you simply need to find a well looked after one. A proper inspection will reveal what work you need to budget for, there will definitely be something, you just need to be aware of what. My old 996 recently came up for sale at £9500. It was a steal at that price and although it represents the cheaper end, contained nothing to be scared of.
I was a totally naive and novice Porsche buyer. Grant talked me through what I thought was a scary list, pointing out what was really must do, what could wait a bit etc. Being over 5 hours away, I ended up just driving the car home (impatient!) and Paragon in Sussex carried out the work and subsequent servicing etc. I can't speak highly enough of Hartech and Grant however, any closer and they would absolutely have been my preferred garage (it was the purple C4, if he remembers..!)
In terms of budget, a sorted car I'd estimate to cost around £2k a year to run. You'd want some reserves 'just in case', but that's true with any car and the 996 is designed to be enjoyed and driven. I did 13k miles a year in mine.
Research will reveal what things you'd want to see already done on service invoices, but I honestly feel all the hype about engine failure, IMS, RMS etc is actually diminishing now these cars get older, do more miles and 'prove themselves', so to speak.
In fact, with prices dropping even lower I'm seriously tempted by another. If I wasn't desperate to get into an Alfa 4C and about to buy another house, I'd probably just buy one to blat around in for a while.
, Grant inspected the early 996 I bought around 3 years ago (now sold) and the bill for recommended work came in at pretty much £3k. It was a very well looked after example and not being offloaded because of the work, the guy was emigrating to Singapore. Maybe it's just me, but I don't necessarily feel the selling price reflects a car which needs work. They are 10+ years old and you simply need to find a well looked after one. A proper inspection will reveal what work you need to budget for, there will definitely be something, you just need to be aware of what. My old 996 recently came up for sale at £9500. It was a steal at that price and although it represents the cheaper end, contained nothing to be scared of.
I was a totally naive and novice Porsche buyer. Grant talked me through what I thought was a scary list, pointing out what was really must do, what could wait a bit etc. Being over 5 hours away, I ended up just driving the car home (impatient!) and Paragon in Sussex carried out the work and subsequent servicing etc. I can't speak highly enough of Hartech and Grant however, any closer and they would absolutely have been my preferred garage (it was the purple C4, if he remembers..!)
In terms of budget, a sorted car I'd estimate to cost around £2k a year to run. You'd want some reserves 'just in case', but that's true with any car and the 996 is designed to be enjoyed and driven. I did 13k miles a year in mine.
Research will reveal what things you'd want to see already done on service invoices, but I honestly feel all the hype about engine failure, IMS, RMS etc is actually diminishing now these cars get older, do more miles and 'prove themselves', so to speak.
In fact, with prices dropping even lower I'm seriously tempted by another. If I wasn't desperate to get into an Alfa 4C and about to buy another house, I'd probably just buy one to blat around in for a while.
Given that, as you say there are a lot around, I would suggest hanging on for one that's been enthusiast owned and has evidence of money having been spent on it every year. A stamped service book doesn't do this on its own. If you can find one with a stack of invoices too then that's probably the one to go for. Any 911 can have a 'big' issue at any stage and that's just the luck of the draw, but find one which has been properly maintained and you should have lower bills on annual maintenance. You'll still have bills mind you!
It's easy too see the 3.4 as commonplace but a sorted one is one hell of a car for £10 - £12k.
It's easy too see the 3.4 as commonplace but a sorted one is one hell of a car for £10 - £12k.
My 2001 C2 Coupe has just cost me £250 for an MoT & a small service, last year it cost me around £3k for a big service, clutch, front brakes, header tank & 4 new PS2's. Year before was service, MoT & 6 coil packs so they don't have to be ruinously expensive! Thinking about selling mine but not sure I can bring myself to do it!
Gassing Station | Porsche General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff