Am I mad to look at a sub 10k 911 ?
Discussion
Right I will lay myself open to the collective experience of the PH Porsche forum !
I am in the market for a decent Sportscar , always loved the 911 and I have seen a few sub 10k 996 C2 for sale between 7.5 and 10k , this one as an example http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C505137 , all seem ok on the face of it good history , mileages of around 100k and nothing that I can see untoward , is this just folly or should I just save my money and buy a good Boxster ? .
over to you
I will happily take any advice/criticism on board .
I am in the market for a decent Sportscar , always loved the 911 and I have seen a few sub 10k 996 C2 for sale between 7.5 and 10k , this one as an example http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C505137 , all seem ok on the face of it good history , mileages of around 100k and nothing that I can see untoward , is this just folly or should I just save my money and buy a good Boxster ? .
over to you
I will happily take any advice/criticism on board . I'm not against early 996s having owned 2 myself & as others have said buy with your eyes wide open & a knowledgeable wing man to look impassionately at whatever you are considering. The car you've highlighted has had the service intervals stretched several times in the past which could indicate someone trying to run it on the cheap...they are meant to be serviced every 12 months even if you only do a sime oil change (the OPCs on the smallest service just carryout a visual check btw).
You really want one that has also been serviced recently & the one you highlighted is overdue another service & hence might be looking at a £250-400 immediate bill before you kick off - that's for the service before anything else found.
Look at a few before buying & ideally buy in winter as sellers are more amenable to 'dealing' on price if they may have to wait 2-3 months before the market wakes up...oh, & ideally find a car with a number of consecutive services at the same reputable indy so you can phone them up & get an honest opinion on the car.
Good luck
ps purchase a buyers guide/feature from one of the magazines too.
You really want one that has also been serviced recently & the one you highlighted is overdue another service & hence might be looking at a £250-400 immediate bill before you kick off - that's for the service before anything else found.
Look at a few before buying & ideally buy in winter as sellers are more amenable to 'dealing' on price if they may have to wait 2-3 months before the market wakes up...oh, & ideally find a car with a number of consecutive services at the same reputable indy so you can phone them up & get an honest opinion on the car.
Good luck
ps purchase a buyers guide/feature from one of the magazines too.
MrC986 said:
I'm not against early 996s having owned 2 myself & as others have said buy with your eyes wide open & a knowledgeable wing man to look impassionately at whatever you are considering. The car you've highlighted has had the service intervals stretched several times in the past which could indicate someone trying to run it on the cheap...they are meant to be serviced every 12 months even if you only do a sime oil change (the OPCs on the smallest service just carryout a visual check btw).
You really want one that has also been serviced recently & the one you highlighted is overdue another service & hence might be looking at a £250-400 immediate bill before you kick off - that's for the service before anything else found.
Look at a few before buying & ideally buy in winter as sellers are more amenable to 'dealing' on price if they may have to wait 2-3 months before the market wakes up...oh, & ideally find a car with a number of consecutive services at the same reputable indy so you can phone them up & get an honest opinion on the car.
Good luck
ps purchase a buyers guide/feature from one of the magazines too.
Many Thanks You really want one that has also been serviced recently & the one you highlighted is overdue another service & hence might be looking at a £250-400 immediate bill before you kick off - that's for the service before anything else found.
Look at a few before buying & ideally buy in winter as sellers are more amenable to 'dealing' on price if they may have to wait 2-3 months before the market wakes up...oh, & ideally find a car with a number of consecutive services at the same reputable indy so you can phone them up & get an honest opinion on the car.
Good luck
ps purchase a buyers guide/feature from one of the magazines too.
wole0911 said:
Save a bit more and buy a Noble M12 .... you wont be dissapointed and you will never want to upgrade to anything else!! (ok im a bit biast i have a 911 as well)
Just searched the classifieds for a M12 - nationwide, Max price 20k: No results. Considering this price is twice what the OP had set as their maximum, I think your "save a bit more" advice is a little unhelpful.
IknowJoseph said:
Just searched the classifieds for a M12 - nationwide, Max price 20k: No results.
Considering this price is twice what the OP had set as their maximum, I think your "save a bit more" advice is a little unhelpful.
Considering this price is twice what the OP had set as their maximum, I think your "save a bit more" advice is a little unhelpful.
OP - there is a 996 running cost thread that a few of us have recently contributed to. Check my recent posts and also the buyers guide that was on this website only a week ago.
Magic919 said:
Read the poverty pork thread.
Or this one http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Life's a gamble - just buy one and see how it pans out. I did and so far so good but that's tempting fate I know
Good folks on here will certainly warn you about the various man traps to avoid with these first water cooled cars and they are right but to be frank even expensive ones with all of the right paperwork are a risk so one could argue a cheap one is the way to go as there is arguably less value at risk.
Good luck either way
Good folks on here will certainly warn you about the various man traps to avoid with these first water cooled cars and they are right but to be frank even expensive ones with all of the right paperwork are a risk so one could argue a cheap one is the way to go as there is arguably less value at risk.
Good luck either way
medieval said:
Life's a gamble - just buy one and see how it pans out. I did and so far so good but that's tempting fate I know
Good folks on here will certainly warn you about the various man traps to avoid with these first water cooled cars and they are right but to be frank even expensive ones with all of the right paperwork are a risk so one could argue a cheap one is the way to go as there is arguably less value at risk.
Good luck either way
Thanks Good folks on here will certainly warn you about the various man traps to avoid with these first water cooled cars and they are right but to be frank even expensive ones with all of the right paperwork are a risk so one could argue a cheap one is the way to go as there is arguably less value at risk.
Good luck either way
I had a 996.2 for 14 months with 120 000 miles on it when I sold it. It needed expansion tank, water pump, coils, exhaust, a/c condensers, 2 rear tyres, oil and filter change and other sundry items at a total cost of around £3000.
The message is, make sure you have plenty in reserve to keep it on the road when you've bought it. I paid £10 k for it when similar age 996s were a few grand more expensive. So the £3000 seemed reasonable in the first year.
Btw, I never worried about the famous IMS because if it's lasted over 100 k without letting go it probably will last another 100 k. Just my view based on what I've read.
The message is, make sure you have plenty in reserve to keep it on the road when you've bought it. I paid £10 k for it when similar age 996s were a few grand more expensive. So the £3000 seemed reasonable in the first year.
Btw, I never worried about the famous IMS because if it's lasted over 100 k without letting go it probably will last another 100 k. Just my view based on what I've read.
Mine (996 C2 cab 120k miles) has roughly cost me 2k a year to maintain over the past 5 years. That covers service, MOT, Tax, 2 new rear tyres and fixing any other bits that might have broken e.g. window mechanism at winter if it snows really heavily (car kept outdoors with no cover and the auto wind down feature on the cab windows dont like it when the windows are frozen!), replaced the drivebelts, RMS, IMSB, brake pads, coils, water pump etc etc during this period
Insurance, Servicing, MOT, tax and fuel wise it costs me less than my civic type R did.
Wont spend money on a new engine, figure if it blows up ill just buy another 10k 996 or finally upgrade although it did have a replacement engine at around 18k which was done for free by Porsche despite being out of warranty
My old man paid well over the odds for the car (80-90k) at the time and it's probably worth considerably less than 10k despite it having (according to my specialist) an impeccable service history etc.
It might get slated for being silver, a 996 and a cab but thats kinda great because it means i can pick up replacements for next to nothing!
Insurance, Servicing, MOT, tax and fuel wise it costs me less than my civic type R did.
Wont spend money on a new engine, figure if it blows up ill just buy another 10k 996 or finally upgrade although it did have a replacement engine at around 18k which was done for free by Porsche despite being out of warranty
My old man paid well over the odds for the car (80-90k) at the time and it's probably worth considerably less than 10k despite it having (according to my specialist) an impeccable service history etc.
It might get slated for being silver, a 996 and a cab but thats kinda great because it means i can pick up replacements for next to nothing!
I picked up a 2001 996 C2 tiptronic cab (possibly the least desirable 911, from reading around!) for not far off your budget back in April and am really enjoying ownership so far.
Looking around the market there seem to be some decent examples around for reasonable money (I still can't get my head around sub £25k Turbos listed at dealers!).
Like others have said though - you'll need a fighting fund for maintenance as well as the purchase price, nothing to do with the car, but its age. If anything much less has needed doing than you would expect for a 13 year old car.
Things like air con condensers, suspenion components and clutches routinely need attention on cars this age and will set you back a reasonable amount, so it's absolutely essential that you buy a well looked after car to keep these costs to a minimum.
I would view a full service history as a must, with a recent service including inspection sheet essential. On top of that I'd definitely have an independent inspection carried out by a specialist to identify any hidden faults and negotiate down the purchase price to factor any faults into account.
Finally, don't be put off of cars that have had expensive work done recently - this should reduce the amount that you will have to spend and shows that the previous owner didn't dodge big bills.
Looking around the market there seem to be some decent examples around for reasonable money (I still can't get my head around sub £25k Turbos listed at dealers!).
Like others have said though - you'll need a fighting fund for maintenance as well as the purchase price, nothing to do with the car, but its age. If anything much less has needed doing than you would expect for a 13 year old car.
Things like air con condensers, suspenion components and clutches routinely need attention on cars this age and will set you back a reasonable amount, so it's absolutely essential that you buy a well looked after car to keep these costs to a minimum.
I would view a full service history as a must, with a recent service including inspection sheet essential. On top of that I'd definitely have an independent inspection carried out by a specialist to identify any hidden faults and negotiate down the purchase price to factor any faults into account.
Finally, don't be put off of cars that have had expensive work done recently - this should reduce the amount that you will have to spend and shows that the previous owner didn't dodge big bills.
Not mad at all. Running costs may be a little high but this will be offset by the presumably minimal depreciation, or so my man-maths have led me to believe!
Buyers of newer cars haemorrhage thousands every year in depreciation but don't always consider that as a major running cost.
Get one and enjoy!
Buyers of newer cars haemorrhage thousands every year in depreciation but don't always consider that as a major running cost.
Get one and enjoy!
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