Porsche 911UK Forum

Welcome to the @Porsche911UK website. Register a free account today to become a member! Sign up is quick and easy, then you can view, participate in topics and posts across the site that covers all things Porsche.

Already registered and looking to recovery your account, select 'login in' and then the 'forget your password' option.

Early 996 - what questions should I ask the seller?

rottenbend

Well-known member
Joined
22 Aug 2010
Messages
2,589
Hi - Just popped over from the 993 forum :thumb:

A friend of mine has been inspired by my recent 911 purchase and is looking to join the madhouse.

He has seen a early 1998 R-Reg 996 Carrera locally and knows the seller. the car has 80k on the clock and is Black over Tan. It's in OK condition but nothing special having not been garaged for the last few years. Will need quite a lot of TLC to bring it up to scratch.

What sort of price a these realistically going for these days for a private sale?

The seller is bringing the car around tonight.

What are the important questions he should be asking? Are there common issues which need to be looked at?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I know I've come to the right place :thumb:
 
if he is serious about buying the car privately, get it PPI'd.

Also, you can tell a lot from meeting the current owner!

Good luck
 
At the intial stage he should be looking at service history, how the car is driven by the owner, quality of parts used and if tyres are Porsche approved, accident damage.
Ask if the brake discs and pads have been done recently and also if the suspension bushes/arms and antiroll bar links and bushes have been replaced. What about the radiators and condensors? Have a peak in the front air ducts and see if they are clogged up with leaves. A careful owner will vacuum them out on a regular basis.
He may note a slight RMS leak which is common and usually not a deal breaker. The cam covers may also drip oil.
The engine should not sound tappety or if it does when warm should immediately disappear when revved slightly. There should not be a "stones rattling in a can" noise from under the engine near the bell housing (and near the RMS weep) as that may indicate shot IMS bearings.
Look to see if the aircon pipes near the driver's jacking point are crushed by careless jacking.
Check that the coolant is clear and there may be a little mayonaise in the oil filler neck. This is common this time of the year as water condenses here due to the length of the pipe.
After that, get it inspected by an indy, Peter Morgan or OPC.
 
Has the car had or does the car need:
Discs
Rads
Air con repair
Coil packs
Lambada sensors
Control arms
A clutch
Exhaust cans and cats
Manifolds drilling out at the heads
Tyres need to be a top brand and fairly equal in wear f to r
Suspension
Drop links
RMS
IMS
GEO
A service
Wheels refurbing
Expansion bottle
13 to 15k
Then ask him if you can have a drive
Not much else can go wrong with a 996 :eek:
(Barring terminal engine failure circa £5000-£8000)
PPI for sure.
 
The days of the £10k 996 have already arrived.

If this one's only ok, is as old as they get and being sold privately then £10k would be about right.

If things check out re history and current condition of consumables etc then it might be worth paying a bit more.
 
T8996C4 said:
The days of the £10k 996 have already arrived.

If lots of things on the above list needed doing (not including the engine), could you knock all that off the price? If so, and you went to OPC for the repairs, you could probably bid about £6,000?
 
Always check for full genuine dealer stamped service history, you can check it's genuine by ringing each dealer in turn a bit tedious but worth it.

Also ask to see invoices for the work carried out on major service items.

It generally follows that if a car has been properly serviced, it's going to be a good one. :thumb:
 
adeymars said:
Has the car had or does the car need:
Discs
Rads
Air con repair
Coil packs
Lambada sensors
Control arms
A clutch
Exhaust cans and cats
Manifolds drilling out at the heads
Tyres need to be a top brand and fairly equal in wear f to r
Suspension
Drop links
RMS
IMS
GEO
A service
Wheels refurbing
Expansion bottle
13 to 15k
Then ask him if you can have a drive
Not much else can go wrong with a 996 :eek:
(Barring terminal engine failure circa £5000-£8000)
PPI for sure.

Andymars has got it absolutely correct :thumb: Please do NOT assume that a stamped service history will mean all of the above items have been put right!
The service history only means that the regular service schedule has been followed which is OK but I promise you things like exhaust studs replaced, shock absorber and spring replacement, wheel refurb, aircon overhaul etc, etc, etc are usually only done at the owners request or if they are completely shagged.

If there is no receipt or evidence of these major items being done then assume they will need doing.

Beware - a good one will be a bargain but a cheap one may well be an absolute money pit.
 
kim hollamby said:
T8996C4 said:
The days of the £10k 996 have already arrived.

If lots of things on the above list needed doing (not including the engine), could you knock all that off the price? If so, and you went to OPC for the repairs, you could probably bid about £6,000?

You could, but I think you'd be told where to go.

The OP suggested that the car was in an overall ok condition. If it is then £10k would be my valuation. If it's better than ok I'd bid a bit more. If it's less than ok I'd walk away.
 
So what you're saying is that it's not really worth buying anything cheaply if you need to spend a load of money on it. I'd agree with you - I've done that in the past and always lost out when I came to sell.

Mind you, I've never known what I was doing.
 
Thanks for all the info :thumb:

The seller was a no show tonight and the appointment will be rearranged. Still gives me time to do a bit more research :wink:
 
Sorry to drag up an old post but in case anyone is interested, my friend bought the car today for £8.5k after the owner had fitted new discs and pads all round... The car needs some bodywork TLC but runs perfectly.

So the days of the sub £10k 996 have well and truely arrived.
 
Eight and a half grand. Eight thousand five hundred pounds. :eek:

That's either a LOT of car for the money or a headache waiting to happen, hope it's the former, good luck to him I say... :thumb:
 
Thanks for the update rottenbend.

Your mate did well. The seller was obviously pretty keen to sell the for the best price he could get quickly. A classic case of your mate being in the right place at the right time.

Obviously without pics one can't see the degree of TLC that the bodywork needs and any 'paint' will obviously affect values but for an entry level 911 I'm sure he'll have great fun. Give him a :thumb: from me.

T8
 
I've just been round to have a look. I think he's done very well at £8.5k - I advised him not to go above £10k. The seller is well known to him and has had the car for the last 10 years.

The paint issues are mainly swirls which can be a real problem on black cars. I'm going to go round with my Dual Action polisher on the weekend and have a go at some paint correction. The lacquer is blown on the calipers (no big deal - easy DIY). Lacquer is also missing from one of the mirror caps.

There is also a squeak from the front suspension - suspect bushes.

It has hard backed sports seats but the leather is in a poor state - some TLC with Gliptone/Liquid Leather should sort this out too.

If I get a chance I'll throw up some before/after pics as we clean her up.
 

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
124,354
Messages
1,439,445
Members
48,708
Latest member
JLav211
Back
Top