[badcar]

996 series cars are a bargain and a great bang for the buck. You sound like you already have the sound basics for researching your next car, the only advice I can give is do not let IMS/RMS stories scare you out of these cars. It took me nearly two years to weed out a ton of cars and options before pulling the trigger on my C4S. I drove coupes, cabs, 4's, 2's in nearly every year 1999-2004. It boiled down to the 3.6L, 4S body and brakes, and mileage and care. Have fun in the elimination process!