I know I sound like a broken record on this forum, but I've owned a 2000 996 that's IDENTICAL to the red car in the first post (except mine sits a tiny, tiny bit lower). I've had the car since June of 2006 and have used it as my Daily Driver, and also has seen track use on rare occasions. I got it with 37k miles on it, and it now has 155k miles - 118k miles in 7 1/2 years. It has been very reliable over the long haul and has held up extremely well inside and out.
It is VERY easy to DIY on, for the most part, certainly more DIY friendly than my 1984 Carrera. MY clutch lasted to 110k miles when I decided to replace IT and the IMS bearing (for the LN Engineering version) at the same time. When my mechanic/buddy showed me the original IMS bearing (after pulling it apart for a closer look), it was perfect.
I DID begin to get a whine in the transmission after 120,000 miles, and after a year of listening to it, decided I better do something about it, so I arranged to have my buddy pull it apart and replace all the bearings on the shafts. It was definitely the most expensive repair I've had done to the car - it set me back about $1200 (a shop would certainly charge more) - but I got back a whisper quiet transmission with brand new bearings. By the way, all of the internals were as near perfect as could be. No syncros, gears, etc, needed to be replaced.
The coil packs have been replaced once, as has the Air/Oil separator, water pump, brake disks, serpentine belt (a couple of times on that one), voltage regulator, and engine mounts - all of those items having been done by yours truly in my garage. It truly is an easy car to work on.
It has no rattles or buzzes inside (never has), the seats have held up beautifully after all of these years, the "full leather" interior (a necessary option in my opinion) still looks nearly perfect. The paint still looks pretty damn good, even after all of these years being parked for days on end at LAX airport in the sun.
The car seems to average about 20-22 mpg in my mixed driving and still seems to have all the power it's ever had, even after all of these years. 300 HP in a 3000 pound car is still fun these days.
In a nutshell, I've LOVED that car and plan to drive it for maybe another 50k miles before looking for a 997 Turbo to replace it.
We were on our way to the Sierras for a couple of days camping at Bass Lake with friends:
