Why are 1999 Carrera's so cheap?

[Cali 911]

I am considering some water cooled 911's and dont want to run into major repairs. I sold my air cooled 3.0, and had no issues at all. What should I look for on the 99-01's? There is a local guy selling a 1999 with 97k miles, said the tranny and clutch were rebuilt. He wants around 18k. The Price range I am looking at is $16k-$22k. What would be the cost for maintenance if it's a daily driver and I put on say 5k-10k miles a year? Anything I should look for,or be aware?
Any advise?

[MJSpeed]

RMS issues.

996's, particularly the pre-2004 (I think) face-lift, are simply not very desireable for a myriad of reasons:

Styling
Engine displacement
Build quality (or lack thereof)
RMS

Take your pick...

My advice would be that, if that's your price range, try and find a low mileage sample.

[racer]

its a 100K mile car. I would anticipate Shocks/Spreings needing replacement. In a year or 2 you are looking at 120K mile service (ie, a 60k mile service) which would mean new waterpump and belts/tensioners etc; brake pads/rotors may also need replacement (they are a very easy DIY repair, btw).

The trans/clutch rebuilds are a plus imho, as long as you see the reciepts.

Rear tires wear out, typically, in the 10-15K mile range depending on use. May want to price check what replacements will run (ie, 17" 18"?)

Some say that if the car has higher miles, it likely won't have IMS (intermediate shaft) or RMS (rear main seal) issues. That they tend to snag the cars that are underdriven. Others will say the opposite. Since porsches like to be driven, I am of the former idea.

"D" chunking of engines has also been reported.

If i was to buy a 996, I would budget, worst case, a fund for a replacement motor (used, "new" your choice).

They are a world apart from your SC. They have modern heat, AC, comfort and convenience items. They are not as "raw" as the SC, but much faster overall. 300hp! for under 20K!

read here too: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-marketplace-discussion/509248-market-value-99-00-911-a.html

[Rot 911]

I just can't get past the styling and I suspect this has a lot to do with the low prices.

[joeym]

boxster front end engine issues... in a couple of more years or so your sc would be worth more money than a 996.
if you're going to drop $18K, get into a 3.2 g50 and down the road you want to unload it, you will not have a hard time compared to the 996 specially a year '99, think of it as that girl in high school, everyone knows that she has herpes and nobody wants to be near her

[orcadigital]

RMS and IMS issues were mostly fixed by 2002 (so you would be looking for either a 2002+ or an earlier one with a replaced Porsche engine (the replacements fixed the issue I am told). Otherwise a new engine might be in your future.

Other then that, from the research I have done, the mileage based maintenances run 1k to 3k, and tires every 20k or less (usually less). The real question you want to ask yourself is if 22k is your budget, I would be looking for something in the 18-19k range so you have a buffer. And definately get a PPI.

[Matt Monson]

Find out exactly who did the gearbox work and what was replaced. Get a copy of the reciepts. If the gearbox wasn't done properly you'll be back in there in less than 50k mi. The 2nd gear popout issue get far less attention than the RMS and IMS issues, but they are just as common.

[techweenie]

Let's get real here, folks. The RMS problem is a slight leak. Most air cooled 911s have somewhat more than one slight leak. Porsche had gone through many iterations of the RMS and the newest ones seal very well.

There appear to be a whole lot of 996s out there with 150-180K miles and not a lot of trouble.

On the valuation side, yes, I think a G50 car bought today in the mid-teens has a better chance of being worth the same money in 5 years than a bottom-priced 996. But the '80s Carreras aren't without their issues as well. I'm sure it'll be seen as blasphemy on this board, but realistically, it might cost less to own the 996 for 5 years than a G50 car. And if creature comforts are a + for you, I'd strongly consider the '99.

[kilodawg]

Tech is as usual right on the money. The preference and price differential are more of a psychological and anthropological issue than a design and engineering one.....

[orcadigital]

The stuff I had heard was more about the IMS (though a leaking RMS is an indicator of an IMS failure incoming), and that its replacement motor time. That is where the problem lies, there is no real rebuild option, its buy another motor. And yes, rebuilds on other 911's aren't cheap either, but how many other motors have a "common" failure that lead to a total motor replacement?

Not to discourage anyone, I am still kicking the idea around (to replace my 951 daily with those said creature comforts), but its why a PPI is so important, and by someone who knows the specific issues to these cars. Jake Raby has been doing a lot of development work on these motors as well and is probably near to (if he hasn't already) finding a solution.

Flat 6 Innovations

Nothing worth more then education when investing in a Porsche.

[gsjohnson]

I had a 1999 996 for 49,000 miles and it was a wonderful car. No major expenses. With any 911, make sure you do a thorough PPI. And as was stated previously, the RMS and IMS issues were few and far between. Good luck...

[techweenie]

According to my dealer tech friend, IMS problems are very rare with the earlier cars; more frequent with the later 3.6 liter engines.

[Cali 911]

Lot of good info guys!
This same 99 w/95k miles has been lowered to 17k.
I may get a PPI and pull the trigger if all looks ok. Interestingly it has been for sale for almost a year!

[Robert Adams]

A YEAR ON THE MARKET!
Hmmm...car fax it to.
I know 99s aren't a real popular year, but if they need to take a year to sell it and still after all that time need to drop the price to $17, think of what you'll need to do to sell it when you are done. I doubt you'll get any of the parts & service investment dollars back. Stay with the 951 or maybe look at a '95 993, they're almost in the same price point and have pretty good creature comfort.

[dave m]

There's a nice looking black/black '99 over on rennlist for 20 w/60000 miles. No connection and I know nothing about the car.

[trader220]

Its a supply and demand issue. They made a ton of 996's and they're not in all that high demand. They're good cars, not to my personal taste but excellent sports cars for the money.