Thinking of buying a 1999 996. Price check

[mhariush]

hey guys
im thinking of getting into a 99 996. dont have any experience with this model. i have found a car locally that looks like a nice candidate. it is silver with black interior, 18" turbo twist wheels, pioneer gps unit and clear front headlight/turn signals and clear side markers. very clean inside and out. scratch on rear bumper and he said it needs a new front hood latch. the car has around 130k miles, but it just had clutch and ims replaced. and something else that i cant remember right now.

he says his lowest is 14k. good deal? anything i should check, look for or ask about?

[KNS]

Does he have paperwork for the clutch and IMS? Price does not sound out of line, have you seen a Carfax on it?

[mhariush]

have not looked at the carfax and I will ask about the paperwork for the clutch and ims and I think the rear seal and stuff was done too.

Are things really reported to carfax enough to spend the money on a report?

[KNS]

I personally think Carfax reports have created more problems than they have solved. My 993 Carfax was clean but the car had obviously been repainted. I still bought the car based on its condition and am happy with it.

At the least, a Carfax wil show you if your 996 has a clean title or perhaps some hurricane flood car. It's not a whole lot of money in the long run and you'd hate to find out bad Carfax info on the car after you purchased it. If it says "salvage" on the title you'll have a difficult time selling it.

[COLB]

$14000 is a good price on a 996 with the IMS done and a new clutch, assuming the car has been otherwise maintained.

Most at this price point have bad clutches (or dodgy tiptronics), lots of deferred maintenance, and serious cosmetic issues.

It is a lot of car for the money. You need to be ready to do a lot of your own wrenching, though. I expect there is a lot of wear maintenance coming with 130k.

[mhariush]

I can wrench myself, coming from 944s. But hoping it will be pretty solid without major work needed. I dont drive much, maybe 3k miles a year or so.

The car has a manual transmission.

What are the wear parts to look for, expect or assume in the near future? Of course, nothing can be known for sure.

[COLB]

I didn't look at your profile! Obviously with all those 944s you know what you are doing!

Air Oil Separator is an issue with all the 996/986 cars. Not pricey part, but is one of those things you drop the transmission to get to.

Cooling system -- expansion tank, hoses, water pump

Wheel bearings.

[mhariush]

i have to ask about the aos but i think maybe it was done with the clutch and ims. the rest on the list looks managable. i'll be wrenching on the 944S, which suffer from an unknown electrical problem, and hopefully be driving the 996 without any hickups

[johnvan8]

14k is pretty decent price if ims done and no accident. Coming Fromm 944s I think you'll like it.

[mhariush]

Update

Waiting on WIN to check Carfax, but the owner said it will show an accident in the rear. He said he backed up into another car at a drive through and had to replace the whole bumper. Plausible? The car has a scratch on the current bumper from rolling into the garage door when he forgot to put it in gear.

Also, the car has 104K miles. He's had it a year he said and got it at 84K miles.

He has the service records from his ownership, but nothing from the Previous owner. And he bought the car at a dealership.

IMS has been replaced with the improved bearing, Rear Oil Seal done at the same time with the clutch.

Needs new tires, the current tires are bald he says.

Thanks

[mhariush]

Here is the PPI findings

No faults in system
Over revs: Range 1 / 560 revolutions (not sure what they mean)
No airbag activity
No signs of body repaint
Oil pan seeping
Bank 1 cam cover seeping
Bank 1 spark plug tubes seeping
Bank 2 oil scavage pump seeping
Front hood latch does not open
Rear Shocks seeping

The repairs quotes on the different items aren't too bad so I think doing them myself eventually will be fairly cheap. The most expensive parts being the rear shocks. but they didn't feel too bad when i tried it. The rest of the test points were a pass.

Any advice? Sounds like a good solid car doesn't it?