03 996 C4S Value needed
 

I'm looking to purchase a 996 C4S and am currently looking at a couple different ones, with one here on Pelican. The one I have some concerns about is in Arkansas, it has 59k on the odometer & is a manual. My concern is that the IMS hasn't been sorted & the owner says that his mechanic has been checking the oil & feels that all is ok & henceforth no need for a retrofit. The other concern is that the car has had 6-7 owners, current owner is either numero 6 or 7. Why so many owners ? By the way, where does one get a PPI in Arkansas ?

The car is in very nice shape, no previous accidents & only paintwork has been the bumpers. New tires, all service is current. It will need brakes in about 5-6k miles.He's asking $25k for the car and I'm curious as to what the community thinks the car is worth with the little info I've given ?

Yikes. 6 or 7 owners?
The IMS hasn't been sorted?
Arkansas?
This car is screaming for a Carfax. That should give you a semblance of history to peruse.
The non IMS sorting is a deal killer for me. It's a time bomb. How lucky are you feeling? You know you have to do it, so that's a $3-4,000 fix right away. The mechanic checking the oil and henceforth feels all is ok is pure crap. Another red flag.

Not feeling the love.

I feel when you buy a car you are also buying who the owner was.

Enough loved and maintained 996c4s on rennlist for 25-30k

If you have to have the one in AR get it for under 20. And still feels mehh.....

Otherwise plenty of fish in the water.

Down the street.

https://providence.craigslist.org/cto/6037604335.html

You can buy a nice 996 C4S for $33-34K and if you believe the Internet Hysteria can put an aftermarket IMSb in it for +$3K or so. Or, buy a 996 Turbo for $40-44K and never give a thought to the integrity of the engine.

Look who it is! Hey Felipe!

Bingo....what tech said.

I have helped a couple friends by C4S's in the last year. There is a surprisingly good number of nice straight clean cars out there in the high 20's to middle 30's. I think they're pretty good value these days for what you get. The turbo even more so but its a different price point.

I have the highest regard for TW.

But when you've seen an IMS failure in person (it looked like the Exxon Valdez in the parking lot) and gone through what my friend and others have gone through, there's no reason to buy a car that hasn't had the fix, or at least budget $3k for yours.

If it goes your car is toast. As I said, you feeling lucky?

Don't buy anything in Rhode Island. I had the unfortunate experience of living there and they are all thieves.

Appreciate all the advice & I was trying to get something on the cheap but as always you get what you pay for. I've been toying with the idea of a 996 TT as well but I thought a C4S could be good fun in the NE Kingdom as we are leaving Florida later this year. So....I'm going to take the advice given & be a tad more cautious & selective. By the way, anyone looking for a lovely 99 M Coupe ? :)

Great weekend to all !

Once you pin the coolant fittings...

Given what you had your yellow one on the block for you should know full well you aren't getting a nice turbo for that $. Add 5k minimum.

I had a cash offer of $45K for my yellow car - luckily had a small windfall & took it off the market.

You likely will have a hard time finding a low mile car in a premium color for $40K, but the silver and gray ones are out there.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/684501310/overview/

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/687186523/overview/

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/693387664/overview/

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/693570130/overview/

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/694475409/overview/

Want to estimate how many 996 Turbos have had the coolant fittings pinned? My guess is well under 5%. Another "Internet crisis." Unlike the IMSb, a failed coolant fitting is not going to kill your engine if you're paying attention.

Well......I've now given my search some more thought due to the above comments & I think I'm going to give the C4S a miss & change directions towards the 996 TT. Techweenie, thank you for providing the listings and you are partially to blame for me having to spend more money than I initially planned :) but I do believe it's a better move. Only negative is that I should've done this during the winter months & not waited until now.

Obviously, I applaud the decision. Only two caveats: first, you'll have a hard time wiping the grin off your face. Second, the 996TT presents a serious "slippery slope" opportunity, in that very minor dollar injections start to increase performance - and it's easy to dump a LOT of money pursuing the notion of "enough HP," which is elusive. Going from 415 to 460 HP is quite inexpensive. But you can go all the way to 1000 HP albeit at a very high cost.

You'll learn a lot here: 996 Turbo Forum - Rennlist Discussion Forums

Flipping heck, started the search and finding a six speed manual in something other than black and over 100k miles is becoming a tad difficult. Oh well, I need to sell my M Coupe and if I have to wait until next winter then so be it !

If anybody has a 996 TT, no black or yellow, in a 6 speed manual, please let me know. Thanks again for everyones help.

A very wise decision. The 996 M96 is a gamble (plenty of horror stories out there on the inter webs) with or without the IMS retrofit. Check out RL.

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