Info on what to look for when buying

[dryslick13]

Looks like I will be in the market for a Carrera. Would like to get a C4S but not sure if that will be in my budget. More likely will be looking at a C2 coupe or cab. If I get a PPI done, will it cover every area that may cause problems with these cars? Would an IMS issue manifest itself by now? Anything that I should avoid? I know full service history is a must. On another note, how easy are 996's to work on? Have a lot of experience with R&R on 944 N/A. I'm also interested in the last air-cooled 993's, but they seem to retain a high $ amount which might put them out of my budget.

[dryslick13]

OK. I have done some digging around and it looks like the following issues are something to be concerned about.

1) IMS bearing (no good way to check for this)

2) RMS (easy fix but time consuming)

3) bad crankshafts (will 10 yr old car be susceptible to this? Or will failure have already occurred by now?)

4) 2nd gear issues?

How about driveline of Carrera 4? Any known problems to look out for? Good chance of snow 6 months out of the year here, so thought this would be good for me. How is the rear seating area for Cabs vs. Coupe? Is one a lot better than the other? Do the Cab tops leak?

[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!

[Rrrockhound]

+1 to that. If the IMS issue scares you a lot, either (1) get a car that's had the retrofit done, (2) set aside a couple grand to get the retrofit or (3) maybe a 996 isn't for you. Not really sure if it's a common enough issue that you can use it to beat the seller down on price. There really is no consensus on what causes the IMS issue, but gently-used garage queens with low miles for their age seem to be more susceptible--probably because they don't get their oil changed often enough.

Crankshaft problems are a new one on me. As for cab tops, my 02 doesn't leak a bit, although it only gets wet when I wash it--it's strictly a dry day car for me. If you want a cab, I'd stick to 02 or later, because they have the glass rear window (among many other improvements). All Porsche rear seats are going to be tight, but cabs are probably worse, except for the unlimited headroom.