Hi,

This is my first post, so play nice.

I have been reading on this forum for some time now. I am in the market for a nice used 996. I can not afford a turbo right now, so the C2 will be fine. I have every intention to modify it later, with some supercharger kit. However, that is down the road.

I found a local car, that appears to have a good service history. Was owned by an adult, and appears to have been taken care of. It was a DD and has some ususal stone chips on the bumper and hood. That is not a concern to me. The car is a 2000 model, with pretty basic equipment. All the windows and locks work correctly. The AC is cold, heat is hot. The motor appears dry from the bottom. Actually there is not even any sweat on the oil pan. The clutch is factory, and the mounts feel solid. The car has 74k miles. Second gear seems to hold fine, and shows no sign of popping out.

I own a transmission shop, so we have the ability to do almost anything to the car. Brakes are a little low in the front and rotors look to be factory. However, that is not an issue as I can repair brakes with ease.

The car does not have xenon lamps, and I will really want those. Searching makes me think I can swap other lamps in later, and pretty much plug and play. Other than that, the car has all that I would need.

So, tell me. What did I miss.

BTW, I want to add this to my collection. How do you think it would stack up.

2008 Z51 Corvette, 6 speed
2009 Nissan Maxima ( Wifes )
2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer SS ( Wifes winter car )
2001.5 Audi S4, Very, Very , Very Modified ( 560 BHP )
2009 GMC Seirra Denali AWD ( Work Truck )
1998 Ford Taurus SHO ( My first love )

Thanks for any imput. I plan to buy Saturday.

Mike

 

Personally I would look for a car that has everything that you want and exactly the color combo that you want. It's not like it's that difficult to find a used C2 for sale... The thing I've found is that when you find just the right car you'll get exactly what you want for generally the same price. So, for example, if you do buy this car for let's say $25,000 and later add the litronic/xenon lights (yes they're simple to just plug in) you're going to be out at least another $1,000 for a used set of litronics. If you just keep looking you can find a different C2 with litronics already installed for... oh say.... $25,000 - same money. So I'd suggest shopping around until you find precisely what you're looking for and focus getting a good price on that car.

 

Lets say I have the chance to buy this car for 17k.

Mike

 

If it has a clear PPI, I would say get it. Sounds like you like to do your own work and modify cars to suit your needs down the road. It's nice to buy a car that has everything you want but it is also a lot of fun to do it yourself. Good luck!

 

if its a cab its a great deal, if its a coupe decent deal, at the auctions there going for 15-20 for coupes 16500-22 for cabs

 

yes, but this one seems to be a local car with records and a previous owner that can give you some history on the car. I think that's worth something.

 

If it passes PPI go for it. Does anyone here know what the upgrade to Xenon costs?

 

You can do it for less than $100 with an aftermarket kit. I haven't done it myself so I can't comment on the quality, but it seems to work well.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index...howtopic=24898

 

Yes, it is a local car. Owned by an attorney who had frequent oil changes and maintence done.

Just never had anything big go bad. So, I am prepared for a clutch and rear main seal soon.

Just not sure if there are any other things to look for or count on going bad soon.

Mike

 

Look really carefully for oil leaks. They can be something small (RMS) or something larger (Intermediate shaft bearing)

Personally, I think the 996s are lousy $17k cars. Sure, you get a lot for your money, but if the motor pops, you'll have spent the money you would have on one of the $30k cars, but with an older chassis. But, that's just me being conservative...

 

Also, while you can drop in an HID kit, the Halogen headlights are not projectors, rather they are reflector headlights, which tend to be a lot worse (spotty and uneven lighting with hot spots) when you do an HID conversion. It has to do with the shape and orientation of the filament in the halogen lights, vs the light from an HID bulb.

 

I agree that if the motor lets go, well.... I have a very pretty loser of a car. However, I have serious intentions to supercharge the car. So buying a CPO would not be worth the money difference, as I would lose the warranty on the motor and transmission anyways.

Unless I love it so much as it sits. However, I have some mighty fast cars for it to share my love with. I tend to get bored of the slower cars.

Mike

 

If you would let the fear of a motor going south keep you from buying a 996, you may as well scratch Porsche off your list. This happening is a real possibility but there is no way in the world you are going to be able to predict if it will happen to the car you buy. You can take comfort in the fact that this happens to a very small percentage of all the cars out there.

Based on your last comment I would only ask if you have test driven a C2. If you love really fast cars you might be dissapointed. There are plenty of faster cars out there and you can only do so much to a C2 to improve power performance without spending some real money. If I were you I would consider buying a C2 (assuming that's what your current budget allows) and when you can afford it sell that car and buy a Turbo, rather than going the SC route

 

It's the same old 996 bashing about this and that. Well I for one read all the forums and see the other models, leaking fluids, having RMS issues and such. If the car has been beaten and flogged it's entire life then yes I'd steer clear, but if it is maintained well, serviced regularly, and has all the paperwork from the owner then I'd feel alot better about buying it. I'm an original owner of a 996 and at 60k still have the original clutch in it. I drive it hard but dont beat the thing to death, change the oil before the recommended mileage and take care of it. Perhaps you can find an owner like that.

 

I did. And the car was top shelf. I brought it to my shop and checked it over from top to bottom.

Bought it for what I consider a deal.

I will post pics later.

Mike