Hello, came across this forum through a google search. My mother bought this car new and barely used it because she hates it. I believe it has less that 30k on it. Problem is that it has sat for a couple years outside. When I move back to the Bay Area, CA and get my hands on this car, what needs to be checked first? I cant afford to take this thing to the dealer. I have a cousin that is a complete gear head has owned tons of classic cars including Porsches. (I haven't had a chance to talk to him about it yet but I'm sure he'll be able to help with maintenance and repairs.) It was driven down the street for a move last year but that's it for at least 3 or so. The rotors are rusted so I know those will need to be replaced as well as the breaks but am I wondering what else besides fluids I should count on replacing?

I may not be able to keep the thing though I really want to. My wife and I have a one year old and selling this and getting an SUV for Tahoe to visit my pops seems much more practical. Though sure seems a shame to sell a car like this for 20k that has been barley used, I think I read once they only made 5,000 of this config. Figure my wife and I enjoy it for a year or so and see if we can keep it.

Thanks for any advice you can give!

 

Wow! What a great opportunity! I'd start with having it towed to a shop, or to your cousin, and have the car throroughly checked over. Change major fluids, rotors and brakes, and and anything else to get the car in running condition then you can take your time and check out the rest.

 

Where to start? Fuel in the tank will most likely be bad, so that has to be drained and flushed. Hopefully the fuel sitting for a while has not gummed up the injectors and fuel lines. Maybe your fuel pump will start playing games with you sooner than later...

Oil change: definitely get this done along with new filter. Old oil in these engines and not driving them for a while is about the worst thing you can do for these cars. Hopefully the acid on the old oil has not compromised the IMS seal.

The surface rust on the brake rotors will go away after a few stops, so unless they are worn, tough to say if you actually need to replace them or not. Same goes for the brake pads. What will surely need to be done is to change the brake fluid. Fortunately, this is a relatively easy and economical thing to do.

Battery? That is something easily replaced.

Coolant? Is there any left in the reservoir? If not, need to top it off and make sure to get all of the air out of the system.

Tires? Are they dry rotted or flat spotted from sitting for so long? Are they down to the wear bars? Make sure to inflate them to their proper pressure and check for the date code on them before driving around.

That is the least you can do to get the car from point A to point B. I am sure that as you start using the car more often, more things will come about, but you have to start using it to figure it out.

Regular exterior trim (seals, rubber, trim, windshield wipers, etc) suffer quite a bit from being left outside for storage so eventually plan on treating those or replacing them. Fortunately for you, you are getting the car for what it appears to be $0, but count on spending a few bucks to bring it back to shape. The market value you propose will be affected due to the aforementioned maintenance items.

 

Thanks for the replies, figured it was going to be at least a grand or more to get it running again.

Reading about these IMS issues now... not fun...

 

You can get close to a grand just in tires.... It adds up quickly....

Don't read too much into the IMS thing. If your car is a manual, then just have it done when replacing the clutch. Might as well as do the RMS then too. Fortunately for you, all of these "nuances" are well documented and known how to deal with them.

Price into consideration, you can't beat these cars for other 911s.

 

I know tires are a g for sure. Just dont know if they need to be replaced yet. I believe they were replaced and then the car sat around. Just have to see. Just found a video on replacing the oil, glad that's not a production on this car.

When does the clutch on these cars need to be replaced? Thanks.

 

Clutch needs to be replaced - when it's worn out. There is no mileage formula. If it hasn't been driven it's probably fine. Sorry for the truth - if you can't afford to take it to the dealership for a maintenance and check up - you can't afford it at all. Change the fluids, battery and clean it up and sell it. Get what you need for your young family.

 

Our family is fine thanks. Just closed on a house in San Carlos. Thats why I prefer not to blow money on dealer labor right now. Taking a car that has been sitting for almost 4 years into a dealer is quite a different story than taking your running car in for a "tune up" and oil change. But thanks for your two cents.

 

Actually it's not too different of a story. Alot of the things you will need to check, top off or replace is part of the major and minor service schedule. Thinking about it, there's alot more on those lists.

I hope that myself or denversteve don't come off the wrong way but a lot of people get in over their heads with these cars because of their much more appealing prices these days not realizing they are going to have to pay for service on a $80-140k+ car. I myself am a younger guy so this was something I had to take into consideration when I purchased my car. The part I didn't consider was the thousands I've spent on mods for the car and the endless list of parts to be added.

With with the car sitting for that long and especially with the oil sitting in the car for that long it might not hurt to have the car inspected by a Porsche mechanic just to make sure there aren't underlying problems that will cost you more down the road. I'd treat it like a used car purchase and get a PPI.

I almost forgot, Congratulations! I hope you really enjoy the car, they are amazingly fun to drive.

 

Easy there Newboy, Your words not mine.

If you don't want a response - to what you write, don't write it. Since you're flush, TOW it to the dealer and have everything checked and flushed. It will run you around $1,500-$2,000 but that's a great deal since you got it free. Then put tires on it and drive. Or don't. Start it up and drive it until it implodes. It doesn't matter to me, it's your car.

 

Sell it. Buy a 02+ which has improved engine and some minor things.

 

$2 grand for this car is cheap. I was expecting dealer cost to be way more than that considering the situation. I'm still thinking its going to be more than that. I used to sell cars, I know what goes on at "dealers".

I was looking for advice on what repairs I could do on my own. Not advice on my finances. Ill be more clear next time, "because I just dropped a **** ton of cash on a house I can't afford to drop thousands more, at this time, at the dealer." Better? Still going to tell me Im not providing for my family?

I dont care if I'm new or not, leave snarky *** replies and I will return the favor. AND if you read my whole post, selling the thing and buying a SUV is still being considered, which isn't anything we NEED either.

Back to the topic, from what I am reading the most expensive thing for these cars as far as maintenance is concerned, is tires. Oil changes can be done at home, another thing I was not sure about. As long as the IMS and RMS dont blow up on me the car seems pretty reliable from what I have been reading from other owners. This car only has 30,000 miles on it, besides sitting outside, its almost "new". Only problem my mother ever had with it was the battery dieing from not driving it. Though I could see random electrical problems popping up here and there from sitting outside. As long as I budget for tires, the Brazilian bearings dont come apart in the tranny and I address RMS/IMS when needed, this should be an awesome gift .

Thanks to everyone that gave respectful replies. I appreciate it.

 

Dont worry about Steve. Its the high altitude of Denver and lack of oxygen making him grumpy...hahahaha.. He's actually a wealth of knowledge on here but I think you two just misunderstood the other. I have a better solution for you. I'll wire you 10G for the car and you drop it off at the local Porsche dealer and I'll handle the rest...LOL.. No worries for you, 10G in your jeans, your kids will be able to eat tonight and life will be grand...
Ok. Seriously. Keep the car. Do the basics, oil change and fluids ( all cheap and easy to do) and drive the snot out of it. When it needs something else just fix it then or sell it. If you arent tracking the car just buy cheap tires if you need them and have at it. The car owes you nothing so enjoy it. If not then sell it to me and I'll take the profit and bring some Canadian beer down to Steve and calm him down.... hehehe.. Good luck with the car. Keep us all posted.

 

Don't forget the coolant tank. It is also another "known" common issue with these cars. Also the droplinks tend to wear out rather quickly (at least was in my case. Both of these things seems as if you can take care of them yourself and no need to visit the stealerhip for.

 

I'm not moving back until after the first of the year but I'll gladly report back if you are curious. Most likely plan on keeping it the summer, making the wife fall in love with weekend drives, and then making a final decision then .

Yeah I dont think I'll track it anytime soon. So what do cheap tires run for 996s? $900? And anyone know what the production number was on this model? Anyway for me to find out? Ive tried briefly to look but I wasn't able to find much on production numbers for each year.