Personally I wouldn't buy the car based on the replacement engine. There are plenty of cars to be bought as virgins with low miles. I have an 05 C2 with only 8200 miles and the original owner put every option in it (except white gauges) and then sold it after his newer Porsche GT3 arrived 7 months later. I got it with 1100 miles and still had plastic on several parts. Clean info from the local dealer who sold both cars. Back then, I stole it for 12k off list when there were no deals.

Keep looking for that "killer" deal...they are out there

 

I know the feeling....I was looking at a 2005 C2S w/ 21k miles.......for $45k and I just missed the boat on even offering.....that price is fair especially in Nor Cal. Big sigh.

I've been looking in So Cal as well...are you located in San Diego?

What color are you looking for?

 

Caution, there was a recall for early 05 997's due to insuffiecient oil circulation which caused engines to seize. They sent out notice's to all impacted to have the problem fixed &/or replaced the engine's in those when it was too late.
Make sure you get all warranty update info on any 05 you look at.
I recall, late 05's had the corrected head's installed.

 

hey... i am looking for black or artic silver on either black or grey interior... i mean, i'd take basalt or GT but those are less common...

if you are up north, there is an 05 silver C2S in oakland for a good price. only thing i didn't like was the supple leather... what color are you looking for and what is your budget? i will say i enjoy looking for p-cars so if i can't get one, i'd be happy to help you...

i think i have a pretty good guage of the market right now, at least in CA... right now there's not as much inventory as there was a few months ago. that and local dealers are listing their cars higher than the past couple of months as well. part of what is going on is that there are less 05's coming off lease (those all came due last year)... and more '06 cars. these '06 cars are still being listed at dealers in the mid-low 50's for C2 and high 50's to low 60's for C2S.

 

wow... that's good to know... i am assuming this applies to all the launch cars then... the car i'm looking at had an original date of 8/2004 making it an earlier model... should i move on?

 

My car 's recall was a simple and minor exhaust issue . I had the first launch car sold at Champion , kept it one year and had not one issue .

 

Porsche was able to locate most of the run which had the defect and contact those. If you didn't receive any notification, your build date was not impacted. Be happy you didn't have to go through that problem.

 

Dude, I would go for that first launch car in the high 40's. There is another black launch car in SoCal, but that guy was looking for mid 50's. The launch cars are so optioned they are worth it I think. Just check the paint and DME for overrev for peace of mind. Lots of higher mileage cars in socal so this one is pretty good. Seems that the thing is the lower the mileage, the more they've sat around so the greater the chance for seal leaks. Higher mileage gives other increased maintenence issues. I'd probably rather have a couple more miles cause in general the cars are pretty solid.
I wouldn't buy a car with a replaced engine either. If you are bargain hunter looking to pimp it with 20's, it probably works because you get a p car cheap. Hope you're not one of those guys.

 

How could it be ? I was the first . I bought the car only three days after the launch in August 2004 . At that time each dealership was given only one black/black/ceramic/99.3K car .

 

Do you recall what the last 3 numbers of your VIN was? Just curious.

My 05 Launch Car is #337 and as far as I know was never 'treated' for any alleged oil circulation problem. I had access to all the service records from the initial selling dealer and did a complete service/recall review when I was doing my buying research.

BTW: TIP equpped launch cars were over $101K

 

Ap997S - I have the paperwork . The last three numbers of the Vin is 826. The recall I received is explained on this forum in this old thread . http://forums.roadfly.com/forums/por...7469707-1.html

 

hmmm... i was right about to change my mind about the launch car and pony up for an '06... i just came from drinking (too much) to learn that one of my buddies is actually a mechanic over at McKenna Porsche in Norwalk.. Now armed with a hookup on the service side i may be willing to go that route...

 

I'm also about to pull the trigger on an '05 launch 997S. Just waiting on the complete PPI to come back with DME check. The car I am looking at is very nice -- just needs a good detailing. I will be getting the car for $49K. I could probably get the price down a hair more but they are giving me top end wholesale for my '06 M5 ($44k)so I'm not going to push it and I'm tired of looking. I think $47-49K for a well cared for launch 997S is a good deal.

 

I didn't question the tail pipe recall. It's completely documented and well known. I was trying to get more info on the oil circulation recall that someone else mentioned in this thread. I never heard or saw any recall or factory campaign in that area.

Your old launch car VIN was a pretty high number. I'd say it was fairly close to the end of the launch car production run. I don't know how many 997's Porsche produced per day in those days but they must have gotten pretty good a painting, staging & building that black/black configuration. I can picture the sight now of seeing row after row of black 997's sitting in the Stuttgart factory.