http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/cto/5311868229.html


Is this 12 k well spent
Or
A suckers born every day type of deal




I know there's another recent thread about these soulest cars and how trading in your

Teener. For this

But for this price I mean performance per $

Is there a better value possible ?

It'll be worth a lot more than that ... in 50 years

Even early 912's are becoming 'un-affordable' ... check this out: Link

That makes me smile
I bought an early 912 from 66 before the prices went through the roof. I paid about $5800 for it almost 4 years ago. Mind you it was a wreck with a lot of rust and its cost me an arm and a leg to renovate and still not finished.
To tell you the truth I prefer the 914

Our shop has one that we use as a dd/ parts getter. Leave in a parking lot, drive in the rain, pick up lunch, whatever. Lights and buzzers go off. No idea what it means. Just ignor it all.

What ever happened to punctuation?

Not to profile the seller but.....

Price is maybe a couple thousand underpriced, I would have put a 15,000 tag on it, but with that said it's not out of line for what 97 to 2004 HIGH mileage 996s are selling for. Probably got offered 8,000 thousand from the dealer and got his feelings hurt. I know it seems odd but I think being a convert hurts it's value.

The 996 was never well received by the purists. Say what you want I have had my 02 for 4 years. I drive the snot out of it and it has been flawless. best money I ever spent on a car.

As I stated in that other thread, I may abandon my search for a 914 in favor of a 996. There are so many out there and the prices keep falling. Sure its ugly (for a 911) has some problems, and it's water cooled, but it's still a 911...

As long as the intermediate shaft bearing doesn't let go, use it as a daily driver! If it needs an engine rebuild from the intermediate shaft bearing or damage from a water pump failure, it's a $20,000 engine rebuild. Wonder why their prices are low?

Looks like a good car for a decent price

If I was to own one of those, I would never call it a 911. It's a 996 and for good reason. When they first came out I thought the design was appalling, but over time it has really grown on me. Unfortunately they lie on the other side of the line when it comes to complexity, making ownership for the average shade tree mechanic just not feasible.

Ansbacher

He yell Thats the kinda driving experience I'm talking about

Yeh I get the whole it could be .12 k paper weight if.the im. S failed

And that does scare me but I thought that after 100k and on the 3.6 probability of that failure is

Less

Of course I agreed with you about complexity being a issue as cost will skyrocket and
It takes the labor savings away from shadetree guys who could save a bunch of $ by

Diy

So sensors and coil packs are a pain in as s .


While it's running smooth are the good times

When it fucckks up , your held hostage by a repair shop

Not fun

I have a 996. Use it for my DD. Fantastic car.

Tons of guys I know do their own maintenance.

The one in the ad seems suspicious to me.

Attached is a current spread sheet of pretty much every 996 for sale, compiled from numerous separate advertisement sources.

Obtained from search engines for Autotrader, Craigslist (Autotempest), eBay, CarMax, CarGurus and more. with daily/weekly updates.


Includes:
Ownership History and Score per paid-for Autocheck
VIN
Mileage
Location
Owner or Dealer Car
Modifications
Interior/Exterior Color
Contact Information and Listing link

And, lastly, a Basic Ranking System to thin the herd.

This spreadsheet is the closest thing you'll see to getting a real indication on what's happening in the market.

1st Tab: 996s . This includes mostly all cars under $30k

2nd Tab: 996/997 Turbos .

The one in the ad seems suspicious to me.



Please do elaborate

Just because of the price or sorta vague description ?

........ 996 Turbos can be had for under $40k

Don't tempt me!

On list of cars to buy in the near future once house is paid for!

It doesn't like any oils.

It may be the poor mans Porsche while it is still running,
but could turn into a boat anchor real fast when it breaks
and it goes to a shop to be worked on....

I don't have an issue about how they look.. I'd like a nice cabrio..
But they can suck to work on....

Here's what I got out of the ad.
The car may be one owner but the seller/flipper isn't him. English isn't his first language.
Might be a decent car, but I'd do one hell of a ppi first.

if it was not a cabrio i would be mildly interested.

I would like a 2005 C4S. Still too pricey for my modest budget.

Nah,they will never get up there pricewise,look @ the boxster ,great car but built in such large numbers the value dies in the ass the only later models that get there is the last of the aircooled ones.
These cars are cheap everywhere you look even in my country,the fact that it is a convertible drops it further down,price out a new soft top for one of these and you will see why.
I don't see the 912 has any place in a comparison,the reason they are what they are is totally different.

No way you can consider one versus the other.

That's not even an apples to oranges comparison...more like apples to Brussel sprouts.

Other than the Porsche name they have NOTHING in common.

You either want a 914 or you want a watercooled 911. Both have their positive attributes; however, they are light years apart.

which one is the brussel sprout?
but then , I like brussel sprouts!
- ive been looking and pricing these 996's out over the past few weeks, and there are some really good deals out there with IMS already done. If my deal to sell my audi tt had not fallen thru this past week, I would have a '99 speed yellow coupe with factory aero kit, IMS etc all done +++ and low miles , in my driveway!, but I have to wait - but I would not sell my 914 to get one that's for sure. but I think like the boxsters of the same years, they are pretty close to the bottom of their depreciation, since very other 911 is $20k more means that others will start to look at them and the prices will begin to rise(IMHO) so if you want one under $20 , and there are some nice examples, I would not wait too long - or you can go buy a Boxster for $6500, fix the IMS for $3k and drive the snot out of it for a long time!!.
I had a 2001S boxster, very fun car and should have kept it, but it came down to either the box or the 914 and I kept the 914- !, with that said, i'm still looking hard at the 996's - I had a ch

How does one differentiate a 996 from the other 911s when you walk up to one ?

By the runny yolk fried egg headlights

I know where that car is/was, they have a nice white 99 too

These cars are a great bargain, on the front end, much like the cayenne. But, and like that blind date, it's a big but, the maintenance is rough, and on a lot of these cars, the 1st owner maintained them, the last two didn't. So if you plan to spend your last dime to get into a 996, don't. But if you want one and have a slush fund for fixes, it's a lot of car for the money!

I wasn't directly comparing the cars to one another. Just the price point. 914 prices are rising every day while the 996 prices keep dropping. I have considered looking at boxters as well, those early boxters are by far the most inexpensive Porsche around right now, and there are a few nice ones out there in the market... I prefer the Cayman, but they are still in that $25K range. At $25K you can almost get into a 996 Turbo!

yes, he has a blue one for $16k, and a nice low milage silver one. so you saw those . the have all had the maintenance on them , ims , clutch etc. - I have my eye on that speed yellow one , and although I would like a cabriole with hard top, id take the coupe with sun roof , as he has all the work done they appear very clean and sorted.
which one are you eyeing scott?

Jim, they look identical to a boxster from the front - in fact the lights are the same, and the interior is identical- dash, doors etc etc, and that may be why they were not as well received by those so called "purists" they want their 911s to have their own identity not sharing with another.

but interestingly as I;ve been shopping them I come back to looking at the boxsters- because its such an incredible value with the 97-99 cars. if you find an 1 or 2 owner car with full history, why not? for a second car or a d.d. its a great option, unless you want the 2+2, rear seats would be nice. that said, I could get my golf clubs in the trunk of my boxster and that is not happening in the 911!

when it breaks, throw an LS in it.

http://www.renegadehybrids.com/

I like white, black and red and I like red interiors (not on a red car though).
I could live with blue or silver if everything else was right.

I don't like the aero package, but seem to be in the minority.

I don't mind the cabs, it would nice to stay topless, but don't like the weight penalty and less rigid structure (997 was designed as a convertible first to avoid these problems).

Unless you have a full history of when, why and how (which kit) the IMS was done that is transparent and believable (maybe they still have the bearing they took out) I am a little worried about cars that have it already done.

If the bearing was already failing, additional engine damage may have already happened.

Thanks; I see them all the time in my rear view mirror. Looks like a Boxster from that view....

Just a price point. Early 911s and 912s were relatively 'cheap' a decade ago too. Who knows what will will happen 50 years from now?

I don't think people ever envisioned 912s hitting the $ numbers we're seeing today. The 914s appear to be following the trend, granted, at a slower pace.

there ya go scott! LS3 430 hp conversion, no more IMS issue, dependable, but i don't even want ask how much!

Nah, the kit is something like $8k, so not cheap and if I wanted that I would just buy a Vette!

I'm not in a hurry, might even wait another year.

I have a 79 Glastron/Carlson CVZ-18 with a Mercruiser 350 that I am restoring/rebuilding and I have a year left on my current DD lease.

Trying to go from this:

Click to view attachment

Back to this:

Click to view attachment

Linda wants a Merc, so we'll finish my lease, use her Jeep Liberty as required, help get her what she wants, get me another P-car (even some 997's are starting to creep into range) have a fast car, fast boat, luxury car, 4X4 and a bitchin' bike, and life will continue to be great

Of course the right car at the right price could sway me, even if I had to park it for awhile.

Also MB Motorsports in Florida will sell you a rebuilt motor for about $9k for a 3.4 and $10k for a 3.6, and they give you $1-2K for your core.

So that seems like a better deal than a swap anyway and shows that these cars aren't just a paperweight if you blow the motor.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lgb/cto/5328026601.html

Looking pretty sporty and affordable too

Series 9 has basically stopped doing IMS retrofits. It's not that I don't enjoy this business, but I have a conscience and I simply cannot recommend a $3000 service to a 986 owner who just bought his car for $5500.

996s will be following closely behind....

I've heard the word "disposable" for the 986 / 996 cars and beyond. Is this kind of the same thing?

Yes, it is.

I'm in the unfortunate position position of owning an independent VAP shop and having to tell people:

Don't buy any Porsche with an M96 engine ('97-'08)
Don't buy any VW built between '99 and, well, maybe now.
Don't buy any Audi built after CAN bus, or CVT.



Yes, shit is going south at VAP.

Air-cooled, baby

Not only air-cooled. A well sorted 951 is a beautiful thing.

I can say, without bias, that a 914 is at least an order of magnitude higher in quality than any 986/996.

People used to say the 914 was the "disposable" Porsche.

No. They were just affordable and under-maintained. Hold on to your 914. It may eventually become your retirement.

Not one M96 owner can say the same.

Have you checked the price of gold chains lately?

Looks like I'm sitting on a gold mine right now