I just had a valve seat break causing piston, head and block damage which required a 9K (minimum) re-build.
Instead of the re-build I brought a low milage engine and with fitting it's cost £6,800 (I'm selling the good parts from my old engine to help fund the new engine).
Any other car, and it would have been A. Scrapped. B. Sold as is. C. Fixed then sold. Also I would swear to never buy another. But it's not any other car, its a 911. and even though I have spent... wait for it.......... £11,800 on maintenance THIS YEAR! My next car will be a 911.
Officially 'Unluckiest 911 owner in the world'.
5 x 911's and 4 engine failures.
2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV 2005 Porsche Cayenne S SOLD 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee SOLD 2010 Mazda MX5 Mk3.5 2.0 Sport Tech SOLD 2000 Porsche Boxster S SOLD 1987 Porsche 944 2019 Abarth 595C
A few thoughts I wanted to share..
Expect a clutch to last maybe 30-100k miles. So, a second hand 996 might be due a clutch at which point you could take it to Hartech and have them do the clutch and at the same time fit the uprated IMS or RMS (I think it is the IMS that can be done at clutch time, if not, then it is the RMS), that is one less thing to worry about. This saves on the labour costs only, a bit like "two birds with one stone", I certainly won't be having OPC change my clutch next time and it will be Hartech and an upgrade to the thingy shaft/seal they can do at the same time. The only reason OPC did my clutch is it would have been due soonish and they were already changing my crank case, short blocks and all pistons - my 997/1 had scoring on all six cylinders, but that is another story. I was super happy I had OPC warranty.
Over the years, I have looked at many air cooled Porsches for sale and I have seen a good few advertised with rebuilt engines and a total mileage on the chassis of 100k give or take 50%. So, to me that sounds about the same as watercooled Porsche ownership. I mean that by the 100k (+/-) mark, some will have had rebuilds. Overtime, I imagine many aircooled will have had a rebuild, some two (I know a few). So, for me, and I do mean "for me", that means that watercooled ownership is no greater burden than air cooled. Maybe the aircooled is a general "for the good of the car/wear and tear" rather than the engine-ending RMS/IMS issues.
I have heard comments made about the 996 interior. My personal take is that on the whole it feels more solid to me than the 997, switch gear/buttons etc all sound more "clunk" than "clink" - a comforting sound suggesting good quality. I feel this more in a 996 than a 997 on the whole.
I also feel that the unique shape of the headlights is ageing very well and the combination of colour/model and early or late style 996 headlights can really make the front end special.
JEZZER wrote:I am looking to get my first 996 - would it be advised to get a vehicle inspection before purchase for this model ?
Thanks,
J
There are inspections and surveys. I would probably go for the latter on the hope that I could do a reasonable inspection with torch, mirror and ground mat.
Yes if you want some peace of mind that you wouldn't be able to get yourself from a good look over the car. I would suggest that you only do when you are committing to a car unless you are not worried about the cost of the check. Might be worth seeing if you can take a knowledgeable person along with you to view a car and have a good look over it before paying for a survey.
Surveys can be variable in terms of quality of expertise, so do a little research, for example - would a clean bill of health from a survey give you any recourse in the event of a failure? In theory it might, in practice...might be tricky. Look into what you are paying for and what you want from it.
