Porsche shite

[smellmycheese]

A guy I know has a 1999 porsche 996 black convertible with hard top. Proper nice thing with proper problems.

Oil in the water last year so he sourced a second hand motor and all was good for a few weeks now same again.

Basically he's had enough of it and offered it to me for 6k.

Anyone got any experience of these?

[panhard65]

Which engine has it got as the Boxsters had a lot of trouble with the 2.5's. 6k seems a lot to me but what do I know about 911's. You could get a very nice 3.2 Boxster for that money though. If I remeber rightly they aren't an easy engine to rebuild and the casings warp which can cause big problems. Unless you know where to find a cheap rebuilt engine I think I would steer well clear at that money.

[cort16]

It's the same issues. I think Porsche made a proper dogs cock of their first water cooled boxer engine.

I recon by the time you've fixed it you could get an up and running one without all the agro.

Even better the caymans can be had for sub 10k and the drive really well.

[barefoot]

My tame Porsche breaker says that the early water cooled boxers are completely hit & miss.

[SherpaMog]

It's worth almost nothing apart from to a porsche breaker or independent porsche specialist, with room in the workshop and time.

The engine is foooked m9, and needs extensive treatment that +6 grand, would buy you a better one that has already been sorted. Early 996 really are shite. So yes just buy it, and tell us your tale of woe!

[Junkman]

Check the radiators. Usually, the nosepiece accumulates dirt, leaves, mice, spiders, dog shit, etc, causing the radiators to rot from the bottom.

Once rotten enough, they will mix water and oil.

 

The engine is fairly bullet proof, apart from the timing chain and tensioners. The chain will inevitably stretch at around 150k and the tensioners are wear items.

You will hear the chain rattle on startup, if this has already happened.

The only other 'common' fault on the engines is piston wear, which is easily audible, and visible, because smoke.

 

Check the exhaust, especially the silencers and cats. Not because serious, but because expensive. A complete exhaust will cost you in the 'hood of three bags.

 

The early examples suffer from atrocious build quality, but by '99 this was fairly sorted.

[SiC]

Check the radiators. Usually, the nosepiece accumulates dirt, leaves, mice, spiders, dog shit, etc, causing the radiators to rot from the bottom.

Once rotten enough, they will mix water and oil.

 

The engine is fairly bullet proof, apart from the timing chain and tensioners. The chain will inevitably stretch at around 150k and the tensioneres are wear items.

You will hear the chain rattle on startup, if this has already happened.

The only other 'common' fault on the engines is piston wear, which is easily audible, and visible, because smoke.

 

Check the exhaust, especially the silencers and cats. Not because serious, but because expensive. A complete exhaust will cost you in the 'hood of three bags.

 

The early examples suffer from atrocious build quality, but by '99 this was fairly sorted.

Wow! Junkman has knowledge of cars built post 1986! Of all of them, I'm surprised at Porsche being the one too. I thought all >1986 went all shit and uninteresting?

[SherpaMog]

I.m.s. Bearings are an expensive repair, as are liners,even more expensive, both common problems.

Have a friend who sold a 993 to get a 996, he still pokes himself at how stupid he was.

[Walter White]

No direct experience but I did have a day dream about a 996 when I saw the prices they can be advertised for.

However of course there is a reason they were priced thus as Panhard posted. Reading up they are prone to intermediate shaft problems.

Porsche specialist Autofarm can fit improved bearings when doing a rebuild to help prevent future failure but it is only worth doing with a rebuild due to labour required.

So it seems one buys a bargain Porsche 996 which could go bang and then pay for repairs and improvements. Too much for me unfortunately but for you if the engine needs work you can have the modifications done as well and have some peace of mind in the future. Might be worth costing the work to help you decide what to offer. I am sure I saw running 996 for not much more than £6000.

[andy18s]

I seem to remember Gas Monkey had 1 of these with a oil in the water

Ended up having to replace most of the front to rear coolant pipes to get all the shit out the system.....and got suitably expensive

Then they threw away the knackered engine and dropped in an LS V8

[SiC]

[Timewaster]

I seem to remember something about the oil coolers in the side pods are fragile and cost a fortune to replace.

Could they mimic HGF?

 

Also, Porsche lickers would be aghast at the suggestion that you buy a Boxter instead.

Imagine someone said "This V8 XJR is a bit broken. You could get a nice diesel X-type for that money."

[forddeliveryboy]

I met a bloke at the testing station who'd picked up a Bizarre for peanuts - well,about £3k - because quarter of a million miles. It was immaculate and any probs had been sorted.

 

He sent me off for a drive and it felt rather mundane until you delved a bit deeper, when it proved pretty good. "makes an MGF feel a bit crap?" he asked whilst it ticked itself cool. "I'll race you" I smirked.

 

So that evening I ragged the little k-series for all it was worth and he couldn't shake it off until the road turned German. His Boxster proved reliable over another 50k for him, when it ticked round the 300k mark he donated it to his Dad.

[panhard65]

Bugger I must be doing it wrong I spent over £1200 in the first week owning mine, but I did do the IMS and a new clutch and flywheel. Then there were 4 new bottom wishbones and the 4 wheel alighnment. Next job is new brakes and tyres. Worth it though as it does drive really well now and reading the road tests for when it was new they reckoned it was nearly as good as a 911 and certainly better value.

[nacho man]

I would deffo have a 996, I think there proper lookers. I was meant to be doing "paperwork" in the office today but I was reading about a fella on pistonnobheads who has a 996 on 300k odd.

[Junkman]

Wow! Junkman has knowledge of cars built post 1986! Of all of them, I'm surprised at Porsche being the one too. I thought all >1986 went all shit and uninteresting?

 

My knowledge about post 1986 cars is the very reason why I despise them.

Or do you think I make unfunded assertions?

 

Compared with that newfangled waterboxer tosh, the old aircooled ones are sturdy as tractors. Very, very fast tractors.

I'd steer well clear of that piss cooled shit with those gopping fried egg headlights, but if someone asks for advice

and I coincidentally happen to know the car in question, why shouldn't I volunteer my knowledge as unbiased as I can?

 

Here is what the typical cheap 996 buyer is facing:

 

Radiators and aircon condenser: 3k

Exhaust: 3k

Cats: 1.8k

Timing chains and tensioners: 2.5k

Worn liners: 5.5k

 

Which means a cheap 996, plus the work necessary, makes it a normally priced 996 without issues.

But if one can carry out the work oneself, the calculation is entirely different.

 

However, I would never ever buy one in the UK. Those cars simply weren't built for puttering

along streets with childish speed limits and traffic lights every 15 feet.

 

[New POD]

Mate of mine just bought a poxter, for £4K instead of a mk1 turbo'd mx5 for £5K  

[richardmorris]

.

[inconsistant]

For that money you could get a reasonable 924 Turbo which would be a wiser purchase. And available with a brown interior.

[Junkman]

Nah, more like this:

 

[Junkman]

For that money you could get a reasonable 924 Turbo which would be a wiser purchase. And available with a brown interior.

 

They did brown interiors for 996es, too.

 

 

 

[stephen01]

brown leather = sex on stick..

[Alusilber]

For that money you could get a reasonable 924 Turbo which would be a wiser purchase. And available with a brown interior.

 

You wouldn't get this brown-interiored 924 Turbo though...

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201612100499673?make=porsche&model=924&logcode=p

 

   

 

And for that money they couldn't even find a cigar lighter that still has the symbol on the front of it...

[Junkman]

Can't dispute the top one, but the middle one is a 997 and the bottom one is a 993.

 

They are all the same.

 

 

Dunno, but my watercooled Porsche is called Chevrolet Corvette.

Always has been, always will.

[Bren]

Buy a 924.

[Junkman]

Buy a Corvette.

 

FTFY

[Skizzer]

Can't dispute the top one, but the middle one is a 997 and the bottom one is a 993.

Middle one is actually a mk1 Cayman. Sadly you couldn't spec them with brown interior in the U.K. (except possibly as a crazily priced bespoke thing), so don't get your hopes up. Mine was Ocean Blue inside, which I liked but apparently it was deeply uncool.

 

I did 70k in it in four years and nothing went wrong apart from a coil pack gave up. Oh, and a bloke and his adorable child smashed the front to bits with a bicycle while it was parked, for a laugh.

[Skizzer]

Nope - private land, couldn't prove criminal intent, police not terribly interested.

[saucedoctor]

I looked at a few 996s ranging from £5k to £30k. The guy I bought my X Type from had 2 Porkers, both 996s. One was IIRC about 9 grand, and the other one was 20 large. He was brutally honest: "I'll sell you either one, but the cheaper one will cost you more in the end. Any way, 997s are better. Sadly, I haven't got one"

 

I bought a facelift 997 Carrera 4S in the end. In short, popular opinion seems to state that cheap ones aren't worth the aggro, unless, as Junkman correctly states, you can do the spannering yourself.

​I've also had a couple of Boxsters. Gonna stick my neck out here, but I reckon my Boxster S drove better than the 911 C4S. I drove the BAG off the Boxster at Kirkistown circuit, a place I have driven hundreds of laps round since I was a kid, and I still maintain that the Boxster handles better than I can drive.

[surprisingskoda]

Just stick a beetle engine in it, drop right in mate.

 

 

I was barred from buying a 12k 911 a couple of years ago when I had enough money to consider one.

Thing is, even though they have such a plethora of faults, people get all factory oem blurry eyed with Porsches. If a 205 gti blew it's engine up, we'd all say stick a mi16 or v6 into it etc. So the engine issues are the most expensive, so put something else in. Turbo Impreza engine is bound to improve reliability somewhat. And massively expensive parts should be swapped out for similar, cheaper options. Seriously, if an Aircon rad is a thousand pounds, just delete the Aircon. If a exhaust is several grand, a stainless exhaust builder will fabricate a whole new one for 500. Things that are totally normal on cheap cars are for some reason total no goes on expensive ones, for no reason.