[8081M]

Originally Posted by champignon

The Doug DeMuro article is now about 2.5 years old. All the cars I can find listed are considerably more expensive than the $37K he quotes in that article, unless perhaps one is looking at a high mileage example.

I've seen 4 in the last year that were ~$40k with between 10k-74k miles...and that's in Hawaii.

• 2003, black, manual, 43k miles, with AWE Tuning go-fast parts, started at $48k and dropped to $41k.

• 2001 silver, manual, with 10k miles that started at $45k but dropped to $40k at some point (where it was quickly scooped up).

• 2001 silver, manual, with 74k miles asking $38k.

• Just last week - 2001, green, auto, 47k miles asking $40k.

I saved copies of the CL ads to keep track of the local market. If you're patient, they're out there (for now, at least).

Had I not stumbled upon the 1M, I'd be driving a 996TT.

[buddalun]

Originally Posted by champignon

I drove it on Monday. It is low mileage, less than 29K, and in overall excellent condition. I enjoyed driving it a lot. The asking price is $41K, and I made no effort to negotiate.

I've thought about buying it a few times, but in the end there are 2 reasons why I will not.

(1) IMS bearing issue is relatively uncommon but still certainly possible for a 2006 911 997.1

(2) I think if this was your only car and you just wanted a really nice Porsche, then it would be great for that. It was not, however, such an exceptional car that in a small collection like I have, that it would clearly stand out as something very special.

Having a lot of cars is obviously not usual and not very practical (most would add, "not very intelligent") either. Buying another car to add to what I already have means that whatever I would buy would have to stand out, or it won't get driven much, and in the end will probably be resold in a year or two.

All of the cars I presently own are unique or special in some way, at least to me. My 1M, 135is Convertible, and Z3M Coupe need no further explanation. My other two cars, a Golf R and a 135i, are not THAT special, but I treat them as essentially daily drivers, and use them in the winter when I would not drive the others. The R is AWD and has 4 doors and a hatch, very useful. My 135i is every bit a high performance RWD BMW, and reminds me a lot of my favorite old car, a 1993 325i that I owned as my sole vehicle for 10 years.

So, although I think you probably could not find a better example of a 2006 Carrera Coupe then the one I'm not going to buy, it just doesn't scratch an itch I can think of.

At this point I'm thinking 997.2 Carrera, however I could also consider something like a Z4M Coupe, 2006 to 2008, which might not be all that redundant with my other cars.

I hear ya; no need to dole out your hard earned cash if it doesn't sing to you. Have you considered driving a 997.2 C4S? You may find the AWD to provide a different driving dynamic, and would certainly add some diversity to your collection.

[1MOREMOD]

I've heard of them

[Gooner5643]

Think 987.2 Cayman S is the only one that meets your criteria. Reliability limits you to 09+ unless you're okay with the updated ims bearings from 2006-2008 in which case 997.1 S and Cayman S also meet your criteria.

[champignon]

Originally Posted by Gooner5643

Think 987.2 Cayman S is the only one that meets your criteria. Reliability limits you to 09+ unless you're okay with the updated ims bearings from 2006-2008 in which case 997.1 S and Cayman S also meet your criteria.

Unless I am missing something, the Cayman doesn't have a back seat. I have a ~40lb doodle that accompanies me some of the time, so I don't know how I could transport him with a Cayman due to concerns about an airbag deployment, which could be fatal (to him).

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by champignon

Unless I am missing something, the Cayman doesn't have a back seat. I have a ~40lb doodle that accompanies me some of the time, so I don't know how I could transport him with a Cayman due to concerns about an airbag deployment, which could be fatal (to him).

I breezed through most of the posts here, but since you hit upon what I was going to discuss, I'll chime in.

First off, if you like cars, then the count of how many you have is immaterial. I have 4 plus a motorcycle (that's basically a car a Honda Valkyrie Interstate), and looking to get a Chevy Bolt soon.

But you are looking for a Porsche with a back seat. So that leaves you with an SUV (not really a Porsche), the Panamera, or the 911 (suitable for the dog). But the rear seat of the 911 is not really a usable seat for adults. The Cayman is the Porsche you should get since it's affordable as a used car, and quite reliable (outside of a possible IMS bearing issue on the pre-'09s), and does what you buy a Porsche to do. But you're mistaken about airbag situation. The passenger airbag can be turned off in the Cayman. It's federal law that any two seat car must have a defeatible airbag so that rear-facing child safety seats can be used in the passenger seat. Your restrained pup should be as safe in the Cayman as any other vehicle he now rides in.

[champignon]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

I breezed through most of the posts here, but since you hit upon what I was going to discuss, I'll chime in.

First off, if you like cars, then the count of how many you have is immaterial. I have 4 plus a motorcycle (that's basically a car a Honda Valkyrie Interstate), and looking to get a Chevy Bolt soon.

But you are looking for a Porsche with a back seat. So that leaves you with an SUV (not really a Porsche), the Panamera, or the 911 (suitable for the dog). But the rear seat of the 911 is not really a usable seat for adults. The Cayman is the Porsche you should get since it's affordable as a used car, and quite reliable (outside of a possible IMS bearing issue on the pre-'09s), and does what you buy a Porsche to do. But you're mistaken about airbag situation. The passenger airbag can be turned off in the Cayman. It's federal law that any two seat car must have a defeatible airbag so that rear-facing child safety seats can be used in the passenger seat. Your restrained pup should be as safe in the Cayman as any other vehicle he now rides in.

I appreciate your comments very much. From what I have read, the passenger seat in a Cayman has a sensor that is set to a weight limit high enough that a child or perhaps my dog sitting on it won't allow the airbag to deploy. Alternatively, one can pay to have a dealer install a switch to defeat the airbag activation, and from what I have read that ends up costing many hundreds of dollars and requires a lot of technician time to get at the modules which are, I believe, under the passenger seat.

Where I am now with this purchase is that I have seen one car locally which might potentially work for me, which is a 2006 Carrera 911 base model with a few options, very low mileage (<29K), excellent almost new condition, but an asking price at least a couple or 3 thousand beyond what I would even consider paying. At the current price or anything like it, I won't go any further towards even considering it. My search over many online listings of used Porsches tells me that with some time devoted to a search I can find something suited to my needs and find at least a little bit of value out there. At the right price, however, the local car (and it will probably be the only local car potentially working for me, given where I live) could be worth pursuing.

So I will see how this thing plays out. I'm headed overseas for a few weeks in 2 weeks and don't have a lot of available time now for a car transaction. Assuming the local deal doesn't pan out, I will just put the whole thing off for a month or two until I have more time, and assuming I still have interest, I will look at Caymans and Cayman Ss and whatever I can find in the 911 line, within a reasonable distance from where I live. I am no stranger to buying used cars at a distance, just now I won't do it without going out physically to look at the vehicle prior to purchase, which obviously takes time and effort and expense over just finding something in your own back yard.

Thanks again!

[champignon]

As an update it is looking like I might be buying a 1999 996 Carrera 4 from an enthusiast collector on the Porsche forums. We had a very long conversation last evening about his car, which appears to be in really good condition and well cared for, with under 59K miles. He has purchased an E39 M5, which is on the way, and also wants to get a Porsche convertible or an M3 convertible rather than have a coupe, which is why he is selling his 996. It only has slightly under 300 HP, but is the 4WD version. The IMS bearings used in the '99s were the double row bearings with only around a 1% failure risk, as opposed to the single row bearings used in 2000-2005, which are the ones most associated with catastrophic failure.

997.2 prices have gone totally through the roof, and have been pulling the 997.1s up with them.

If this deal does not go through than I will resume looking in May after I get back from a lengthy trip.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions!

Further update 3/30/2017: The deal for the 996 is off, it was just logistically impossible to pull off in the limited time I have before going overseas in less than 2 weeks. There are a couple of 911s that have cropped up locally and I'm going to have a look at them over the weekend and see if there is a deal to be made there.

[champignon]

As a further update, I looked at a couple of 997.1 911s locally, both for sale by the same guy, a 2006 S and a 2008 4S. They were in good shape cosmetically but with lots of deferred maintenance and poor service records. I decided to pass on both.

Further discussions with the 1999 C4 996 owner and a change in my own schedule will allow me to make a 1 day trip to SF and to drive back to Idaho this weekend. The car has been well maintained by an enthusiast owner, and he is having some upgrades (new double DIN head unit, shifter and knob and handbrake cover and center console upgrades) done for me this week that he had bought the parts for but not gotten around to doing. The PPI is today. The colors are unusual (dark blue metallic and full leather light interior) and the price is right given the condition. Mileage is just under 60K factoring in the drive from SF to Idaho. Rear Main Seal and clutch were replaced under extended warranty 20K miles ago. With the double row IMS bearing in the 1999s, the risk of failure is sub 1%. Nearly new Michelin PSS tires installed in January before the owner decided he'd rather have a cabriolet after his move to the Bay Area.

This won't be the hottest Porsche on the road but should be a lot of fun to drive, with a refreshed cabin interior. Granted, it has the fried egg headlights :-) At just over $20K all in with work to be done, I think it's a good deal.

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions!

[nachob]

Originally Posted by champignon

As a further update, I looked at a couple of 997.1 911s locally, both for sale by the same guy, a 2006 S and a 2008 4S. They were in good shape cosmetically but with lots of deferred maintenance and poor service records. I decided to pass on both.

Further discussions with the 1999 C4 996 owner and a change in my own schedule will allow me to make a 1 day trip to SF and to drive back to Idaho this weekend. The car has been well maintained by an enthusiast owner, and he is having some upgrades (new double DIN head unit, shifter and knob and handbrake cover and center console upgrades) done for me this week that he had bought the parts for but not gotten around to doing. The PPI is today. The colors are unusual (dark blue metallic and full leather light interior) and the price is right given the condition. Mileage is just under 60K factoring in the drive from SF to Idaho. Rear Main Seal and clutch were replaced under extended warranty 20K miles ago. With the double row IMS bearing in the 1999s, the risk of failure is sub 1%. Nearly new Michelin PSS tires installed in January before the owner decided he'd rather have a cabriolet after his move to the Bay Area.

This won't be the hottest Porsche on the road but should be a lot of fun to drive, with a refreshed cabin interior. Granted, it has the fried egg headlights :-) At just over $20K all in with work to be done, I think it's a good deal.

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions!

Congrats! How about some pics?

[8081M]

Congratulations!

[roll_the_dice]

Is this the car you are thinking of buying? The gray interior is nice. It is the same color as I had when I ordered my 99 Boxster.

Looks like a nice example, especially for the $. I considered picking it up myself, but I have my mind set on a Cayman this time. I have owned 3 Porsches (Boxster, 997 and a rare 944) over the years and still have the 944. They are fantastic cars. There truly is no substitute. Yes, there are faster cars, but I have always loved the lines of most Porsche's and hopefully will always have at least 1 in my garage for the rest of my life.

If you didn't have your dog, I would recommend the Cayman...even an earlier Cayman S like a 2006...I believe they are 275 HP, but the car is so light it seems like more. I drove a 2009 recently with 295 HP and it was nice...power when I needed it and very fun to drive.

You can't go wrong with a well maintained 911...Enjoy it in good health.

[champignon]

Originally Posted by roll_the_dice

Is this the car you are thinking of buying? The gray interior is nice. It is the same color as I had when I ordered my 99 Boxster.

Looks like a nice example, especially for the $. I considered picking it up myself, but I have my mind set on a Cayman this time. I have owned 3 Porsches (Boxster, 997 and a rare 944) over the years and still have the 944. They are fantastic cars. There truly is no substitute. Yes, there are faster cars, but I have always loved the lines of most Porsche's and hopefully will always have at least 1 in my garage for the rest of my life.

(snippage)

You can't go wrong with a well maintained 911...Enjoy it in good health.

Howdy,

Yes, this is the car. The owner/seller has an old M5 enroute from the
East Coast, plus has purchased a 996 Cabriolet, same year (1999), because now that he is living in California, he wants a convertible. That is why he decided to sell the coupe.

The car had its PPI today and I am told it came out fine; I will talk with the shop owner tomorrow morning. We are doing a few upgrades that the seller had planned to do but never got around to completing even though he had the parts. I expect to pick it up on a quick turnaround on Saturday in the Bay Area, driving back to Idaho on the same day.

[champignon]

Originally Posted by nachob

Congrats! How about some pics?

Hi Nacho,

I was going to insert some but the file sizes in the sales listing is about 2% too big (literally) and resizing all those pics to post them here will take time I do not have. I am surprised that the forum software is so lame.

Please check out the sales listing for the pictures:

http://rennlist.com/forums/vehicle-m...57k-miles.html

[roll_the_dice]

Congrats...beautiful car. I am looking for a Cayman, so hopefully I can find one in as good a condition as your new 911.

Here is one pic of his new 911...enjoy in good health!

[Alfisti]

40 pound doodle?

Fuck me that's impressive.

[Matt@EuroJerks]

congrats!!

[champignon]

I spoke too soon. After flying out to Oakland and test driving the car, finding it to my liking, we did the deal, however half an hour of driving later, it threw a CEL. I think it is something minor and the seller had a friend check it later with the appropriate tool and it looks to be something inconsequential, but no way to be sure on short notice. My upcoming travel to Europe in 3 days made sorting this out impossible in this time frame, and I needed to get back home. So we cancelled the sale and the seller will sell it to one of the two or three other people who were looking at it, once the CEL issue is resolved.

So I am again, Porsche-less.

[roll_the_dice]

I just read what you posted on Rennlist. I am sorry it threw a CEL, but with a tight schedule and your upcoming travel, it is understandable. You will find the right Porsche soon enough...something like this can't be rushed.

[Ali Shiralian]

Why do you need so many cars? "Says the guy with four and looking for the fifth " lol

[8081M]

Bummer. Not much else you could do...

[champignon]

The car drove perfectly and had just been checked out by a respected independent shop (Aldo's) in SF the day before on a PPI. I had a long conversation with the shop owner and he was quite confident that the car checked out fine. When the light went off I was starting a 750 mile drive through very remote areas back to Boise Idaho. The more normal route, through Reno, was impassable due to a huge late season snow storm.

The risk of getting stranded was small, but unacceptable under the circumstances, and the seller was unbelievably kind and gracious in taking the car back and refunding my money under these circumstances.

Someone else will buy this car and will get a very nice vehicle; I think that an hour in the shop will resolve the unanticipated issue. These are the sorts of things that can happen when you buy a nearly 20 year old collector's car at a long distance and need to get the car moved a long distance over a short time limit.