Porsche 996 Carrera ultimate buying guide

The Porsche 911 996 can be yours for as little as £15k – here's EVERYTHING you need to be aware of before buying

[willduff]

I have a 99’ 996 Carrera and it has been such an awesome value. I GUARANTEE that there is no better sports car for the money right now! No huge issues as of now. Has a few things here and there that will need attention as time goes on but overall an absolute joy to own.

[yongkim]

I have a 2001 Carerra 4! It's my second Porsche after my 1977 911S
It's just been a great ride! But as with any Porsche you have to maintain them!

[chrisharris]

After trying 3 996 C4Ses I went for one which had had an engine rebuild from Hartech 15k ago, silver, blue interior, sunroof delete, manual. Driven for 12 months now, uses no oil and only fixes were a broken window regulator and indicator stalk. Love it

[joedirt]

3 years ago I found my 99 C2 cab 6spd. 85k $13.5k USD Well cared for in excellent condition except no IMS upgrade. Pulled it out and it was mint. Dual row bearing. The single row bearings from 2001 onward were weaker and failed at a higher rate. Extremely Reliable 175mph car.

[fourwheeltrader]

Great video again in which all the details are explained very precise. I will use this as a reference, thanks! I have also been doing some research on the 996 and 997 and made a video about the values of both cars. The 996 definitely bottomed and I think that the 997 is also starting to bottom out. The Carrera 4 Cabriolet is even already going up in value. If you do your research before buying one, both the 996 and 997 offer such great value for money.

[EtonieE]

For some reason your car with the hated fried eggs lights looks amazing in white 👍

[Apexjuha]

Lee, as we have changed emails beforeI want to congratulate for the 1998 3.4 C2 which I consider to be the best of all the 996 Carreras which all all good! One good thing about 996s are that they very well understood nowadays. There is a lot of info about them in the net.

The very thing about the 996 is of course the price. I got the 1998 model as you and my neighbour has a 991.2 GT3 RS. His car is like 10...15 times as valuable as mine. Is it 10...15 times better? It is not. On a typical B-road my car is actually more fun because I dont really have to worry about the value nor the size of the hips. The 996 is very easy to maintain by oneself if you are handy with tools.

The prices of 996s have been very stable for a few years now. If they have moved then up but very little. It is not an investment car but it is a cost efficient driver’s car. However, like with any high performance car you got to love her (=maintain her).

Many 996 crank poorly when warm. It’s most likely the starter motor coils. The expansion tank, if it is gone yellow it will start to leak. It is when rather than if. The 1998 cable throttle cars have that cable stretched so check from the OBD that you get 100% opening pedal floored. The early 996s may develop a pop out second gear. Later on they improved the bearing set up of G96 box. The LSD is said to wear out its plates by about 80 000 km. But frankly that is not much of a problem since these cars have so good traction anyway. And one more thing. The 996, as I presume all 911s, are quite sensitive to wheel alignment. If the car is nervous, that is something to look into. Namely, unlike the air cooled, from 996 onwards you can easily trail-brake a water cooled. These are extremely easy cars to drive. If you are about to buy a 996 the noise may surprise you: the engine is quite the rear wheels are not. I dont actually like my car on the motor way. I always choose the B-road even itf it is twice as much time - but it is quality time :)

[inaj]

Just got my 2000’ 996 Carrera, I love every beautiful curve of it . I’m Restoring it back to a beautiful 🤩 condition.

[anthonylandino]

If the IMS fails it will put pieces of metal into your oil and cause a catastrophic engine failure. A dealer will charge you $3, 000 to fix the IMS/RMS. A good Porsche mechanic can do it for $1, 500. Either way it’s a fairly expensive repair. After 2008 the problem was resolved by Porsche so make sure that issue has been addressed on your 996 or buy a 2009 Porsche 997 if you can afford one.

[cabbys]

Highly recommend use of Durametric software and tool to check for Range 2 engine over revs and other system alerts. Finding Range 2s could mean engine abuse and an indicator of possible premature engine failure. I bought a 2004 C4S with X51 package in Feb 2019 and doing this pre-purchase check plus the other items mentioned in your video provided peace of mind. Excellent video, as always.

Purchased vehicle from private party (former military and civilian airline pilot) who was meticulous in selecting and maintaining it. Had 53k on the odometer with full IMS upgrade by LN Engineering. Enjoy maintaining and driving it and not interested whether prices increase or decline. It's a keeper.

[Carrera-gpod]

Excellent video, really informative
I bought a 2001 c2 a few weeks ago, I’m loving it
Unbelievable value

[anthonycastelluci]

The factory phone is funny. It would be fun to get it activated if possible.

[skrads]

Great video quality. You have significantly improved your microphone and video editing! Can’t wait to see the original blue paint on your 911!

[Eri]

I am searching to get a 911 and I’ve had my eyes on the 997 but the more down the rabbit hole I go, the more i feel attracted to the 996. It’s like I can get a 997.1 for $39-50k or I can get a 996.1/2 for around $18-20k and have money to play around with for maintenance/reliability upgrades

[stevenwalton]

Great video. But i take issue with buying only high milage cars from a dealership. I bought mine private with 72, 000 on the clock with full service history. Bought in 2014 A year 2000 model 996. Its the best car i have ever owned. Service history in full is in my opinion the most important

[AutoAmateur]

Mr Sibs, I LOVE your 996 and your channel. I can see about a dozen amazing 'project' related upgrade videos in your future, so excited for you. ROCK ON!!

[twix]

yep agree with you and nice video. I got my 3.6 C2 manual and absolutely love it...

[KenHeartleyReade]

Never heard a recommendation to buy a high mileage car, makes sense in my head in regards to issues that might be solved over time.

[papatorr]

Good video, appreciated. I'm at the other end of the Porsche and sports car buying spectrum. I buy collision cars, eight so far. I've learned that when I'm done fixing the collision damage, the real adventure is just beginning. So I would give someone else your advice, I just don't follow it and buy crappy cars instead. Haha, not for the faint of heart or the risk averse type. I have a 986, took me six months to sort it all out and get it road worthy; will look for a 996 next!

[mattdedasc]

Great video. I have a similar car - Zenith blue 1998 Carrera 2 manual with no sunroof. Mine has savannah interior. I will never sell it. Top work.