911curious

I am a track and autocross guy, and at the moment I live in the south with three cars (‘10 Forester, ‘99 Miata and ‘93 MR2). I am in the process of preparing for a move near downtown Denver and am expecting to be in a place with limited garage space. I want to downsize from a daily with two high maintenance clapped out track cars to a single reliable “practical” sports car.

My original intention was to buy a 2022 GR86/BRZ but a friend of mine convinced me to test drive a 2004 C2 at a local dealership and I have to admit I love it. It’s way better than I expected. The car has some nicks and dings inside but the exterior is pristine and it has 95k miles. It’s listed for $30k. The IMS has not been done.

I have always heard that Porsche is known for great longevity and build quality, but the infamous bore scoring issue has me a bit worried. I’m used to having access to Miata engines for $1k and a surprise $20k rebuild would make things difficult for me.

So my question is, what does the community think of a 996 as an only car? How prevalent are the bore scoring issues on the 996.2 and how likely is a PPI to catch the issue? Does $30k sound like a solid price for the car I described?

cdk4219

Any 20 year old car shouldn’t be considered a daily driver, unless there’s a backup. Mechanical things just don’t get better and more reliable with time and use.

dsbl

You can do an expensive PPI and scope the bores to at least get a look, there's a recent thread for someone looking to do this and it was like $1500. IMS / bore score are real problems, but there are plenty of 996s out there driving without these issues, so its not a foregone conclusion. That said, if/when the engine goes you are strapped in for an expensive bill or selling a roller.

I similarly downsized to one car for a move, replaced a 2000 miata and camry with a 2000 996 for pretty much the same reasoning you've laid out. Given the age/mileage of the car you can expect to have medium scale maintenance items come due over the next few years, but at least in my experience every dollar I've put into the car has been for planned maintenance vs an unplanned failure. As a daily its a ton of fun, practical for 2 ppl with some backseat storage. One potential upside I'd give the 996 over the twins is the factory roof rack, if you do winter sports in denver or just need more capacity occasionally its a useful thing to have.

Rxgs

It can be done, but will require a little more legwork, and likely more inconveniences. It’s not my only car, but my daily for any season it’s not snowing is a 1987 560SL, so for for anyone making the age argument, you can daily it, but you really need to stay on keeping up on inspections and checking everything almost weekly.

I don’t daily my 996, but there at least a handful of people I’ve met who do up here in WNY year round, snow and all. Some have been since the car was nearly new, others fairly recently.

DDR MFS

Have had my 2004 996 C4S for a month and change now; purchased with 78K, but incredibly well maintained (IMS/RMS done, waterpump, brakes recently done, etc), and turn-key ready. I daily it and AX/track. My commute is ~35 miles each way, and I installed the PCCM + for the modern convenience. I have a separate set of Turbo Twist with snow tires for the winter season; the car is ceramic coated with PPF for added protection. Point to all this is you can look for the right car and kit it out to keep up with 2023 Honda Civic commuters.

Again, it can definitely be done, and I recommend it; this really is the all around package. But invest in a good log to keep up on maintenance/checks, and find a good indie mechanic to keep up on that service. I am having my spark plugs and coils done in NOV, along with a fluid purge to get fresh liquids onboard before hitting a late season track event.

There is a price to pay to keep it going, but like anything, if you take care of it and treat it with respect, it'll love you back. Take the time and look for a well cared for example. I was pretty damn picky in both my options and, more importantly, who I was going to buy it from. Service records going back to at least 20K were a requirement for me (figuring the dealership was likely used prior to 20K when it was new). This included not only a PPI, but a "post-purchase" inspection after a month to see where we stand. I will have to do the suspension next year, but I know that now and overall, she has a great bill of health aside from a highly capable, OEM turbo suspension that is just approaching its age.

Take the time and good luck!

Sam-Son

100% you can have a 996 as an only car. I did it for a while. Get a thorough PPI. Check for bore scoring and leak down. If you want to front load maintence do the IMS, RMS, AOS etc and you should have years of worry free motoring. In the current market $30k is high for a car with no maintence records and the big items not resolved. You can get better cars for less on pcarmarket or BAT, Cars and bids. Keep your eyes open

Mike Murphy

This the really main issue.

Also, people that are tracking their cars should be able to walk away from their crashed cars and recover. Or a money shift mistake that insurance doesn’t cover. Tracking can be expensive, costing thousands or tens of thousands a year. Miata’s don’t coat as much, sure, but there’s always a possibility that you would need to fork over $10k on a crash that insurance somehow wouldn’t cover, or it’s an accident or fault that is yours, and your insurance already forked over the money to pay for the other person’s car. Or you hurt yourself and can’t work for several months, etc.

Point is, a 911 is an expensive choice in an already expensive sport, even if plenty of people have low expensive tracking their 911.

I think it’s too much of a stretch for you. While I won’t be happy paying $20k or $30k for a new engine, I would write the check in cash and it would not really effect on my life when it comes to paying for bills or anything else of that size that could come up. It’s like a roof on a house, or a concrete repair (new driveway), a surprise AC unit or heater in your house failing. If you cannot afford a surprise repair like this, it’s a good idea to start saving some emergency funds for that purpose.

Otherwise, I’ve been using my 911 as a daily for the last 6 years, but not every single day. I use it maybe once every two weeks at the extreme low end, and 5 times a week on the high end, but do have another car for a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids)

frederik

Apart from the IMS, bore scoring is really the issue here but with a scope from the sump you can check for it. There's a series of videos by Jake Raby / Knowledge Gruppe going into this in extreme detail.

After three years of 996 ownership with ups and downs, I think you can be lucky or unlucky regarding engine rebuilds. Even with the most thorough PPI you can always get unlucky and need than engine rebuild anyway. I needed that engine rebuild but in retrospect, I think it could have been avoided if I had known more when I purchased it.

Note also that you shouldn't track a stock 996: it needs extensive modifications to combat all the inherent weaknesses in the engine. It's a shame because they are really great cars to drive.

GC996

Sure you can turn a 996 into a daily driver. But it will cost you by either

(1) purchasing a car that has been well serviced with refreshed parts throughout. Or
(2) by putting 15k into it by refreshing the parts.

All of which should be predicated on getting the complete service history of the car to see what was done and when, as well as a PPI and most importantly a bore scope from a Porsche shop that knows what they are doing.

Remember, it is a very dureable car, but its a 20+ year old car. So past service and parts replacement performed properly is critical to its durability going forward.

With the constraints you mentioned and having to deal with winter weather, I would find another awd daily driver with a maintenence warranty, save your money, and then buy a 996 when you have the purchase price plus 15k-20k set aside for a refresh.

911curious

Thanks for all the perspective guys. What I’m getting as a takeaway here is that it’s not inherently a bad buy but the chances of issues are high enough I should go into it prepared to buy a new motor.

While a motor rebuild wouldn’t destroy me financially, I also don’t have the savings to easily cover it either. So I think I’m gonna go the 86 route since it comes with a warranty and $2k short blocks available from Subaru.

It’s a bit of a shame because I love the 911, but I can always come back to the idea in 5-10 years when I’m a bit more comfortable financially.

Thanks again for the advice.

hkovalcik

This thread will go 1,000 different directions.

It is a great idea to buy a 996 as a daily. I daily mine - the only car I own.

That said, I would look at early 996's (preferably '99's). A few reasons off the top of my head - less than 1% failure rate on their dual-row IMSB, pre-fire cylinders/blocks, throttle cable....

For $30K, you're overpaying. There are a few really solid examples on Rennlist right now that you should look at - off the top of my head, there's a black on cinnamon '99 listed for ~$21K right now that I can't believe hasn't sold already. Granted I don't know anything outside of the ad but looks to be a nice example.

I would buy directly from the owner. Don't go dealer.

My 2 cents.

2002C2

A C2 in Denver? I lived in CO for a few years. Sometimes I couldn’t go anywhere without chains. At least think about a C4.

brontosaurus

If the snow is that deep you should be driving something else. Snow tires are plenty.

Recommend OP look for a nice 99-00 C2

911curious

A couple of my friends have said the same. Based on conversations I have had with coworkers who daily RWD cars in the city, I think I’ll be okay with proper snow tires. My job allows remote work so I can just choose to stay home if the weather gets bad enough.

frederik

With proper winter tires, the 996 C2 has plenty of traction on snow. Better than my BMW (although that is a very low bar).