TT Oversteer

These M96’s over 100k will all need an engine rebuild sooner or later. I’m in a similar situation as the OP in contemplating what lies ahead in the cost/benefit analysis of long term 996 ownership. What it boils down to is: do you love the car enough to invest $20-40k in an engine. If the answer is no then sell it now. One thing you have in your favor is these cars are now finally appreciating to a certain extent and the C4S is one of the more desirable models.

yelcab

I know how you feel...

It's a Porsche 911. They push the edge of the envelope when they made it. It costs money to own, and it will get worse.

If it is not for you, it's not for you. Good luck.

Chris(MA)

Why daily drive? It's still an old car, if I daily drove my 996 I'd be as nervous as you but I never planned on it. I have a boring Toyota which will last forever and never breaks down for daily stuff.
To take any 20 year old car and make it 'reliable' is a rabbit hole, you can either replace everything that could fail $$$$$ everything that is more likely to fail $$$ and still may not be as reliable as a newer car...

GC996

Here is the key.

Assuming that your M96 does NOT have any bore scoring, which is why you have to check when you are buying one or already own one...

Then you can easily mitigate the risk of bore scoring going forward by changing the oil 2x a year, keeping your fuel injectors, coils, plugs and maf fresh, and following common sense start up procedures.

Same can be said for mitigating the risk of imsb failure with the LN Retro or Solution, hydralock and intermix with the UAOS, and cylinder head cracking/intermix problems by running a fresh water pump.

NOW HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS...

If you decide to do a rebuild some day to enhance the performance, you can use all of these parts with the rebuild if you so choose. No wasted money. Same can be said for suspension, exhaust, wheels, aero etc.

We gotta stop the crying and whining. Its a 20 year old car. You either are willing to spend money servicing a classic sports car to keep it running or you are not. Be glad you don't own a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston or McClaren. You think M96 service costs are high, check out the costs to keep those babies running. The 996 is cheap as he'll in comparison with better performance and handling.

It's all about expectations and perspective.

Porschetech3

Here is what I see:::

You bought a 20 year old Porsche 996 with 78K miles..

You did a 60k mile service ( spark plugs, coils, filters, fluid ) ...that was actually past due by 18k miles

You did a complete suspension rebuild ( probably wasn't completely necessary, but new shocks and stuff is always nice) ..

You had an accident .. (road debris... ie. sh*t happens )

Your seat motor failed....

Your AOS failed.......Ever heard of the UAOS ?

The problem is not the car...but getting rid of the car might fix the problem....

DDR MFS

Thanks again for the input and I am getting the quick impression that this was not the right choice at the time of purchase.

I did get a bore scope as part of my PPI and post-purchase inspection. Nothing to report there. The car had the FLAT6 IMS/RMS solution performed at around 50K. I called FLAT6 and they verified the VIN prior to purchase; have the little decal in the driver's doorsill with the installation number and additional paperwork. Post purchase, I immediately made arrangements to take care of the missed 60K. My bad there.

Been with PCA for eight years, joining when I got my Cayman, which is an excellent point to bring up so far as local resources go. I'll tap into that.

When the suspension was due for a few repairs (as expected and was planned), it made sense to do the whole thing so as to avoid mishaps, surprises, and any other boomerang that came my way. If we are doing preventative and have the money, I will always opt in. The plan is to keep this stock with the exception of the suspension decision to go B6 for a bit stiffer ride. I have no desire to mod it, mechanically or cosmetically. I like it the way it is. If you consider the door decals and shift **** mods, guilty. I am willing to spend the money to keep a good stock 4S on the road, running well, and looking good, it just hit at one hell of a windfall. I am fortunate enough as well to have other wheels available for getting around when maintenance and repairs are needed, so covered there luckily.

But.. Best to sell and move on. Thank you again. I got emotional seeing it towed off to the shop. I genuinely love this car...

DDR MFS

I tried heavy drinking and therapy, sometimes at the same time. Didn't help...🤣

911Syncro

I'll add $0.02. First of all your C4S is a very special car, I recall at least one review at the time labeling it a "mini-supercar". Don't let it go if you have any love left.

Second, if these cars are used as a daily driver, you really gotta have a second car so you don't drive it every day. I use my C4S as a 1/2 daily driver, drive it all the time, but also have a van for the home depot, airport, rainy days, moving stuff, around town running errands (in parking lots that provide door dings) etc, and when the 996 is in the shop. For me using the C4S daily actually does get old on occasion, I take a look and say -- nah, sick of driving the car in traffic, need a change.

One past daily driver was an '82 911SC, for 11 years, I bought it at 155K miles, and the engine blew at 295K miles. It was great, the lowest cost, most reliable car I ever owned. My wife had the "family car" (van or SUV), but I could always fit 1-3 of the young kids as needed. So with the C4S I view it as a keeper car, will keep it in good condition, I know it is special, and I'll accept the maintenance costs,and I believe we all stand a high probability of a long lasting car.

My suggestion: get a second car to share the daily driving, that will take the pressure off of the constant worry / cost of 996 maintenance. You may not have another chance to own one.

yelcab

Words to live by: you own a Porsche 911, you need a second car.

Especially when it takes 3 months for LNE to sleve your score bored block.
Or when you 911SC guts are all over the garage while your 915 gearbox is being rebuilt, and the head studs are being replaced.

mtnroads

Lots of great advice for you to consider. I love to hear many perspectives, let them ferment, foster dreams, then make an informed decision.
My wife asks, "why ask for advice you don't follow?" I know smart people. I love their opinions.
I drive my C4S only for pleasure. I quit tracking it because it's too clean & too special. I have a Toyota DD, and a cheapy higher mile Boxster S to track.

Marv

Well, you could just buy a 992 (or even a 991 with CPO) Carrera and enjoy the warranty of a new car.

However, the cost difference between a 20-year old car and a new one is one hell of a lot of repairs, some of which you might not even need.

When I look at what the delta between my GT3's value and a 2015 to 2018 GT3 I could rebuild the engine twice and maybe throw in some transmission work. Of course I know that would take the car off-road for a good spell, but I can manage that.

Nevertheless, I daily drive my GT3 rain and shine (no winters in Florida) and never give it a second thought when I turn the key. I've been doing that for 16+ years with this car. I am not that informed about the Carrera, but it would seem to me that once the gremlins are excised from the engine it should be a pretty robust driver.

NYoutftr

You sure have received a of opinions.

In the end, if you have loss the lust to own the car, sell it.

I was an rabid 996 enthusiast.

I was that way, because I made an agreement with my wife, when I was 25, I would wait to get a 911 until our last kid graduates college.

Two @Syracuse
One @Albany

Green light, go get the car of your dream!!!

Dream car, the one I visualized on my 2:30 am, half hour lunch break. Working third shift at IBM Endicott buildings 41 & 43 & education center as a bathroom janitor night shift for a third party contractor company. Yup pushing my cart around with a broom, mop and bucket.

So thirty years later when that car came I loved it!

I loved my car, I paid 10% - 15% above high book price when I bought it in 2014. Before the car transport arrived with the car, UPS delivered a brand new Porsche 911 Aero/GT3 car cover.

I did every improvement a person could think of to C2 Carrera Aero. Lots, even a $108 Porsche umbrella for left doorsill, that never did get used, but I thought it was cool.

Reliable and tasteful modifications to the 3.6L that would stretch the tourque power band to the max and achieving a respectable 300 @ the rear wheels, driven daily got
25 miles + /gallon.

But my lust was decreasing the past few years. I am being straight up and honest. It was being hampered by reading and being active in 996 forums.

The overwhelming input on forums and social media was turning really negative in late 2018. It seems like retrofits of IMSB have saved a lot of engines, a good thing right?

Not good for retrofit companies. Now, instead of your IMSB is going to grenade your engine, now it is Bore Scoring. Everyday the constant bitching about half the engines have bore scoring, the other half will develop it next week.

Then we could do nothing but discuss on how bad a PCA HPDE is on a 996.

Horrible, take 25% off the value per track day. Exaggerating.

But, try to lay logic into a snowflake how insinuates publicly on auction forums that you should never buy a 996 if it had 8 track days, lord mercy, never! It will have bore scoring, bad IMSB, nylon falling off of cam bushing. AOS sucking oil and puking into the Plenum.

Run, don't walk from a car that has been tracked.

BS, BS, BS

My car had every piece of service history from the day it left the showroom new, till the time I loaded it on the transport out of here.

There are thousands of high milage 3.6L M96 engines running with nothing but good maintenance.

Then, wait for it, the 3.4L is now documented to be more reliable than the 3.6L.

More BS.

Who is coming up with the data?? Retrofit companies or people who buy and resell 911s?

Bottom line.

Right up till the day I drove that Perfect 996 Carrera Aero into the private covered transport hired by the new owner in Florida, I thought the car was stunning. You know what, it was still stunning.

But as people say,
"Other's words can harden your heart"

It's true.

I enjoyed most all folks on this forum. I learned a lot.

But over 7.5 years and total spent of $74k+ on a 996.2 Carrera Aero with 80,000 on the clock. It had 40,000k when I bought. I thought I would own forever.

Nothing could bring back that passion, it was drowned in negativity. I even bought a perfect CPO 2014 all Black Cayenne to park next to in the garage to help fire up Porsche passion.

There is probably some bad grammar and misspelling in this post.

But read it twice, before you disregard it.

Sell my friend, sell.

Porschetech3

Social media the internet and this forum distressed you so bad that you sold your pride and joy that you had lusted over for years.....yet here you are..

Prairiedawg

You bought a higher mileage, 20 year old car. Brought some maintenance items up to date and did some elective suspension work. Had a road accident (no fault of the car) and now have a couple of issues that would or could be typical of a 20 year old car. Am I missing something? It sounds to me like a decent car. The only problems you had were a minor suspension issue, an AOS, and a seat motor, on a higher miles 20 YO car. Sounds normal to me.

Go buy high mileage Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, etc. They'll have things to fix also. It just costs less. That's why I saved and bought a lower mileage Porsche, to avoid the repairs. Either way, you have to pay.

Keep the car.

DDR MFS

Again, appreciate all the different perspectives and outlooks. Just waiting for my shop to reach out, but as with most things, you should come out learning something regardless of the situation and if you've been there before.

Really want to keep the car - it's literally my ideal 911. Great points to tap more deeply into the local PCA network, broaden my DIY knowledge, and don't calculate a fire solution when something happens. Again, looking back to last week, and as many have said and I understand objectively, I have a good car and this isn't anything out of the norm for the age/mileage; it just feels like a tidal wave of one thing after another and not being able to have it for more than a month. Did the math, had the car for seven months and only actually had it on the road for three and a half, haven't even really enjoyed it. Also, track days might be out, but AXs I am fine with. Nothing the car hasn't done on my commute to skate around the zombies and distracted drivers on area highways. Just comes with more attention: oil changes, brake pads, tires, and worn components.

I am fortunate enough to have an additional set of wheels, and I can give the 996 a break a week a month, and use our Jeep. Family is close by who are enthusiasts as well. Father's SL550 is a GT dream for a commute and 20 min away. It doesn't get out too often and he's all about getting it out on the road for a week a month; he is the former owner of a 944, followed by a 930, and finally a 964 C4... Needless to say, he passed it down and also gets it.

Mach 1 as the back up in the in the event I get news that doom is impending.

Will keep those who care posted. Should hear back today regarding moving ahead to get her back on the road. Thanks again. Already hit up the PCA regional rep for scheduled tech sessions and going to do a walk around when I pick her up and note it in my log for stuff to ask about and keep an eye on.