All,

I finally found a buyer for my truck. Gonna make the deal on Wednesday, so..................... I am going to buy a 996 TT soon. I have my eye on a couple right now. I ran the Carfax on them and they come out clean. What else can I do to make sure I'm getting a good TT without any hidden defects, or worse, has previously been in a crash and has been repaired. I know everything does not show up on Carfax. My girlfriend was in an accident and had her car fixed about 6 months ago; when I ran the Carfax on her car, the accident/repair did not show up. Also, I am looking at buying a TT maybe 1000 miles away from me, so going to look at it first and possibly brinking it in for an inspection, would not be an option. I plan on making the deal, getting a one way flight out there and driving it back home. I would like to have someone certified to inspect it, but how do you do that 1000 miles away? I would hate to buy a plane ticket there to buy it, take it to be inspected, and then find something bad that would prevent me from buying it. What else can I do to assure myself the car is good before I plunk down big bucks for it? Do I just go with the good Carfax report and take my chances? Any help from you guys would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Find a shop in the local area that the car is in, and schedule a Pre Purchase Inspection. The seller can drop off the car and have it gone through (before a final deal is ever made), of course you will be paying for the inspection and will be the only one with the results. On a 996, this is a must. Things to look for are a stiff 2nd gear, rear main seal leak, oil leaks around the turbos, etc.

 

Doc:

Thanks so much for your suggestions. I am going to do as you have suggested. I am currently making arrangements for purchase of a Seal Gray 2002 TT. I am finding a local Porsche shop to contact about doing the inspection. The seller has no problem with this. At least it will give me a peace of mind about buying the car. What if they find a leaky rear main seal, leaks around the turbos? Are these complete deal breakers? Do ALL 996's have rear main seal leaks? Thanks for your valuable input.

 

The rear main seal is a known issue on the boxster and the 996. We run boxsters and 996's in and out of the shop daily, and there are not "that" many of them that i have seen leaking. Problem is, that if they leak, you can replace the seal, and sometimes that solves it, and sometimes it leaks again in 10k miles. On the 996 twins, i would have to check at work tomorrow, but i would guess a minimum of a 20 hour job. The boxster is not as bad, at about 10 hours. If the turbo's are leaking, again, they can be removed and replaced, it isn't a big deal, again, about a $2k bill per side, a little less than double if doing both.

 

Doc:

Thanks again for your valuable input. I currently have the car slated to be inspected next Wednesday (the soonest they could get me in). In the mean time, the dealer made me put down a $1000 non-refundable deposit to hold the car for me and I guess make up for the days it would not be for sale to other customers. The car seems good, as I researched and found out what dealership it was purchased at. I called the service manager there and questioned him about the car. He told me it was a one owner that took care of it and had the oil changed and the maintenances done. He also added it had never been in any major accident. I felt that armed with this ammunition, it was worth the grand gamble. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the inspection comes out clean next Wednesday. If it does, I will be flying out there either Thursday or Friday to go get it.

 

Update:

The shop moved up the inspection to Tuesday. I really trust this shop as it has recently won some awards for excellence. I just scrambled and found a place to buy a nose bra for the car for the 1000 mile ride home. Don't want any little rocks and such, dinging my new love's front end! The place I found for the bra also has other tons of Porsche parts. It's a cool place and if anyone is interested, the name of the place is "Performance Products" out of Van Nuys, CA, go to www.automotion.com. Get a free catalog, its loaded with cool stuff!

 

Well,

The inspection was done today and guess what? It did not go as good as I had hoped. The shop that did the inspection said there was a noticable "dull rattle" coming from the timing chain area. It would do it at idle but not at off idle. The shop mgr. said that it would have to be taken apart to see what the cause is. He offered suggestions of bad tensioner or bad chain. He said you really don't know what it is till you take it apart. He said the engine will need to be dropped for this repair. He recommended I do not buy the car unless the car dealer fixes this problem I did call and talk with the Dealer manager and he assured me they have a service guy with 16 years experience and he knows Porsches; he will find the problem and fix it. He said they would not sell me a car that has problems. We will see if they can fix it.

As for the rest of the inspection, they found the headlight washer did not work, when you press the button it just dumps water on the ground under the front. He said the car did smoke a little when you start it up, could be valve guide wear. They found a few scratches and a little dent on the hood, stuff you would expect with a used car and is not a big deal to me. And Hey Doc, the rear main seal is fine and does not leak, ditto for the turbo's.

The car has 36,000 miles on it and is priced appropriately. I think it is a good deal for the price with the options it has on it. If they fix it, I think I should go ahead with the purchase. I plan on getting some kind of extended warranty on it from somewhere (still need to research this). Anybody out there have any comments or suggestions for me? Thanks!

 

Update:

Turns out the dull rattle noise coming from the engine is normal for 996 TT's. [sm=itsok.gif]

The car was brought in to Boardwalk Porsche in Dallas and looked over by the service manager and the master tech. They both said that this noise started when water cooled turbos came out. When they first came out, they too thought it was a problem. they said my car is one of the quietest ones they have heard [sm=thanx.gif]

I am going to pick the car up on Friday [sm=icon_cheers.gif]

I will post pics after I get it. [sm=Flahssssss.gif]

 

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yippee!!!!!!

 

Update:

Picked up the car on Friday in Dallas. Spent 3 days driving it back to Florida (1250 miles). It was 3 days of bliss! [sm=Awwww.gif] What an awesome car! The long drive back gave me a chance to get to know the car real well. Only thing that worried me was when I stayed at a hotel and had to leave the car in the parking lot. [sm=badidea.gif] I scoped hotels where I could have good parking (well lit and near the front door). One of the nights we had to go out to a restaurant to eat and I parked it way away, actually in a adjacent parking lot under a light. I spent the whole meal worrying about the car. I worry someone is going to mess with it, like scratching it on purpose. [sm=badbadbad.gif] Do you all worry about your Porsches like me or I am too paranoid? [sm=nerd.gif] Anyway, I got the car home safe and sound without a scratch. [sm=thanx.gif] My girlfriend went with me and I know I drove her nuts with my worrying. [sm=shutup.gif]