Post
by JohnIreland » Sun Jun 21, 2020 12:59 pm
Getting back into a 996...this time doing it right...almost...maybe. Owned a 2003 996 manual...like it a lot but IMS fear wore on me. And I screwed up my left leg and started telling myself I'm not getting any younger. Swapped it for a 2006 997S w/ tip. Loved the power, loved the tip, hated the interior. Hated it. Sold it 3 months later. A year or so later I was looking for a 99 or 2000 tip...couldn't find a coup so I settled for a cab. The tip burned out, I replaced it. In the end I felt I had a car that would need $10,000 just to make it perfect and I liked the cab but didn't love it. Sold it a couple of years later.
My current car is a 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia TI Lusso...and is probably the best overall car I have ever owned. But the overload of modern technology just makes it a car that will be obsolete in another year...and the cost of repairing or replacing the electronics will be absurd. So I decided it was the perfect time to go retro...as analog as I can afford. Hence, the best driving car in the world for the price...the early 3.4 996.
This time I started out looking for a 99/2000 coupe...originally with tip because the Alfa's 8 speed ZF is really amazing. But of all the tips that I drove only one felt solid and worth an offer. But the seller rejected the offer and I moved on. I found myself having to seriously reconsider going with a manual trans, and driving them I was happy at how quickly the skill came back. And all the manuals I have driven have felt very solid mechanically. None of the cars I've seen are perfect...all lack something, need something. While it feels safe to get one with the IMS already addressed, that is only one important aspect of the car, and there are more than enough 100k cars still running their original bearings so that it is a gamble I feel comfortable about...but not so with the 996.2.
I'm seeing a car tomorrow that if it looks and drives as well as the add, I will offer the asking price. Not a color I was even looking for...Metallic Mirage (aka in Germany as Metallic Champaign)...and with wheels I usually hate, painted black. But in pictures the combination is very nice. 112k and the original IMS. Coil overs and new bushings and links, coils and plugs, wires, very nice interior...blah blah blah. I will not do a PPI. I will just accept whatever maintenance issues that come along...hoses, belts, water pump, etc...those are all items that will be needed sooner or later no mater what. It is a 21 year old car. And I've have seen cars with much fewer miles that truly scared me.
I could put off buying now...waiting for the perfect car...and still be here a year from now. I don't think prices have gone up or down as a model, there are just good ones, bad ones, and over priced ones. And it is usually the bottom fish that appreciate after all the others have maxed out their inflation. I also find a purity in the first 996s that is very attractive.
So, maybe tomorrow...and if not then, soon.