HOW TO BUY A GOOD ONE

There are plenty of pitfalls in the pursuit of the perfect 996. Here’s how to avoid them

INDEPENDENT PORSCHE specialist RPM Technik has more experience of 996s than most. ‘We were into them when they weren’t popular,’ recalls MD Darren Anderson. ‘I did wonder if we should be, but then I thought, why not? It’s a great car.’ RPM has created its own ‘CSR’ version, improving the looks, the performance and the handling, which has been very successful. Now the wider market is waking up to the fact that the 996 is a good thing.

First rule of the 996 Club? Make sure the intermediate shaft (IMS) bearing has been replaced with an upgraded item, or factor in the cost of having it done (£2000-2500 including a clutch) when you buy the car of your dreams. It’s an important bearing at the back of the engine, below the crankshaft, found in all 911 engines but troublesome only in these early water-cooled units, in which the bearing was ‘sealed for life’ rather than being lubricated by engine oil. They don’t all fail but if it does it will wreck your engine. On every car it sells, RPM changes the IMS as a matter of course.

Second 996 Club rule? Regular servicing. ‘Don’t get hung up on main dealer versus specialist,’ says Anderson; ‘just make sure the services have been carried out at the correct time and mileage using good oil.’ The low prices of 996s mean that some people who have managed to buy the car then run it on a shoestring. That leads us on to rule three.

Which is? If the car has all the stamps, it looks good and it drives well, commit only to buying it ‘subject to inspection’. Have a specialist look the car over, up on a ramp to check out a few important, hard-to-get-to places, especially the cylinder bores. A specialist will whip the spark plugs out, get an endoscope in and see what state the bores are in.

ENGINE

Most of the talk around the 996 flat-six is about that IMS bearing or the RMS (rear main seal). For peace of mind, you want to know both have been replaced, so ask. The IMS we know about; an RMS failure will leak oil into the bellhousing and contaminate the clutch plate of a manual. It’s a simple job to replace either but it requires splitting the engine and gearbox, which adds time and cost.

On a manual-gearbox car, the IMS and RMS are often replaced when the clutch needs changing (typically 50,000-60,000 miles). Including the cost of the clutch and a new dualmass flywheel (they deteriorate, degrading the gearshift quality and rattling at idle), the bill at a specialist will be around £2500.

On a Tiptronic auto there is more cost in labour because the engine and gearbox need to be removed as a unit to allow for the two to be separated. However, the job is a few hundred pounds cheaper than for a manual because there’s no clutch and flywheel to replace.

If possible, see and hear the car start from cold. Rattles will likely be the timing chain ‘flogging’ due to weak or worn tensioners, £300 to fix. Tapping and smoking could be the result of scored bores. This is an early warning of big trouble and big bills, as is high oil consumption, and represents a red flag. There are lots of cars on offer, so walk away and don’t take the risk.

Sometimes there’s a disparity between the colouration of the tailpipes, which can indicate that one of the engine banks is burning more oil than the other. Bore-scoring is rarely seen on the 3.4-litre engine, and there are many theories as to why it happens more with the 3.6: localised hot-spots, engine design or simply the way some cars are maintained and driven. Sootblackened tailpipes can also be an indicator of how it’s been driven, or that services have been stretched. Let the engine get hot and you may hear tapping on idle, especially if it’s an early 3.4; it can be harmless, but it can also be an indicator of poor pressurisation of hydraulic tappets. Listen to a few examples if you can, to get an idea of what they should sound like.

Oil leaks between the engine and gearbox (more easily spotted if the car is up on a ramp) are usually one of two things: the seal on either the IMS or the RMS. There can be weeping

from spark plug tube seals too, but that’s a quick fix with a new seal. The engine air/oil separator can leak, and if it fails it allows oil to be drawn into the intake which then emerges as plumes of smoke from the tailpipes. A bit of smoke at full throttle can show it is failing. It’s not an expensive component but it’s awkward to replace. The scavenge pump at the back of the engine can leak as well.

Water leaks are rare, but RPM Technik recommends fitting a lower-temperature thermostat and filling the system with Evans waterless coolant, which won’t boil at hot-spots like the ones mentioned above. Take a torch and look through the air intakes in the front bumper apron at the water radiators and airconditioning condensers. There are no grilles, so leaves can get stuck in there and cause corrosion. Damp patches indicate that the condensers have been leaking. Both sets of radiators are expensive to replace – £1200 a pair for coolant rads, £1000 a pair for the air-con ones – and the front bumper needs to be removed to get at them. This maintenance cost can be avoided by ensuring they’re clear as part of the service checklist.

Look closely at the exhaust silencers. They can corrode and split, and it’s £1000-2000 for a pair. Sportier non-standard replacements of varying quality (and sound) are available, such as RPM Technik’s own design at £2000 a pair.

GEARBOX

On your road test, listen for whining on the overrun in the manual gearbox, or jumping out of gear – second especially – when coasting down at low revs. Obvious noise suggests worn pinion bearings and the need for a gearbox rebuild, which will probably reveal other parts that need replacing. The cost will be at least £1500 but could easily be twice that. Anderson’s take is that the 996 ’box is ‘generally okay – problems are not that common and not particularly mileage-related’.

The Tiptronic boxes are generally very reliable. They are less stressed than the manual but less desirable: you pay a weight penalty, and gearchanges are ponderous compared with the newer PDK boxes. Check the kickdown and use the thumb controls to go up and down the box manually – changes should be smooth, without banging or crashing.

Clutches typically are replaced at 50,00060,000 miles. The sign that a clutch is nearing the end of its useful life is a heavy pedal action, not slip. That dual-mass flywheel will often need replacing too, bumping up the bill to the £2.5k mark. Upgrades are offered by specialists; RPM Technik’s is a lightweight, single-mass, balanced flywheel matched to a lightweight clutch with a sprung centre plate to retain some of the damping provided by the twin-mass type. Together they give a sharper throttle response and snappier shifts.

SUSPENSION

Dampers corrode rather than leak and are good for 100,000 miles or more, but by then they’ll be a bit baggy and wheel control will suffer. Springs last well and seldom break, but noisy suspension is common. Creaks suggest worn ball joints or bushes in the lower arms, or delamination of those bushes, while rattling comes from either the anti-roll bars’ drop links or the upper transverse arms in the rear suspension. RPM Technik considers the front lower arms to be almost a service item to be replaced regularly; a new pair fitted, plus time on the geometry rig, adds up to approximately £1200. There’s lots of adjustment in the suspension geometry, which can be tweaked to adjust the handling balance and feel. It’s worth looking at the inner joints of the rear suspension arms, too. If the adjustment is maxed-out in opposite directions it could have been done to compensate for the effect of crash damage.

RPM Technik’s upgraded ‘CSR’ lower arm is adjustable and serviceable, with replaceable ball joints and bushes. Polyurethane bushes can be fitted and, being stiffer, they improve steering response, but they are noisier too. The factory still offers suspension upgrades such as the comprehensive M030 kit, and there are multiple aftermarket coilover suspension kits.

BRAKES

The standard drilled discs fitted to the 996 are well up to the job provided they’re in good condition. They’ll need replacing if there’s a big lip on their outer edge. If the brakes feel unresponsive, it’s possible that only the outer face and pad are working thanks to seized calipers. Low-mileage cars that have been driven gently are prone to this, and it’s hard to see the problem because the corroded inner face of the disc is hidden by the disc shield. Look at the MoT test advisories. New discs and pads will be needed at around £600.

Another point to check on low-mileage cars is the age of the tyres, which might be out of date even though they have lots of tread. Look for the stamp that shows the week and year of manufacture; 48/11, for example, denotes week 48 in 2011. The useful shelf life of a tyre is around five years. Make sure they are goodquality tyres, such as Michelin, Pirelli or Bridgestone, with the correct ‘N’ marking indicating they are specifically for Porsches. A car fitted with cheap tyres is a worry. Where else has the owner cut corners?

BODY

The 996 body was two-side hot dip galvanised, so corrosion could indicate previous accident damage. Surface rust occasionally appears around the door shuts and along the inner sill.

It’s important to check the underside – if it all looks corroded, there will be lots of issues that are difficult to fix. Cars that have lived by the coast or in harsh northern climates are notorious for this.

Opaque lights show that a car has been ungaraged but they can be polished back to look nearly new. Corroded brake lines and damaged or squashed air-con lines are quite common; replacement of these can be labour-intensive and therefore expensive.