On the hunt....Low mileage vs age

[DWPC]

I'm looking at two 2001 996s; one is a 6-spd heavily optioned with only 13K miles, the other is an "average" optioned Carrera 4 Tiptronic with 23K miles. The Porsche dealer selling the 6-speed wants a huge premium for the low miles, the other is at a Cadillac dealer and priced pretty much where Edmunds is. Would I be facing any serious maintenance issues from vehicle age on either of these cars, even though both have very low miles? Should I be looking for any major items in the service records.

Edited January 24, 2010 by DWPC

[rrspikemarty]

I'm looking at two 2001 966s; one is a 6-spd heavily optioned with only 13K miles, the other is an "average" optioned Carrera 4 Tiptronic with 23K miles. The Porsche dealer selling the 6-speed wants a huge premium for the low miles, the other is at a Cadillac dealer and priced pretty much where Edmunds is. Would I be facing any serious maintenance issues from vehicle age on either of these cars, even though both have very low miles? Should I be looking for any major items in the service records.

You've come to the right place! I remember reading dozens of really good posts/opinions/admonishments from Renntech experts on this topic. Those threads helped me immensely when i was in the buying process. Have you tried a search on the web site?

Good luck with the car search :renntech:

[direwolf]

I just went through this a similar dillema. I was looking at 2 - 2003 996 C2's; one with only 11K miles and average options; the other had many options including X51 but had 50K miles. It was priced about 2K$ more... I ended up going with the low mileage car just becase it was so clean and seemed brand new. The other car was in perfect condition but something about having a car with such low miles was too much to pass up. I can drive it for a few years and still have a low mileage car. I love my car and that new and tight feeling is still great! I also purchased a 4yr/48k mile warranty so I could enjoy stress free driving for a few years. Many here will tell you to watch out for low mileage cars which is one reason I went with a warranty.

I am curious.. what are the asking prices for the cars you are looking at?

How much of a premium are they attributing to the low miles?

Exactly how are they optioned?

Good luck! :)

Edited January 23, 2010 by direwolf

[Joel Pirela]

A 9 year old car with 13K miles. That will seriously scares me. These engines are designed to be running. not for making 1000 miles a year.

Now, you gonna have to ask the seller how many times he flushed the coolant, the brakes, changed seals that may become crusty/dry, suspension bushings, hoses, oil changes... etc...

Sometimes, people think they don't need maintenance since the car hasn't been running.

GL

joel

[txhokie4life]

I'll argue there is virtually no difference between 13k miles and 23k miles for a 9 year old car.

get a ppi, and go with what ever one fits you.

If you want a C4 with a tip -- get that one -- seems like it is the better bargain.

If you drive it -- 2 years from now will you notice the difference between 30K and 40k miles?

If you were going to tell me 11k miles and 50K miles like a previous poster mentioned -- than

that is a different story.

m

[thx1138jtx2]

I just went through similar process. The diff on the ones I was looking at (and asked about here) was between 30K and 60K, the 60K being a CPO car. From reading here and talking to couple Porsche service techs, one from the dealer in town and one independent, low miles on a Porsche is not necessarily a good thing. In fact one of the techs told me straight out very low miles is a mark against the car. These cars are made to be driven, if they sit for long periods of time a lot of issues will occur, problems with seals being one of them. And as another poster said I would be worried about how often was the oil and fluids changed and systems flushed.

[DWPC]

Thanks for the feedback. I've dropped the car with 13K miles...the dealer wants over $40K and I think that's nuts for an '01 regardless of mileage. The other has a couple issue...I've posted some specifics above. The mileage doesn't match the apparent wear/deterioration on soft parts unless maybe the car spent all that time parked outside.

Edited January 24, 2010 by DWPC