3 year ownership update 996 C4S

[baldlemur]

Hello all

I've just returned from Simply Porsche at Beaulieu (my 1st Porsche meet). javascript:emoticon'' Thanks to 911uk for arranging our prime parking spot and for the sticker! I drove about 700 miles over the weekend, as I live in Cornwall and also had to do a Heathrow airport run on the Monday. The car behaved impeccably throughout and in my opinion looked OK up against the other 4Ss at Simply Porsche!

On the way back from Heathrow I dropped the car off for its 'major' service, so I thought now is a good time to provide a 3 year update on my ownership experiences.

At the last MOT I got a couple of advisories:
"front shock absorber casings corroded"
"front brake pipe unions at caliper corroded"
"exhaust silencers corroded"

So, at this service I asked my indy to check both and advise on exactly what needs doing and what can wait...

The dampers and springs appear to be OK, although there is some surface rust on the front dampers. As for the brakes...oh dear...this was quite a different matter (see pic). Needless to say, car is now off the road awaiting rear brake pipe replacement, which is an engine out job, as one of the pipes goes over the top of the engine. Whilst the engine is out, I have also decided to have gearbox cooling pipes replaced and the gearbox oil and filter changed.

Here is a year-by-year run-down of things I've had done

Year 1
*Following PPI - engine coolant pipe, coil packs & heat shield, paid for by vendor

later in the year
*4X coffin arms
*2 front tyres
*full alignment
*Front diff seal
*Front discs and pads
*4 wheel refurb
*48K service inc plugs and poly drive belt
*MOT no advisories

Year 2
*AC radiators and condenser
*LTT fitted
*Front wheel arch liners
*Crank sensor (this was the first - and so far only - time the car failed to run perfectly). Car wouldn't rev above 4000rpm and had trouble starting when hot (started first time when cold). Took it to my indy, where it finally gave up the ghost on his forecourt and refused to start again (good timing!). Crank sensor was replaced, but was a long job as the existing one had disintegrated and was difficult to remove.
*Front PU and bonnet resprayed (stone chips) and a small area of rust on rear of front wheel arch made good
*12k service including chain tensioner seals
*MOT

Year 3
*Front strut top mounts - after much deliberation on whether to use the much cheaper 997 top mounts, I went for the safe option and stuck with 996 ones, albeit the cheaper version available from Design911
*Full alignment
*New number plate lights
*24K service (current)
*MOT 3 advisories: front shock absorber casings corroded, front brake pipe unions at caliper corroded, exhaust silencers corroded

Jobs still to do
*Replace exhaust rear boxes - I have 2 nearly new Dansk boxes purchased from a forum member, which I will have fitted once the existing ones fail (both are rusted along the seams, but not blowing)
*2 new key fobs - both stopped working at the same time. I might not bother with this, as manually locking and unlocking is not a major issue for me.
*Full assessment of the front and rear suspension components - probably at Center Gravity - with a view to renewing / upgrading. Anyone got any suggestions? I wouldn't need a track biased set-up as I haven't been on a track in the last 3 years, so clearly not a priority for me. Would the Bilstein version of the sports suspension (it's a C4S) be a good option, or just stick with OE Porsche?

I estimate that I've spent about £7000 to date, including servicing, MOTs, repairs, upgrades and some cosmetic work, but not including the current service and brake pipe, etc replacement. So, not exactly cheap, but I did get the car for £17250 with the full knowledge that it would need some fettling / upgrading to bring it up to scratch, so I'm reasonably happy from a cost perspective.

Anyway, hope the information is interesting / useful

John

 

[EGTE]

Great update.

Those brake lines look horrific; not something you expect to see from a car living so far south. Perhaps sea air got to them?

 

[T8]

Great post John. :thumb:

It'll be a brilliant reference thread for anyone looking to buy a similar car in future.

Hope the current job is completed soon and doesn't cost too many £££'s.

 

[Martin996RSR]

My brake lines went in the same place. I'm not a stickler for originality, so I made up new lines out of cunifer, which doesn't corrode. Putting steel lines back on the car just means they will need to be done again in another 10/15 years. This probably doesn't bother many people though as they are likely to not expect to still own the car that far into the future.

 

[gilessav]

great post.

my 3 year C4S ownership came up in Feb this year and just clicked over 80k miles last night on the way back from the Isle of Man TT! the car survived a couple of good workouts over the mountain course which was a blast to drive

like you I've had a few things to do. I also will have brake lines coming up as they were noted to have some surface corrosion at the MOT. I had the ones over the engine replaced 2 years ago when the engine came out for RMS work but this is the ones down the side of the car that will need some work.

I now need the front PU painting from a knock, rear PU scratch repair (either spot repair or re-spray) and a service and likely rear tyres shortly so a good £2k bill on the way I imagine.

I think my spend has averaged around the putative £2k a year on keeping on top of things; given the lack of depreciation and possible appreciation then that looks good value. Anytime I even contemplate a change I just need to look at the car and that rear aspect just reminds me that's there's nothing realistic out there that could replace it :thumbs:

 

[g911omr]

Great update.

Those brake lines look horrific; not something you expect to see from a car living so far south. Perhaps sea air got to them?

It makes you wonder why they are not treated as part of a routine service?
The PO of my car wax oiled all the brake lines as a preventative measure a few years ago and they still look fine. Even a squirt of WD40 would make a difference.

 

[lewisf182]

Really useful information, thanks for sharing!

Especially useful for me as I have a 2003 C4S Tiptronic.
I bought one that has had all major works done (Hartech rebuild, new condensors, new exhaust, IMS upgrade) etc so I'm hoping my budget of £1.5k per year maintenance remains realistic.

First major service was last week that came out at £460 for a major, polyrib belt and brake fluid. From this was a smallish list of advisories but nothing major to go at I think so i'll start working through those and put together a thread similar to yours as they are so useful when people are researching these cars so thanks for sharing!

Any gratuitous pics? Seal grey is the best colour IMHO.

Just seen post above. My brake lines were fine just a tad bit of surface corrosion, on my service the garage lubricated the lines to help give them a bit of protection so fingers crossed they'll be fine for a long while yet.

 

[Fastlane]

Hello from a fellow member in Cornwall (Truro). I bought my 996 2 months ago, so it is good to hear all about life with a 996. The previous owner of mine had just about all those jobs done over the last few years too, including replacing all the brake lines, so hopefully it won't cost me too much!

Which indy are you using by the way? There are no "proper" indies in Cornwall -
so the options seem to be either Williams Crawford in Plymouth or OPC Exeter. Any experience of either?

I see a few 996s around, including a C4S but no one else seems to be on here?

Cheers,

Tim.

 

[bakumackem]

great post.

my 3 year C4S ownership came up in Feb this year and just clicked over 80k miles last night on the way back from the Isle of Man TT! the car survived a couple of good workouts over the mountain course which was a blast to drive :thumbs:

I am just back from the IoM TT myself where I took my BMW 1200 GS; came back on the Ben Macree to Heysham but was directed to Birkenhead due to sh*t weather.

It got me thinking how good it would be to take my P&J over there for a blast.

Which boat did you take (Ben M or Mannanan), what was the route, and were there any dramas in getting your car up/down the ramps and with tie downs?

Cheers
BM

 

[baldlemur]

Hello from a fellow member in Cornwall (Truro). I bought my 996 2 months ago, so it is good to hear all about life with a 996. The previous owner of mine had just about all those jobs done over the last few years too, including replacing all the brake lines, so hopefully it won't cost me too much!

Which indy are you using by the way? There are no "proper" indies in Cornwall -
so the options seem to be either Williams Crawford in Plymouth or OPC Exeter. Any experience of either?

I see a few 996s around, including a C4S but no one else seems to be on here?

Cheers,

Tim.

Hi Tim
I am up on Bodmin Moor. I've used Williams Crawford once, Braunton Engineering a couple of times, but mostly I use SCS Porsche in Honiton.

I'm pretty sure there is another seal grey C4S who is also a forum member. Last year someone arranged a Cornish meet at Jamaica Inn, but unfortunately I couldn't make it. Maybe there'll be another this year??

Good luck with the car!
John

 

[baldlemur]

Great update.

Those brake lines look horrific; not something you expect to see from a car living so far south. Perhaps sea air got to them?

Could be...but, i live about as far from the sea as it's possible to get in Cornwall; however, it is very wet down here - averaging about 240 rainy days per year since I moved here!!!

 

[gilessav]

Hi Bakumacken,

I went on the Tuesday on the ferry from Heysham and then back on the catamaran on Wednesday afternoon to Liverpool (which was choppy but fun). Stayed in St John's camp site in the footy/rugby club.

Both easy to get on to and off and ramps were ok taken slowly and they help guide angles if they are concerned. Parking on both was also with other cars and with no bikes parked each side (which I was afraid of initially) so little chance of any accidental scrapes. Way back was packed due to Tuesday sailings being cancelled with the weather so a lot of people on standby, hopefully you avoided that!

I went over the mountain twice in the evenings and Tuesday was windy so quiet on the road so could relax alittle more. good fun and just the right amount of power to use, I think a turbo would have been trickier due to carrying more speed into the bends which are still not familiar to me. Went on my Fireblade 3 years ago and enjoyed the car over the mountain more than the bike and got a decent video on the phone when doing so via my brother in the passenger seat.

Hopefully I'll be going next year on the VFR1200 but too late to change the car ticket by the time I bought the bike this time around. A car does make it all much easier and more comfortable and gives option with the crappy weather which was around.

Those guys racing are nuts and brave in equal measures, had hoped we'd get away lightly this year until the fatalities on Wednesday!

cheers,

giles.

 

[bakumackem]

Gilessav

Thanks for the info....it was the ramp angles that worried me about take the Porker onboard especially at Douglas end at low tide.

I took my '05 Duc 999 last year which was great around the Creg etc but scary bouncy over the mountain.

Struck lucky this year as discovered a distant family relation who lives right on the track at Hanley's Corner just after 11milestone marker; what a spot!

We saw Mike Dunlop's super bike coast by the house and pull up in a Layby approx 30m down the road. After he'd been picked up my mate legged it down and sat in his bike for a photo.....only at the TT

 

[umirza85]

Love the write up. I've had mine around 3 years also and its been a great experience, with only one really large repair bill which was more preventative. Its a 2003 C4S.

Been keeping an eye on prices and looks like theyre hovering around £22-23000 which I'm happy about.

I bought mine for a little more than you did, and spent a tiny bit less on maintenance which I'll throw in here for another data point.

 

[Locosaki]

Well I'm 12 months in now and I'm about 12k in on maintenance but that includes a full engine rebuild, my 1999 C4 is costing me around 19k.

Hoping my maintenance bill subsides a little in the coming years