AZPPS

I need 'em. Don't want them but I'm told I need them so I'm posting here asking for advice on my options. Loud rattle coming from the rear end and I can't pass emissions so I'm shopping. I'm not looking to squeeze extra HP out of the car. I just want it back on the road, legal, reliable, and safe/fun to drive. Found two options on Pelican. OEM is stupid expensive! $2,000 left and $2,200 right...crazy! They also have DEC 50 State Compliant Cats, $684 each. Needless to say I'm leaning towards the DECs. Any input here? Any known issues by NOT going OEM? http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/SuperCat/0909/POR_0909_EXHMUF_pg1.htm#item0 Also saw this on Fabspeed. $2,300 for the pair. Less expensive than OEM but still more than DEC...so I'm still leaning towards DEC. Thoughts? http://www.fabspeed.com/porsche-996-carrera-sport-cat-x-pipe/ I'm told I can't buy used from a shop but they have hinted I may be able to find used Cats for my 02 on the internet. That scares me a bit, but I'd love to hear from you otherwise. Please share your thoughts. Thanks in advance for your time!

Car came back with a strong PPI and we inked the deal last night. When I finally get the car here from TN I'll share some pics. PPI showed what I hope ends up being horn frame (posted about this in a separate thread). I'll also be replacing the drive belt and coil pack when I get the car. Other than that it looks great. Thanks, Renntech!

I'm not sure but I'll know soon. I decided to purchase the car. It's on it's way from TN. I'll resurrect this thread when I have the car in my possession and I can give more complete info. Thank you, Loren!!

Loren, My mistake. You are correct. My understanding is this was run on a PST2 and there were no alarm codes.

Trying to buy an 02 996 Cab. Did the PPI today and ran across a strange issue. I've discussed it with the PPI mechanic and my mechanic and neither are certain about this issue. When the car is parked in the sun with the doors locked the alarm horn begins to sound after about an hour or so (when it warms up). PPI mechanic says he has seen it on two other cars, all 996 Cabs. Local mechanic says he has seen something similar with the "horn frame." PPI mechanic says this is NOT "horn frame," it definitely has something to do with the immobilizer, and the car is NOT throwing any OBD codes. Car checks out great other than this issue. Just a few wear/tear items like brakes, rotors, and coil pack that I'm okay with. Any ideas?

You have all been incredibly helpful, Thank You! Here's where I am in the process... - Looked up shops on pcarshops.com. Found a half dozen places within 60 miles of the current owner. Called them all to get a feel for their business. - Special thanks to mdragon for reaching out the local PCA on this for me. They recommended a shop that was on the pcarshops list too. - Current owner has agreed to get the car in for PPI at shop of my choosing. Looking to make that happen next week. - Current owner also gave me the name of his current shop. I have call into them so we can chat about the car as well. - Assuming all goes well with the PPI the next step will be getting this rig moved home. Flying and driving would be great but timing makes that tough for me so I called Coastal Car Transport. Super cool guy (Hank) and very helpful. If I get this rig, they'll be handling the move for me. Well, that's it for now. Hope to have exciting news to share on this next week. Have a great weekend, Renntech!

Thanks guys! JFP, great advice. I'm going to check on that next. bBunny, found a couple shops on your website link about 60-70 miles away from the car. I have spoken with the owner now, cool guy and willing to help me on the PPI so i'm going to talk with him about driving the car over for PPI. If i were selling a car I would drive 70 miles for a potential buyer and I think he will too. He also gave me the name of his mechanic but I'd like to find my own. I will ask my mechanic about calling and talking to his mechanic too though.

JFP, I hear you and I agree wholeheartedly. Does anybody know of any reputable shops near Pulaski, TN where I can get an unbiased PPI done?

I found a great looking '02 996 Cab TIP (see pics below) and I really like this car! Unfortunately the car is TN and I'm in AZ. If I buy this rig it will be the first time I've ever bought a car sight unseen which is why I'm reaching out to all of you for some guidance. Please take a look at the pics and details below. Any concerns/red flags here? What more should I ask about? I'm not excited about the prospect of paying $2K to transport a car across the country but NOT having to pay $2K for the IMSB is certainly helping my cause here. From the original ad: Tiptronic transmission, L&N IMS bearing retrofit, new water pump & coolant recovery tank, new Bilstien shocks & Eibach springs, Victor Equipment 18" wheels, 9/10's Potenza RE-11's, leather power 8 way seats w/memory + lumbar, premium Bose sound w/6 CD. PCM navigation, xenon headlights. 2 keys & owner's manual. Garaged. Very good condition. Mileage: 62,750 miles Exterior Color: Arctic Silver Metallic Interior Color: Graphite Grey Price: $25,700 I reached out to the current owner and he is willing to help me facilitate a PPI. Do any of you know any shops in the TN area that can do a PPI for me? I'm assuming the current owner has a shop in mind. Should that be a concern for me? I can always have his shop talk directly to my shop too. CARFAX is clean. Current owner purchased the car in June 2011 with 43K. Unit now has 63K. During that time he has, as stated in the original ad, "replaced the IMS bearing. The coolant tank is replaced. Also the water pump. Bilstien shocks, Eibach springs and rear swaybar are new." Any concerns about these updates? How about the non-OEM wheels? "Victor Equipment 18" wheels" Thanks so much to all for you assistance on this!

I like the idea of an S over a BASE and $12,000 seems like a pretty good deal for the right car. Loved my '98 BASE but I would have preferred an S. ________________________ CURRENT: I'm shopping! Hoping to find a nice 2002-2004 996 Cab Tip back of 85K. PAST: 1998 Boxster (R.I.P.)

I may not be saying the exact right thing. I was told bad head but, no, I opted not to tear down the engine and go through a pricey rebuild to confirm. Unit was a '98 with 75K on it and not worth a whole lot of dough. I also knew if I did the rebuild it would be even more expensive because it was time for clutch, brakes, IMS, etc. Plus, I had owned the car for 10 years and I LOVED it...but I didn't drive it enough because it just wasn't the right car. In 10 years I only put on 10k miles which may have been a big part of it's problems. Bought it before we had our son and my wife isn't comfortable with a manual transmission. That's why I'm looking for a 996 TIP now...so we can actually drive it like it was meant to be driven! Anyway, engine on the '98 Boxster overheated when the belt went and took out the water pump. Thought I dodged a bullet, everything seemed fine for the next 700-1,000 miles or so, but eventually the car stopped holding coolant. Had it pressure tested and assumed it was a bad coolant cap and/or reservoir and I was planning to replace them both when I went in for my next service. During the spring when it was still cool I could drive about 15-20 miles before the low coolant warning came on. I would drive it to work every once in awhile, let it cool off, fill it up and drive it home. I'm in AZ and it gets really hot. When it got hot outside I was only able to drive a mile or two before the low coolant light came on. I went to refill the reservoir and when I opened the cap the car purged coolant from it's belly. Dumped it all over my driveway. Left the car at home, waited for the weekend, filled it up and took it to my mechanic. My wife followed me to the shop and noticed that after about 2-3 miles she could see coolant coming out from underneath the car as I drove. Especially when I accelerated. Based on all of this the mechanic assumed he would find coolant and water mixed but didn't. Kept testing but couldn't get the rig to hold water. So, I was presented with tear it down or move along. As I said, I LOVED this car but since it wasn't the perfect fit for my fam I decided to move on rather than go through the tear down. That was in July and I've been looking for our 996 since then. The whole family is missing our P-Car Cab!

Great stuff, Ahsai! Thank you for the info and the education!!

Recently lost my 98 Boxster to a bad head gasket and I'm looking to replace it with a 996. I'm most interested in the MKII engines and a 2002-2004 is in my price range. Conventional wisdom dictates I should buy the newest car I can afford but I've been told in mid-2003 there was a change made that makes the late-2003 and all 2004s more difficult (i.e. more expensive) to work on than the 2002s and early 2003s. Any truth to this? Do the later model 996 engines have to be "split" to facilitate an IMS change but not the earlier 996 engines? How much should I expect to spend on an IMS retrofit for a 2002-2004 996? If you were shopping for a 2002-2004 would you be concerned about model year? ________________________ CURRENT: I'm shopping! Hoping to find a nice 2002-2004 996 Cab Tip back of 85K. PAST: 1998 Boxster (R.I.P.)

I just joined today and I wanted to post and say THANK YOU for saving me from a bad 996. My '98 Boxster died recently and I've decided to upgrade to a 996. I thought I found the perfect car...a 2004 silver cab with 65K. It looked perfect so I bought it an auction. During Post Sale Inspection an oil leak was found. Did a search and ran across an old RENNTECH thread that had pictures of an '02 996 with a bad RMS/IMS. The thread had pictures and lots of comments. The pictures were an exact match to the car I just purchased. I was able to get out of the deal and I am very grateful to all of you for saving me from a huge mistake. Time to start shopping again! I know the right car is out there somewhere!