Interesting commentary bit light on accurate detail! C4S is a widebody Carrera (not to be confused with the narrow body C4) and the factory default sizes are 225/40 x 18 front and 295/30 x 18 rears. Spacers are not required on this car, they can affect steering geometry and wheel balance. Further detail on exhausts and the C4S is best bought with the switchable version. Very low % of cars actually had full failure IMS bearings. However at 19 years old they will have had or will likely require some serious maintenance budgeting. Expect to replace the IMS bearing and seal, coil packs if not replaced in the last 8 years, heat shields, discs & pads, suspension parts, exhaust silencers and components, brake pipes, air con pipes, air con seals and rads, cooling system rads bills can easily hit £8k plus with labour. So watch what you pay for one with work required! or you can soon exceed its market value. Buy a good well maintained one and they are great, manual as a first choice, however the tiptronic is underrated and most cars are now moving away from manual. The tiptronic works well and can be paddle converted too. These are the next generation affordable classic Porsche, what do you get for £30k that will still be worth £30k in 4 years? This car is now becoming iconic, air cooled was done in 1998 no where to go with horsepower and loosing ground to BMW and Mercedes, then the 996 saved the 911. So yes buy one if you can!
Bought mine for £19k 5 years ago......Also re: the IMS bearing, get a car thats been driven. If its got some miles on it and the IMS hasnt gone yet chances are it wont go. The issue is overblown and affected a very small percentage of cars. Id be wary of a low mileage car.
@@umirza what is considered low miles? It's all relative. I was looking at an '03 Targa that blew up at 41k, and got a new M96 engine installed in '09. The car now has an additional 41k miles on it (82k total). It's curious to me that the owner is selling at the same mileage that the previous motor blew, perhaps nothing to think about, but if it were to blow I would not be happy that I ignored the red flag of sorts. Looking at another '03 C4S, and they want $49k for it!
Agree totally. I just picked up a very well maintained, low mileage 2004 996 40th anniversary edition. It feels like a year old car in every way. IMS, clutch and RMS just done. Also plugs, coil packs and shields, oil, oil filter, air filter. Everything else on your list has been done in recent years. This car has an extra 25 bhp and an additional feature making oil starvation in extreme driving less likely & so I don’t worry about bore scoring. I expect it’ll hold its value. I chose also to have four new premium tyres, a genuine Porsche switchable exhaust and the recently released Porsche Classic Communication Management Plus system installed. Together that was £7K extra, but it’s made a nearly new car feel like a top spec nearly new car. These have what I consider is extended leather everywhere and the roof lining is dark alcantara. Top tint windscreen. When I’m driving, it’s like it’s 2004 all over again and I can play whatever music I like from iPhone, iPod, DAB radio and anything capable of Bluetooth or having a USB or Aux Jack output. With the sports exhaust valves open, it sounds very cool at town speeds. At more exuberant speeds & letting the motor sing, it’s well worth cracking the windows. I have been fortunate to have bought a car that’s been dark garaged most of its life. It’s now also in a dark, cool but bone dry garage in my hands. I know many will consider it a garage Queen but someone’s got to own it 😊
Actually I think the fried egg headlight description fits the early gen 1 cars and not the gen 2. This configuration headlights is really very nice. It actually looked stylish.
Some points worth noting. The so called fried egg healights are normally associated with the Gen1 996 and Boxster. The rear callipers are further inset because someone fitted wheel spacers, which look dreadful and are unnecessary. I thought the rear tyres should be 295 section!
Good video overall. But they are not at the bottom of the market in terms of the price going up - that point was a few years ago and the price has been increasing steadily since.
lights were developed by Porsches engineers for aerodynamic Advantage at higher speeds the 996.2 body appreciated it was twice as aerodynamic than his predecessor and significantly more stable
Great review. I don't mind the lights except the odd chrome oval - what is that for? The 4 wheel drive is awesome and is great in corners and feeling solid and in control. I have the tiptronic which is great for Los Angeles traffic but enjoy the shifting on Pacific Coast Highway. Slightly dated entertainment system but hardly have it on as I enjoy the sound of the car so much!
I own a 996 c4s. Love the car. Too many 911's to chose from. Other than my c4s I am thinking 997.2 gt3 is my favorite. I don't have any desire for the new cars. They look great, I just don't like all the electronics of modern cars.
2004 C4S with X51 Package. Very small numbers of them. Low torque makes the car great fun to drive and they are a great daily driver. Right behind it, 991.1 C2S with PDK or manual. It’s another often underrated and under-appreciated 911 due to fly by wire steering and slightly larger size but it’s great fun and the last of the non-turbo models. You can throw it around for great fun and the brakes are sublime.
I have a 2003 c2 cab and if had more money would not touch those huge 992 would go more back in time. This review was actually quite negative not impressed nor desservant of this beauty. Enough with the ims they are all sorted out these days, stigma 4ever
