[racer_troy]

Hello All,

I'm new to the board but have enjoyed what I've read thus far. Thought I'd take a minute and introduce my car and myself.

I'm a 35 y.o. ex-throttle jockey with more memories than broken bones. I raced KTM's since '92 (before they were even close to cool) on the national Enduro and HareScrambles circuits. Since I was 6, I've grown up grown up riding dirt bikes. Due to a second hip replacement (don't feel bad, these things are great...I won a National Championship and finished Bronze in the ISDE in Spain on the first), I had to give up motorcycle racing. Since I appreciate the relationship of man and machine, I built a SCCA STS class Turbo-S Beetle and have been having fun with that little monster. Anyway, wanting more of a good thing, I've arrived at handling nirvana in the form of my MY00 986. Man is this thing great!

The 986 I bought used in June of this year from the original owner and have logged appx 20K miles since then. I love to drive this thing and do so every chance I get. There is nothing else that I test drove that even comes close to the feedback you get through the steering wheel and drivers seat of this car. I drove the MRoadster, S2000, 350Z, a C5 vette, and 2 986S's and 1 base 986 all w/o M030. . This is truly a driver’s car. Mine is Finnish build, October '99 and painted in Metallic BLACK with an Ash roof. Factory equipped as follows:
- M030 sport suspension (love this)
- Sport adaptive seats (love this too)
- LSD (I can't believe it either!)
- TC (hate this - always off unless it's raining)
- Sport Design Interior (love this but it's flaking off the roll bar where the sport adaptive seat backs hit the lower bar)
- 18" Turbo Looks w/colored crests
- 3 spoke steering wheel
- On-board Computer

Obviously the guy that ticked off the order sheet was a driver...for that I'm thankful. Other factory options that are interesting but don't add directly to the driving experience:
- Extended warranty through Dec 2007 or 100K miles
- CDR220 w/Premium Sound and MJ01 amp
- Anti-Theft w/IR and Remote
- Litronic w/washers
- Speedster humps (in bags, never used)
- Rear storage box
- CC
- Wind deflector
- Sport exhaust (amounts to a large-cross section chrome tip...woohoo)
- And most importantly...floor mats!

All said and done the sticker was just over $53.4K. Crazy in my opinion to stay with the 2.7L at that price, but who am I to complain...it is what it is. I purchased it in June with 54K miles on it for $18K with bad tires and a flawless maintenance history. He said he had purchased it new and had it serviced at the local dealership in Hickory, NC. My plan was to fly down there and drive it back to Indiana through the Smokey Mountains after I verified some information.

So, after pulling a carfax, his story was verified. I then called the dealership and gave them the WPO# and told them I was interested in purchasing it from so-and-so. They put me on hold a bit but then the GM agreed to let them fax me the entire maintenance history. The history supported the carfax and went into even more detail. All services were current so I was on my way. When I got there, I verified that the book was stamped and up to date also. After driving it, I couldn't believe it. It was sitting in the garage and looked great even though it wasn't detailed. I checked over all the likely leaky areas and all was good. On to the test drive where it drove perfect. I couldn't believe it! There was a little wear on the drivers seat from entry/exit in addition to the afore mentioned interior paint issues, but otherwise everything worked and was in good condition. When I got back from the test drive, I agreed to buy it for a reduced price for the worn tires. He said no way...and I said I’d take it anyway.

Turns out his neighbor was the widow of the late NASCAR legend Dale Ernhart. Kinda neat. The guy said he hated to see it go and he would keep it if he could but he needed the garage space and last minute cash for the 4 kids he was adopting from Bellaruse!?? What? This guy was living like a king. I would have gotten rid of one of the two boats but to each their own.

Anyway, I drove all the way home expecting something ugly to manifest in the engine or transmission but it never did. I've completed the 60K service and will be taking it in for the 75K this next Friday. So far, no worries and all trouble free miles. Starts up every time, no smoke, no strange sounds and my local P-dealer confirms it's in great shape. After washing it off, I did find one area one the rear deck that has some tree sap damage about the size of a fifty-cent piece. Also, there are smoe tiny stone chips on the front lower spoiler that would not have been had I purchased through a dealership. However, all said and done, I think I got myself a great deal.

Since the purchase, I found a hardtop from a '98 through PCA. I drove to Virginia to pick it up but it was just Black and not Metallic Black. The guy felt bad for me driving all the way out there, especially after he told me it was sure to be a match, so he sold it to me for $750. I got it resprayed for $320 at the P-dealership and they were able to reuse the stock window seals. Now it looks great and I'm real happy with the way that all worked itself out.

Also, I'm going to try to drive it through the winter so I just received some OEM 17" Boxster twists shroud with Pirelli Wintersport 240's. Although it won't be the best thing in fresh, deep, lake effect snow we get in No. IN and SW Michigan. It should be great for the day after once they get it all scraped off.

Anyway, that's a little about me and a lot about my car. I absolutely love it and look forward to trying to get 200K + miles of the 2.7L engine. I've cut the recommended service intervals in half and I'm changing oil with M1 5w-50 every 5K miles. We'll see how far down the trail we go. Looking forward to learning and contributing.

Cheers,

--troy