While trying to decide on a purchase, I had been informed of a couple things to look out for. I would like to clarify my findings for other people who may be going through the same decission:
Several threads mention looking into the power top transmission cable. That the old type (pre 2000 model in those posts) would stretch and cause problems eventually. When I spoke to the Porsche service manager at a dealership who has VERY knowledgeable (not to mention working at a family dealership since he was 14), he said that the cable change was made for the 99 model year and thus only a concern for 97/98 models
There is mention in some threads about bad engine blocks in the early 99 model cars. He said that all of these cars were "dealt with", and there shouldn't be any cars out there with those engine blocks. He told an interesting story. Apparently a Porsche exec in Germany decided to send these cars to the US since it would go unnoticed in the American market. That exec was fired (when the scandle broke) and it seems has been blackballed from working in the industry. Or at least so the story goes. However, the important part to take away is that you should not need to worry about this issue.
The RMS failure is jokingly not considered an issue. Its so common, that they consider it a normal occurance. He also had some harsh words for leased cars. but that's another story.
Rob