[thstone]

Send me a PM with your email and I'll send you my PPI list for a starter. But be sure to get a professional PPI - do not do your own inspection!

There is a lot of maintenance on a high mileage 986/996. Plan on $2,000 per year and you should be fine. There will be years where you'll spend less and then there will be years when you spend more. The good thing about this is you can kind of spread out the financial pain - but I assure you that it will be constant and never ending and in several years you will have invested the price of the car back into the car to keep it in good nick.

There are no cheap Porsches.

For example, my 140K mile 996 needed new tires earlier this year ($1,100). Recently, I noticed the car was getting harder and harder to start and traced it to the starter. When I pulled the alternator to get to the starter, I found that the alternator bearings were making noise so that needed replacement. And the idler pulleys were making noise so they also needed replacement. And one of the throttle body intake boots was torn. No sense in replacing just one, so both got replaced. And ... well you get the idea: $1,400 in parts later, I should have it back on the road tomorrow. (this would have cost me $2,500+ at a shop).