JWM Posted 8April, 2019 Report Share Posted 8April, 2019 For those not up for a ramble, here's the short version: On the weekend I flew to Adelaide, bought a 996 and drove it ~1,400km back to Sydney. Although I would not recommend doing that, I loved it. The whole caper is the fault of @LeeM...and I can’t thank him enough! 🙂 And for everyone else, here's the long and boring version! So, this all started with a low key little comment here that only the strange people who don’t mind a 996 would have noticed... This lead to a PM to Lee, which lead to a call from Lee to Craig at Buik’s for the owners number, a call from me to the owner (a gentleman named Peter), some more calls to Craig & Mark at Buik’s, a PPI by Mark, some more calls and emails with the owner…then...a deposit sent and QANTAS tickets booked. Tickets, plural, because the road-trip component was my father-in-laws mad idea, so he was along for the ride. I suppose I wasn't too hard to convince, as the last thing I wanted to do was wait a few weeks while transport could be arranged for my first Porsche. I should clarify that the car is a 1999 model and had 88,350km on it. It also has these options: C23: Australian delivered XJB: Arctic Silver centre console XRL: 18" Sport Design Wheel X54: Chrome exhaust tips X70: Sills in aluminimum X71: Instruments in aluminium 220: LSD 222: ASR 224: ABD 236: nternal production code related to tyres 436: 3 spoke steering wheel 446: Coloured logo wheel caps 696: CDR220 CD Player I'd had a few photos sent over during this process, but I'd also managed to find this - written in 2015 - (and Peter very kindly gave me a physical copy of the magazine to go with the car) which gave a bit more insight into how well it had been treated: I’d already heard from Lee, Craig, Mark and of course Peter, that the car was in excellent condition, and exceptionally well serviced…but I tell you what, I still couldn’t believe it when we arrived at Peter’s place (after he very kindly collected us from the airport) and he opened the roller door... It looked like new! I was seriously over the moon at this point. 88,000km is not a lot for a car, but only if it’s been well cared for, and this one clearly had been. The funniest bit was asking about how Peter took care of the paint: “I just wash it”...he said. No synthetic coatings etc here (although he later admitted to using a bit of Maguiars he had in the garage, sometimes! 😆) which made the condition of the paint even more remarkable. We went through everything, did a bit of a driving loop, which showed how smoothly and tightly it drove, then back to sign some papers and hand over a bank cheque… Paper work done and a last photo of Peter and his wife Carol with the car, and we were on the road ... for ... five minutes ... to visit Lee! Showed him the 996, checked out his SC, had a yarn and got the best directions out of town and headed off… Hope you liked my clutch riding out the end of your street Lee… 😁 Our destination on Saturday was Hay, for an overnight stop… This is where I learnt that a surprising number of petrol stations are closed on a Saturday afternoon in country South Australia / Victoria … I skipped one I really should have stopped at, so had to sweat my way into Hay, in the dark (really should have left Adelaide a bit earlier but oh well), with the fuel light on… To give you an idea of how thoroughly I had planned things at this point: I’d not reset the odometer when I filled up in Adelaide, but thought I remembered it being about 350km, or maybe 250km...either way I didn't really know how big the tank was (Peter had said 70L but that seemed too big) so only had a "best guess" that we'd done about 650km and thought things must be close… In the end I put 55L in what I believe now is about a 64L tank, so things weren’t that dire, but at the time I'd never been happier to see a petrol station! Next time I'd plan those stops... Adds to the sense of adventure if you don't though! 😁 Anyway straight after that lesson, I learnt another surprising fact - all the take-away places close at 9pm in Hay. Even the pub bistro. We went back to the “restaurant” at the petrol station which is open until 10pm...so there’s a tip for you. Actually, they did a pretty good bacon and egg roll (didn't take a photo, sorry). Anyway, had a good sleep at the Motel so I can highly recommend the Saltbush Motor in at Hay... Here's the carpark: Sunday saw an early start to head through to Wagga Wagga, onto the Hume and then home. In my excitement, I hadn’t really thought about the fact a road like that would be littered in Kangaroos, and it was… So another great lesson was learnt: the 996 has pretty good brakes when you jump on them, and the ABS worked… I spent about an hour doing 70kmh in the 110 zone with eyes peeled for suicidal skippies… Bloody hell. To be honest, I was really just dreading having to call Peter and tell him his pride and joy was on a flat bed going to the panel beaters with half a kangaroo hanging out the windshield! Luckily, the one sensible thing we had done was clean the bugs from the night before off the windshield before we left, so I could still actually see as we drove into the quite nice sunrise: After that, things were pretty uneventful. A quick brekky stop and fuel splash in Wagga... ...then we ended up just driving non-stop the rest of the way home to Sydney. I was truly astonished how easy the car was to drive that distance. Comfortable, relaxed touring. Unbelievable that it’s 20 years old. I can only imagine what a Grand Tourer it must have made when it was new, and what a 992 must be like today... I'll have to find that out... I will admit to a bit of a nap after lunch, but then I spent the afternoon cleaning the car up from the trip: Getting up close and personal with a wash-mitt revealed that the car really was as immaculate as my first impressions showed. There’s a couple of stone chips, but literally only a couple. Some of the black plastic bits inside the front bar have faded a little but apart from that, it’s basically perfect. Astounding, and just a huge credit to Peter, who’d owned it since 2003. That kind of ownership history (along with the feedback from Lee and others) was a big draw card for me, and was probably the main reason I was happy to pull the trigger on it from interstate. So, that’s the end of the beginning. I'm really looking forward to getting to know the car (which as I said earlier, is my first Porsche) over the coming weeks and months. More than a few Sunday morning drives and perhaps a bit of driver training to get used to having an engine in the wrong place 😂 are definitely on the cards. I really can't wait to get back out and drive the thing. As well as Lee, who as I said, I really can’t thank enough for bringing the car to the attention of the forum and then chasing up contact details and input on the car from locals for me, I have to say thanks to @red clubbie who has been a great sounding board as I’ve pondered buying every type of Carrera, some 944s and even at one point I think a Cayenne 😂… I’ll be around to show you the car in the metal soon Geoff! Simonk, TE911, TheBaywatchKid and 26 others 28 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARTY Posted 8April, 2019 Report Share Posted 8April, 2019 Car looks fantastic mate I’m sure it will give you endless amounts of fun driving it. JWM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troubleshooter Posted 8April, 2019 Report Share Posted 8April, 2019 Great story, adds to the ownership excitement, happy for you mate! Welcome to the ever growing club .... JWM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsujack Posted 8April, 2019 Report Share Posted 8April, 2019 Congratulations, car looks great! Love a road trip. I picked up my new fried eggs a couple of weeks ago and did a road trip back to Sydney. There's a few 996 and 986 Gen 1's about now, maybe we can get everyone in on the Hughsey's drive on 11th May? @edgy @AL911 @TE911 JWM, AL911 and TE911 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick V Posted 8April, 2019 Report Share Posted 8April, 2019 Congrats @JWM, that’s a great car. Last time I saw it was with @LeeM at theSA Porsche show & shine......... @LeeM how could you let that car leave SA??...it had your name on it!!!!!! Great story on getting it back home. Enjoy. LeeM and JWM 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter John Posted 8April, 2019 Report Share Posted 8April, 2019 Fantastic write up! People need to do more of this type of thing! The spontaneous emotions, the fear, the excitement, can’t get that when buying within an hour from home! Thanks for sharing! I picked up mine today and looks identical! I’m impressed with mine and looking forward to getting to know it more too. Simple things in life! And we all know life is too short! Philbee and JWM 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob H Posted 8April, 2019 Report Share Posted 8April, 2019 Congratulations on finding an excellent 996. I have seen the car many times at Porsche club functions and you would be going to find a better example. I think it may have won a prize at the recent show and shine event, it was at least a finalist. A few years ago, I did a similar thing, flew and trained to Newcastle and drove a '89 3.2 Carrera back to Adelaide for my first Porsche experience. What a buzz it was, still remember the exhilaration. All the best!! JWM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 8April, 2019 Report Share Posted 8April, 2019 I was close @Rick V, though I've decided to ride out the storm for a while 😁 Great write up John, and happy you avoided Skippy and friends. Great to meet you and so glad you're happy with the car, especially after a long wait to find the right one. Enjoy it mate 👍 Troubleshooter, JWM and Rick V 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick V Posted 8April, 2019 Report Share Posted 8April, 2019 37 minutes ago, Peter John said: Fantastic write up! People need to do more of this type of thing! The spontaneous emotions, the fear, the excitement, can’t get that when buying within an hour from home! Not sure about that Peter..... I purchased my car from the next suburb, a 7 min drive home!! .... and still experienced fear & excitement! Though thankfully didn’t have to worry about roos! Hats off to a 1400km spin home though. Peter John and daveyoul 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter John Posted 8April, 2019 Report Share Posted 8April, 2019 Hahah cheap thrills! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philbee Posted 8April, 2019 Report Share Posted 8April, 2019 Great story, mate... thanks for sharing. JWM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-Kay Posted 8April, 2019 Report Share Posted 8April, 2019 AWESOME and Congratulations !!! JWM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WOKA Posted 8April, 2019 Report Share Posted 8April, 2019 Nice..! New car day is the best The best bit is the long drive home, I experienced similar when I purchased mine, wow, three years ago and still loving it.! JWM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko Posted 9April, 2019 Report Share Posted 9April, 2019 Congrats and thanks for the story..... JWM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coastr Posted 9April, 2019 Report Share Posted 9April, 2019 Great work and I hope I was wrong about the asking being too much. Buying an immaculate low kms car is the way to go. I don’t envy you the carpark dread when you have to leave it alone though! i agree on the road trips - they are the best. And yes, rural Australia shuts down very early. I’ve had to do the vending machine dinner more than once. JWM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted 9April, 2019 Author Report Share Posted 9April, 2019 Thanks for all the congratulations everyone, most appreciated! On 08/04/2019 at 21:01, itsujack said: Congratulations, car looks great! Love a road trip. I picked up my new fried eggs a couple of weeks ago and did a road trip back to Sydney. There's a few 996 and 986 Gen 1's about now, maybe we can get everyone in on the Hughsey's drive on 11th May? @edgy @AL911 @TE911 Is there a thread on that? I think I can make that date, if it's not a long day. On 08/04/2019 at 21:26, Rob H said: Congratulations on finding an excellent 996. I have seen the car many times at Porsche club functions and you would be going to find a better example. I think it may have won a prize at the recent show and shine event, it was at least a finalist. A few years ago, I did a similar thing, flew and trained to Newcastle and drove a '89 3.2 Carrera back to Adelaide for my first Porsche experience. What a buzz it was, still remember the exhilaration. All the best!! Yeah it did win a prize, and wasn't the first time from what Peter told me. On 08/04/2019 at 21:25, Peter John said: Fantastic write up! People need to do more of this type of thing! The spontaneous emotions, the fear, the excitement, can’t get that when buying within an hour from home! Thanks for sharing! I picked up mine today and looks identical! I’m impressed with mine and looking forward to getting to know it more too. Simple things in life! And we all know life is too short! Haha so true, does add to the experience, which I suppose ultimately is why I did it. I don't see why I won't be keeping this car for a long, long time (although I always say that 😁) so thought making that part of acquiring it just adds a little something... On 08/04/2019 at 21:37, LeeM said: I was close @Rick V, though I've decided to ride out the storm for a while 😁 Great write up John, and happy you avoided Skippy and friends. Great to meet you and so glad you're happy with the car, especially after a long wait to find the right one. Enjoy it mate 👍 Was great to meet you too Lee and get some good advice! 11 hours ago, Coastr said: Great work and I hope I was wrong about the asking being too much. Buying an immaculate low kms car is the way to go. I don’t envy you the carpark dread when you have to leave it alone though! i agree on the road trips - they are the best. And yes, rural Australia shuts down very early. I’ve had to do the vending machine dinner more than once. Well, we came to a number a bit under the ask. Definitely think I probably still paid top dollar for a .1 but then I think it's probably one of the best out there as others have said, and the history and very clean PPI make it feel worth it to me, especially if I hang onto it a while, which is the plan. Stupidest thing is I grew up in regional Victoria, so really I know from experience things shut down early and there are bloody Kangaroos everywhere at dusk and dawn... I think I let my enthusiasm carry me a way a bit... 😂 LeeM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsujack Posted 9April, 2019 Report Share Posted 9April, 2019 8 hours ago, JWM said: Is there a thread on that? I think I can make that date, if it's not a long day. Yep! TE911 and JWM 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 10April, 2019 Report Share Posted 10April, 2019 15 hours ago, JWM said: Well, we came to a number a bit under the ask. Definitely think I probably still paid top dollar for a .1 but then I think it's probably one of the best out there It is a cracker car. From what I've seen for a little less than the asking price of yours, you bought well mate. Price isnt really a major factor (to a point) if you want something in particular. I'm sure we've all wanted something so bad we paid too much for it, only to lose a few dollars when it comes time to off load it. I've done that far too many times with bikes and guitars, yet I've no regrets. Even if the arse dropped out of the air cooled market and I lost money on my SC I wouldnt care too much (not that I can afford to!), so just enjoy the car and forget about what you paid for it coz it doesnt really matter 👍 itsujack, firstone and JWM 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted 10April, 2019 Author Report Share Posted 10April, 2019 Well said @LeeM. I’ve already forgotten... 😄 I was only interested in cars in this kind of condition, with this kind of history and knew I’d have to pay something for that. To be honest, the way I thought about the whole purchase was that the alternative was buying something like a new M140i, which would guarantee me shredding half the purchase price in a few years, while not being something I’d have nearly as much passion for... Things will have to be pretty dire for the 996 to do worse than that, and as you say, even if that happens, I’ll still be enjoying the drive. 👍 daveyoul and LeeM 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red clubbie Posted 10April, 2019 Report Share Posted 10April, 2019 Well done John......it looks a fantastic car. Looking forward to seeing it. Welcome to P car ownership. Cheers, Geoff. JWM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hughesy Posted 12April, 2019 Report Share Posted 12April, 2019 Hi champion. Please join us for the run to mount panarama. Cheers Hughesy JWM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted 12April, 2019 Author Report Share Posted 12April, 2019 4 hours ago, Hughesy said: Please join us for the run to mount panarama. Thanks Hughesy. I'll do my best to make it, if you need a solid backmarker 😁 ... Will have to see with timing a bit closer but at the very least I'd like to do part of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight 911 Posted 12April, 2019 Report Share Posted 12April, 2019 Congrats on the 996. Love the story. Love a road trip too. I pumped petrol at the Shell Servo you pulled into for 3 years while I was at Uni. (Back in my V8 Holden Ute days!) ...and I lived directly opposite with a bunch of mis-fits JWM and firstone 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveyoul Posted 12April, 2019 Report Share Posted 12April, 2019 Well done @JWM your story resonates with me as a new 996 owner also. Brilliant car and thanks for sharing the journey, a great read. Hopefully will get a bunch of these Sydney based 996s together soon! cheers Dave JWM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted 14April, 2019 Author Report Share Posted 14April, 2019 On 12/04/2019 at 19:56, daveyoul said: Well done @JWM your story resonates with me as a new 996 owner also. Brilliant car and thanks for sharing the journey, a great read. Hopefully will get a bunch of these Sydney based 996s together soon! Reading about your adventures searching and finding yours was the main reason I thought I'd write this post up @daveyoul, yours was such an interested read! Agree, that would be great! daveyoul 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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