I booked the 996 into local specialist D&G Porsche Specialists for a checkover so I could be confident that I had not bought a death trap and/or money pit. (The money pit bit is assumed.)

They said the car was pretty clean for its miles and suggested the following work:

  • Coffin arms all round
  • Rear upper arms
  • Front bump stops
  • New front top mounts
  • Geometry setup
  • Core plug replacement to address a minor leak on bank 1

The previous owner only had the car for 18 months and was kind enough to share the PPI report they had done with me. As you’d expect from two reputable specialists, the findings from the report in 2019 completely aligned with what D&G suggested. They are very common consumables.

I had this work done. Squeaks, grumbles and scrapes from the suspension were mostly gone. Unfortunately on my drive home there was a rubbery graunching noise over bumps. They took the car back a week later and addressed it, apparently it was down to the new bump stops.

As the suspension work had been done, a geo is essential. I was a little reluctant to do this as I was very happy with how straight the car drove and how straight the steering wheel was, but obviously it needed doing after the work. Steering is now lighter and far more pointy and alive. However the straight ahead position was now very slightly off to the left. It’s only off by an amount that could be classed as “personal opinion” or preference, but it was ideal for me before. They gave it another look and it’s slightly better but not entirely straight in my opinion. We’re talking by a tiny amount. I will leave this for now.

Glad I got this work done. The car feels far newer, particularly when slowly negotiating speed bumps. My daughter, who can still fit in the back has even said that it seems far less bouncy.

This work did not really address the slightly floaty feeling when driving above 70mph. Pressures are good (sticking to the weirdly high 36/44 PSI per the book). The tyres are from 2017 so maybe they’re due a replacement. Again, nothing terrible - just something to explore.