Regarding your question on compression tests: I think the answer varies a lot and there is no general rule regarding time or how often. I would think on higher mileage cars in general, it would be good to have it done to make sure everything is in order. But it depends on so many factors, how well the car was cared for and if regularly serviced with a full history, etc. I think it more relevant whether car is experiencing excessive oil consumption or some other symptom that might be indicative of a problem, etc. I think most would agree that a leak down is more telling, but having a full service history available and no signs of an issue may be enough not to need one performed. However, when changing hands though, it does give the prospective buyer comfort as to whether there might be some major work required so it can be factored into the purchase price, as history on these cars can never be fully known. I would love to hear what Frank @beckseuropean thinks about your question as to "how often", given the hundreds that he has worked on or have passed through his hands. For longer term owners, if the car just doesn't feel as "responsive as it used to" and oil consumption has increased, my guess is that it may be time for the tests to be performed just to see if anything becomes evident.
Curious what you found on the transmission issue regarding that last invoice. Pic #210 only shows a portion of the invoice and no explanation as to what the real issue was. Did they have a conclusion as to why the fluid was "surprisingly dark"? I'm a bit surprised at such low miles the transmission needed work.
The 993TTS is such a beautiful car and this is a great color combo as well. Always nice to see a turbo S with the Hardback Sports Seats.
Pardon me, now I see they are chrome. The lighting reflection made them look black at first glance (to me at least). But yes, the extra set. Pic 279 appears to have a different valve stem opening from the rest. Maybe just the angle, but rear pics would confirm.
Beautiful car. Can you confirm that all of the black wheels are hollow spoke? Pic 279 looks like that wheel is possibly a Turbo Twist solid spoke. Hard to tell with the black paint. Pics of the backside? Thanks
Yes indeed, a beautiful car in this combo. Looking forward to seeing where this ends up.
@MPM97turbo has the right intuition on the mats. They are not the factory black with red script mats that came with the car, but could possibly be OEM sourced from Lloyd Mats at some point. They are definitely a custom mat and not sure if Lloyd would make a different configuration for you if requested, but note the cutouts for the pedals, the stock mat didn't have those as they came up to the pedal area but not up and around them. Also, the mat does not have the OEM grommet hole for fastening to floor mount and the lower edges are not shaped as OEM, so most likely the owner at the time found someone to make these.
Interesting story on the OEM mats with the Porsche crest embroidered into the mat. Porsche notified their manufacturers (Lloyd Mats in USA) in late 2000s they didn't like the idea of people having their shoes on the crest, so by 2010/11 they pulled the license from them and they were no longer able to sell them that way. Lloyd had the license for only the script mats after that until around 2021 when the licenses were pulled by Porsche.
C02 means it is a US delivered car
586 (not 588): Lumbar support - left seat
650 (not 850): Sunroof (Std on US cars)
692 (not 892): 6 disc CD changer in frunk
The following are not option codes:
09981: The car was diverted off the line to the Exclusive Dept for finishing. Most likely at loop 7 in the line. The options that caused it to be diverted were the X54 Chrome exhausts and the X70 Aluminum door sills. The other X options were stocked on the regular production line.
09991: Designates the car has one or more Exclusive Dept X options. This car has the 5 listed (X54, X70, X71, X97 and X98).
All the best
Jul 26, 2026 01:37
@MrRare
You are an excellent seller. Very present at all times and responding to each question as a gentleman. I hope you are able to get a deal done with the high bidder. I wouldn't have sold there either.
That is definitely not normal wear, but often the reference of warped rotors is an incorrect diagnosis. Most of the time it is uneven brake pad deposition that gives the braking a "warped rotor" feel rather than actually warped rotors. The dealer may have just recommended replacing rather than getting to the bottom of the issue. You see many cars with 60k-80k on them with original rotors, some even higher. Really depends on driving conditions/style. Hard to know without any info on the diagnosis.
@982fan your thoughts?
Jul 25, 2026 10:50
@ChrisCOak
That is definitely not normal wear, but often the reference of warped rotors is an incorrect diagnosis. Most of the time it is uneven brake pad deposition that gives the braking a "warped rotor" feel rather than actually warped rotors. The dealer may have just recommended replacing rather than getting to the bottom of the issue. You see many cars with 60k-80k on them with original rotors, some even higher. Really depends on driving conditions/style. Hard to know without any info on the diagnosis.
@982fan your thoughts?
Jul 25, 2026 10:50
@ChrisCOak
That is definitely not normal wear, but often the reference of warped rotors is an incorrect diagnosis. Most of the time it is uneven brake pad deposition that gives the braking a "warped rotor" feel rather than actually warped rotors. The dealer may have just recommended replacing rather than getting to the bottom of the issue. You see many cars with 60k-80k on them with original rotors, some even higher. Really depends on driving conditions/style. Hard to know without any info on the diagnosis.
So the original owner had it done at some point. Makes sense. He clearly had an idea as to how he wanted the car to look and got it all done. Explains all the aftermarket changes. Although I prefer the X77 993 steering wheel, He focused on many of the right aesthetics, IMO.
I am sure you will miss it.
GLWTA
Jul 23, 2026 00:41
@MrRare
So the original owner had it done at some point. Makes sense. He clearly had an idea as to how he wanted the car to look and got it all done. Explains all the aftermarket changes. Although I prefer the X77 993 steering wheel, He focused on many of the right aesthetics, IMO.
I am sure you will miss it.
GLWTA
Jul 23, 2026 00:41
@MrRare
So the original owner had it done at some point. Makes sense. He clearly had an idea as to how he wanted the car to look and got it all done. Explains all the aftermarket changes. Although I prefer the X77 993 steering wheel, He focused on many of the right aesthetics, IMO.
I really wouldn't worry about it. The hood sticker has all the info one needs to understand what was original on the car. In this case, the only info you would get is what the 00051 line instruction code was for. Which, as I stated earlier, almost always is a trivial instruction for the production line. It is very common on the cars and can mean so many different things. You have everything else. The only thing that the CTC would verify for your car that isn't known is the engine and gearbox serial numbers for verification. The CTC won't even have the line instruction codes. You would need the build sheet for that as I mentioned earlier. If there were an issue with matching numbers car here, even the VIN Analytics ($13) build sheet would have that info and you get that online in minutes. But there is no reason to suspect that as an issue here so I wouldn't bother with going any further. So many Porsche air-cooled cars bought and sold on here daily and almost never see an explanation for the Z codes or the basic 5 digit line instruction codes. At least you have one of the two defined as it is a common Z-option and the other one isn't worth a lot of effort to find out.
The Porsche CTC ($500 fee) has to be done by a Porsche Classic designated dealer, of which there were about 14 in the country last time I checked. You have to take the car there and have it inspected and you receive the certificate a month or so later. There were all sorts of fraud issues with the COA program over the years so they discontinued it for that reason. It also explains why you now have to take the car to a Porsche Classic designated dealer for inspection. The fraud really became a problem.
One question I have: Did you convert the front bumper cover to the RoW setup or was it like that when you bought it? I think all agree, it's a favored look and we all wish the DoT didn't get involved in determining some engineering designs!
If you had the work done, did you source a RoW bumper cover or have the cutouts filled in with the aftermarket brackets that are available? Just curious. Looks well done.
Jul 22, 2026 20:43
@MrRare
I really wouldn't worry about it. The hood sticker has all the info one needs to understand what was original on the car. In this case, the only info you would get is what the 00051 line instruction code was for. Which, as I stated earlier, almost always is a trivial instruction for the production line. It is very common on the cars and can mean so many different things. You have everything else. The only thing that the CTC would verify for your car that isn't known is the engine and gearbox serial numbers for verification. The CTC won't even have the line instruction codes. You would need the build sheet for that as I mentioned earlier. If there were an issue with matching numbers car here, even the VIN Analytics ($13) build sheet would have that info and you get that online in minutes. But there is no reason to suspect that as an issue here so I wouldn't bother with going any further. So many Porsche air-cooled cars bought and sold on here daily and almost never see an explanation for the Z codes or the basic 5 digit line instruction codes. At least you have one of the two defined as it is a common Z-option and the other one isn't worth a lot of effort to find out.
The Porsche CTC ($500 fee) has to be done by a Porsche Classic designated dealer, of which there were about 14 in the country last time I checked. You have to take the car there and have it inspected and you receive the certificate a month or so later. There were all sorts of fraud issues with the COA program over the years so they discontinued it for that reason. It also explains why you now have to take the car to a Porsche Classic designated dealer for inspection. The fraud really became a problem.
One question I have: Did you convert the front bumper cover to the RoW setup or was it like that when you bought it? I think all agree, it's a favored look and we all wish the DoT didn't get involved in determining some engineering designs!
If you had the work done, did you source a RoW bumper cover or have the cutouts filled in with the aftermarket brackets that are available? Just curious. Looks well done.
Jul 22, 2026 20:43
@MrRare
I really wouldn't worry about it. The hood sticker has all the info one needs to understand what was original on the car. In this case, the only info you would get is what the 00051 line instruction code was for. Which, as I stated earlier, almost always is a trivial instruction for the production line. It is very common on the cars and can mean so many different things. You have everything else. The only thing that the CTC would verify for your car that isn't known is the engine and gearbox serial numbers for verification. The CTC won't even have the line instruction codes. You would need the build sheet for that as I mentioned earlier. If there were an issue with matching numbers car here, even the VIN Analytics ($13) build sheet would have that info and you get that online in minutes. But there is no reason to suspect that as an issue here so I wouldn't bother with going any further. So many Porsche air-cooled cars bought and sold on here daily and almost never see an explanation for the Z codes or the basic 5 digit line instruction codes. At least you have one of the two defined as it is a common Z-option and the other one isn't worth a lot of effort to find out.
The Porsche CTC ($500 fee) has to be done by a Porsche Classic designated dealer, of which there were about 14 in the country last time I checked. You have to take the car there and have it inspected and you receive the certificate a month or so later. There were all sorts of fraud issues with the COA program over the years so they discontinued it for that reason. It also explains why you now have to take the car to a Porsche Classic designated dealer for inspection. The fraud really became a problem.
One question I have: Did you convert the front bumper cover to the RoW setup or was it like that when you bought it? I think all agree, it's a favored look and we all wish the DoT didn't get involved in determining some engineering designs!
If you had the work done, did you source a RoW bumper cover or have the cutouts filled in with the aftermarket brackets that are available? Just curious. Looks well done.
I looked hard and thought I could see a slight silhouette of them in one picture but the lighting and angle made them very hard to detect, as you can see. With that 16981 factory z-code on the hood sticker, I have no doubt they are there.
Without the Porsche build sheet you just won't know what the line instruction code of 00051 is for, but it is a very common line instruction code and can mean endless instructions. Unlike the 5 digit Z codes that start with a 1 or 2, the ones that start with zero, don't always mean the same thing. Unfortunately, VIN Analytics doesn't have the info on those 5 digit line codes that start with a "0", but they are the best out there for the rest of them. So only real source for those codes is Porsche.
Jul 21, 2026 09:04
@MrRare
I looked hard and thought I could see a slight silhouette of them in one picture but the lighting and angle made them very hard to detect, as you can see. With that 16981 factory z-code on the hood sticker, I have no doubt they are there.
Without the Porsche build sheet you just won't know what the line instruction code of 00051 is for, but it is a very common line instruction code and can mean endless instructions. Unlike the 5 digit Z codes that start with a 1 or 2, the ones that start with zero, don't always mean the same thing. Unfortunately, VIN Analytics doesn't have the info on those 5 digit line codes that start with a "0", but they are the best out there for the rest of them. So only real source for those codes is Porsche.
Jul 21, 2026 09:04
@MrRare
I looked hard and thought I could see a slight silhouette of them in one picture but the lighting and angle made them very hard to detect, as you can see. With that 16981 factory z-code on the hood sticker, I have no doubt they are there.
Without the Porsche build sheet you just won't know what the line instruction code of 00051 is for, but it is a very common line instruction code and can mean endless instructions. Unlike the 5 digit Z codes that start with a 1 or 2, the ones that start with zero, don't always mean the same thing. Unfortunately, VIN Analytics doesn't have the info on those 5 digit line codes that start with a "0", but they are the best out there for the rest of them. So only real source for those codes is Porsche.
