Some links in this article go to car listing and parts sites. Some of them may be affiliate links, which means Department Six may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Details are on our affiliate disclosure page.
Listings checked November 2, 2026. Bids and prices change, so check each listing before you act.
Five manual 996 and 997 coupes we would look at this week, picked from the 27 cars on our manual 996 and 997 coupes for sale list. Every summary comes from the listing's own facts. "Per seller" means we are repeating the listing's claim and have not checked it.
1. 2011 Porsche 911 Carrera coupe, 18k miles
Where: Bring a Trailer, private party, California. Bid: $50,000 on November 2. Ends: November 4, 10:26 AM Pacific.
A 997.2 Carrera in Meteor Grey Metallic over black leather with a six-speed manual and about 18,000 miles. The listing includes a Porsche Certificate of Authenticity.
What to check: The 997.2's 9A1 engine has no IMS bearing. LN Engineering says these engines can still score their bores, but at much lower rates than the 997.1.
2. 2006 Porsche 911 Carrera S coupe, 39k miles
Where: Rennlist Marketplace, private party, California. Asking: $75,997 or best offer.
Midnight Blue Metallic over black full leather, with the sport exhaust and adaptive sport seats. Per seller, it had a borescope inspection and a DME over-rev report before it was listed.
What to check: Bore scoring is the bigger worry on the 997.1, which is why that borescope matters. Ask for both reports. 2006 to 2008 cars have the larger IMS bearing, and in our count of Rennlist owner reports these years logged 6 IMS failures in 224 reports. More in our 997 bore scoring count.
3. 2002 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S coupe, 24k miles
Where: Rennlist Marketplace, private party, Texas. Asking: $74,900 or best offer.
A silver 996.2 Carrera 4S with about 24,000 miles, the sport exhaust and painted-back sport seats. Per seller, the IMS bearing, air-oil separator, rear main seal and clutch have been replaced.
What to check: 2002 to 2004 996s use the single-row IMS bearing, the type LN Engineering lists as the highest concern. Ask which IMS part went in and see the invoice. Our 996 IMS guide covers the options.
4. 2010 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S coupe, 37k miles
Where: Bring a Trailer, dealer, North Carolina. Bid: $70,000 on November 2. Ends: November 3, 10:33 AM Pacific.
Black over black full leather with a six-speed manual, Sport Chrono Package Plus, heated and ventilated seats and a Numeric short shifter.
What to check: Same 9A1 engine as pick 1, so no IMS bearing and a lower bore scoring rate than the 997.1, per LN Engineering.
5. 2003 Porsche 911 Carrera coupe, 102k miles
Where: Rennlist Marketplace, private party, California. Asking: $35,000 or best offer.
A gray 996.2 Carrera over gray with a six-speed manual. Per seller, the IMS bearing and clutch were replaced less than 2,000 miles ago, the rear main seal in August 2026, and a borescope showed no signs of concern.
What to check: It has the lowest asking price on our list for a car with both IMS work and a clean borescope reported. Get the receipts and a pre-purchase inspection.
The one we'd buy
The 2011 Carrera on Bring a Trailer. It is one of 2 picks with no IMS bearing at all, and the one with fewer miles and a private seller. The 997.2 is not immune to bore scoring, so we would still ask for a borescope before bidding. The catch is price: bidding has 2 days to run, and we have no idea where it will finish.
How we picked
We started from the cars on our for-sale list: manual coupes only, US cars only, no Turbo, GT, Targa or Cabriolet. We favored cars with documented work on the known weak points and clear facts on the listing. We have not inspected any of these cars and we are not part of any sale.
Selling a manual 996 or 997 coupe? Tell us about it.