As a boy, the Porsche 911 never appealed to me. I thought it looked old-fashioned and, when the 924 came out in the late 70s, my 8-year-old self thought that Porsche had finally made something modern.

How tastes change — some three decades later, I was looking admiringly at 911s with their quintessential Porsche styling. That was the beginning of my quest to own a 911.

My requirements were straightforward. I liked the cabriolet because, although I live in the rainy Pacific Northwest, I wanted a 911 that would be a fun nice-weather car rather than a daily driver. Also, even though I've never been into car repair, I enjoy getting my hands dirty and fixing things, so I wanted a car that I could work on myself. Finally, I didn't want to break the bank on a second car that would also be a hobby.

Porsche education

As a Porsche neophyte, the sheer number of 911 variants over the years bewildered me. I pored over the various 911 magazines at the local bookstore to learn more. One look at the skyrocketing prices of earlier Porsches, and my thoughts of classic Porsche ownership evaporated. Nor did I see myself spending top dollar on a recent one.

But one model checked both the fun and low-cost boxes: the 996. Not familiar with it? It's the one with the Salvador Dali-esque fried-egg headlights. Or perhaps you've heard it referred to the devil incarnate by some "air-cooled or death" Porsche purists because it ushered in the water-cooled generation.

So why choose what might be the most unloved 911 out there? Three reasons: modern safety features (airbags, ABS and traction control), classic but contemporary 911 styling, and cost of admission. You can get one for the price of a new Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ — and let's face it, which would you rather have?

With that, the search for a 996 cabriolet with manual transmission was officially on.

The 996 arrived around the same time as the new Boxster roadster. Consumers reacted negatively to the similarity in appearance from the front of both the lower-cost Boxster and the more expensive 911. Also, over time it became apparent that the M96 engine that powers both cars was prone to a number of catastrophic failures, of which the most infamous is the intermediate shaft (IMS) bearing.

Maybe you can start to see why this has become the low-cost entry point into 911 ownership. Personally, I rather like the lights and, after overcoming my initial fear of the M96, I spent some time learning about its failure modes and what to look for when buying a used 996.

As a result of my research, I nixed my initial idea of going for the cheapest first-generation 1999 996 that I could find. Instead, I decided to look for a second-generation 996 with a complete service history and a generous number of miles on the clock. Though both the 996.1 and 996.2 have M96 engines and are susceptible to IMS issues, the latter has a 3.6-liter unit that addresses some of the weaknesses of the former's 3.4-liter unit.

IMS lore seems to indicate that the bearings on low-mileage cars are more prone to failure than ones on cars that have been "driven the way Porsches were meant to be driven." So while it seems counterintuitive, I preferred moderate-mileage examples to garage queens in my search.

The search

In 2013, I casually started looking, using a variety of websites. A willingness to travel for the right car can pay dividends: I found that the market in California (especially Southern California) was far more active than Seattle.

By and large, the cars I considered fell into one of three categories:

1. First or second owners with low-mileage garage queens that have been lovingly serviced through their local Porsche dealer. The ones I saw were going for silly money perhaps because owners have trouble coming to terms with the actual value of their car (often a third to a quarter of its MSRP).

Also, unless the car has had an IMS failure, the owner is completely oblivious to this potential problem. For example, I spoke to a doctor who had bought his car from one of his patients. It was low mileage, had a full service history and was $6,000 more than what I thought it was worth. The VIN for his car was in the IMS settlement group but until I mentioned it, he had never heard about it. Ten minutes later, he called me back sounding rather shaken and said that his local Porsche dealer had a special on an IMS retrofit for $2,000. I thanked him but passed.

2. Enthusiast owners (usually second or third ones) who drive their car and take it to a local independent Porsche mechanic. Generally, these cars have been well looked after and have had both scheduled and preventative maintenance. I'll quickly mention enthusiasts who might have customized their cars. Some customizations are cosmetic (body kits, etc.) but others are mechanical and performance-related: springs, exhausts and ECU upgrades. You want to be aware of what is standard, what is custom and how the work was performed.

3. Dealers who took a car in as a trade or through an auction and have spent some money on to fix up the car cosmetically and mechanically. I found dealer pricing to be higher than Kelley Blue Book, but obviously you can negotiate. The downside is that there will often be no service history other than what they've just done to the car. Also, you can assume that any repairs will have been carried out as inexpensively as possible.

For example, I found a 2003 911 at a local big-three dealer. They'd just put in a new clutch, and the salesman proudly told me the used-car manager got a great deal on a clutch job because "he wasn't going to pay Porsche prices." To replace the clutch, you have to drop the transmission, and while you have everything torn down, it is a great time to inspect the flywheel and replace the IMS bearing for little additional cost. Did the dealer do this? Nope. Would I have done it? Yup.

A tale of three cars

I suspended my search until February this year because I figured that convertibles would be cheaper in the winter (certainly any that were in the Pacific Northwest). I found a number of cars that met my criteria and narrowed them down to three choices:

• a silver one at a local luxury dealer with 66,000 miles for $29,000
• a black one with 120,000 miles in San Francisco from an individual at $16,000
• a blue one with 80,000 miles in Palm Springs for $21,000, also from a private seller

The silver one looked good but was a multiple-owner car with no history, and I felt it was overpriced. The young owner of the black 911 in San Francisco told me that he'd purchased it without much research from a used-car dealer. Unfortunately, he discovered that the car had not been well maintained and needed costly repairs, which he had performed by a local Porsche independent shop. Soured on expensive-to-repair sports cars, he was looking for an exit. I decided to pass on this one, too.

The blue one in Palm Springs was the most interesting. It was a second-owner car purchased at 1,200 miles and had a full service history. Some major items had been addressed. Under warranty, a Porsche dealer had replaced the rear main seal (RMS) and then rebuilt the engine to address persistent leaks. An independent replaced the coolant tank and clutch. In fact, all the usual suspects had been taken care of except for a new IMS bearing, but the car had undergone regular oil changes.

I was starting to feel really good about this one and decided to check it out.

The purchase

I got to Palm Springs and met the owner at a local independent Porsche mechanic and went for a test drive. The car drove nicely, and all the accessories seemed to work. Consistent with most cabs that I've driven, there were some rattles. There were also two minor dings, some stone chips and some minor curb damage to two wheels, but then again it was a 12-year-old car.

The most egregious problem was what looked like a quarter-sized paint chip on the hood. After the test drive, I had the mechanic perform a prepurchase inspection (PPI) and looked over his shoulder as he went through each part of the car. We pulled the oil filter and sliced it open to look for metal or plastic particles that could indicate a failing IMS bearing. It was clean. We also pulled system codes to look for errors or evidence of over revs and fortunately found none.

I made an offer and became the proud owner of a 2002 996 Carrera 2 Cabriolet in Lapis Blue with a Graphite Grey full-leather interior. I briefly considered driving back to Seattle via Las Vegas, but decided that driving a 12-year-old car that I had just bought through the desert might not be the smartest idea. Instead, I played safe and drove to Los Angeles, where I drove along Mulholland Drive with the top down and a big grin on my face in the Southern California sun.

Maintenance and repairs

Fast-forward through nine months of ownership, and I've made the car my own. I performed some of the needed maintenance items myself with the help of a workshop manual, Internet forums, YouTube and about $1,200. Specifically, I replaced the rear brake pads and fluid, spark plugs, battery, serpentine belt, air filters, frunk hydraulic struts and motor mounts.

Cosmetically, I addressed some worn and tired items and replaced the wind deflector and convertible top. The paint chip on the hood turned out to be clear-coat failure, so I had the front nose repainted. The repaint got rid of the dings, stone chips and bumper rash as well as the license plate mounting holes. These cosmetic items came to $5,000 but were well worth it because they made the car look new.

There were some unforeseen expenses: a fuel-line leak, a wheel alignment and a bent wheel that needed to be repaired, which came to about $2,200 altogether. So I'm almost at that $29,000 for the silver 911 that I saw locally. Moral: there's no such thing as a cheap Porsche — the purchase price was low, but the bits and pieces do add up.

Was it all worth it? All things considered, I think so. My car has all the options that I wanted, including the leather interior (which really makes a difference). I really like the Lapis blue color, which stands out in the sea of grays and blacks, and I had a great time driving it home.

Summer fun

Despite not buying my 996 to be my daily driver, I have driven it a lot during the nice weather that we had here this summer. The "smiles per gallon" are phenomenal, and my kids love driving with me. Given the choice, they always want to take the car with "the roof that comes off."

I've also started to attend various local PCA events. One of the last of the season coincided with the Pacific Northwest Concours d'Elegance at LeMay — America's Car Museum. The local PCA region had an informal show and shine, and I'm proud to say that I won second place in the modern Porsche class.

Now that the summer is over, I'll be driving it less, and this gives me time to address some maintenance items like rotors, emergency brake pads and a slow coolant leak. What about the IMS? I've settled on a regimen of frequent oil changes (every 3,000 miles or so) and examining the oil filter for particles each time. When it is due for a clutch, I'll get the IMS replaced.

It may not be old enough to be a classic, or new enough to be under warranty, but I do enjoy my 996.