The 911 Targa (996.2), new for 2002, is a narrow-body rear-drive Carrera fitted with a large sliding glass roof panel and an opening rear glass hatch instead of a fixed roof. Mechanically it is a Carrera — the naturally aspirated 3.6-liter M96 flat-six, six-speed manual or five-speed Tiptronic S — with the rarest body style of the mainstream 996 line.
Being a Carrera underneath, it carries the M96's engine concerns: the sealed IMS bearing, bore-scoring risk and weeping rear main seals across the single-row IMS years, where a documented retrofit and a clean bore-scope matter more than the model year. Only the Mezger-engined Turbo and track cars avoid this; the Targa does not.
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Not on its own. The single-row IMS bearing that's the version of greatest concern spans roughly the whole 996.2 run (MY2002–2005), so a later build year doesn't buy you out of the risk. What actually reduces it is a documented IMS retrofit and a clean bore-scope — evidence, not model year. If you want the issue off the table entirely, a Mezger-engined car (Turbo or GT3) doesn't have it.
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