944 rust

[northo]

Phil - you can email me through my profile - however my email address is edward@rioprestige.com

Thanks

 

[pauljmcnulty]

What would a cherished example be going for then?

£8k privately, £9k trade. Turbo cabs more.

I'd be wanting a very, very unusually good S2 for that money. Not only body and interior perfect, but a very recent full belts and whistles service and perfect, if not new, cams. Probably a valve job as well. And re-furbed calipers.

Please don't get offended, but white is not the most saleable colour. As such, you should get a better car for your money.

Whatever you buy, keep £1k back for the things you miss that crop up over the first year. There is always something!

I'd look at around the £6500 mark, with the reserve £1k, and you should get a very good S2.

 

[northo]

Still can't get my head around one car.

8 owners - looks very clean an

It's had the following stuff done in the last 2 1/2 years.


rear disks/pads (129k)
hand brake cables/pads
front pads
fan relay
genuine Porsche 996 wheels
4 new tyres (129k)
front inner and outer anti roll bar bushes
new clutch
recon power steering pump
rear wheel bearings
balance belt/cam belt (123k)
off side front wing
gearbox oil (129k)
gearbox linkage
oil filter/synth oil/plugs (129k)
de cat pipe
performance chip (still have original chip)
k/n direct replacement filter
camber/caster done 14/9/06
heater switch assy
light/indicator stalk assy
Alpine cd and 4 direct replacement speakers
cassette box hinge
gearshift boot

Previous to that .
1998- cam shaft chain 2 belts cam rocker gasket.
2000- front hub bearings and pads
2001-new pads brake repair kits and brake fluid
2001-oil/filter engine flush , low compression cylinder 1 found to be broken inlet valve spring , new exhaust valve guides , reface head , 16 new valve springs and other odds and sods (114k miles) at a cost of £1685

Still trying to establish it's exact history credentials.

Any thoughts, experts.

 

[Alpine]

ORIGINAL: northo

Phil - you can email me through my profile - however my email address is edward@rioprestige.com

Thanks

Edward

Have e-mailed you.

 

[Riverside]

ORIGINAL: northo
8 owners - looks very clean an

I might be preaching to the choir here but reg plate swaps can count as 'owners'. When I had my car HPI'd I found that although I am the tenth registered keeper it had only actually been owned by three people prior to myself but had a bewildering number of plate changes []

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Same with mine,

Company car, bought out by driver and then his wife, all different plates. Looked like three owners in four years, but in fact was with the same couple all along.

 

[knightma]

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty

What would a cherished example be going for then?

£8k privately, £9k trade. Turbo cabs more.

I'd be wanting a very, very unusually good S2 for that money. Not only body and interior perfect, but a very recent full belts and whistles service and perfect, if not new, cams. Probably a valve job as well. And re-furbed calipers.

Please don't get offended, but white is not the most saleable colour. As such, you should get a better car for your money.

Whatever you buy, keep £1k back for the things you miss that crop up over the first year. There is always something!

I'd look at around the £6500 mark, with the reserve £1k, and you should get a very good S2.

Going by your valuations above, there are a few dreamers out there. Have you seen the £18k Turbo Cab that's been on the autotrader website for the last few weeks/months? Also reminds me of an S2 Cab I looked at a couple of months ago, he wanted £14k. OK it only had 52k miles and had won a few street concours trophies but it had been resprayed (not the best re-spray I've ever seen) and it wasn't original with 968 wheels, mirrors and door handles. It all looked rather molested. The car had been for sale for 18 months, the owner said he'd had many time wasters round offering £8k, no doubt I'm now another one.

After looking at many over priced or poor quality examples, I bought a very good S2 with original paint for £5750. For me the most important aspect is the bodywork, I always look for original paint and no rust. If there are mechanical problems, I can sort those myself but bodywork restoration to be done correctly costs a fortune and even then won't be as good as it came out the factory. I've now spent a further £1k on genuine parts (clutch, belts and service consumables) which I've fitted myself. From my experience and I am very fussy, there was very little out there worth buying for less than £6k in the way of S2's or later Turbos.

 

[944s2]

Blimey that list on white one looked very familiar done that and that and that................

 

[northo]

Unfortunately history was not available before 2001[]

 

[andymorris]

Northo - Where abouts are you based? It maybe that someone knows an Indie in your area that would give the vehicle a once over for you. It may cost you a few quid upfront but may save you lots in the long run - I talk from a very costly experience.

 

[northo]

andy,

I am just outside Edinburgh, but to be honest I have a mechanic who does the rest of our rather expensive fleet, and I trust him totally, so I don't know if I need an indie.

Of course, every car I like is a million miles from home, so its irrelevant! Muggins The Clueless has to do the best inspection he can......

 

[Diver944]

Northo, if those items have an accompanying invoice to prove they were done then that car has the majority of all the expensive things done very recently including a top end rebuild. History prior to 2001 is nice to have but not so important really.

The expensive things on an S2 are:

Clutch £600-£1000
belts £300-£400
cam chain and tensioner £300-400
water pump £400
fuel and brake lines £1000
pads and disks all round £500
Bodywork ££££££££

Any car that has had several of these done very recently can and should demand a higher asking price.

Recent gear oil is also always a good sign that a 944 has been looked after properly - it should be replaced at least every 4 years

Number of owners on an 18 year old car, totally immaterial especially when you take the plate changes into account

 

[northo]

But how will the lack of a service book affect the value? If I buy it, will I be able to sell it in 3 years time......

 

[Riverside]

ORIGINAL: northo

But how will the lack of a service book affect the value? If I buy it, will I be able to sell it in 3 years time......

By keeping all the reciepts in a leather-bound ring-folder []

I'd be a little concerned by a complete lack of a service book/manual but it wouldn't be a show stopper if the price was right. Work that was done 5+ years ago isn't anything like as important as recent stuff, if the required work hadn't been done 5+ years ago the car would be dead by now imo.

Any 'mint' car is going to have a history all the way back but a nail could too []

 

[pauljmcnulty]

ORIGINAL: northo

But how will the lack of a service book affect the value? If I buy it, will I be able to sell it in 3 years time......

See insurance thread......

To be honest, any 20-year-old car in the same league as a Porsche (and probably any other car) will also give you the same balance of risk. Do you buy a wreck for no money and invest a fortune, or buy the best concourse example and then invest a fortune.....[8|]

Service history, if it ain't been fixed recently it's likely to be broke. Forget mileage, as these cars aren't usually 12k per year drivers. So...look for any history available, but only count the last few years as relevant. And, don't forget that most of these cars are owned by enthusiasts that may well have done some work themselves. A bunch of receipts from German and Sweedish can count for a lot more than the oil change records from 1987!

Same with the "can I sell in three years time" question. It's lke me asking "will you write it off in three years". To be honest, if you want a three year fixed price deal then £299.99 per month on a new Fiesta, 5% deposit and guaranteed final payment" is the only way to go. Try thinking along the lines of "I'm getting a £30k car for £5k". Then think "this new £30k car will lose £5k per year in depreciation alone".

If you buy a good 944 for £6k, and in 3 years you break it on e-bay for £1k, you'll be the unluckiest owner in the country, but will at the end of the day still have had three years of Porsche Pleasure for next to no cost!

 

[andymorris]

I would completely agree with Paul and Riverside. Recent history is certainly more important shows the car has been cared for in the recent years. Mine has very little history up until when i bought it, but now has a rather impressive bundle of invoices which show that all necessary work and more has been done - Touch wood!
You should also factor in the smiles per miles you may not want to sell it in 3 years time.

 

[mik_ok]

ORIGINAL: northo

andy,

I am just outside Edinburgh, but to be honest I have a mechanic who does the rest of our rather expensive fleet, and I trust him totally, so I don't know if I need an indie.

Of course, every car I like is a million miles from home, so its irrelevant! Muggins The Clueless has to do the best inspection he can......

Your email address kinda gives away your location. []

If you do find a local-ish car, then speak with peter McAnna at Motortune in Shotts. Very reasonable, very honest, and has a level of 944 (and other Porsche) experience that other mechanics don't. He does the occaisional Diablo and Prancing Donkey stuff too, so he may even prove useful for some of your fleet? []

 

[northo]

Thanks guys - may still have to go and see this car then.

 

[Robert Edwards]

Hi,

Can someone advise me regarding rust, etc.? Is the cabriolet more susceptable to tin worm and bot rot than the coupe, and if so what are the recommended remedials to look for in the service history - I ask because I am off next week to inspect a few candidates. I am a touch confused because I had assumed that galvanising would fend this off for at least a generation, but apparently not!

Thanks

 

[northo]

Look under the sills - having a look under the car is a must - I have just been through the nightmare of trying to find a decent car, but finally got one on Saturday.