968 Ownership Advice?

[Stewart Hall]

Hi Everyone,

I hope you can help me. I don't own a Porsche (yet) but need some advice before taking the plunge. To give you a wee bit of history: I've wanted a Porsche since I was a child and now find myself in a position where I may be able to realise my dream. As much as I would love a 911SC/3.2 Carrera the prospect of running a 20year old car as daily transport worries me (and my future Wife). After some investigation and lots of Porsche magazine reading I've decided to turn my attention to a 968. I adore the styling and will need a fairly practical car to use as daily transport. Unfortunately I have to rule out a Club Sport as two seats are not an option I can consider at the mo "" gutted []

- Could any of you offer me any information on running costs? i.e. Servicing, Fuel economy etc"¦

- Are there any big bills that I would need to expect?

- I have approximately £13k to spend and would like to know if this would get me into a really nice, straight car?

 

[Guest]

I have 968 Sport which I use every day for work, been great I allow £1500-2000 a year for servicing( this allows for a service plus bits I have just had to fit new Discs and pads on the front and had rear pads and calipers 6 mths ago. ) and allow for replacing 2 tyres a year , bracknell battery and tyres sell Pirelli's for £105 each for the front about £115 for back . I get 380-400 miles per tank it holds 72 litres. 13K should get you a 968 sport which is the best compromise between a CS and a normal coupe. My has Air con which may push the price up but is well worth paying for. as ever FSH is a given.

hope this helps

 

[Guest]

Hi Stewart,

I don't run my car every day, but they are certainly practical enough to use every day. I would suggest that the Sport is a better every day car than the CS anyway - a few more electrics etc. but otherwise it is exactly the same. The only thing is that you don't get those lovely looking bucket seats. I find the comfort seats in my car excellent however. Don't rule out the Coupe though. The real world differences between the three models is very little really. Bear in mind that these cars are now nearly all over 10 years old so suspension parts are often becoming worn and a lot of people are improving upon the standard Coupe and even CS suspensions with more modern parts. Mosey on over to the forum at www.porsche968uk.co.uk and you will find a lot of friendly advice there. Air con might be desirable if you use your car every day, but Porsche air con systems can be a bit flaky and costly to put right. Also, I find my car to stay quite cool on very hot days even when driving in Europe just with the blowers and the sunroof open!

Running costs - Insurance is quite reasonable for most. These cars are surprisingly frugal and I can get as much as 28mpg on motorway runs. 400 miles a tank is the norm for me (25mpg). Servicing - can be had for between 200 and 300 quid at specialists depending on 12/24k etc. I would budget 500 per year for servicing though, as there are always other little extras in there. Other maintenance costs for me have been about 1000 per year on average. Brake pads are about 100 for the fronts.

Big bills. Make sure any car you buy has had the cam chain and belts replaced every 40k miles or so, or at least every 5 years regardless of mileage. This is a major spend in the region of 1000 pounds at a specialist. If these items are due, factor in a discount accordingly. Also, after 10 years most of these cars are starting to suffer from brake caliper corrosion. This isn't a major problem but can cost a few hundred to put right. Another well publicized problem is the pinion bearing. These have been know to wear out as the pre-load was incorrectly set at build time. There is no way of knowing if this will happen, but there are ways of checking if it is failing. If the pinion bearing has been done in the past then you are safe. If it hasn't, its not necessarily a problem. A gearbox rebuild costs anywhere between 500-1000 pounds. This problem has only affected a small percentage of cars.

13k will give you plenty of choice. There are a few for sale at that sort of price at some specialists at the moment, and quite a few for sale over at the other forum I mentioned. Concentrate more on the quality of the recent history of any car you look at. You will find cars with a range of mileages at that price, but judge on condition more than mileage. 100k is not so high on one of these cars, but you will find cars at that price with as little as 60k on the clock probably.

As I am just up the road from you, feel free to mail me if you want a closer look at a nice 968! Its not for sale, but it might help you get more familiar with them. In fact, there will be a couple of 968's at the Thames Valley meet on 7th November near Maidenhead.

My email is david_lippett@hotmail.com

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Stewart Hall]

Thank you very much for the responses so far guys. It's really nice to know that there is useful help and advice at hand from such a knowledgeable and friendly bunch.

Dave, I would love to take you up on your offer of a closer look at your nice 968 Sport. I'm due to go away for a few days so will have to email you upon my return.

Stewart

 

[John H]

Stewart,

Welcome on board as a potential 968'er. I was going to answer your questions, but David has covered it so well there is little more I can add.

A 968 is eminently usable as a daily car, the only snag will be piling on the mileage which ultimately will cause the value to go down, but the same goes for any car. I would be fussy about the condition of the camshaft drive teeth, but once this is attended to, there should be no other obvious weak points, apart from brakes which seem to need a lot of attention. Of course you are buying a ten year old car, so it will take more maintenance than a new car, but less than a comparable 911. Very important that you have it serviced by a specialist who knows 968's (and this rules out some, though not all, OPCs) and allow a reasonable annual service budget.

£13k should get you a nice car if bought privately, but expect to pay a bit more from a dealer. Prices have been surprisingly firm recently. I am somewhat half-heartedly advertising mine at the moment [], you can judge for yourself here.

http://www.arthurlea.com/Porsche/Forsale/porsche968.htm

I looked long and hard to find a really good car, the quality of 968's for sale was surprisingly variable when I bought mine, and I imagine it still is. Best advice is be prepared to walk away if you are unhappy with something. 968's are scarce, but there are a few for sale.

Best of luck, and feel free to ask more advice.

John H

 

[Guest]

ORIGINAL: John H

the only snag will be piling on the mileage which ultimately will cause the value to go down

I've been thinking a fair bit about this, mainly because I am looking for a new job that will inevitably lead to a huge change in lifestyle (I am giving up having 6 months of the year off!) and sadly less salary. It would also mean I would need a daily commuter car. My car has done just 43k miles - 12k of which have been by me in the last two years. I got to thinking how much more my car is worth than an identical one with, say, 86k miles. A dealer would stick a nice premium on it no doubt. But privately can I expect someone to stump up even an extra 1k for my car? I can double my annual mileage and it would still take four years to catch up with many other 968s. Using the car more might arguably lead to greater maintenance costs, but I think that would be a negligible amount in reality. Conclusion: I might as well keep it and run it every day! [] I believe if you are planning big mileages, it might be better to pay a premium up front for a low mileage car and sell it later as an average mileage car (for which there will still be a market), than be stuck trying to sell a very high mileage car for peanuts. Anyway, digressing hugely from this thread....

Stewart - no probs, I am away until the middle of next week anyway. Mail me any time. As I said, the local meet a week on Sunday will be a good excuse for a ride out if you are free! By the way, John's is a fine example of how a 968 recent maintenance history should read!

Cheers,
Dave