Inspection help?

waxman · Mar 18, 2014

Drove past a great looking 1990 944 guards red S2 cab today at a non porsche dealer and stopped for a look. I thought it would make a great summer weekend drive so could I have some recommendations on an independent that would be able to undertake an inspection of a 944 for me around the Surrey area?
Tony

ChasR · Mar 18, 2014

You could always swing the car by a specialist for him to have a look at it

. I would suggest a specialist local to you, but others closer to your area should be able to inform you better than I.

zcacogp · Mar 18, 2014

If you are happy to give an accurate location and to pay in beer, you may find a forum member who would come and eyeball it for you.

Surrey isn't that close to me, but someone else may be able to help.

Oli.

pauljmcnulty · Mar 18, 2014

A 944 S2 cab could be the best summer car you ever own, or the worst buy you ever make.

Doing the research on what to look for would be half the battle. For instance, you could ask the seller for the history over the last 5 or 6 years and post it here, along with close-up pics of the bodywork, including inside shots of the sills. You could probably decide on the car from that alone, but an hour with a local indie would not be a bad way to spend a few £s before committing.

The only issue with inspections is that they have to cover themselves. So, they report on every light bulb, the tyre tread, basically all the things you could see yourself. The important S2-specific things like belts and timing chain, brake overhaul, clutch etc. might not even come up on an inspection, yet any one of them would cost you £1K or so.

waxman · Mar 19, 2014

Thanks all I will get an independent to look when i find the right potential car.
Paul I would be buying towards the upper end of price on cars I have seen say £8k so I would expect reasonable provenance paperwork which may help with the mechanical issues you note as to when serviced/ replaced.
Can you be specific about where the sills should be photographed from and where specifically the issues arise- is it a question of photographing the culls from underneath the car to check condition?
Thanks

Chrishazle · Mar 19, 2014

Nine Excellence are in Horley, Surrey, if that's any use to you. the owner Ken Napier bought my 968 coupe a couple of years ago, one of his mechanics is ex Porsche when they were at Porstlade and recognised the car, having previously worked on it! A year later Ken swopped the 968 for a 964 - traitor, deserted to the "wrong end engine" brigade!![8|][8|]

waxman · Mar 19, 2014

Thanks I will look them up.
I have seen some useful articles on buying from JMG Porsche and note that Jon Mitchell has released a book on 12th March 2014 called 944 essential buyers guide on amazon
Any views from the experienced 944 register ?

pauljmcnulty · Mar 19, 2014

Can you be specific about where the sills should be photographed from and where specifically the issues arise- is it a question of photographing the culls from underneath the car to check condition?

The sills are covered in a thick stone-chip paint, so rust isn't generally visible from the outside.

You need to pop out the vent in the door pillar (pictured below), and the hole is big enough to get a camera-phone in to take pictures of the rear corner of the sills. Obviously a full scope of the sills would be better, but to be honest you'd be unlucky to find a 944 with perfect rear sills, but rotten at the front, as it's that back corner that goes first.

If there's no rust, they're probably new sills or the car's a very good one. Light corrosion is expected and normal, easily treated via the access points in the sills. Corrosion through to the outside is common, and will need repairing: new sills aren't that dear, but obviously the paint could cost a lot as you end up doing most of the car "whilst you're at it"! If you photograph your feet through the holes in the sills, run away....[

]

The other places to look specifically are the rear suspension mounts, and expect rot to the bottom couple of inches of the front wings. Rust anywhere else should be very minor, usually the rear arches, number plate lights, basically the same as any older car but less severe.

zcacogp · Mar 19, 2014

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty
The other places to look <for rust> specifically are the rear suspension mounts ...

What is it about the rear suspension mounts that rusts Paul? Mine are, to the best of my knowledge, perfectly fine but I haven't had something to worry about on my car for the last week or two and this could be something new to keep me awake at night.

Oli.