Opinions please?!

[williams924]

I have looked at a 1986 3.2 Cab, with 134k on clock, only two owners, last owner 19 years! The car had an £8K restoration in 2001. She drives tight, gearbox very good, clutch (to be replaced) is good. All the service history, no rips on seats etc. My only worry is the engine, she sounds great, drives well, but at 134K miles what about the top end? Also on the rear N/S wing at the bottom as it meets the door it has a little bubbling of surface rust, is this the start of more possibly? I put a magnet all over and there is no filler anywhere....1 years mot, 1 years warranty (£2k claims) oil service all for £10995.Being sold by Finlay Gorham...and I have put a refundable deposit on it!! HPi clear...any thoughts, is it good value??

Many thanks


Mark Williams

 

[twinny]

Are you talking about the bottom of the "B" pillar? If so this is a typical 3.2 rust point, could be nothing, but could be all the way through into the kidney bowl. £££'s to fix, so use it as a bargaining point on price. Shouldn't put you off if the rest of the car's sound.

Top end's don't always need doing it depends on the type of driving (city stop/start or motorway). Lots of short journeys tend to lead to this needing to be done earlier. Get a leak by test to confirm the health of the top end, compression tests alone don't always show up a problem.

 

[bones]

Take a torch and shine it up under the wing and B-pillar where the rust is, scrape off the crud and poke around, it's a well known achilles heel of 911 bodies, if you spot rust or serious flaking , walk away. If one side has gone the other is likely to be on its way out too, which means big money to repair. Get a PPI from respected PPIer.

 

[rob911]

As described - 'B' piller rust is very common on 911's, especially on the drivers side. Combination of a muck/dirt trap and the nearby heat from the oil cooler lines - meaning the perfect combination for rust.
Porsche approved bodyshops will skin you approx £1200 per side to put right. The door slam and kidney panels will set up back £48!!!!!!
Its a good couple of weekends to carry out the work and quite a fiddly/drawn out job.
The problem could get very expensive though if the rust has found its way into the cills - if so then walk away.
Also don't let anyone kid you these things don't rust - maybe they're better than similar aged cars but how many similar aged cars get pampered like a 911?

 

[Guest]

OK daft question time......where's the kidney bowl? Is it the upright sticking out bit you can see if you look into the wheel arch towards the B piller???

 

[Guest]

Mark,

I wonder what the extent of the £8k "restoration" was. Detailed account should show what was done. If extensive bodywork was attempted, then my view would be that probably the car should be left with the dealer.
Bodywork corrosion is extremely expensive to rectify properly and cars can quickly get into a condition that makes economic repair of ordinary cars impossible except to someone skilled enough to do elements or all of the work themselves. As has been mentioned by other contributors, repair panel costs are manageable in most cases, but labour costs can be very heavy.
I recently undertook a bare metal refinish of a 1988 Superpsort and was gratified to find very little rust and that was after really thorough search and digging out much of the original body protection. Worst parts by far were the cill covers which were perforated and needed replacement, and the £250 per side for new covers indicates the order of costs when pattern parts are not available.
So, good value? I very much doubt it, unless some form of bodywork warranty that is worth the paper it's written on comes with the car.
I doubt any dealer would supply one and that probably speaks for itself.
My view is that bodywork condition matters more than mechanical condition. These cars can rust away and do not let anyone tell you otherwise.