Scottish Porsche inspections

[delays]

Hi folks,

My pops is looking at purchasing a Porsche for summer use - and is receiving much encouragement from myself!

The stuff we're looking at is front engined, early-mid Nineties vintage, so 944s and 968s. Neither of us know these cars well enough to confidently assess what rattles are normal and which require fixing etc so we'd be looking for someone with a bit of knowledge to look the car over for us.

We're based in central Scotland, and there's one car in particular we're looking at which is also central-ish Scotland, so a local expert would be superb.

Any details - of inspectors or good, well-proven cars - would be greatly appreciated, either by PM or on the thread.

Thanks in advance,

Iain

 

[944s2]

George Morrison in Rutherglen or Motortune in Shotts

Mention which car It may be a known car to the forum

 

[kitchens]

There is a 944 turbo Red that is for sale by a member in the TIPEC club if this is off interest to you wants for nothing and is a gem and the asking price is £5450 if interested post on here and i will get details to you .

 

[delays]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Dougie, that's excellent, I'll pass those details on.

The car we've been to see is the following, feel free to pass on any details if the car is known:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1146950.htm

Maybe PM would be in the best taste since it's someone else's car we're talking about?

Also Kitchens, there's no harm in e-mailing through some details of the 944T, unfortunately not a TIPEC member myself - yet! That would be superb.

Thanks again,

Iain

 

[944s2]

MMM Nice!

 

[kitchens]

Ian
Post your email address or pm it to me at brian.wood2@tiscali.co.uk I have seen this car advertised for some months now and is still unsold .It says Porsche so assume was serviced at OPC at Glasgow .
Brian

 

[968er]

Would use Motortune

 

[John H]

I'd use Motortune too.

That 968 looks very nice indeed. I'm a former 968 owner myself, and still have a spot for them.They are pretty bulletproof, the two biggest things to look out for are wear on the cam chain / cam teeth (no mention of this in the advert, and almost no one up here will inspect that properly for you, Barry Hart at Hartech is the real expert) and plate lift on the brake calipers. Also on a car of that age assume that shocks and suspension bushes may be getting a bit tired. Otherwise it is all the same things to check you would look at on any car (tyres, brake discs, service history, paintwork, etc).

Happy hunting.

 

[Sandy59]

Iain, I bought one of these cars pretty recently, and have learned quite a few things since. One weak point in these 968 engines is the cam sprockets, which can easily have a few broken teeth but still run perfectly well for some time after they break off. I believe it's caused partly by poorish design, but made much worse if the timing chains are not changed on schedule and then stretch, which then puts extra pressure on the teeth. The only real fix for broken teeth is new camshafts which are pretty expensive.
Even changing the chains on schedule is no guarantee of good teeth, and the only way to really check is to remove the cam cover and inspect them. Unfortunately this is not a 5 minute job, and obvioiusly a seller would probably be reluctant to let you do this as a matter of course.
If the rest of the car checked out good, I'd recommend agreeing the sale subject to a camshaft inspection. Then if there's any doubt about timing chains and belt, I'd budget for having them changed asap.

Among other things to check is the water pump for leaks, and a worn dual mass flywheel which will make a slight rattle from the clutch area.
Anyway if you get a good specialist in I'm sure they will check all these items and much more.
Chances are if it's been looked after it will be fiine, it does look very tidy in the pictures.
Tons of info on 968.uk.com.

Good luck.

Edited to add : Started writing this a while ago before the above post.

 

[delays]

Thanks for the replies and recommendations guys, certainly very helpful, especially re: cam chains and sprockets.

 

[John H]

Probably the best advice in buying an older Porsche is not to spend every last penny of your budget on buying the car, and to leave yourself a few quid in hand. Even the best cars which pass every inspection are likely to cost you some money in the first year of ownership, especially if you are a bit of a perfectionist. All it needs is a service, a set of tyres and some brake disks and it will cost you a grand. With a 968, even if you do need to change a camshaft and the chain, it's not the end of the world, and you will have a bomb proof car as a result, assuming you have bargained for the £1500 or so it would likely cost you. Running costs tend to level out over the next few years as you get more confident with the car anyway.

Hope this helps []

 

[John H]

Check to see if it has two tone leather seats in black and purple. If so the car used to belong to Neil Brotherstone, local club member, and the car was reputedly first owned by the Cadbury family, as in chocolate, hence the colours of their logo.

Red GM, do I recognise your avatar from another forum? []

 

[John H]

ORIGINAL: red gm

John, you may have come across this

on http://www.mx5scotland.co.uk

my 944 is a weekend toy, my mx5 is my daily 'practical' car !

I thought we had met before! [] My MX5 is sulking in the garage, waiting for the spring to finally start!

Back on topic ... Kenny Dunn does not sell poor cars, so you could be pretty confident buying from him, albeit you will be paying full market value.

 

[944s2]

Bit further away

http://www.911virgin.com/porscheforsale/86/968Sport/

 

[delays]

Many thanks for the replies chaps and thoroughly grateful for the time and effort you've put in for us!

Viewed the one at Kenny Dunn, reasonable car with decent history, and very clean inside.

Impressed at OPC Glasgow's willingness to do an inspection, and hey, a 968 is a 'classic' and thus qualifies for a lower hourly labour rate, making their inspections almost as cheap as independent garages.

 

[kitchens]

Are you getting the Yellow 968 inspected at Glasgow .because if you read the guys ad, it had work done at Porsche so I assume it was done at the OPC and should have paperwork to show this ,good luck with the inspection

 

[delays]

Hi guys,

Apologies for the lack of correspondence over the past while, holidays etc getting in the way.

So, status update - we did indeed get the car inspected at Glasgow, and at request they performed the check on the sprockets and chains as well. Very impressed by the OPC's willingness to help and their knowledge of what, on the face of it, is a car from their 'back catalogue'.

Just a quick question - what value does a FPSH have on a car of this age, in your opinion?

Whether we're still looking or not - or even still looking for a Porsche - is undecided as yet. Whatever happens I will keep you informed, and again a massive thanks to the time you've put in to educate us and dig up details of cars for sale - very much appreciated.

Cheers,

Iain

 

[kitchens]

Are you buying the Yellow car ....if not what was the report on it like,did it throw up any faults .either post on here or email me off forum

 

[delays]

ORIGINAL: kitchens

Are you buying the Yellow car ....if not what was the report on it like,did it throw up any faults  .either post on here or email me off forum

Hi Brian,

Pops is still mulling it over as we speak. I'll liaise with him soon to find out what the deal is with it all.

He did say that the inspection didn't throw up anything untoward for this age of car and considering its mileage - in fact it came out rather well.

Will endeavour to keep you posted as info dribbles in!