Tomorrow, I will be mostly driving a S2!

944psi · Sep 10, 2005

it's not just the outers that have gone see the pic below: This is the back of the drivers side sill toward the rear wheels. The rear suspension mounts are dangerously close to this rust. The grey metal is a ('botched') previous repair.

The passenger side outer has gone along with some of the floor and possibly the inner sill. Until they start cutting away you just dont know.

I could get some of those sill repair panels from clubautosport (£30 or £40 a throw) but I doubt there is anything decent to weld to.

Fen · Sep 10, 2005

If you get it looking nice in such a way that you are happy it isn't a death trap then you should be able to get between £4k and £5k for it I'd expect. Do what mik suggests and get the sills patched up - OK they won't last very long but they will make the car safe for now and maybe a couple more years. With a realistic head on after that it will probably be time for the big breaker's yard in the sky for that particular car if it's got tin worm as badly as you say. [FONT=verdana,geneva"]

My reservation before was based on a growing number of people reporting sill corrosion problems recently, their reports of £1k per side to rectify it and the belief that people don't paint sills black for fun and that if it has had work there and it was done right then normally you'd go the extra mile and paint them body colour to finish the job properly. [FONT=verdana,geneva"]

Anyway I don't condone patching up with fibreglass and filler (and that isn't written with a wink meaning I do - I honestly don't) but if you get someone to weld plates where required sufficient to properly pass theMoT you can use the fact they had crinkly finish from the factory to hide the repair (proper stuff is made by Wurth - if it isn't Wurth it will be obvious it is not original) and paint it red then it will look a nice solid car and in truth be no worse than many others around. Your choice would then be to keep it for a while or move it on before it deteriorated. Either way I hope it hasn't put you off the 944 because there are still some very nice ones around and they are a good purchase if you have a proper one. [FONT=verdana,geneva"]

Fen · Sep 10, 2005

I didn't spot the picture until after I posted the above. That is quite nasty and I think the long term prognosis for that shell is not good at all. Anything can be repaired at a price but top money for the car is probably sub £6k so there has to be a sensible limit. [FONT=verdana,geneva"]

I'm really sorry your ownership experience has turned so sour, especially so soon. [FONT=verdana,geneva"]

juliany27 · Sep 10, 2005

Phil

I am so sorry that you face this disaster.

Have a good long look at the vendor and make some discrete enquiries; is he selling lots of cars? If so he might be a motor trader and you would have a come-back. Similarly, if he has misrepresented important things about the car, to his knowledge, then you may have a comeback. Do you have a receipt? What has he written on it? Was the car advertised and what did any advert say? Have you a witness to what representations he made about the car? It seems that he did have a service book and that he knew about the true mileage - get a statement from the servicing company to confirm this asap.

Of course you will have to make sure that he is worth pursuing but if you have the above information ready and in written form [if appropriate] then a visit to a Solicitor will be less painful and less expensive - you are presenting the Solicitor with the evidence instead of paying him/her to get it at your expense.

If, of course, he is a motor trader or deals in cars, even from his home, then different laws apply - caveat emptor {let the buyer beware} is not so rigid and you would have certain rights and can also ask the local Trading Standars Officers to investigate on your behalf. You could ask the TSOs whether there are any other complaints against the seller and a similar enquiry can be made of his local police station.

Sorry to sound so negative but, I fear, that it is lawyer time unless you can pursuade the seller to return your money.

sawood12 · Sep 10, 2005

If you decide to ditch the car and can be bothered it you might get more for it by breaking it. I certainly know someone who is looking for an S2 enigne!

John Sims · Sep 11, 2005

ORIGINAL: sawood12

If you decide to ditch the car and can be bothered it you might get more for it by breaking it......

I was about to say the same thing. Black interiors aren't as sought after as linen leather unfortunately, but if in good nick could see you £500 - £800 perhaps. Front PU's are worth £250 (I just bought one) so you could get back £1000 there alone.

I know exactly how you feel. I bought a Capri years ago which looked awesome on the surface and blinded me with the shine. It drove like a dog on the way home so the following morning I jumped in to go and buy a new set of tyres. Fortunately (?) it wouldn't start and I then looked more closely at this wonderfully purchase. It transpired that the underside had been patched with cardboard and painted with under seal. It had a new MOT but I took it down the road to get a reMOT (sound familiar?) It failed all over the place including things like a knot in the hand break cable.

I contacted the TSO and they pursued the previous MOT station, but it didn't help me. In the end I bought another Capri and swapped over any good bits from the dog onto the new car.

Fen · Sep 11, 2005

Hmm, I once bought a car that had no air-con, a dodgy big end bearing and some indication of a slight bump up the rear I hadn't spotted. Oh, and a huge PAS leak. [FONT=verdana,geneva"]

Come to think of it the blimmin thing is on my drive now, standing me in at twice what I could ever get for it after I fixed the a/c, PAS and replaced the engine, and now needing a pair of track rod ends and a pair of struts and with 13 days MoT left on it... [FONT=verdana,geneva"]

We've all been there, unfortunately. [FONT=verdana,geneva"]

TTM · Sep 11, 2005

ORIGINAL: Fen
Hmm, I once bought a car that had no air-con, a dodgy big end bearing and some indication of a slight bump up the rear I hadn't spotted. Oh, and a huge PAS leak. Come to think of it the blimmin thing is on my drive now, standing me in at twice what I could ever get for it after I fixed the a/c, PAS and replaced the engine, and now needing a pair of track rod ends and a pair of struts and with 13 days MoT left on it... We've all been there, unfortunately.

"Always look on the briiiiiiiiiiiiight siiiiiide of life ..." lala-lala-lalalalalala ... [

]

dlknight · Sep 11, 2005

944psi · Sep 11, 2005

Thanks for your support, advice and encouragement (like those sills Dave!) .

I sent the seller an email yesterday requesting a refund owing to the misdescription on the mileage and the state of the car in relation to the rust etc. They were totally shocked as they thought the garage who had done the earlier sill repairs had done them competently. In reality it seems they patched a new piece of metal in on the drivers side and painted both sides with bodge concealer (underseal). With regards to the mileage it was just forgotten about when they came to sell it.

The seller was as keen to sort this out as me and this morning I met with them with the intention of returning the car or coming to some arrangement such that I would get a partial refund but keep the car.

I was in two minds whether to keep it or hand it back, even when I was driving to meet them. Fen gave me some good advice (thanks Fen) with relation to what to bear in mind and costs etc.

In the end I have kept it, but have received some cash back which means the car currently stands me at 2k. My intentions are to get some quotes for the bodywork. If I think it can be done on a reasonable budget and the rest of the car checks out OK then I will stick with this one.

If the costs for the repairs are out of budget then I will be sticking it on ebay, either in pieces or as spares or repairs. I roughly totted up yesterday that breaking the car could net me around 2.5k - (based on past ebay sales of similar items). Either way I don't intend being out of pocket (btw - how much does an S2 engine fetch? [

]).

The interior is black linen leather and is in remarkably good condition (the original was swapped by Hartec prior to purchase in 2000) and the car is complete with a full complement of luggage cover, compressor, tyre, working clock and tools.

I'll be off to the bodyshop tomorrow for some quotes.

Phil

Fen · Sep 11, 2005

Those seats look nice - sports option which is good. Worth around £500 for seats alone I expect. Not linen though - linen is the name of the cream colour available in the late 80's.

944psi · Sep 11, 2005

I always thought linen referred to the pattern of the leather - I now realise how stupid I must have sounded saying they're black linen leather [

]

John Sims · Sep 12, 2005

ORIGINAL: 944psi

I always thought linen referred to the pattern of the leather - I now realise how stupid I must have sounded saying they're black linen leather []

You're not the first, and won't be the last. [

]

Mr968 · Sep 14, 2005

This is such a shock to me, Phil has managed to get in touch with me as one of the previous owners, that car got third in class in the NW region concours in 1999, it's such a shame that the people that had it after me have let it go to that condition, but I suppose being by the sea didn't help.
Here it is in it's former glory,

It used to be a lovely car and a real pride to own, can't believe that they left the sills black, this is a Porsche for heavens sake not an old Fiesta. Such a shame.[

]

PS. Phil, just realised that the rear decal is on there just difficult to see. There is a couple of pictures on here www.944uk.com.

sib8292 · Sep 14, 2005

K300s post struck a bell with me; when I was 18 and single, many years ago, I bought a Mk1 A/H (frogeye) Sprite from a pretty girl who lived by the sea and had owned it for 2 years. Being a teenager I spent more time thinking about the seller than the car - though I did take a mate with me to advise on the car - fat lot of good that did because after buying it and using for a short time it became clear that I had been sold a dog with rust...

Well it taught me several lessons:

1 how to weld

2 don;t get distracted when buying a car or be taken in by the (shiny?) bits

3 never buy a car that has lived by the sea

all of which is useless in relation to the current problem...

Unless 944psi you plan to keep the car a long time I wouldn't wast time on it; chances of standing you in at profit is low and you will miss out on using the thing meantime. Break it, I bet you will get more than your money back ; but don;t let it put you off the cars, get a good one and they are great imho

Tomorrow, I will be mostly driving a S2!

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