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TL;DR - Man wants 80s 911 turbo Porsche. Finds 80s 911 turbo Porsche. 80s 911 turbo Porsche has a story. Man unsure he likes story.
So I have been looking for a 930 for about 10 months now. I have watched values/sale prices swing dramatically, mostly upward and out of my range. I think I may have found a somewhat local car which is a candidate. First off here is what I am looking for and what I intend to use the car for.
I want a driver. I cant justify a car that sits in the garage because I dont want to de-value it by putting miles on it or because it is too fragile. That being said, as Seattle gets a little rain the car will likely be out only consistently in the summer.
I am looking for a later car, 84-89. Im not scared of mileage given the service history is legit. Im not scared of modifications as long as they are done right. I have looked into 964Ts and NA 993s, not much there in my range.
I understand that these cars require maintenance and I should expect that to be costly, I am ok with that as long I feel comfortable driving the money back out of it. I am not trying to be a baller on a budget here but i dont want to get the car home and have it puke the motor and then sit while I stockpile cash for a rebuild. Im very familiar with high cost of ownership cars but this is admittedly a new league for me. The most common issues I see are:
Fueling - pumps and pump wiring/warm up regulators. AFR seems to always be an issue with these cars, it is mechanical injection afterall.
Transmission - 4spds with weak 2nd and 3rd gear synchros
Body - rust in windshield and back glass corners, rust in fenders, failed body seals
Electrical - sunroof failures, power window failures, again with general engine fuse box overloads
Misc - nearly none of the cars have working A/C (i really dont care about this other then for defrost)
Engine - This is the biggest unknown for me and here is why. I feel like most of the cars I have stalked fall within the 20-50K mile range and most sellers claim that the engine has had a full rebuild. This seems like an excessively short life span to me and I am not sure what component failure is the root cause. I have heard that head studs were an issue on earlier cars but I hear about this mostly on the 2.7 and not the 3.3. ARP or 993 studs seem to be a popular upgrade. Where else do these motors commonly fail and why? Do the low mile cars fail due to lack of use? Is a high mile car that has not had a rebuild a non-starter? I am under the impression that a full rebuild down to splitting the case runs in the $15K range. I have perused some of the videos of rebuilds online and this definitely looks like a situation where you pay the pros and move on.
This brings me to the car in question. First the bad news:
Salvage title - The "story" is that it was a theft recovery in 1993 and that the interior and rear deck were stolen. No accident damage.
Resprayed - Car was stripped to bare metal in 2011 and had a windows out re-shoot by a fairly well known hot rod/Porsche shop. Still the factory color.
Leaks - Seller says the car leaks about a quart of oil a year.
Engine - Seller says that engine has had a "major service" at 54K but was not rebuilt. I plan on going through the receipt to see what this encompassed. This above all other things previously listed scares me the most.
Good news:
Color combo is cool for me, blk on blk.
High miles, i like that this car has been driven throughout its life.
Owner seem at first glance to be a legit guy
Its local, I just cant convince myself to buy a round trip ticket and go looks at other cars. Its just not where I am at.
Its a Porsche 930, I would be very happy to see it in the garage every morning parked next to my E24.
Price wise I think the guy is in the ballpark for sure. Though its not a run and buy it now deal. I have been squirreling cash away for this for awhile but it is still going to be a lifestyle change. I hate debt.
What scares me:
I have based the purchase justification on being able to liquidate the car quickly should my lifestyle change. I think the respray and title issue really hurt me here. This car will forever have a story. That being said, I am not a serial car buyer. The intent here is that this car is a long term hold for me.
The engine re-build or not rebuilt is big question mark.
My plan is to go look at the car next week, talk to his mechanic, talk to my local Porsche mechanic and see how I feel. The PPI options are limited to someone in his town and there is one shop that I know of. The same shop he routinely brings his cars to. Not sure how honest a job I will get. His mechanic was the one who seems to have recommended against a full tear down and rebuild of the motor.
Price on the car is in the mid 30s.
So what say ye Car Lounge? Willtel?
So I have been looking for a 930 for about 10 months now. I have watched values/sale prices swing dramatically, mostly upward and out of my range. I think I may have found a somewhat local car which is a candidate. First off here is what I am looking for and what I intend to use the car for.
I want a driver. I cant justify a car that sits in the garage because I dont want to de-value it by putting miles on it or because it is too fragile. That being said, as Seattle gets a little rain the car will likely be out only consistently in the summer.
I am looking for a later car, 84-89. Im not scared of mileage given the service history is legit. Im not scared of modifications as long as they are done right. I have looked into 964Ts and NA 993s, not much there in my range.
I understand that these cars require maintenance and I should expect that to be costly, I am ok with that as long I feel comfortable driving the money back out of it. I am not trying to be a baller on a budget here but i dont want to get the car home and have it puke the motor and then sit while I stockpile cash for a rebuild. Im very familiar with high cost of ownership cars but this is admittedly a new league for me. The most common issues I see are:
Fueling - pumps and pump wiring/warm up regulators. AFR seems to always be an issue with these cars, it is mechanical injection afterall.
Transmission - 4spds with weak 2nd and 3rd gear synchros
Body - rust in windshield and back glass corners, rust in fenders, failed body seals
Electrical - sunroof failures, power window failures, again with general engine fuse box overloads
Misc - nearly none of the cars have working A/C (i really dont care about this other then for defrost)
Engine - This is the biggest unknown for me and here is why. I feel like most of the cars I have stalked fall within the 20-50K mile range and most sellers claim that the engine has had a full rebuild. This seems like an excessively short life span to me and I am not sure what component failure is the root cause. I have heard that head studs were an issue on earlier cars but I hear about this mostly on the 2.7 and not the 3.3. ARP or 993 studs seem to be a popular upgrade. Where else do these motors commonly fail and why? Do the low mile cars fail due to lack of use? Is a high mile car that has not had a rebuild a non-starter? I am under the impression that a full rebuild down to splitting the case runs in the $15K range. I have perused some of the videos of rebuilds online and this definitely looks like a situation where you pay the pros and move on.
This brings me to the car in question. First the bad news:
Salvage title - The "story" is that it was a theft recovery in 1993 and that the interior and rear deck were stolen. No accident damage.
Resprayed - Car was stripped to bare metal in 2011 and had a windows out re-shoot by a fairly well known hot rod/Porsche shop. Still the factory color.
Leaks - Seller says the car leaks about a quart of oil a year.
Engine - Seller says that engine has had a "major service" at 54K but was not rebuilt. I plan on going through the receipt to see what this encompassed. This above all other things previously listed scares me the most.
Good news:
Color combo is cool for me, blk on blk.
High miles, i like that this car has been driven throughout its life.
Owner seem at first glance to be a legit guy
Its local, I just cant convince myself to buy a round trip ticket and go looks at other cars. Its just not where I am at.
Its a Porsche 930, I would be very happy to see it in the garage every morning parked next to my E24.
Price wise I think the guy is in the ballpark for sure. Though its not a run and buy it now deal. I have been squirreling cash away for this for awhile but it is still going to be a lifestyle change. I hate debt.
What scares me:
I have based the purchase justification on being able to liquidate the car quickly should my lifestyle change. I think the respray and title issue really hurt me here. This car will forever have a story. That being said, I am not a serial car buyer. The intent here is that this car is a long term hold for me.
The engine re-build or not rebuilt is big question mark.
My plan is to go look at the car next week, talk to his mechanic, talk to my local Porsche mechanic and see how I feel. The PPI options are limited to someone in his town and there is one shop that I know of. The same shop he routinely brings his cars to. Not sure how honest a job I will get. His mechanic was the one who seems to have recommended against a full tear down and rebuild of the motor.
Price on the car is in the mid 30s.
So what say ye Car Lounge? Willtel?