Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Whilst some of you lucky folk were showing off their cars at Porscheshop , I had yet another negative viewing on a 968. I am starting to wonder if I have gone from someone who jumps in and buys any car if its a fair price ( or cheep) to someone who now finds all the faults with every car he sees. The question of this post is am I getting ' too fussy' ???

Today I drive about 75 mins ( quite local) too see a silver 968 with a mere 98,000 on the clock and a full history mainly from Jaz Porsce of recent years. Private sale personable chap in his 50's and not one of these 'hidden dealer' types. I expected I may buy this car.

Anyway I knew the car had been resprayed in 05 ( due to tiles falling on it ?) and unlike my last viewing this car had clearly had a 1st class finish respray not a peely crappy one. This was a plus as the car had fewer stone chips than you might expect on a 968 and really did not show any signs of a respray.

As I looked over the unwashed body ( couldnt see the wheel finish as too dirty) I immediately saw that just about all of the rubber seals around the side skirts were sticking out or not all there. Clearly whoever resprayed the car may have been a skilled sprayer but I suspect had given up on replacing the wrap rounds properly. Also the rear bumper wrap around had a similar problem. I even saw 1 screw holding the back of the skirt on which is not right. Despite this the actual bodywork was excellent. I did worry with the rubbers not sitting right was water constantly running in where it shouldnt do and causing damage but I could always have that checked ?.

He then started the engine and I listened under the bonnet and heard a bearing rattle in the front of alternator , this must be common as it is the second one out of three I have viewed that had this quite obvious bearing noise. Also I heard a squeek , not a belt but more of a pump ( maybe water pump) not much of a noise but again I have heard 968's that dont have that squeek.

On top of this and this is where I wonder am I expecting too much
( happy to know if I am) if you blipped the throttle hard and quick from tickover the car tried to stall but then quickly recovered like it was choking to death momentarily. I have not noticed this on another one and my 944 Turbo certainly did not do it even from cold. This car has in the last few weeks I believe come back from a service at a Porsche Specialist in Muswell Hill and I would not expect a car recently given a ull service to have these niggles.

Serious question is , am I being too fussy ? , or doing the right thing. My Volvo T5 had dome 115,000 miles is about 2 years past due a service and has none of these noises nor does my D5 thats has done 138,000 ( though it did have a new alternator & tensioner).

Regards Mas

That car might be ok at the right price. Might be worth getting an expert to go with you? They could help get the price down and put the money into getting these things sorted.
Even new cars have the odd rattle and squeek at times?

To get the type of 968 you want, I reckon you will need to part with £10k+ .

Not sure what your budget is Mas, but you checked this one out?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1993-PORSCHE-968- ... 45ee7d552e

Paul

Or this one ... high miles, but main dealer history up to last year and would take an offer:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PORSCHE-968-TIPTR ... 1c0d41c597

I have spoken with him yes. It has non original seats I.E from a non 968 and the electric mirrors dont work. Other that that it sounds wwll llooked after. Im thinking he should really have fixed the mirrors if asking market rate for the car, 'could' be its hours to find some wiring fault, otherwise I certainly would have had them fixed prior to sale. Other than that I was very tempted to look but it would be another trek.

Have you seen the track prepared 944 Turbo just appeared on Piston Heads ??? im stil after a good late 944 Turbo and would like one as much as a 968 for sure.

Cheers Mas

If the car is nice other than the seats and mirrors it must be worth considering?
Gives you a good position to push for a lower price I would think? There are 968 interiors on ebay quite often and you could also get money back for what is in it.
Do you know why the seats were changed?
Some 968s didnt have leather ... might be reason?

Totally agree.

Bear in mind the rubbers seals will harden with age - you can replace them all for around £75.

You dont have to worry so much about rot on a 968 as the drain holes dont get bunged like a 944 and behind the skurts is very well protected.

Rich

Watchcam do NOT go near the high miles one you mentioned without speeking to me.

I have seen it and the seller is one of the most astounding car sellers I have ever 'listened too' , more than that I should not type. I can say though as it is fact and with no fear of contradiction that it has the worst 'orange peel special' paint job I have ever seen on a Porsche , no on a car

Regards Mas

Mas - Have you tried the Japanese car importers?

968s are imported from Japan from time to time and make really good value for money cars.
A mate from London bought one at a delear in Southampton who imported it to his spec. He is really pleased with it and cost less than £5k.

I think as said before, it all depends on how much the car is for sale for. If it's top dollar you should expect it to be pretty much perfect, but if it needs say £2000 of work doing you should expect to pay £2000 less in my opinion.

I had a similar experiance today. A friend took me to see a Silver Rose about 75 miles away. The seller described it as "One of the best in the UK", it wasn't and he wanted nearly £8000 for it. The first thing I checked was the sills and they had been repaired badly on both sides. The patches didn't really line up with the original panels and when I looked through the hole in the B pillar I could see the rusty outer and inner sills were still there continuing to rot! The gearbox was rattling, the seats were shabby and there was still bubbling on the rear panel and around the windscreen. Mint My Arse!

The greater majority of 968s in Japan are left hand drive, unfortunately. Even after Porsche and I had ended our association Id still have bought a decent 968 if Id come across one (I used to import cars from Japan).

Its possible, of course, that original Japanese market cars have become more widely available available now. Another consideration is that the RHD cars will now be able to be registered without the E-SVA associated problems of the past (which didnt affect the LHD cars, which only required a simple SVA).

Simon

MM if I gave the impression that price was the deciding factor , simply it isnt. I dont think I'd want to spend 5 or 6 on one TBH. It does seem there are plenty on the market for 7 to 8 though , non imports too for that money. I did look at one import the other day its in my previous post so I dont automatically exclude them , I even bought one once , a Toyota not a Porsche

I am not looking for one myself ... it just looks ok on the advert which of course really means nothing!
Just wanted to make sure you hadn't missed it. One of them was a Porsche Club member owned?

I've been toying with the idea of buying a 968 for a turbo conversion for the past year or so, other than LHD which I don't fancy, I haven't come across a £5-6k car that didn't need thousands to put right.