Laz944S2

Hi, I am seriously considering buying a 3.2 carerra and would really appreciate some ADVICE ON WHAT TO CHECK/WATCH OUT FOR when viewing cars. I am looking for an early car with no extras that will rob the car of weight, so it will probably have a fairly high mileage.

Any help is much appreciated

James Achard

Lawrence, What year is the car you are looking at? Have you had a PPI done?? What is your intended use?? Sounds like you want to track it since you are concerned about weight.

James

nate

I would recommend having a reputable shop do a pre-purchase inspection on the vehicle. It should cost you less that $120 and will at least give you piece of mind as far as the total mechanical condition of the vehicle. I also had a compression check done so as to have a baseline for future reference.

Laz944S2

Sorry Guys, I have probably mis-led you. I haven't yet found a particular car, I really just wanted advice when looking as to what general things are important to check when buying one of the earlier cars, like how it has been maintained. From your advice it's sounds like I have got to get it checked out by a good mechanic. James, I will not be taking it on a track, I just don't need all the added extras, as I feel it distorts the pure driving experience that 911's stand for.

Hugh

Just make sure you have a thorough pre-purchase inspection (PPI) done by an experienced Porsche shop, with particular attention to signs of collision repair and WORN VALVE GUIDES, a common problem with 3.2L Carreras. If valves guides are going, figure $5K on a top-end rebuild or move on.

I speak from experience. I didn't do the PPI. I spent $5K.

That said, I must tell you I can't recommend the 3.2L highly enough. I love my car!

Happy Hunting!

Carrera51

My 2 cents. Don't be afraid to by an 84-86. I know many will recommend an 87-89 because they have the G-50 gearbox. I have an 84 now that I am used to it, I love the 915 box. My car sees a lot of track time and my gearbox has held up beautifully. The previous owner had it rebuilt less than a year before I bought the car in 1999.

You will be able to find a nice Carrera for under $20K. I did, though it took me 9 months to find my car. The only major thing it needed was intake gaskets. 3 of mine leaked when I bought the car. How did the mechanic know? The car had a slight miss at idle. I helped pull the intakes and the gaskets were pretty well shot. The motor had 149K miles on it when I got the car so I couldn't complain. It also needed front wheel bearings and a set of pads and rotors.

As the others have said, take any car you are interested in to a good Porsche mechanic. Just tell us where you live and someone will be able to recommend a shop for you. If the car has been repainted, make sure someone who knows how to spot bodywork goes over it to look for accident damage. One of the reasons I bought my car was that it had (and still does have) the original paint (clearly obvious because of all the chips on the front bonnet, valance, and mirrors, but I race it so who cares). As far as equipment goes, it seems that most of the US spec cars came with alot of options (ie: sunroof, power windows, A/C, Fuchs wheels etc.) I did look at a euro spec Carrera that didn't have A/C or a sunroof and had the standard phone dial wheels so there are some out there. Just be patient and you will find the right car. Good luck in your search and try to look at as many cars as possible to get a good comparison.

Hugh

Another way to check for intake leaks is to spray something extremely flammable (carb cleaner?) at the places where the components come together while the engine is running. The idle will come up briefly if the stuff is finding its way in. I watched a mech find my leaks that way.

Laz944S2

Thank you all very much for your help, I have printed off the replys and will certainly refer back to them. I should have mentioned before but I live in England, so I am talking obviously, about Euro spec cars. In fact I will probably be importing a left hand drive car from Germany as they are cheaper. I have a great book that has most copies of the original test reports that came out during the Carerra 3.2's lifetime, and the earlier ones seem to be less adorned with all the extras that probably add weight and lessen the pure driving experience.

I also ideally want one without the large spoiler at the back, but am not sure if this has a drastic effect on roadholding at high speeds?

Thanks again for all your help,