BMWDavid

I'm looking to get my first Porsche soon. Narrowed it down to the 3.2 Carrera's. Everyone says how the later cars ('87-'89) with the G50 trans and hyd. clutch is the way to go.

However there are a lot of pre-'87 cars to chose from. Anyone care to enlighten me to the pros & cons of the G50 vs 915.

I'm enjoying my searching but just about every car that looks promising is several hundred to 1,000+ miles from my home. I'm in S.W. Indiana so I'm centraly located...that is in the center of a 1,500 mile circle!

Has anyone bought a car via ebay or via Internet and happy with results? Does anyone have any experience with Victory Motorcars in Houston, TX? How about Midwest Performance Cars in Chicago?

Thanks for the input.

David

ked

welcome to RL, David. there has been a great deal of discussion of G50 vs 915 in recent years - the search feature is your ally in getting up to speed. my own pov (I've an '87/G50, am experienced w/ 901 & 915 911s) is that a properly operating gbox is more important than which particular type it is, and that the ultimate buying decision (if you've narrowed t down to a 3.2) is best based on the overall condition of the specific example you are contemplating purchasing. so physical & main-system mechanical shape is critical... I don't over-weight to the type of gbox. drive both types (in equally optimal shape) and deicide for yourself if it matters.

I've read a variety of comments on Victory, search here & on Pelican. Be patient in your hunting for the right 911, make it a wide one, get Pete's book, do research, meet your local Porsche experts, be sure to get a PPI, & have at it - cheers!

imcarthur

As above . . .

You will not get a consensus on 915 vs G50.

915 guys swear by its feel. Someone will post that “a properly adjusted 915 . . . etc etc.”

G50 guys will say their’s is more exact & less prone to problems. And on & on & on . . .

You have to drive both to figure out what all the yabbering is about & which one you can live with. If that’s not possible, they are both good in their own way & they both have faults.

Re Victory, do a search here & on Pelican for many opinions of this controversial dealer. Whatever you buy, wherever you buy, get an independent garage that YOU hire to give you an informed opinion before you lay your cash down.

Ian

bmcallister

Hi David and welcome. I bought my first 911 (an '85 coupe) after conducting a fairly exhaustive search. I was living in Washington, DC at the time and wound up buying a car in Lexington, KY.

I was looking for basically the nicest 911 I could afford in an attempt to minimize the number of issues I would have to fix and maximize the entertainment value of the car. I would not recommend letting distance be much of a factor.

Here are my learnings:

1. Talk to a lot of sellers. You may find that a lot of cars for sale have "stories" (true mileage unknown, uncertainty of work done by previous owner, etc.). What I looked for was a complete, documented service/repair/upgrade history. Once you have talked to a half dozen or so sellers you will have a better sense of whether what you are hearing from them makes sense or not. I bought my car from a guy who was pretty upfront about the positives and negatives of the car.

2. Drive some local examples even if you doubt you will buy them. I even found a local guy who wasn't sure if he wanted to sell and knew I was not likely interested in his car. He spent three hours with me on a Saturday morning letting me drive his car. There are a lot of 911 owners with a lot of good will for fellow/prospective owners.

3. Have them send a bunch of pictures. Once I was getting serious about a car I asked for pictures of all of the areas with issues (torn seats, etc.) and other potential areas of concern (pictures of underside of heads, floorpan, etc.). Most ads will feature great photo angles of the car but will not show you that the engine is dripping oil like an OPEC board member.

4. Get a carfax report. I was able to joing for a 30 day period with an unlimited number of inquiries. I think it cost $25 for the month and it was well worth it.

5. If you feel good about the car post on this site asking for references for a QUALIFIED shop in the seller's area that can do a PPI. See Pete Zimmerman's PPI checklist. You might feel better if the PPI is done by a shop other than the one the seller has the car serviced at. Even if you do you may want to talk to the shop the seller takes the car to anyway - most will be honest about their opinion of the car. Do not buy the car unless you have the PPI done. It will cost you $300 to $500 bucks but is well worth it. It saved me from buying a car I would not have been happy with. Once you have the results (particularly the leakdown stats) post them here and ask if folks think the car is a good deal for the money. Opinions are like you-know-what and every one has one but this forum is generally a good sounding board.

6. If you happen to know someone car-savvy near the seller have them drive the car. I have seen folks on this board volunteer to drive a car for me and others. There are a lot of great members of this community and there's a good chance someone you have never even exchanged a post with will help you out.

7. Agree on a price with the seller and a payment method. Personally I sent the seller a deposit ($250) to hold the car for me till I was able to travel out there. The guy I bought my car from was very nice and told me he would not cash the check unless I bought the car. He just wanted to see the certified check to know that I was serious.

8. Fly out there with the money and drive the car. Obviously you should be 99% sure you will be very satisfied with the car at this point. Don't let yourself be pressured into making the wrong decision simply because you are a long way from home without a ride, with a lot of money, looking at a 911 that just so happens to cost the same amount as that certified check in you pocket. Make sure that plane ticket you buy is for a round trip (and that you have enough cash on you for a cab fare back to the airport). If all checks out do the deal. You may want to be sure you can have the title exchange notarized. Also you should have details worked out like what license plate you will use to drive the car home. I used the previous owners plates with his permission once I proved I had the car insured in my name.

This is what I suggest. Unless you are planning on doing a lot of work to the car, take my advice and buy the best one you can afford. Sure, maybe you can save a few thousand on a car with some potential issues but the odds are you will have to shell out those $$ fixing the issues later. Markets are generally very efficient and the 911 market is no exception.

As far as the 915 vs G50 tranmission goes... drive examples of both yourself. I thought I could live with the 915 gearbox. I would up having it completely rebuilt this summer. While it is much easier to shift than it was, it is the one thing about my car that I would change if I could. Some folks like the 915 box. Every one has an opinion. Figure out what you like.

Good luck. If you want, send me an email (bryanmcallister@email.com) and I would be happy to chat on the phone with you about my experience.

KRA993tt

The most difficult thing is to be patient. Look at as many cars as you can. You may find that there are other things that are important to you other than the transmission. You will find that there are more cars in your area than you know about. Be sure to check with independent Porsche (Foreign car) repair shops for cars as well. They often know people that have cars that are not listed for sale. I echo what has been said above as great advice. Also when buying a used Porsche plan on spending additional $$$ to make it the way you want it. Plan on having to fix those little things that the previous owner did not take care of.

To your original question G50/915? As Bruce Anderson in Excellence mag always says (paraphrasing) buy the newest best example of the car you want.

Gary R.

Do you want your transmission to be one of the things you pretty much never have to think/worry about? Then buy a G50 equipped car. Do a search for how many G50's have had to be rebuilt vs. 915's (my guess is ALL 915's need to be/have been/will need to be rebuilt. Not that a 915 is a bad transmission, but it does not accept abuse well.

Just MHO of course, about to pay for my 3rd 915 rebuild but it IS a track car...

LukeSportsman

Something else to consider is your past rides and what your "looking" for in your 911. Your username suggests some BMW flavor. Have you owned modern 540's, 330's or such or are you a 2002 hardcore enthusiast? Do you want the best P car sportscar you can afford or are you looking for a somewhat vintage feel with EFI?

I edited/deleted some of my post because I was first thinking about the 89 C4 chassis change. Later to realize that the C2 was a 90 model.

J. Brinkley

gary said it best, and Luke, even a fresh rebuilt stock 915 doesn't feel as good as a stock g50 with 100k miles. IMO of course. Drive both before you buy I think is the most important thing. How far is Brian Buxton from you? He'll let you drive both. He would also find your car if you have extra money. Also Dave Maynard at european locators. Both Good guys that won't steer you wrong. I was in your same position a while ago. Very far from everything. It was easier to let someone else do ALL the leg work, well worth the money.

edit, I wouldn't buy from victory. Unless you come down here and stay a couple nights in houston with a round trip ticket, with a 75% chance of striking out. You've already made it to rennlist and pelican, don't settle for a flipped car off ebay from victory. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Charles Navarro

David,

I purchased a 91 c4 cab from Midwest Performance Cars and I have been quite pleased with the car - there were no suprises, other than the paperwork got lost in the mail for the car and it took a few months to get plates, but that has nothing to do with the car itself. I had purchased on ebay many cars and got tired of cars that were not as advertised, etc, and decided to go to Chicago and personally choose out a car. I paid 30,900 for my car, with a new top along with a multitude of small maintainence repairs with less than 47,000 mi on the clock and a mostly complete service history- the car is really a 10 out of 10. Umong the most recent repairs were a new clutch and pressure plate, which was one of the items for early 964s that need addressing. The only real suprise was the front diff was weeping, since they changed out all the fluids (which I was very happy to find when I myself drained both the diff and the trans and found clean fluids). All other repairs I considered age related and preventative maintaince. Lastly, the car does leak oil, but only after I switched from Castrol GTX 20w50 to M1 0w40, against their recommendation. I personally don't care if my car leaks a little. It has not amounted to more than 2/3rds of a qt in 1500mi or more. I will purchase my next 911 from Midwest Performance, as I am a very happy customer.

Gary R.

If you have the money, this is one of the nicest 964's you will find anywhere with all the proper mods done and only 47.3K on her (I may be a little biased tho).

https://rennlist.com/forums/964-forum/320833-i-may-be-selling-my-93-c2-after-all.html

joey c

read about victory..there are horror stories out there..i had a ppi done on a car from victory..robert neil(victory owner) said that there were no oil leaks,listed a number of options..the car came back with an leak and all of the options mentioned were not working..robert said that they were full of ****...he stood firm on his price,which was high..the guys line is that these are not new cars and they all leak..be very careful..i am ok with old cars and things breaking,but i am not ok with a liar..or a guy that streches the truth.

Pcar944

While being a long term porsche owner I'm a novice as regards 911's but I spent a few months last year looking for a 80's 911 and my experiences have taught me to put off the search, save some extra cash and get a g50 equipped car rather than a 915. My impression is that the 915 is a high maintanance component, it needs to be babied, it needs to be cared for correctly and it'll probably still need to be rebuilt at some point. Nothing wrong with that (if you're on Rennlist, chances are you're someone who enjoys caring for and babying your car) except that with a G50 all those issues become less significant, so why not go for the model with the more reliable component?
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1986 944na Guards Red/Linen
1988 944na Dark Blue/Linen

Pcar944

As regards "victory", its sure hard not to get seduced by their sexy pictures on ebay, there's a black 911sc on there right now that looks like its brand new.

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1986 944na Guards Red/Linen
1988 944na Dark Blue/Linen

joey c

i do want to add that,this was one car i looked at..i am sure that some of his cars are fine..i had a ppi done at eurowerks(i think)..they were honest..just be careful..

H2NO

Back to the Victory controversy! I have no experience with them and have heard a lot of stories. However, if you treat your buying experience with them as you would any other seller you shouldn't have any surprises. bmcallister pretty much got it right. If you apply that checklist to a Victory car you will probably be okay. Remember, they sell a ton of Porsches and therefore have a lot of opportunity to have dissatisfied customers. Also, they have the best collection of Porsches available, so there is a lot to choose from. Could you buy a clunker from them? Certainly. But, do they also sell pristine vehicles with full histories and no stories? Of course. One thing I would make sure of when dealing with them: Don't take their advice on who to use for a PPI. That seems to be where people have had complaints. Always (and this goes for any car you find) ask this forum for a reputable Porsche mechanic to conduct the PPI. Good luck - the hunt is half the fun. And then after you buy . . . the hunt for products for your Porsche is half the fun.