MUSSBERGER

My bad
I stand corrected

Hogan

Thanks for all the input guys, and I understand he's being nice because he wants my money, but he's different than the other owners whose cars I have looked at, he seems enthusiastic about his car, everyone else was just trying to unload it, or so it seemed. But it turns out there is less than 10k miles on the rebuild, and he is just trying to sell it because he needs money to help start up his business, he's not trying to get top dollar for it. And mussberger, the 915 tranny was used on the 3.2s from 84-86, the G50 started in 87. And the PM is sent about the VIN check, thank you very much, thats the one thing I'm a bit worried about. Thanks everyone, I'll let you know how everything turns out.

umfan866

VIN is clean - PM sent. Something about the stories still makes me a little unsettled, I don't know you have to go with your gut instinct - his demeanor, nonverbal cues, and it seem these are good. Definately protect yourself by getting the $400 PPI for sure at the places the above folks recommend. Decide if you like or can live with the 915 tranny - I strongly prefer the G50 but the same car 87-89 will cost 3-5k more. Decide if you need A/C or not and if you need it, make it so that the deal includes working A/C, or if you don't maybe ask him to cancel his order and negotiate harder on the price.

Most importantly - you need to get/see the receipt for the rebuild. A documented rebuild from a reputable shop is worth so much more than some person saying that a rebuild was done - ask me how I know.

old man neri

About the PPI. He may be completely honest, he might also honestly not know there is something wrong with the car. Get a PPI

D.C.

If the engine has 10k miles on a fresh rebuild, I would be a bit concerned about the smoke at startup. That just does not seem to make sense to me. Get the receipts for the rebuild to see what was done.
If there are no receipts, I might be inclined to believe that the rebuild was not a "Rebuild", if you know what I mean.

The guy I bought my car from said the engine was rebuilt, there was a stamp in the book that said "engine and driveline rebuilt". I believe it to be true, but have no Idea as to the extent of the rebuild. Sometimes my car smokes a bit a startup, usually not, but on occasion it does. It still runs great, and my oil consumption is not outside what most consider to be normal.

Get the PPI !!!! Then at least you know what you have.

Hogan

Yeah, these are all good points, and umfan, thank you very much for the carfax, I think it smoked at start up just because it had been sitting not for long, but about a week, I'm going by again to check it out today, and if it smokes again, because I know he had it out yesterday, then I may walk. I mean, I trust the guy, but it still kinda seems like something doesn't quite ad up, he says he has all the reciepts, he's probably going to show them to me today. I mean maybe I have genuinely just found a good deal, who knows, but I still have some more research to do on this car before I buy it. Oh, and the A/C isn't a problem, it's kinda late in the summer, I wouldn't use it for too much longer anyway, then I have all winter to have the A/C compressor installed, and if I never get around to it, no big deal, I have been driving around a Suburban all summer with no A/C, I once drove 8 hours in one day so A/C isn't quite as big a deal as it used to be, so worry about that when I feel the need to. But I'm not making any commitments until I know this car is solid, and know the extent of the rebuild, the compression test, stuff like that. Thanks for all your help everyone.

Kurt V

The car looks good, but I'm not buying into the "someone stole the AC compressor" line. If the engine was rebuilt he should have receipts for it. If he does not, assume the engine was not rebuilt. Smoke on startup means nothing.

GothingNC

How about a decent 89 Carrera I spotted in the DC Craigslist?

Only $14,799 !

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/n...400811926.html

110,000 miles and a Dorkiphus member gave the seller a call and said it has a recent clutch and all maint is up to date.

It looks like he's trying to sell everything he owns.

John

Daniel Dudley

Marry in haste, repent in leisure. LOL.

VNTGSPD

As others have said, proceed with caution. The car looks good enough but there is no way that engine has been apart in the past 10K miles. Look at the case, the bolts, plug wires and there is not evidence that anyone has touched them. Also, it looks like there is a plug wire (coil maybe) tie wrapped to the top of the distributor??? Unless this sat in a field for a couple years and got dirty, there is no way this engine has been apart past the valve covers.

Good Luck

CT944

He has turned buyers down when he felt they would not take care of the car - what nonsense. beware of the nice guy seller..

ked

"How about a decent 89 Carrera I spotted in the DC Craigslist?"

now a nice, no stories 110k mi 3.2 for 15K is worth looking into...

nicklouse10

[QUOTE=MUSSBERGER;4475806]......if he was expecting you he would have probably started it before you got there which normally would clear up any startup smoke......QUOTE]

I always walk away from any car that I'm going to see that I can't hear started from cold.

Its one of my self imposed rules for buying a car. I always ask the seller if I can hear the car start from cold, if they say no, walk away, if they say yes and then you turn up and its been started anyway, RUN away, irrespective of any excuse they may give you. Warm engines can hide a host of problems and noises that you only see and hear when cold

Always turn up 30 minutes before the arranged time when going to view a car for sale, you wouldn't believe the sorts of things you will catch the seller doing to the car

P76

I bought my 89 cab 5 years ago... when I took it in for the PPI, the shop owner remembered working on it previously. I learned 2 things from this:

1. Go to the shop where he had it worked on, especially the engine rebuild, take a picture of the car with you, and talk to the owner of the shop about what has been done to the car. It's amazing what the shop owners can remember, and you'll get the details of that 'engine rebuild'. The shop should have records.

2. I would take the car to a different shop and have the PPI done. I may be paranoid, but I would like to avoid any sort of 'alliance' or familiarity between the PPI mechanic and the current owner of the porsche. That way you would get a truly unbiased opinion of what the car's been through. The PPI cuts through all the crap that may be fed to you from owners.

When you're about to drop thousands of dollars on something, you have a right to be very picky.

RacingBeat

+ 1 on the nonsense........that line would not comfort me