gmiz

Hi there, new member here, Looking to buy my first 911; I want a 87-89 - based on some research. Nothing too specific in mind, would take a coupe, targa or cab. not many on the market here in San Diego, and those that are are at dealers, with either lots of mile s and overpriced, or low miles and really expensive. Based on what i have seen, I should be able to get into something with fewer than 120K miles for under $20. More of them available on Ebay, but without being able to see then in person its hard to tell, and inspections will not necessarily do compression tests, etc.

Any advice on buying online, or what to look for? There is a Diamond blue one for sale locally, but not sure I like the "mauve" color it has. Any other paths to find one that you can suggest? Alsdo saw a cab with 166k miles, cosmetic issues but seems to run well and drive nice - any comments on this?

Thanks for any help - inlcuding if you know a good one for sale that i should consider

old man neri

1) Expand your search. Look at the classifieds both here and on Pelican for the entire country.
2) Don't worry about mileage as much as condition.

pairoducs

Get a friend who is a PCA member (if you are not) and get a copy of their monthly magazine that lists many cars for sale (or on line at PCA website).

Most decent condition lower mileage (under 100,000) I have seen are $20,000+ asking price. In today's economy you may be able to negotiate lower. I have not seen ANY decent '87-'89 Carreras under $20,000 asking price in my prior search (although I was being very picky on condition and miles).

rusnak

It makes sense to me to look online at cities within a day's drive. No sense looking clear across the country. In my experience, smaller towns in Northern and Central Calif will have lower prices than So Cal. If you get a 3.2 911, then remember to re-connect the brown wire under the driver's seat before taking it in for smog.

You might try craigshelper or Pelican. The best deals that I have seen, the ones that make me envious years later, are ones that were found by mechanics that I know. It seems whenever someone goes to sell their 911, the mechanics always find out, and people always ask them to find a buyer for them. I guess they don't know about online websites.

Daniel Dudley

I think a PPI is an absolute must, but I am thinking that I would also want to see and drive the car before handing over cash. I have done it both ways, and it is painful to find that a car you have purchased does not live up to your personal expectations. That is probably less important in a low mile 87 - 89, but there is a tremendous amount of variation in how individual 911s handle and drive.

This may not be a problem if you want a Queen or are planning a project.

autovon

I bought an '87 cab about 2 years ago, and here is what I learned:

- be patient in your search; it took me 4 months and several drives (the fun part) to find the right one
- drive as many different year models as possible so you have a baseline to make a decision; you never know, you might like the 993 better
- found mine on ebay but close enough to drive to; went to see car with pre-approved loan
- get a PPI
- get an aftermarket warranty and read the fine print; when I got the top end rebuilt about a year later, the warranty covered most of it
- I paid 20K for mine with 78K miles; you should be able to get the same car for a few thousand less b/c of the economy
- set aside another couple of grand to do odd jobs to make it better and yours; remember it's still a 20+ year-old car

I hope that helps. Enjoy the search and remember to be patient.

von

jpyles

gmiz, my 1988 coupe is for sale in the classifieds section at the top of the main thread page. It is Diamond Blue with a Linen interior with 102K miles and $19,000 asking price. You are 3000+ miles away, however, which makes the test drive difficult.

VroomGrrl

Well I'm the oddball here I guess. I bought a car from about 700 miles away, using the internet, and it worked out great. Like you, I was looking for an 87-89. Not so picky about color, but I knew I wanted a coupe for sure.

After months of scouring all the usual suspects (messageboards, porsche panorama, local PCA classifieds, autotrader, yahoo autos, etc.), I found the car doing a google search for "1988 porsche 911 coupe" which brought up a site called porshatrader or something like that. I'd never heard of it. I had already looked at several cars locally, test drove a few. The last couple, one the price was too high and not quite the car i wanted, the other the owner wouldn't let me take the car off her property for a PPI, end of that deal. This one seemed juuuuust right.

I was scared to death to deal at this distance, especially being a total noob to the subleties of the air-cooled 911. But each step of the way it seemed to work alright. First was to arrange a PPI I could trust. I got the names of mechanics recommended by PCA and folks on these forums and others. I called around and found one willing to do the PPI and charge me long distance for it. The guy i was buying from was kind enough to do the legwork to get the car back & forth to the shop for the PPI (on my dime, of course).

I sprang extra $$ for leakdown and compression. Then I took the info I got from the PPI by phone (and he faxed me some notes and leakdown/compression readings) and I took that to the local shop where I'd have my car worked on and talked thru it with them. They were also awesome and this was super helpful.

Finally I bit the bullet, flew to Houston, test drove the car and I LOVED it. Because the PPI was so thorough there were no surprises. The owner was very straight-up about condition so no surprises there, either. I went into this knowing full well I could find a real mess on the other end, and I don't know what to say except each step of the way it seemed to be working out so I pursued it. At several points it was nothing but trust on each side of the deal, and we were both gratified to find our trust turned out to be well placed. I know it doesn't always go that way!

The car had 146K on it when I picked it up, and I got it for $13K (I'd give the interior & exterior about an 8.5 - I wasn't looking for concours perfect). I spent over $500 on the PPI, and $500 on two one-way tickets to Houston, and even then I felt like it was a good deal.

As much as I trusted the mechanic and the seller, I STILL drove the whole way home to Alabama expecting it to blow up or fall apart. Surely it could not be as good a deal as it seems, right? I had a list of flatbed towtrucks along the route in my purse just in case! in fact, the car ran like a top the whole trip, was a total joy to drive, and has been awesome since.

Not perfect - I've had to replace the alternator (this car eats them for some reason) and...um. Hmm. I've had a few tweaks, and routine maintenance, but that's IT for problems since I got it last July. This is definitely a dodgy way to buy a car and I would not necessarily recommend it. I feel like I probably lucked into an awesome, honest seller and a great mechanic to do a PPI (not all good mechanics are the best to evaluate a car for purchase, I'm just sayin....).

It took lots of time and calling around and planning the logistics, and my husband really thought I had lost my mind. He did not have high hopes for the whole thing. But I'm happy to report it worked out really well. It can be done, just take your time, get all your questions answered. Good luck finding a good car - they are out there!

PS I've checked Panorama this month - hardly any 87-89s to speak of in there right now.

salukijac

gmiz, A while back I was in the same boat as you looking for a car. I was traveling a bit so what I did was to look at the local listings days or weeks before I'd travel and if I found something I liked, I would schedule a visit. I found a great car in Florida while I was on vacation last summer. I found the car on Pelican, called the owner, scheduled a test drive, talked to the mechanic that maintained the car and when I went down to Florida I drove the car. I liked it so I scheduled a PPI. The timing was off so I had to pass on the car, otherwise you get the point.

BTW that was an 85 black coupe with 46K miles and the owner wanted $24.9K, which he got from another buyer.

After a few months I contacted the local PCA president in Colorado Springs to find out if he knew of any 87-89 for sale and he told me about a car 90 minutes north of me. That got the ball rolling and a few weeks later after test driving the car and scheduling a PPI, I owned the car. An 87 coupe, 126K miles with a complete engine rebuild at 110K miles. I pd $16.2K and have spent around $2k taking care of known (and some unknown that creeped up) issues that came up in the PPI.

So there are two different approaches for you. I think a lot of people here will advice to find the best car you can find regardless if it has higher miles than you were looking for. That's is good advice. Just do your homework and get that PPI.

Streetfighter

Just my two cents, but like Old Man Neri said, don't stray away from higher mileage cars. Also don't discount a car because it is not your color. You may end up passing on a lot of great cars. Take your search nationwide if possible. Drive as many 911's as you can. Originally I was going to buy a 3.2 and after driving a 964 I fell in love. See what you enjoy driving and type of Porsche you like, targa, coupe, cabriolet, RS etc. As mentioned have a pre purchase inspection done on the car. Searching is half the fun, enjoy!

Ed Hughes

While I do agree with the Carrera/3.2 choice, I'd recommend not getting hung up on >87/G50. You may miss a great '84-86.

gmiz

Thanks for all of the advice. I checked out Pelican and that seems like a good source as well. Also the PPI tests for compression and leak down. About the G50 transmission, is is really that much of an advantage or not, as Ed notes?

Thanks again for all of the info, and if anyone knows of something, pelase let me know.

rusnak

The G-50 was introduced by Porsche because it uses Borg Warner type syncros. It was thought to be cheaper to produce and engineered to handle more power. However, the 901 tranny can probably handle up to 300 hp, so it's not like the 915 trans is going to fall apart with normal street use. The G-50 is heavier, but many people prefer it over the 915 because they feel that the shifting is smoother.

My personal preference is the old-school 915. It is pure Porsche notchiness and I like the way shifts snick into place like operating a bolt action rifle.

Ed Hughes

The 915 is fine, and only takes $20 in new bushings, usually, to make it shift like new. Mine has 135K and is fine. The point I was making....sure, one can say the G50 is an evolved trans, but not enough of any kind of improvement to justify passing up '84-68 Carreras.

gmiz

Thanks for this clarification, I have been limiting my search to the 87-89 for this reason. Now that I start looking beyond those years, I see more available.
Are there any other differences that I should consider. Is the performance, reliability or repair characteristics of these years any different?

Hope to post a picture sometime in the near future of what I decide on!