w00tPORSCHE

Wow...I am so disappointed. Just got the Pete Zimmerman guide to buying a used 911. As many of you know from my earlier posts that one of the cars that I am considering is a European spec'd car. He says the atrocities range from poor welding on exhaust components, placement of charcoal canisters in odd places...ouch. Pete says stay away from these cars. These cars (due to their conversions done by unconscientious mechanics) can cost of a lot of money down the road. Any experience in this regard.

sandmanCT

I am curious to here what people think. I just found a grey market 78 911SC with 73,000 miles. Paid $7,500 for it. One owner car, he brought it over from Germany. Body has no rust and interior is in great shape. How bad could they be? I guess I'll find out.

windsoreight

My car is an 85 ROW and I found a few things. It was brought in 11/1985 to Texas. An O2 sensor was wiried straight to the computer that does nothing, it is just for looks. They welded a converter in, which I removed. There is a sticker on the door jam stating the speedometer was changed out at 255Km's, they installed a 180 MPH unit. Mine has no other emissions installed. I would guess that would be different if the car was brought into California. The good is more HP and smaller bumperettes. I am not sure what the fuss would be if the car was fully checked out and had good history.

pu911rsr

It depends on what year car and when car was imported, it used to be you could import a car over only work you needed to do DOT work (headlights, insturments, door beams) not EPA (emmisions).
Phil

abe

In Kalifornia if its newer than 75 you will be smog tested every 2 years.
abe

w00tPORSCHE

Every buyers guide I read clearly recommend staying away from gray market cars if possible as you can never tell what you are getting into. Most mechanics sacrifice aesthetics and safety during the conversion process to save on costs. For people who already have them and have no problem I would not worry. But for me going in to buy one such car as a long distance buyer after reading this is difficult. Especially since I had very little success trying to get the car PPI'ed in Memphis. For those considering euro import cars I would recommend that the let the mechanic know that so that he can check for common follies in such cars during the PPI. I guess I should settle for a car that is spec'd for USA...too bad Euro cars had 30 hp more and better tire and wheel combo

srf506

I have an 85 euro 930 and it's been a fine car since I purchased it 7 years ago. The only issue I've had relative to it being a euro is my original insurance company, USAA couldn't find the VIN in its database so they wouldn't insure it w/o sending it to underwriting to see what the deal would be. I called Progressive and it was insured at my valuation 30 minutes later. The car was originally imported by a former major league ball player, who bought the car new and imported it. He sold it to a doctor that I ultimately purchased it from. Most of the "mods" that had been performed on it have been reversed by this time. I have H4s in it, the euro lenses on the tront and rear lights, it's set to a little lower than euro height, and other than that it's pretty much stock. There's a few niggling little differences in the US versus Euro parts, even though the cars are 80-90% common. The latest I ran into is I had a stuck relay on an electric window circuit. I couldn't get the euro relay, I could only find the US variant. The only difference is I could roll the windows up and down with the ignition off with the Euro relay, the US one the key has to be on to operate the windows. My SO has a 84 euro Carrera 3.2 that is also really nice and been no issue at all.

edgarcia737

I bought a 1977 Euro Carrera 3.0 from a friend. It's a well documented car. I did have to do some work to the vehicle. It had some oil leaks and CIS issues, but once I got those items taken care of, it's been a great car. I have since installed Euro H4 headlight,euro tail light lenses, SSI's, Dansk Sport muffler and 16" Fuchs. I would suggest a PPI from a Porsche Shop that has a good reputation. I have had no issues with insurance or the DMV. The car gets lots of compliments.

pu911rsr

The main issues in purchasing a euro car is the germans tend to use their vehicles pretty hard and Americans are more prone to pampering them. There was not much done during a "DOT" conversion, not much to really screw up. There were are ton of cars brought in twenty five years ago when this was the thing to do, quite a few of them were junk but it had more to do with car than any conversion work. there are some very nice grey market cars and if you found one that was properly vetted I would not hesitate to buy it. I would be leary of a car that needed emmissions equipment.
Phil

misterbeverlyhills

I had and Peter Zimmerman serviced regularly an 84 ROW Carrera. No issues and Pete said it was one of the fastest he has seen. BUT I imported it myself and it was done correctly. Many were rushed to butchers; think Tom Cruise in Rainman.
It helped a lot that Pete was able to maintain the car and we did not have to correct much; you will get tested at a referee station every 2 years in CA, no way out unless you can go to the DMV with the actual paperwork from the Feds from the day it came into the US.

Daniel Dudley

Yes, good ones are very good, esp. if you can run without smog.

Daniel Dudley

Let me clarify. Of the three 911s I have owned, the first was an 81 ROW, the second was a US spec with euro P/Cs and fuel distributor and SSIs. The third was an 85 ROW. I like the way they run, and I have driven US spec cars.

The biggest problems I have ever had with Porsches have always been around deferred maintenance or poor mechanical work, so that would imply that you must seek out a good one. Paying more for a car that has everything on it that you want will always be cheaper in the end.