Rob Heath

Looks like a nice car with a good PPI (no major items)... and you sound handy which is good for Porsches.

I use dino oil in the engine and synthetic in the G50.

Good luck today!

rockrimmon

PPI completed. Deposit left on vehicle today. Owner's wife is out of town until next Thu so he could not deliver a title to us. So the car and title are there with a $5K deposit. Got a receipt. Will pick up car next Sat morning. Was given a box with the original engine cover (No tail), 3 oil filters, new brake pads (front I think), original steering wheel (Has a Momo on it now), original shift **** (which I will put back in place), and three 1-gallon containers of Mobil 1 synthetic oil. Got all of the receipts going back 10 years and a Porsche Certificate of Authenticity that I have no idea what it means. Also given the original engine chip as the car has a later DME chip in it. I thought the original chip was a DME in the 88's?

PPI details:

Engine
Leakdown Test: Rated Very Good
#1: 6%
#2: 4%
#3: 4%
#4: 4%
#5: 6%
#6: 4%

Leaks detected:
1. Valve cover gaskets - both a bit
2. Pulley Seal - Yes O-ring @ case
3. R/S Cam Feed Line - O-ring

Tensioners: Fine
Oil Smoke: No
Belts: Poor (will be replaced)

Transaxle:
Synchros: Good
Leaks: No
Noise: No
Oil Condition: Good

Clutch:
Function: Good
Cable/Link/Hydraulics: Slight Leak @ Slave Cylinder Hose
Repair Estimate: 1.0 Hr labor + $123 part (Oil Line) - Total: $250

Exhaust/Int. Heat:
Muffler: Good
Heater Valves/Hoses: Good
Heat Exchangers: Good
Blower Motors: Good

Brakes:
Front Pads: Good
Front Rotors: Good
Front Calipers: Good
Rear Pads: Good
Rear Rotors: Good
Rear Calipers: Good
Master Cylinder: Good
Fluid Condition: Fair

Suspension:
Front Shocks: Good
Front Misc: Good
Rear Shocks: Good
Rear Misc: Good

Steering:
Rack: Good
Tie Rod Ends: Boots Bad (Joints Good)
Recommended Turbo Ends: Parts: $350. Labor: $200
Damage: No

Electrical:
Alternator: Good
Starter: Good
Battery: Good

Accessories:
A/C: Great
Instruments: Good
Switches: Good

Tires:
Condition: Fair - Mis-Matched
Brand: Dunlops
Comments: Front Tires are Dunlop SP8000. Rear Dunlop - Different. Front tires have M 50 miles on them. Rear's 1500. Just not matching.

Cosmetics: Great


Comments:

1. Front engine seal weeps (front engine seal is the one at the back of the car, weird). Not major and not worth splitting the case. Current owner says it weeps 1 teaspoon per month for last 6 years he's owned it. I am not going to do anything. It does bother me a bit.

2. Belts: Will have them replace them while there. Will keep the one spare alternator belt he keeps in the tool roll as my spare.

3. Clutch Slave Cylinder Line: Will have the line replaced there.

4. Tie Rods: Not going to change. Not yet anyway.

5. Tires: When owner went to replace fronts he could not get the same model of Dunlops as the rears as they were no longer available. I am not concerned. All tires are almost new and look and handle fine.

6. I am going to have them do the valve adjustment, change the valve cover gaskets, and change the engine oil and filter.

7. Am going to have them change the fuel filter and air filter as well.

8. Spark plugs: Owner gave me 7 (weird, but yes 7) new Bosch super-somethings. Shop will install them (well, 6 of them) for me as the original were still out for the leak down test.

That's it. After that it will all be done by me unless I can't do it.

I was given a full 1.25 hour tour of the car by Zach who did the PPI. First the underneath from the front to the rear with all of the details. Then the top side of the front trunk, battery, spare, fuses, etc.. Then the engine compartment in excruciating detail. Then the interior and finally the exterior. Very thorough. I have to admit my ignorance that I didn't know each side of the engine had 2 valve covers. Wow, that's cool.

Tom

Ed Hughes

Congrats! You have some studying to do. The DME is the brain that runs the engine. The chip is kind of the DNA that determines how the brain thinks. Aftermarket chips typically have the ignition timing advanced, probably the fuel map altered and often the RPM of the rev limiter raised a bit.

Hang around here and you'll learn the terms and such soon enough.

salukijac

Congratulations on the PPI, that's good news! I like the fact the shop took the time to go over the car with you...on the other hand, too bad they're not in the Springs.

rockrimmon

I have no experience with anything other than "Normal" insurance. I use State Farm for everything and have for the last 25 years. So a "Normal" insurance policy for us is full coverage with $500 deductibles for comp and collision. If the car is totaled or stolen then State Farm reimburses us the value of the car as determined by running comparisons to what similar priced cars can be purchased for in the nearest market. In my case, would State Farm give me about $20K for a 1988 Carerra? Not sure.

A friend at work has a late 70's 930. He doesn't use it much at all on the road but it is tagged and insured. He has what he calls "Declared Value" insurance with a company called, I think, Hagerty. They decide on a value, how much the car can be driven, etc.. and set an annual policy amount. At least that's what I recall. And he said it is a LOT cheaper than a standard policy.

My car is not coming home for a week. So I have until next Thursday or Friday to get an insurance policy for this car. Would love to get the input from the folks here on the best way to insure your Porsche.

My guess is I will drive the car < 5K miles per year. No track days for the first year (I promise). Likely put away for 5-6 months a year as I live in Colorado where it's cold and snowy. I will invest regularly in my car over the years with both good regular maintenance and upgrades. The idea of an "agreed in advance" value appeals to me but I haze Zero experience in this area.

With State Farm, I have an automatic payment sent each month for our other cars. When I add a new car I typically have to make 2 months of payments when I sign up and then all others just occur monthly. Most other companies require you to pay once per year. I like the monthly process we have now. I think State Farm may offer a "reduced miles" policy but not sure.

What's the scoop guys?

Tom

salukijac

Do a search for insurance and you will find all the info you need.

We all have different ones depending on how we drive our cars. But by your description on how you plan to drive your car, Hagerty may be an option for you. I drove my car 8K miles on the first year...couldn't resist to look at it in the garage. Hagerty wanted me not to drive the car more than 5K miles, not to drive it to the store, not to drive it to work (on a regular basis), and so forth so I kept my regular insurance.

theiceman

do you want declared value , collision ,all perils , blah blah blah on a 20 K car ? to everyone it is different and will affect how much you pay for insurance. I know you are emotionally atached but in the end it is a 20 K car ( or whatever you payed for it ) would you do all that if it were a G.M. ? i know it isn't a G.M. but when it comes to insurance you have to keep your sanity and forget it is a Porsche, just an asset with a dollar value atached to it .

911Dave

I have an agreed value policy with Hagerty because of 2 reasons - If the car is totalled, there is no fight over value. They simply write a check and that's it. And, the policy is about half as expensive as it would be with Geico or Progressive, and about a third as much as State Farm or equivalent.

The problem with conventional insurance policies is that if a car is totalled, the payout becomes a negotiation. They will always lowball you and do everything they can to minimize their payout. It is often a MAJOR hassle to get a fair settlement and can take many months before you get paid. The insurance companies do this intentionally in the hopes of wearing you down to the point of accepting anything in order to get the whole mess over with. This entire process is avoided with an agreed value policy. There is no haggling, no arguing, no discussion. Total the car, receive check automatically. Boom. Done.

With Hagerty and Leland-West, YOU decide what you want the value to be, and they write the policy. Want $50k coverage on your 911? No problem, they tell you what the premium is and you pay it. Want $100k? they'll be happy to accomodate you.

The stipulations are that the car must be limited use, for pleasure only, stored at your primary residence in an enclosed garage, and stuff like that.

theiceman

Dave don't you need appraisal for agreed value ? here in Canada you do .

rockrimmon

Dave:

Exactly. I filled out the application for Hagerty today. It has all the normal stipulations you mentioned. You declare the value. You specify the mileage you will drive. You state where it will be parked and who are all the drivers of the vehicle.

About 20 years ago we had a very nice, actually perfect, RX7 stole. State Farm provided a rental car for 30 days until it was sure our stolen car was never coming back. Then they did their offer for the value of the car. And while it wasn't bad, it was for the value of the "average" RX7. Not MY RX7 that was super clean, perfect condition, etc.. We didn't get hosed but we were not happy. We had to argue back and forth for > one month to get to anywhere close to reasonable.

While I agree that my $20K 911 isn't anything special to anyone but me, I'd sure hate for them to write me a check for $15K because that's what they think the value of the "average" 88 Carerra is. I didn't buy an "average" Carerra. I can find $13-18K Carerra's lots of places. And, as I invest in upgrades and such for my car I can simply UP the value with Hagerty's.

I do know after doing the application that they will need proof of:

1. All of our other cars have insurance on them from another company. We will be asked to make copies of our polices.
2. We have clean driving records.
3. We have a place to park our 911. I heard they may ask for proof.
4. Pics of car with odometer, etc.. Not sure if we do that or they do.
5. Right now the quote was about $450 a year with $250 deductibles. Seems reasonable. It's really the declared value that I like the most.

I will be calling my State Farm agent on Monday and asking if they can do a policy with full coverage and ~7500 miles per year on it as well.

Tom

theiceman

Good luck Tom

Ed Hughes

I thought Hagerty capped at 5k per year?

salukijac

Another advantage with Hagerty is their towing option. You can add different levels based on the towed/flatbed distance. I know they had one option where if you were out of town, let's say 100 mles out, they would tow it back to your mechanic. I htought that was pretty good as what are the chances there is a Porsche mechanic up in the mountains. I was considering going with Hagerty but I wanted to drive the car more than what they stipulated. I think at the time was less than 5K. I may still do it.

Ed Hughes

I steered away from Hagerty too. I do have agreed value with Allstate, I know its not cheaper than Hagerty or the others, but I have enough stress with emissions and I don't need to worry about a mileage cap too.

logan2z

Really? I've been looking around for agreed value insurance for a while and spoke to my Allstate agent and they claim not to offer it. I went with Sneed for a while, but they gave me a huge hassle when I applied to modify my car's storage address temporarily while my garage was being renovated. On top of that, I didn't get a callback for more than 3 weeks and only heard back when I threatened to cancel my policy - which I eventually did. I'm back with Allstate, but not on agreed value. I guess I'll call again.