Tommy B

Hey guys,

I'm new to the board and am searching for my first porsche. I've deceided, based on price and looks, that i'd like to buy a 80-83 SC. Most of the cars i've seen are over the 1ook miles mark. I'm not worried about mileage that much, but should i?

A friend of mine has mentioned the a rebuild for a 911 can be a few grand.

The car i'm looking at right now has 164k miles. Is that too high? I know that's a relative question, but is there anything i should be looking for?

Would a porsche mechanic be able to test the motor?


Tom

TMH

Tom,

164k miles in and of itself is not a bad thing. The biggest issue is how the car was maintained as those miles were put on. This can be assessed by the maintenance records the seller should be able to provide to you. If no records then you are taking a chance, and the purchase price of the car should reflect this. Also, all potential purchases should go through a Pre-Purchase Inspection (PPI) by a Porsche specialist mechanic WHICH YOU (NOT THE SELLER) CHOOSES. Should probably not be the mechanic who has maintained the car for the seller, but an independent one. With the mix of maintenance records and a good PPI you can be pretty well assured of how the car will behave once you purchase it. Also, the PPI can tell you (and the seller) things which are needed RIGHT NOW, and once again you can use this information to get a correct purchase price.

Good luck,
Tom

P.S.: My cars had 100k and 120k on them when I bought them, and I didn't give that "high" mileage a second thought, as I would have if they were American cars.

Tommy B

Thanks Tom<- is that a really common name around here or what?


I'm not scared of mileage, i have owned and worked on many high mileage VWs, but when my moters blow, it only costs me a few hundred for a new motor.

the guy wants 13k for it, here's what his add said:

This engine burns clean from the intitial start of the engine, NO SMOKE. The engine does NOT leak any oil, as most 911 engines tend to. The underside of the engine {and ground below} is dry with NO OIL residue. This car was well maintained by a Porsche specialist. The car has spent the majority of its life in South Carolina; thus, highway miles were the norm. The car has averaged only 7,100 miles per year since NEW. In addition, the car was always garaged and NEVER experienced SNOW or SALT. The car was repainted within the last 5 years and looks great as illustrated by the photos. NO RUST. Body panels are perfect, NO accidents. Updated chain tensioners. Valves were adjusted within last 2,500 miles. New A/C Compressor within last 2 yrs and Recharged in July 03. NEW Axle Boots. NEW power window module. NEW computer. Brakes were just inspected and are good. Black Recaro style seats show very little wear. The dash is perfect NO CRACKS. The door panels look great. The interior is very clean with little wear. Above average car considering its a classic. Porsche C2 type rims with Falken tires in good shape {approx 70% tire life} Front: 215 45 ZR 17 Rear: 255 40 ZR 17 Car has very aggressive stance. Porsche Painted Center Caps. Car is a 3 owner sports car and has been pampered throughout is life. This car was driven as intended by Porsche, maintained and NEVER abused. Please email me with your questions.

sschmerg

Just my 2 cents....

I would be very careful and get an extremely thorough PPI, but even that is no guarantee. Porsches (especially 78-89 911s) can last a lot of miles, but when you get up over 150k and 20+ years, many things can go without much warning due to the age, including the motor itself...and a rebuild is around $5k (our '78 went before 100k). Even if the motor is lasts, there are many little problems that crop up with age that, when added together, can cost a small fortune to repair.

I recently had to sell a clean 944 Turbo with 155k that, although well maintained up to that point (we had a stack of records the size of a phone book), was beginning to cost much more than it was worth. Of course the 944 Turbo is generally more expensive to maintain than a 911 SC, so YMMV.

-Sean

P.S. The 911 SC does not have a computer. The first engine management computers on the 911 were on the '84 Carrera.

TMH

Tom,

I am always a little wary of repaints - How good the job was done and why. If that car got so few miles per year, and was "always garaged" then I don't know why it would need a repaint. $13k sounds high to me for an SC unless it is a really, really nice one. If you are still interested in it, then your first question for the seller is how many maintenance records he has, and how far back they go. Sounds like he has had the car for less than 5 years and he might only have records for the last couple of years. And alot of stuff needed to be done to that car.

Just be careful and get a thorough PPI if you want to continue in the process with the seller. PPI's don't guarantee anything, but I consider them to be cheap insurance against the possibility of high $$$ repairs which you might not otherwise know about.

Tom

Chuck Harmon

I bought my 83SC with 150,000 miles on it . It has 249,000 on it now, no rebuild YET.... it does smoke a bit now and I am looking at a rebuild next year. If you get a good PPI and do a carfax or have your insurance agent do a check on the car (as I did ) I was able to find out that my car had been wrecked 3 times and the most expensive damage was 4,000.00
to the rear end, the car was wrecked twice in the front and once in the rear.The car was repainted after the last wreck. I got a very good PPI
so I was not that concerned.... and the price was right....$10,500.00
Best 10 grand I ever spent !!!!

Tommy B

Wow chuck, 3 wrecks! I would have ran away, but in your case it paid off.

Looks like buying the right car is a bit of a crap shoot.