NCporsche

My car story, and how lucky I have been.

Having told myself that I would have a Porsche by the time I was 50, I found my 944 on a consignment car lot. There were spider webs in the car and no previous paperwork except the manual in the glove box.

After the test drive, I said I'd be back. The next day, I dug up the mason jar with my Porsche cash in it, and returned to make an offer. The seller was a Doctor and had bought the car for his 16 year old son. The son did not want the car, so Dad said "Fine, I'll sell it".

He accepted my offer, and I immediately had the TB, WP... done.

I've had to charge the AC and have some optional body work done. Several little DIYs were accomplished.

For what I paid and what I have, I've rolled the dice and came up with a seven.

tifosiman

Old thread.

I'd have to say the next person that owns my car (the "FO") would have to buy it knowing what they were buying. If they expected an unmolested version of an 85.5 they should look elsewhere. I'd hate to look at this thread in a couple of years and see the FO saying "WTF was this guy thinking, he removed all sorts of stuff from the car and installed all sorts of parts from a 924/931/928/951/968/930! What a kook!".

500

Some pretty frightening and funny stuff here.

I bought my car off a Rennlister. There were a number of issues that the PO was very up-front about, right from the start. That was OK for me, because I was looking for a decent fixer-upper. The whole deal was done remotely (car was in Virginia, and I’m in Canada). When the car arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see that everything was precisely as described, and in some ways, better than I expected. As I disassembled the car, I discovered a few other issues that would have needed attention, but these would not have been apparent to the PO, so I was not disappointed at all.

What was very cool about the car, was that the PO used it as a daily driver, in all weather etc. and did not baby it or “over-maintain” it. With 150K miles it had:

1) No dash cracks
2) Spotless battery tray
3) No bodywork
4) Engine in excellent condition internally
5) Leather and vinyl still supple, no tears or separations

Proof to me that a “decent” owner makes a huge difference.

Tifo, I think the FO of your car would be really happy, as from all I’ve seen, the stuff you do is “right”. As you say, the key is being very clear with the purchaser about everything that was done to the car so that an informed decision can be made. There are those who want a very stock-condition car and those who like and appreciate tasteful mods and upgrades.

MyBlackCar

My PO was not too bad. This is a list of the stuff I addressed within a year of buying the car:

There was an oil leak from the HG.
The car overheated once - He told me the top radiator hose exploded. I went ahead and replaced all the hoses in addition to a thorough coolant flush when I did my timing belt.
Sunroof was tied down with string due to worn gears, broken hinges.
Vacuum hoses were on the verge of deterioration. Since it was under the intake manifold, I figured they were the original.
A big hole due to rust in the battery compartment. I could see my passenger footwell.
Driver's side window jumped track.

Stuff that still needs to be addressed:
A/C needs a recharge. I will convert to R134 later.
Rear hatch tint is fading. Have to find a reputable place first.
Small leak in the power steering hoses. I top off once a year until I get around to replacing both hoses.
Shift boot is dried and nasty. Not a priority, but will replace in the near future.

MM951

I'm happy knowing I'm a good PO

Sold it so cheap and I've fixed every problem that has happened with it since quickly and for free labor..

Mongo

PO treated car like crap. Had to rebuild engine in 2005. Enough Said.

faze

My PO was a moron and a liar. I bought the 944 off eBay (real smart, right?), and the seller claimed the car was in excellent mechanical condition. Bwahahahah. Shee-it. Also claimed the car was accident free. That is the liar part. He might've been a moron and not realized how bad the mechanical condition was (not that I believe that, just benefit of the doubt), but it has been hit all over!

Let's see:

-front end damage including:
a 931 nosepiece (in terrible condition, dented and bad paint)
crap headlights a la GT racing, but not good
no headlight hardware internals
deleted intake/cut airbox w/k&n (filthy)
dents and more dents
original hood? I don't know... likely not
ever hear of wax? PO didn't

Not to mention:
-radio delete... stolen? harness chopped and previous aftermarket crap a complete mess
-no rear seats
-seriously leaking sunroof (fixed with the ghetto tape method)
-no hood struts & bad hatch struts
-blue rear carpet with holes for 6x9s
-many dash cracks
-seats are tore up and cracked, never conditioned
-some rust
-rear bumper is pushed in on one side
-aftermarket front cover? (the lower piece is weird, and effed up)
-blown ball joint that had been "repaired"
-several oil leaks
-power steering leak
-coolant leak
-balance shaft belt completely worn on one side
-no washer bottle
-funky problems with the HVAC
-nonfunction Odo. Yay, mystery miles.
-etc etc omg

Tires were bad, too. Jeez. I left him the appropriate negative feedback. The car is better already, but it's one that may have to be written off. I am the 4th owner, and allegedly the first guy was meticulous, the second guy was 3rd guy's buddy, and 3rd guy was a dip**** that thought he could maintain the car himself. I am surprised he can tie his shoes. There are a lot of things wrong with this car that I can't even recall off the top of my head. But, I got me a little porsche for relatively cheap. Better believe I'll spend a little more up front next time!

xsboost90

^ sounds familiar! - nothing like someone gushing to you how nice the car is and how "showroom" it looks and then having wires, switches, and all kinds of obvious stuff wrong with the car when you get there. What kind of showroom he was referring to i'll never know.

Deansk8flip

car has 142,000 miles on it and still has the original timing belt!!

82-T/A

My previous owner painted the ENTIRE interior of the car with several cans of flat-black enamel spray paint.

This included the seats, the dash, the CARPET, every interior panel, etc... even got some on the gauges.

When he realized that he couldn't see the gauges very well, he used some sort of abrasive pad to remove the paint (thereby destroying the faces of the gauges and making them completely unreadable.

He also bought some aftermarket racing seats and attached them to the floorboards by using wood screws through the floor board.

Mighty Shilling

LOL. damn...

My OO (original owner) hit something with the nose of the turbo when it was new...

HE THEN TAKES IT TO SOME GUY TO HAVE IT PAINTED.. not a body shop, SOME GUY!!!!

Now, it's obvious the guy painted random parts of the car based on orange peel, sanding marks, mis-matched paint, and the fact that IT'S FALLING OFF!!!

I guess it's not TOO bad, but I'm a perfectionist with paint... being a detailer in the past life has done that to me.

SeaCay

I think most PO's (present company excluded of course) are required to put some abomination of a stereo rig in the car with a total cluster **** of wiring, in-line fuses, badly crimped connectors, etc.

Also, the use of drywall screws ANYWHERE on a car should be cause for the firing squad.

V2Rocket

Firing Squad +1

You would be proud to see the wiring job I did on my new CD player...I used spiffy new connectors, made good, tight crimps, even put a label on every single wire (power/ground/RR speaker/LR speaker/amp etc) before zip-tying it all together and neatly tucking it under the mounting bracket.

:]

As for my PO....he drove it for a while, then let it sit in his front yard for 6 years. When I went to inspect it, the wheels were mixed up (1 7" and 1 8" wheel on each axle), antenna was broken off, Porsche crest stolen, flat, rotted tires, and when I looked under the hood....a rat ran past me.

greenshoes3

this must be a common occurance.....my po put cooper cobras on mine also