Tom R.

I sold a 90 S2 with 72k miles, a brand new clutch, recent belts and water pump, good paint, excellent interior last month.

the month before i bought a 89 951 with 49k miles, one dash crack, replaced clutch, excellent seats, blah blah blah. a kamikaze civic messed up the nose a little. I should have it back in the next week or so. we replaced the belts and roller 50 miles before the civic. there are pictures posted in a thread i started.

i dont know what i would let it go for once the dust settles with her insurance co, but that is one example. dont think you will find a cleaner bone stock 951S with the same miles for under 20k. mine would be under 20k.

there are two on PCAs website for sale right now for high $$$. one has 27k miles.

Tom R.

what does never been wrecked mean? i would ask for pictures of the VIN sticker on each panel, door etc. i know of a lot of cars that have not been wrecked, but had paint work, quarters replaced, frames tweaked and straightened, etc.

I would get a PPI from a local place before buying the plane ticket, or see who from the board is in the area and will look at it. if it was in denver, i would check it out for you.

if you lose this one, there will be a dozen more. i spent four months looking for my 89. i wanted certain things like no paintwork (a lot stricter than never wrecked), all original, LSD, M030 (which made a 89 the easy choice), and not guards red (her rule).

i should have kept my S2 another month and from what i am reading here, could have sold it for a few more $$ than i got.

choinga

awesome - thanks Tom. Appreciate the info.

I don't want to spend $20k on a souped up 944. If I was going to spend that, I'd just go spend a few bucks more and buy a used 911.

By 'never been wrecked', she confirmed through the owner (original - 1 owner vehicle) that the car had it's original paint and pinstriping. By that, I come to the conclusion that it's all original...but certainly worth checking. Where are the 'easy' places to check VIN numbers - guess the obvious places are doors and engine (is there a place to check on the engine that's easy to get to?)

If anyone is in Minneapolis and would be kind enough to check it out, I'd greatly appreciate it (and pay you for your time).

Thanks!

choinga

FYI...just ordered a carfax history on it...

Good news...clean all the way through...total loss, structural, airbag deploment, odometer, accident/damange, recall, etc... - all good.

1 owner...only put 12k on it in the last 4 years and per previous thread looks like he put about $4k into it this year alone (new clutch, WP, etc...)

Given the location of this vehicle and confirmation from the dealer that there is no rust it's safe to assume that it's been a 'summer' car with most of the miles put on it when the weather was warm.

smac951

Be careful of low mileage cars. My 86 had only 69,000 when bought 3 years ago. I've put 7000 miles on it and the garage queen is pissed I took her out of her cocoon. My turbo leaks and will be replaced soon and the steering rack needs a reseal also. The suspension needs a lot of attention as does the whatever else will need to be fixed due to the car just sitting all those years. But, the car looks perfect which makes it cool to look at. I would look for a car that has already been sorted like mine will be in about a year from now.

choinga

agreed. Carfax shows that there's been about 5k of activity in the last 5 months or so...so I think I'm pretty good there...hopefully. I live in TX so don't have to worry about not being able to take it out because of weather/salt on the roads, etc...

Josh B

It is really neat to see your enthusiasm for these cars I think we are all excited about you getting one - just want it to work out for the best.

There are not many stories where folks bought a 944 from a dealer and had a good experience long term with the validity of the claims made. I am sure there are good dealer's out there but most want a sale so bad that they convince themselves the answer to whatever question you ask is the one that you want to hear. (cliffs - they lie a lot)

From all accounts so far this sounds like a good car. The money to have a shop check it out would be very well spent but if you are not going to do that I would at least be prepared to walk from the car when you get there. Ask them to put it on a rack so that you can inspect the underside. There are some easy places to check for paint work - read up on the board and get all the little hints out there.

Have they given you any more pics that you can post up on the board - there are some sharp eyed listers here....

BTW - no pressure but this is a really generous community and you are definetly an enthusiast. You can become a member and give back for only $18 and it would be great if you had your location listed as well so that folks who live near you can look for your car around town.

choinga

Thanks Josh - really appreciate it.

I did an autocheck and carfax and the reality is - this is a single owner vehicle since 1987 with 73k and service records dating all the way back to 1987. Carfax and Autocheck both come back 100% clean. I confirmed with the dealer this AM that there has been no body/frame work done - ever...on the car. According to carfax, the owner put the vehicle up for sale himself a few months ago online...didn't sell it so he traded it in on a new Cadallac.

So, unlike several other vehicles I ran a Carfax/Autocheck on - this one only has 4 records - the original purchase, DMV change of address for original owner, the owner putting the car up for sale online and then the transfer to the dealer in MN. Others I've seen have had a dozen or more entires with various work done, been through several auctions, etc... - I wouldn't trust one of those to save my life.

I've got a few other pics that the person I've been working with there took with her iPhone but here's what's left of the ones online:

jjmalez

Hello,

I spoke with a salesperson @ the dealership. Car sounds well sorted. I own a 968 and previously owned a 944S. Here's maintenance at a Porsche Dealership;

Oil change = $100

Brake pads & rotors = $1100

30K mile major service with belts (MANDATORY) = $1250

Radiator flush & fill = $200

I'd find when the last Major service was done. If recent, then $10K is reasonable. If not, $8750 only after passing a PPI.

IMHO,

Joe

Tom R.

First, remember what felix unger says happens when you *** u me. take nothing for granted.
Here are pictures of VIN stickers. they are on the hatch, door jamb, door, fender, hood, bumpers - etc. here is a shot of it on the front front fender

the door and jamb



54k miles of seat bolster wear

an unmolested hatch area

spare tire area, the option codes are in back of the spare against the rear panel. you want a picture of that. if it has 220....

confirm the jack, spare and air compressor are there

below will be two pictures, one of the vin sticker by the front bumper and the other of the option sticker which anyone can run a carfax on and see how the fender bender from the kamikaze civic is listed. that hurts the value of the car a lot.

Tom R.

join pca on the quest program, go to the nordstern region and ask the officers for someone to check out the car. or contact courtneys truck service for a PPI. courtneys is a shop that is about ten minutes from morries.

i just spoke to a local for me pca er that was originally from that area and that is what he is suggested.

choinga

I got the codes - does absence of LSD and ABS change the value? (or anything else that's not on the car...)

Codes on it are: C70 (no idea) 158 (Blaupunkt) 341 (Central Locking) 454 (cruise) 650 (removable sun roof) 990 (front seat cover cloth)

choinga

Joe - you spoke to someone at Morrie's? Any more detail you can provide that lead you to the 'car sounds well assorted' comment?

The 75k hasn't been done - but the previous owner owns a shop so most of the work was done as needed and not in big chunks. Major service items have all been done this year though - new clutch, WP, new tires, new radiator, new timing belt, etc... - at least $4-5k of work if I'm doing my math right...

I could be wrong, but a one-owner car from 1987 seems pretty rare. The fact that it's in pretty meticulous condition on the outside leads me to believe that it's probably that way on the inside as well. The fact that the previous owner could do maintenance at will is also nice - and it appears as though he did just that.

black944 turbo

LSD is desireable but to most won't affect the value to much. Looks nice, but is it just me or is there a large dent in the passenger fender?

Pcar944

Buy it.

Maybe offer $9k?

The low mileage is a concern, its averaged 3k miles a year. How much has it been driven in the last 5 years?