divil

I've been looking at a 944 Turbo S for sale. The seller was looking for a little under 11K, and it seemed like a good price. I had it checked out by an independent specialist and they were very thorough, and came back with a list of repairs. They said it was all fairly minor stuff, but when they gave me the estimate, it turns out to be about 3K for just the essential stuff, even at that rate there will be some minor faults not fixed, like intermittent wipers not working etc. It needs a new control arm ball joint, wheel alignment, timing belt and a few other smaller items done.

I'm just looking for opinions on whether this is a good deal? - basically almost 14K to drive away in a car which still has a few minor things not working? Overall the mechanic was very impressed at the condition of the car and said it's one of the better ones he's seen. I honestly shudder to think what a bad one would cost to put right.

Thoughts?

PS. Also forgot to add it needs new tires!

catfish

What's the mileage? How's the paint? Interior? It might be a fair deal, but I think your logic here is flawed - if he's asking $11K and it needs $3K of work, I would start with an offer of ~$8K. I looked at pretty low mileage cars in good shape, and the PPIs always came back with a few thousand in repairs to get things right - it will be expensive if a mechanic does the work.

divil

Mileage is over 190K. Paint is not perfect - it's repainted and the mechanic says it's not as good as the original factory finish, but it's not bad.

When I found out the timing belt needed to be done, I got the seller to take most of that off the original asking price, and agreed on a little under 11K on condition that the car checked out and I wouldn't have to spend much more on it.

But from what he had told me at that point I had idea there would be another ~2000K needed. I honestly don't think he knew either. Even when the mechanic looked at it he told me it was great, just a few minor things...but they all add up to a lot of money.

I'm just trying to get an idea of what I'm likely to have to spend on a car like this - obviously there is no point in walking away from this deal if the next one is going be a similar deal.

catfish

Well at that mileage, it seems like too much money, unless EVERYTHING has been replaced and he has records for it all. There have been some really well sorted turbos here on rennlist with much lower miles and tens of thousands in records with asking prices around $15k. Excellence lists the value of a turbo S at a high of $11800...

BlackOp

I would walk away from this car......probably run. $11k is too much for a 190k 951 is turn-key condition. $14k will get you a stellar car....

M758

Wow,
My Turbo S has 140k on it and just finished changing rod bearings, pan gasket, front crank seal, timming belt, balance belt, new OEM motor mounts and it has two fresh ball joints.

Hmm... Paint is original and good, but not perfect and interior is nice. Figure that should be worth 15k given the car you are looking at! Ha...


Belts are not that big of deal. Shop labor rates will drive costs up making a $100 dollar t-belt job into a $1000 job. Ball joints done by the factory are a $2000 job since you need new control arms. However most of us just rebuild them for $200. I figure the work I just finished on my Turbo S would cost me about $5k at shop. It cost me $1k in parts. In the grand scheme of things I consider it just standard maintence work given the age and mileage of the car.

That said 190k is alot for any 944 Turbo and I am not happy with paying that much for even a Turbo S. The biggest cost drivers for any 944 is paint and interior. These things cost alot of money to repair/restore, but the mechanicals are a reasonable cost if you can do it yourself.

V2Rocket

are you capable of doing work yourself? some of the minor issues you could take care of with minimal skill like wipers..

if you are decently handy you can knock out the belts in about 3 hours (maybe 4 for a turbo with the other stuff in the way) and only spend ~$100 for a belt/roller kit.

maybe offer around 9-10k and then get the work done, youll be at most a 13k car but it should be sound after those things get taken care of. 190k if maintained right isn't really a big deal wear-wise to the engine. it is a large number so other components will be nearing their life expectancy though.

divil

Thanks for the opinions guys.

Well...that's just it - according to the mechanic, it would be a stellar car if I got that work done. . That would be practically everything working. The guy has a lot of records for the car and some of that work has been done at the place where I had it checked out. They tell me he's always got everything done as it was needed - the car has a new starter, new radiator. Engine compression test checks out fine, road test was good, clutch/gearbox are fine...they gave me a check list with about 100 items checked, including most of the things that wear - cv joints, suspension etc. Almost everything was fine.

I'm not sure it's worth finding another car in basically the same condition that already costs about the same?

Mike C.

Who knows what's hiding under that piant. A well cared for car shouldn't need a repaint in my opinion. This sounds more like a $5,000 car to me...

divil

I am fairly handy and I have decided that if I go for this car I'll do some of the simpler jobs myself. Unfortunately the car is 1300 miles away, and although the timing belt only has 15K miles on it, it's over 4 years old so I think I'd better have it changed right away - before I could even drive the car home. Same goes for the ball joint and new tires. I could do future maintenance myself but I would have to shell out the $90/hour that the shop wants to do this stuff up front. I live in ND where I can't find any 944 turbos for sale so I will have this problem no matter what.

Hmm I better check that with the mechanic - I'm sure he quoted me for a "lower ball joint rebuild" at a total cost of 770 including 3.8 hours labour - it's an independent place not a Porsche dealership so maybe that's why he's willing to do the rebuild.

catfish

Is this the first car you've looked at?

BlackOp

This what I would be looking at in that price range....55k. Not a S but great shape..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsc...fCarsQ5fTrucks

divil

I haven't actually seen the car - with the distances involved that's not really an option for me unless I'm 90% sure it's the right deal. I would be trusting the mechanic who I had check it out. It's a Porsche specialist in the area where the seller lives.

I have talked to a few sellers but this is the furthest I've gone so far. I have seen turbo cars for 5K but they almost always have mechanical problems. This car really has very few problems when I consider the sheer number of things they checked - including many things I wouldn't know how to check myself. The only truly essential stuff, from the list the mechanic gave me, is the timing belt, ball joint and the tires. It's just that the labour rate is so high.

ninefiveone

You can't see the car.

You don't know the mechanic.

The car has 190K miles.

You're willing to pay $11k.

You're will to accept someone's definition of "stellar" for a car with 190K miles, some things not working, and a so-so repaint after putting in another $3K

There is nothing in that equation that adds up. You can buy turbos in far better condition than this car for $11k all day long.

catfish

Well, I bought a car sight unseen based on a well known mechanic's PPI, so I understand that. I also understand that your time is valuable and the cost of PPIs add up. But I think with some more patience you'll find a much better car, since you're obviously willing to spend the money. At least drive a hard bargain with this guy, I doubt he'll find a buyer fast at that price.