rsabeebe

i'm a bit beyond the immeasurable amounts of blood, sweat, etc., but i certainly am not afraid of getting my hands dirty and have been doing so for years. time is more of an issue these days. i have a fair amount of autox/track/race experience and i am looking for something that can be tracked, but family and work don't allow for a lot of time. overall street use is more important, but i sold my 997 C2S because it was too civilized (too capable) and have already replaced that with a 993 C4S and want something else that could be tracked and commuted in. i do like a well presented car, so an ugly, track 951 is not what i'm really looking for - i'm hoping for a very presentable 951 that can do double duty and simply keep me entertained.

Gawernator

Well I am counting purchase price and two paint jobs

black944 turbo

If you want a very nice cosmetic and mechanical car, I think you will end up spending closer to the 10-12 range no matter the year. These cars are getting very old and are becoming more unusual in the condition you are after.


Don't be scared of mileage, as many will tell you a well cared for higher mileage car in many cases are much better than a low mileage cared for car. The big reason is the higher mileage car will have had most of the expensive and troublesome parts already done to it. I can tell you that the more I drive my car the better it gets.

admiralkhole

Well, stop wrecking your car and that number might be lower

Dougs951S

+1. I've only put ~5k miles on my car since building it about 2 years ago, but it gets better every month its on the road and at this point its entirely a power/drivability quest as my car is essentially bulletproof now save for a few small details ( I broke the negative terminal off the stater solenoid and had to rig it to get home lol ) The same is true for garage queens, you really want a DD vs a car that has sat around because the DD in the hands of a responsible owner should have fantastic PM records. Many of these engines has lived well into the 200k+ mile range with proper care.

Dougs951

You should be able to get a very clean example.

Don't be afraid to travel, I went half way across the country for my S2 and couldn't be happier!

odurandina

not sure about what the op's budget can get you. depends on a lot of things, including how many parts are worn, dry-rotted, brittle, etc and ultimately, how you decide to drive the car.....

I've logged another 5 k miles on my 968 on 3 more transcon trips the past 2 weeks.

I think I've logged more long trips in my 968 than any other 968 in history (now at 196 k miles).

and i'm sure i hold that record by a comfortable margin.

the truth, is this engine is pretty damn good. it burns about a half a quart of oil every 5~6 k miles... and no visible oil leaks whatsoever. not a frigging drop ! that's pretty amazing for a 4 cylinder that works so damn hard (drove her across West Virginia just yesterday. back in the Boston area today).

but, it didn't happen for free.

TurnerJ

$9000 will definitely get you a very nice example. Too many people are letting go of very nice cars with a lot of work put into them for way too cheap. Just make sure to be patient.

bonus12

Two great points. Couldnt agree more.

rsabeebe

i need to meet one of these 'people', turner.

rsabeebe

traveling is not an issue at all.

e36 LTW from san fran to MD.
S4 avant from san jose to MD
964 RSA from CO to MD
e30 M3 from IN to MD
997S from san diego to Dallas
to name a few...
currently bringing 993 C4S to Dallas from PA

not a problem.

odurandina

to clarify,

the point of my seemingly self-serving post is get a 968. ...be patient and work with CL and ebay. we have a couple of guys on the forum who picked up a running 968 for like $3~3.5 k without an insurmountable amount of work to get road ready.

sorry, but the 968s are 2x~9x better cars in terms of reliability after 100 k miles.

NINE TIMES ?

YEP, NIIIIINNNE TIMES !!

Dougs951S

Show me a running 968 6 speed car for 3k, I dont care how it looks, how many miles it has or what it needs, and I'll drop what I'm doing and get a trailer and take it home.

odurandina

my engine can prolly go another 150~200 k and LIKE IT.

btw, I haven't changed the oil in like, 35 k miles.
just running the 0w50 and topping off with v-twin from Walmart and changing the odd filter when the needle drops below 4 bars.

bonus12

OD that's cool. Sounds like a happy porsche! Reminds me that sometimes it's wisest to trust the current assembly of working parts because they "mesh" together. That's a great thing about aging cars. The owner and the car mesh, too