Reliability questions
 

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if maintaining the E34 was costly, you dont want a 944 turbo. In my opinion the turbo is not much more trouble to maintain than the n/a, but you can have just as many or more problems. You really need to be a DIY'er to own one of these or love to spend money at a good shop.

Well essentially I was probably sold a car that had problems - I don't think the place I got it from was honest with me. It has close to 300,000 miles so I'm not sure that it would have been so costly if it had been properly maintained or had fewer miles.

I don't mind spending some money on the car. I know it's not a Honda, but I'm just trying to get an idea of how often it will be and what might go wrong.

Pricey things:

Clutch = $700 parts 20+hrs labor
Timng Belt/Waterpump/etc = $400 parts a few hours of time every 30-45k miles

Sensors are old and will probably fail. Range from $12 for a temp sender to $100+ for reference sensors. The wiring harness will be old and cracked. If your lucky it will be unmolested. Either way, when you get wiring issues skip repairing them and just buy all the lindsey racing harnesses ($400ish)

Fuel lines will need to replaced, count of spending $300 on replacing em, potentially much more if you dont.

A/C will probably leak/fail, power steering will most likely leak, and there is always a small leak, exhaust leak, seal, etc that will need to be replaced.

That said, once I replaced everything on my 951 it has 100% reliable (knock on wood ::to_order::) and I drive it daily, but there will alwaysbe money to spend on it

Thanks for all the info MM951. If I find one soon I'll definitely have a PPI done first to have them check for some of those things.

I have owned an E34 535 for 10+ years and my 951 for 3 years. +1 for whomever said that if you think the E34 is bad, you don't want a 951. A 951 is fussy pussy compared to the generally simple, tank like, reliable E34.

The engine is very strong and reliable, I agree. It's everything else that started to go bad on my E34, but I think that could be expected from a car with so many miles.

I've spent about $3000 CDN first year ownership, and it's still not running. Granted I don't do the work myself and i went pro-active on repairs.

They are a great car and that's why we all own them and continue to do so even though they can be a bit temperamental, but as you've stated, any car that's 20-25 years old is going to have issues. The great thing is that you can get a good one and depending on what you want from the car, get good reliability. Ideally you want one that someone else has cared for and spent all the money on it already. You will profit from their loss. There are some relatively cheap mods that will give the car a decent pep up. Thing is with any turbo car you will get bitten by the boost bug and want more and more power. It is possible of course, but then all bets are off concerning dollars spent and reliability. You can get it done cheaply or pay the price upfront. Do all the stock stuff to get it working up to scratch, then look at your mods. Make sure to look at suspension and brakes before you make it go 180mph too!
Just wait until you find someone that has a good 'un and wants to sell. Spend the extra cash to purchase it rather than going cheap for a ****ter. The few grand you save now will add up at least triple in some cases.
Good luck.

Thanks a lot guys. Any idea what price range I should be looking in for a good example here in Southern California? I do want to spend some extra money up front getting a good one.

Anything up over the 7k price range and you will be able to find a decent example that will be reliable (you just HAVE to keep up with scheduled maint)

That's not to say there aren't cars well over 7k that I wouldn't even conider. Generally speaking you aren't going to find a good solid car for any less than that though. With 10k you can buy a hell of a car.

Thanks sir. I'm going to save up a bit more money for a good example but hopefully I'll have it soon. I'll get a Rennlist subscription at that point so maybe I can get some help finding a good one down here.

I've had my '86 951 for over 11 years and except for the DME problems, still going strong. Recently won my class at the local PCA autocross, although the car has 208K miles on it. Yes there are a few mods, but with 23 years and 220 hp at the wheels, not so bad. I agree that keeping up with the scheduled maintenance is critical (as with any car), but a properly set up 951 is still better than 95% of most of the cars on the road. Just my $0.02.

Rick
'86 951 (sunroof delete, 1 of ?)
'85 911 Turbo Look (1 of 213)
'83 944 (gone, but not forgotten)
'79 924 (forgotten...)

I love hearing stories like this. I want to reach a plateau with the maintence where I can relax and enjoy the car without wondering if it will break down. I'm almost there...

I've had 2 turbo's and 2 S2's - all four were very reliable in general, but I am the kind of owner that maintains them myself and I pay attention to the little things before they get big. The S2 will be more reliable than the turbo, there just isn't as much to go wrong, and they are sneaky quick - if you are looking for a lower cost alternative. Once you go to the dark side, (with boost) it's almost impossible to go back - the reliability of the turbo is inversely proportional to the amount of boost you run.