Medski

Was looking at a few 951 in hopes of getting mine. Now, the mileage and conditions as you all know are all over the place. Should I be scared of a ''Owned for 12 years ,driven daily, 214k miles'' if the maintenance records back it up?

I know the long answer is that it really depends on the car in question, but I guess my question is more:

Is there a point where ''it's too much miles on the car'' unless it's allready your own and know it inside out?

azbanks

These cars are 20+ years old. Everything on them is worn out or dried out. Proper maintenance keeps them alive. If there are records showing that it has been taken care of, you should be ok. Realize that you will ALWAYS be throwing money at it to keep it in good running shape. If you don't want to maintain it(sometimes big maintenance) then you should look for a newer car.

Paulyy

are you up for spending money on keeping these cars alive?

schip43

What these guys say! My motto is as long as your not buying it and planning on immediately using at as a daily driver, you'll be fine! Well also assuming you like working on cars! Maintenance and mods can keep them on jack stands for awhile.
If your scare of that buy a Volvo or a Toyota! Other wise welcome aboard!

PEvans

Speaking just for myself, I value the cosmetic condition of the car, particularly the interior. It is going to be expensive no matter what - there is just no way to know you won't be into a new engine or whatever. If the car looks good, or you can get it to that point, you won't mind. My present 951 looks good enough to take anywhere. Most non-car people have no idea how old it is. I have probably put several times its "market" value into it, but it would still cost way more to replace it with what would be a lesser car.

I think for any 951 you should have at least 1x the purchase price set aside for the first two years. Over 200K maybe make that 2x the purchase price. Sitting in your account, ready to be spent on the car with no regrets. If you do your own work you can reduce this, but consider the time not driving it. These cars are cheap to buy and expensive to fix. You are really buying it over time. But look what you get -- you are still way ahead.

schip43

True that! Baby Supercars, FTW!

PEvans

Maybe not even "baby" supercars. I show up at a gathering at a neighbor's house yesterday, and my car is dirty. Yet the valets park it on the driveway with the $100,000 Tesla Roadster and put the other guests' Mercedes and BMWs down on the lower field. Get used to it.

FTW indeed!

Tedro951

+1 on Rob's example. I almost pulled the trigger on a 37K mile, one owner 86 951 last month.

The thought of replacing every rubber bit, and many gaskets (the exact same parts as I've already replaced on my 100K mile car) turned me off more than having a low mile, 2d owner car turned me on.

tkrtape12

Just my 2cents...I bout my car w 212k miles original paint AZ car but guy was a Porsche mechanic...newer suspension,engine was refreshed and had some go fast parts..we went through the car and it was a solid base so I've been adding to it...love her madly...now I just picked up a 1 owner CayenneS...

86 951 Driver

I don't know about the 951's but my old 924S had roughly about 300,000 miles on that bad boy when I got rid of it and it was still running. It did need a head rebuild as it burned oil, but other than that it ran good.

These engines have a special plating in the cylinders that help them to last longer, and reduce wear. For a 951 things to check would be compression of the motor and possible leakdown numbers. Anything body/interior is $$$$. I would make sure it runs decent turbo boosts up fine and it idles smooth. Then you just have to worry about making sure fuel lines are replaced and all that jazz for safety reasons. Get a PPI done.

Medski

Well, I am not in a position where I must depend on having a running car. I have other transportation to get wherever I need. Last car I had, even using it in the winter, I barely put 6k mile on it a year. So I'm looking at it as a toy.

schip43

Oh well hell, if it's not gonna be a DD, quit wasting time! Get the car get some beer (you'll understand) and post up some pics!

User 52121

I don't really consider mileage to be much of a deterrent. Even low-mileage cars are going to have issues (as several unfortunate souls here can attest to...) They're old. Stuff is going to break simply because it's old.

For me... I'd prefer to find a higher-mileage car, because I drive mine quite a bit. It's just a toy but I like to drive. If I started off with a low-mileage car, it would be a high-mileage car by the time I got rid of it... and the premium I'd have paid for the low-mileage would be lost (plus I'd probably still be out the same repair $$.)

Figure if the car has 214k on it, it's been maintained at least somewhat regularly and properly to make it that far and still be alive.

Crackership

I'm pretty much on board with the majority here, but I would definitely recommend a compression and leak-down test before purchase... I say this because I've seen a good few blocks with horribly scored cylinder walls, and that's not cheap to remedy. On the other hand, a buddy of mine has a 951 torn completely down and that block has almost zero measurable wear.. and it has something like 240k mi on it... so, mileage alone definitely doesn't destroy these engines...

On the other hand, high mileage can be a great thing (for the purchaser) if the car is well cared for... another buddy of mine recently bought a 928S4. We looked at several low-mileage, but otherwise knackered cars that people were demanding a mint for. The one he wound up buying had 160k-ish miles on it, but it had every receipt from the day that it was purchased new, including all the receipts for a complete engine rebuild, a complete suspension overhaul, a complete new exhaust system, including test-pipes and cats, and had a very tastefully PC'd and painted engine bay.... and he got it for about $5k less than the average low-mileage beater we'd looked at....

So, I guess what I'm saying is: Don't let the odometer scare you, it's not a vital system in the car.

What's more... the ODO gears break all the time in these cars... A good PO will tell you if it happened and what they think the "actual" mileage is, based upon how long they drove without it functioning... but if it was two owners back, you may never know... I've pretty much always assumed that the mileage on these cars is at least a bit more than the ODO says it is.

VWaddict

Recorded, careful maintenance trumps modest mileage and no history EVERY time.

I bought mine 5 years ago (having known the only previous owner for 11 years at that time) with over 200,000 miles showing, but I knew that he was meticulous and unstinting in his upkeep. At 190,000 miles (for example) he'd had the oil pan resealed, and the power steering rack, other potential leak-sources etc had been done at the same time.

-"While you're in there" he thought, "Better check the bearings"... -heck, once they're out, may as well replace them.

It had been run on Swepco oil for about 160k of those miles, and when the old bearings were removed and measured, they were still well within spec, and looked great.

You can DESTROY a P-car in 25,000 miles if you neglect it, but love, honor and respect them, and they'll last longer than Sears and Roebuck.

Quarter of a million miles is nothing remarkable... but only with attentive maintenance. Low mileage is NO assurance of reliability, unless it too comes with a record of having been LAVISHED with regular care.