wgharper

Hello everyone! My first post here, so go easy on me (searched but didn't see anything)

I have an opportunity to purchase a '91 964 turbo with 57k miles on it for an incredible price...with a catch. The car is coming from a wholesaler friend, who reports that the car is cosmetically perfect, but has 2 mechanical glitches:

• Oil drip/leak from front-passenger-side of engine
• Turbo is making a rattling noise and is not spooling up

The oil leak doesn't concern me too much...there is a lot of useful documentation here on leaks. The turbo concerns me though, since I haven't seen much about turbo failures in these cars. My questions are:

• Do these turbos fail? What are the symptoms?
• What other stuff do I need to be wary of, if I plan to replace the current unit? (any downstream components to be concerned about)

I haven't seen the car yet, but it should be arriving in town in the coming days. I hope to get the car to my local Porsche shop, but I may be limited in where I can take the car without buying it, so any insight that you guys can provide ahead of time will be invaluable.

Thanks!
Geoff H.

JRRSA

Hi Geoff,

Welcome to Rennlist! I can't provide you specific information on your Turbo question, however, you came to the right place as there is an extremly high level of knowledge amongst this group. I'm sure you will be receiving lots of replies shortly.

My only recommendation is that you take the car to (your) shop and get a thorough PPI. You need to confirm that the issues the P.O. has disclosed are the only issues. As you will see by looking through the posts on here, it's very seldom that you will find a cheap Porsche - however, it can happen. Be careful and good luck!

JRoss

ChristianR

I definately would not buy the car without having it checked out. The turbos are bullit proof and for one to fail is rare, it could have been driven really hard, may have other problems.

What kind of money to buy the car?

Christian

Kevin

Welcome, as mentioned take the car into a Porsche shop that has experience with the turbo's.. As someone who builds a fair share of K27's, they rarely have bearing damage.. However, they do suffer from turbine wheel damage from internal engine damage. This will cause a inbalance to the rotating assy. This condition will cause accelerated bearing wear..

wgharper

Thanks for the replys. I am going to fight tooth and nail to get the car across town to the local Porsche shop, but at this point there is no guarantee that I will have the option.

As for the price, it should come to $21k after tax, so I can probably afford to make a few repairs.

Frank 993 C4S

I am currently in the market as well and there would be no way I would purchase a car without having a qualified specialist look at it. If your engine problems are truly limited to the turbo, your price is excellent. If there is internal damage to the engine that caused the turbo failure, you could potentially spend a bundle and ultimately end up spending more in total than another well sorted "no stories" 3.3 964T would cost you.

38D

$21k is absurdly low. Even if you had to spend $10k on a full rebuild, you'd still be getting an awesome deal. Is the title clear, cause that just seems too cheap.

wgharper

The title is clear, per CarFax. I work in the automotive industry, and the car was appraised/purchased by a wholesaler who got spooked by the oil drip and the rattling noise from the turbo, and low-balled the offer. The car is a one owner car, owned/operated in MA for most of its life. No wrecks or anything.

I probably should not have volunteered the price, since it is probably going to invite some undue skepticism. I am skeptical too, but for what I know (the price, and condition specifics outlined in my original post), it was worth it for me to pay a couple hundred dollars to have the car brought to Richmond for me to check out.

The car should be here tomorrow ( ), so I'll update you guys and hopefully have some pics of the oil leak.

Thanks for the great insights.
Geoff

38D

At $21k, if it's even half as good as you describe, you should buy it. That is $16k+ under market value.

TJN

wgharper, damn do you have to kiss him too!

wgharper

I sure hope not!

Working for an auto retailer, these deals come across my desk every once in a while. I've had some good luck with previous cars that were purchased under the same circumstances:

• '97 Boxster with CEL - Replaced secondary air-injection valve and worked fine
• '99 SLK Sport - S/C not engaging...bad solder on a relay board. Resoldered and car was fine.

Both of these cars were purchased for 60-70% of retail value, simply because they were sold by "distressed" sellers on the spot market with pre-existing conditions. It happens a lot more than you would think. Hopefully this car turns out to be another gem...I've wanted an air-cooled Porsche for some time now.

-Geoff

sweanders

I have a turbo from a 91 car for sale - $700.

wgharper

Here is the photo gallery (ignore the yahoos in the background on one of them):

Photo Gallery

Some good news (maybe):

• The ticking noise is NOT coming from the turbo...I don't know where the guy got that from. It sounds more like an exhaust tick, and is coming from the driver-side front of the engine
• The oil leak is dripping onto the exhaust on both sides, just in front of the axles. Vent tube perhaps?

Anyway, I'll hopefully be taking it to my mechanic by the end of the week. If anyone has any thoughts/ideas based on the pics or notes above, please let me know.

Geoff

klein90

Looks like a good find. Hopefully you can just do a reseal and get the exhaust fixed and be on your way. If you are flipping the car then you know what to do to make your money. But if you are planning on keeping the car then be ready to spend money with all little stuff wearing out.(seals, hoses, etc..)
Good luck love the Black on Black

38D

Looks well within reason for a $21k car. Buy it or I will