jeff968

Did you catch this in the most recent PCA newsletter?

I think it is a compliment for our cars???

http://jalopnik.com/5975073/this-por...reat/gallery/1

tamathumper

Nice of him to write that.

MichelleJD

968Geb

I think it's just going to get harder and harder to find nice examples. Especially that are not white, black or red.

sydneyman

says its a 5 speed. must be a super rare option!

odb812

Jeff, is the discrepancy between cab production numbers on the registry and in the book he refers to North American vs. United States production data (i.e. 2,248 NA cabs, 1,944 of which were sold in US)?

SDDave

Nice bunch of garbage from the Comments section:

"The problem with 968's are that they are cheap Porsche's, and the problem with a cheap Porsche is that there is no such thing as a cheap Porsche. As a result 99% of the 968's you see for sale have not been maintained properly or are being sold because a major maintenance bill is hanging over the owners head. The people who can afford to maintain 968's properly are all driving 911's .... because why would you buy a 968 when you can buy a 911. That's the problem with 968's. "

Geez guys, let's start taking care of our cars, already!!! Bunch of Porsche deadbeats...

I'd like to know who's in the 1% that he thinks ARE taking care of their 968s... Let's see- roughly 1,000 968s left, 1% cared for... That means only 10 of us have drivable cars.

Seriously, who comes up with this stuff?

Dave
San Diego

mbardeen

I think he's been extrapolating from 944/928. Too bad that doesn't hold for the 968.

Granted of the 3 here in Chile, one was neglected and not maintained. I'm fixing that now .

tamathumper

I think I know where he was going with that statement, and I agree with much of that first sentence, with some tweaks. They were entry-level models (some would say cheap and you're right mbardeen there's 924/944 overspray happening there), and I tell prospective new owners all the time that there are no cheap Porsches, and they can expect to spend $15K on a great car, or they can expect to pay $10K on a good one and add a least $5K bringing it up to snuff (if they're handy and do much of the necessary work themselves). I consider $15K "a lot" of money, but as far as Porsche's go as a family of vehicles, that's wonderfully cheap and I'm glad I can drive such a fantastic car for so little money up front. And yes, maintenance overwhelms many of the Disco Dans who probably expect to drive it for the cost of a Mustang or Camaro, and their head spins around when they get the bill for their neglected timing belt failure.

I like to think I maintain my 968 well beyond "properly", but I don't consider myself anywhere near being able to, or wanting to own a 911 of similar vintage. I think the 911 looks like, well, that's another thread.

Then he kind of lost me at the end with the 911 shout-out, it felt like a little DB-factor working its way in there.

odb812

Those comments are based on a small sample of the 968 population. Everyone involved in that discussion is simply discussing 968s on the market and the majority of the cars on the market are in the condition described(maybe not the vast majority of the market as they suggest). There are plenty of nice 968s out there that are properly maintained, but the owners know how great the cars are and aren't selling them.

tamathumper

Good point. Mine is not for sale, but life has a way of throwing you curve *****. My last P-car went when the second kid came along and I couldn't afford those fancy Porsche car seats for both sides of the 944S.

odurandina

we've talked about this before. it wasn't just the Japanese competition..... in great measure, the Audi scandels of the late '80s also helped kill off sales of the 944.... and the public began to move on.... the 968 is actually still, believed (by many who even know the cars exist) to be an Audi..... the 968s, (much like the S2s) were very expensive cars.... only, even more so.... and until recently, they had not suffered the terrible owner treatment of the fleet of 944s that predate them..... when i was in the market for a 968 in 2007 and 2008 virtually all the cars i was seeing were superbly maintained.... and the reason is simple; 968 owners have always been far more serious enthusiasts.... and, they were also from a higher income group---lacking in any desire to mistreat or use them as throwaway cars.... sadly, this was never true for the 944.... and while we are just now beginning to see some very poorly maintained cars of late... far and wide, a sizable fleet of 968s continues to thrive.

i also think the 968 missed getting more good "stuff" like bigger wheels, huge brakes, headlight and fender improvements, and better interior trim--by just a couple of years.

tamathumper

When I was searching here in the NorthEast, in 2009-2011, almost all of the cars were beat "rats" in desperate need of basic maintenance, or damaged beyond reasonable restoration by idiot owners who rattle-can resprayed the damaged front and rear bumpers, jammed VW/Audi/BMW/Honda parts under the hood, tacked fake wood dash panels all over everything, and one even held the sunroof down with cabinet latches and sheetrock screws. I had to fly to Virginia to find a reasonable selection and one in what I would call "excellent" condition. I searched for a couple years and towed an empty car hauler 3-5 hours each way on numerous occasions, only to come home empty-handed because the Craigslist "excellent" condition turned out to be "poor" in reality. Long story short, at least in the NorthEast, the majority of 968's - on the market - are being sold by the same class of douchebags that were selling 944's 7-10 years ago. IMHO and YMMV. (And meaning the ones owned by capable owners are not on the market.)

odurandina

for some reason, we've seen a lot of hack jobs come out of the nyc area [who can forget the basket case with the lambo doors].... and the potholes of new england aren't easy on the cars. but, these aren't 911 Turbos or museum pieces. they're meant to be driven--- and i hope mine has 600 k miles before i'm through driving mine...... back in 2008, i saw a cobalt car [here in Massachusetts] that had been driven daily for 16 years and looked like it... and it sold for only 7 k. i would have loved the car for that price. i too am a hack.... i changed the color of my interior from dingy, soiled grey to black... i used SEM and the work came out well, and has held up.... i have to re-dye the carpets every year. and at least until the panels are all done over in black leather, the cabin will be far from perfect.

whether it pleases the owners to accept it or not, some parts of the 968 are made of cheap crap that didn't last long. some of the interior colors don't wear well.... and the dashes have died off quicker than on your average Taurus..... the steering wheel, shift ***** and cassette cases are cheap and fugly. the stereo heads, alarms and cruise control are all crap. the sunroofs also are often a problem area..... the rocker panels are one of the worst designs ever. the bumper covers reach a point where there are thousands of small cracks that can not easily be removed for fresh paint [the oem paint over the flexible bumpers has a limited life span... especially when the cars are driven a lot as the plastic moves and develops thousands of tiny cracks beneath the surface of the paint].... i've not been fond of their choice to use up all the 16" wheels from the parts bin... if limited to things like hoses, spark plug wires, filters, and electrical items, i don't see any harm in a few vw part substitutions where possible, as long as it doesn't affect the car's mechanical function.

and the difference between well-sorted and all beat to hell ? about 30 k miles.

tamathumper

Agreed. Cross-indexing like-for-like parts is OK. But using an HCV that needs a converting coupler on each end and 6" of extra hose on both sides and zip tying it all to the inside of the fender well is more what I'm talking about.