mhm993

I assume this car is a consignment. Do you know the name of the owner? Might be a local PCA member.

NP993

Does a 993 with 48,000 miles on it even *need* the wheel bearings checked? I don't think so.

What you might want to do is ask the shop if they can give the car a less thorough check. Basic bodywork/accident damage inspection, road test, visual inspection on a lift for oil leaks/bad CV boots/etc. The chances of a car with mileage this low having bad compression or leakdown numbers is virtually nil. The only thing to be concerned with is oil consumption, but there's no way to verify that other than from the owner himself. A basic checkout wouldn't involve more than a couple of hours of labor.

chris walrod

I do see it needs the alt pulley update, otherwise seems like a straighforward mid-95 build car.

chaoscreature

Okay,
I am back from Laguna Seca! What a fun trip. There were more Porsches gathered there than I have ever seen. It was great how they lined them up according to make, model, even color!
Here is a picture of the 1926 Bugatti (with driver Rick Rawlins) that I was pitting for. He had fuel issues during the qualifying rounds, lost his brakes during the warm-ups but had a great race. Unfortunately he was in the 1926-1955 class, which means he was COMPLETELY out-carred.

While I was having fun Marc was kind enough to look at the car for me and said that everything looked pretty good and that the car drove nicely. I can't thank Marc and this forum enough for all of the help that has been extended to me.
Next on my list is a "brief" PPI and then shipping arrangements.
Thank you all again for all of the help, I could not have made this purchase without it!

mhm993

My pleasure. Close to my house, nice guy, and his Dad's Cobra and Donzi were extra bling to check out.

Best of all it was a very nice car even though my "rennfax" found an issue apparently unknown to the owner.


You have to love how the driver's head and body stick out of the Bugatti. And is he wearing a football helmet??

chaoscreature

Marc,
It's a racing helmet, I think he has some foam at the bottom of the visor to keep the wind out. The Bugatti is a mechanical masterpiece. It features overhead cams, turned and polished engine block, crank driven supercharger, and a drivers compartment mounted distributor with a hand-lever adjustable spark advance!
Pretty cool stuff.
The owner is going to take car of the A/C issue that you found and I am getting the PPI done at Storm Motors while it's there.
Thank you again. I wish I could make it out to New York to pick up the car, but my work schedule won't allow it. If you ever make it to San Diego I will take you and your wife out for dinner.
Thank you all again for the help. I don't expect to see the car in person for about two weeks, but I will be posting pics galore when it gets here.
- Peter

mhm993

Excellent outcome. Glad to help. If we can't meet for dinner, pass it forward.

Ask Storms to confirm the engine harness recall was completed.

Email you later. MHM

groovzilla

interesting that there are no photos of the drivers seat bolster...there should be hardly any wear on it and if there is, when you do the PPI i would make sure you can get some verification that the mileage is correct

ltc

http://www.americanconcours.org/OurF...S/Default.aspx

Something just seems a bit odd about this whole arrangement...

chaoscreature

When Marc checked out the car for me he said that the seats were in good condition. The Carfax report doesn't show anything unusual with the mileage, I doubt that the odometer was messed with (replaced?)
I do think the donation thing is a little unusual. However I am not going to blow the deal because of $1600 in tax deductible donations which ought to go to a good cause.
Besides the donation wasn't the topic of this thread.
I will definitely be looking into the harness replacement.
Thanks again,
Peter

groovzilla

good job checking the seats and good luck with your purchase.

rj777

Am I the only one here who thinks it's more than a little odd that Chaos seems to be more interested in going to the race track and relying on others to check out his car than in doing his own due diligence? I mean, it's great that you're passionate about the 993 range, and that you've seemingly/hopefully found a decent car, but it sure doesn't seem like you are very interested in taking charge here, checking out the car for yourself, and making sure the car is right for you. I would never buy a car sight unseen. I would figure out a way, come hell or high water, to get the time off and travel to see this car. Or else, locate a car that is--at minimum--on the same coast as you.

I mean, maybe for you, $27k to $29k is not a lot of money, and it isn't an issue if you get completely burned, but I would not be relying so much on the good will of strangers (as great as everyone is here, lol). There is no requirement that they do your research and due diligence for you.

As I read through this thread, I'm just continually amazed that you are taking such a completely passive, 'hands off' approach to purchasing this car. I hope it all works out for you, but dude, you need to seriously get more involved and 'hands on' in the whole process!

It's great that you are giving the car a new home, where hopefully it will be cherished, appreciated, and driven. I'm just concerned that you are going to be inheriting a lot of hidden issues and/or deferred maintenance.

Kind regards,

rj777
rickj

AOW162435

You have a point...


Andreas

chaoscreature

Rick and Andreas,
I completely agree that I am not doing as much as I would like to do. If I had the time and $$$ to fly out there I would do it in a heartbeat.
The best I can do here is try to get as much information as possible from unbiased people closer to the car. I was extremely fortunate to have found Marc on this forum who volunteered to see the car for me. I trust his description of the car (he wrote me a very detailed e-mail describing the car) and am also taking his advice to get an additional PPI done by a reputable shop in the area.
I am confident that between the two inspections (the PPI and the Rennfax) I wont be getting a lemon.

wpriller

I hope everything works out for you and your wife on your new purchase. But I would of figure living in So Cali. you would consider looking on the West Coast for a Porsche.