Teuton993

Hello all,
I'm a rennlist newb and I thought I'd take a stab at posting a question:
I'm asking for your input on a purchase decision.

I've been in the market for 993 cab for the past 2 summers. Now, it seems that, in the past week or so, 993's are coming out of the woodwork and the prices have dropped. What's the deal?

I'm looking at 3 cars right now:
1) Triple Black '95 cab, 69k miles, with 18" turbo twist wheels, new Pirelli P Zero Nero tires, new belts, brake pads, oil, and oil filters. Upgrades include Ruf front end, rear wing, Bilstein PSS9 coil over shocks, H&R sway bars, RS single mass clutch & flywheel, front strut bar, steel brake lines, aluminum pedals, BMC super flow air filter, solid engine mounts, steel synchro cone & rings 1st & 2nd gear, 993 performance chip. Asking $24,900.

Windshield has a stone chip and theres's some curb rash on 1 wheel, but otherwise the car looks good in photos. I have yet to see it, but I did speak with the owner (he's the 2nd owner) and he was very friendly and forthcoming. He said he used the car for fair weather driving and PCA DE classes on a local track. It's always been a NYC area car.

2) Guards Red '95 cab, 81k miles, with grey interior and brand new black top and liner. Pretty much stock, except for some accessories (grill mounted radar detector, satellite nav/dvd player stereo). Body looks good in photos, but the passenger front fender has been resprayed - no filler, just repainted. No record of accidents in Carfax or Autocheck. Just had full tune-up: replaced valve cover gaskets, oil, filter. Not much service history and Carfax shows 4 owners. Car has always been in TX or the Carolinas. For sale through used import dealer for $25k, but he's willing to deal because he needs to do a year-end clearance.

3) Midnight blue '96 cab, 64k miles, with grey interior. 1st owner neglected to check the oil and burned up engine recently. A senior Porsche technician bought it for his wife, did ground up rebuild of engine (500 miles on new engine), repaired any other mechanical issues, did full 60k service, balanced and aligned suspension, and now he needs to sell it. New clutch and flywheel. The seats need to be re-covered, but the top is new. He's asking $25,500. It's always been a CA car.

All cars have clean Carfaxes/Autochecks.

It's December and I live in upstate NY. We just got our first snow yesterday. If I'm going to buy something, I need to do it now and get it in the garage, or wait until spring (again). And here's my final consideration: I plan to go wherever the car is (NJ, SC, CA) and drive it back to NY.

Should I just buy all three and take turns driving them? Yes, I know - I've been in worse situations, but what to do?

I know this is mostly a matter of preference, but does anyone have any strong opinions about which car to buy or not to buy?

(Please forgive the verbosity. I'll work on more concise posts in the future.)
Thanks!

TRINITONY

3 - If it passes PPI. If it fails, on to the black one.

Rinty

Well, that third one has a fresh engine....

And it's Midnight Blue, to boot.

Allen

easy for me...#1

IXLR8

With those mileages, I wouldn't pay all that much either.

BTW, I wouldn't part with mine for $20K more than I paid for it.


If everything hasn't been reported, those things aren't worth the paper they are written on. There was an interesting investigative report on those services on TV some time ago.

Robert Collins - 96 993TT

95's are easier to mod, but having had a 96 Carrera 2 cab, I would tell you to go with the 96.

I love blue and all that, but the Varioram engine sounds SOOOOO sweet when the varioram kicks in around 3,500-4,000 rpm's and the engine just growls. In five years of owning that car, I never once got tired of hearing that sound and I miss it now (although I love the sound of my TT just as much, just different).

Steve 96C4S

Hard to beat that new engine but Triple Black is a great color combo and the interior will stay a lot cleaner in upper state NY! I'm not a grey interior guy due to dirt on the carpets will show much easier. Good luck with your decision!

Slow Guy

LOTS of cabs available now, wish there was a way to convert a cab into a coupe. Finding nice coupes for reasonable prices is getting tougher. Best of luck with your decision.

2ndof2

My thoughts are that prices are down on 993s because of the general economy and more miles on most of the 993s for sale. It seems pretty obvious that most would agree that a black car always looks nice if the paint is well maintained but it can take alot of time and be pretty challenging to keep it looking that way. Dark blue would likely only be a little easier in this regard but still looks great. As for the model year the only very significant issue in my mind would be the potential for an SAI issue somewhere down the line, but in this case I would assume that the 96 had the valve guides replaced. While the 95s may have worn guides and burn some oil, you won't have a fault code for SAI preventing you from passing a smog test if required in NY. Good luck with the purchase, cabrios are fun cars.

rol607

Grey is easy to keep clean.

Teuton993

Thanks guys for the opinions and info so far! You've been most helpful. I hope more folks chime in. Maybe I'll keep a tally of the votes.

So far, everyone seems to lean towards the triple black '95 or the midnight blue '96, for various reasons.
Why not the guards red '95?

Would it help if I posted photos? I wonder if I should… I don't want one of you guys buying one of these cars out from under me! :P

Teuton993

Yes, he resolved the SAI issue with new, improved valve guides (some sort of alloy or something).

We do have smog tests here. So this is an advantage of the '95's then. Hmmmm.... <insert sound of rusty brain trying to sit up, rub the sleep out of it's eyes, and think>

I agree. I did a Carfax check on my previous truck, which had been in 2 minor accidents (both with filed police reports and insurance claims), and neither accident was listed. I've also looked at 2 potential cars where the Carfax was screwed. The sellers had to send documentation to Carfax to get it fixed. But they can be useful when they do actually have important info in them.

Thanks!

NP993

I would go with #3. It's had the big expensive stuff done -- the top end rebuild, clutch, and major service. How much oil do the other cars burn? They're at the mileage where 993's typically need top end rebuilds. Be careful about purchasing someone else's problem.

Teuton993

Interesting, I didn't know that. One more thing to consider!
Thanks!

I have to say that the new engine and complete once over makes me lean towards the blue '96. However, the black one is a day trip away, by car, and has many similar advantages. But I don't like the giant whale tail on the black one. I prefer a more modest tail or none at all (stay focused - I'm referring to 911's!).

How hard is it to have those aftermarket whale tails removed and get the rear deck back to its original configuration?

Teuton993

Good advice. I don't know how much the other cars burn oil. The red 993 is a dealer. He said he just had the "top and bottom" (?) valve cover gaskets replaced (was it leaking oil before that? Probably). I don't know how much good service history I can get from him - not his fault, just how things are.

The black one is privately owned, and he said it was tight, no leaks. He's owned it since 2001, so I can get more details from him, and probably a lot of service records too.

The owner of the blue '96 is a Porsche technician who has been very helpful (he's even offered me advice on this very topic!) and forthcoming about everything, providing me with many details. He also knows service folks at the Porsche dealership where the car has been serviced it's whole life (remember, it's essentially a 1 owner car), so I might be able to get complete service records for that car - another big plus. The only drawbacks are:

1) the seats need to be replaced/re-covered - how much does that cost?

2) the interior is grey - I prefer champagne/tan or black - can I replace the entire interior with a different color?

3) long drive home - of course, I would love to do a cross country road trip, but maybe 2 months ago; now, not so much

Thanks for the input!