OK my Porsche officianadoes what do you recommend.
Seriously thinking about a:
'03 911: 3rd owner just purchased in 9/09 had PPI compression test ranging from 200 to 210.
Owner stated water pump went about 5 mos ago and car got hot, but drove to dealer to replc water pump. Current temp gauge is normal but should I be concerned?
Owner asking 24K and suspect that's what he purchased the car for with 85K miles, now 15K miles later or 100K miles its for sale.
Car looks clean (inside and out). Needs tires, and electrical glitch as HL connection appears to be loose as it doesn't come on sometimes requiring you to push the HL or move it and then it comes on. Suspect brakes within the year. Service records are uneventful (15,30,45,60,75,90 (trans fluid & plugs). Outside normal service would be the water pump and v-belt.
Is there better out there for less miles in the low 2s or what price is this car a fair buy at?

 

You can probably pick up a nicer car for $24K. Suspension, tires and brakes can cost you up to $4-5K fast.

 

Chao, thanks. I don't see any need for suspension issues, but tires/brakes are a definate also an LN engineering bearing or aftermkt warranty for peace of mind.
Does over-heating scare anyone when the water pump went? Concerned over head gasket later down the road. Or would this issue surfaced by now. Curent temp readings are nomal.

 

I have to read this and think carefully....

so my car was 116k on the clock and had some nice goodies (really nice IMO) and it also had a couple "issues" like sunroof didnt slide and the beginings of brake rotor runnout so due for brakes...

I will tell ya, Itried to sell it for almost 9 months - its a tough car to sell once they hit 100k

BUT many have bought them and had great success/luck
there are things I would do right away for the car and like Chao said its easy to drop $4k in tires, brakes and shocks w/o even making the car any better than it was from the factory (which these cars CAN be much better)

the car looks ok but nothing special and IMO Tips bring lower re-sale and have more than likely been run at lower RPM's that cause the engines to have more deposits on the pistons and what not..

tires are between $650 and $1650 / set
headlight could be just a ballast or ??? figure $200 to repair
car got hot doesnt tell me anything... HOW HOT.. if it boiled the oil, yea its abig deal... if it went over normal, but not into the red... might not be an issue (at least he is ?honest? about it)
full break job will set you back $1k if it need rotors (check the "lip" of the rotor/pad interface)

I never state price as I dont really think price is the major part of getting a good car.. fiar prices are easy to look up, i would not want a "screaming deal" and I would not want to get raked over the coals... if the car checks out KBB has ballpark numbers

the pics are kind of vauge but I like the wheels, make sure they are good wheels and not some cheap crap. Have you driven it?
I think its a descent car/high mile/upper end of the price range car....my $.02

 

head gaskets dont go out, heads crack and cylinder walls on the bottom of 4 crack - and those are major deals....from $3k to $20k....

I dont know how worried I would be about it, but I would ask more questions as to what "hot" means

 

Are we saying a over-heat may result in problems down the road if temp reading is normal now? Shouldn't a over-heat resulting in a cracked head, cylinder wall or gasket issue show up immediately?
Yes, I drove the car and runs and strongs good. Is 200-210 compression test normal, above average?? I

 

those are normal numbers

as for a crack it could show up right away OR it could cause a "weakening" of the materials and over time cause an issue.... I am no expert of that type or analysis but I know heads crack and the wall section on #4 does too... why it does or what the factors are I dont know... so the Q is how hot and the reason is only a mental.." that should be ok, or geez... not sure I trust it over the long haul"

are/did you get (getting) a PPI. Maybe there is something in the DME that gives a record of temps??

E

 

Yes, I will have a PPI done if I'm taking the next step to purchase. I'll ask the owner how hot and how long did he drive it at that temp (remember when the water pump gave out he drove it to the Dealer vs having it towed, he also mentioned when the car got hot he tried to add water but it ran out).

 

Does the owner have any records on when the suspension was replaced. 100K miles or even 50K miles on a set of suspension is in need of replacement.

If the previous owner took care of his car like you described, there are better cars for that price. BillJ sold his car in excellent shape 90K miles with a new engine for $26.5 K recently.

 

Thanks everyone, I just can wait to be a Porsche owner.

 

You're missing a 't' I think...

 

I love porsches with over 120K miles! Everything went wrong already and you are just starting to enjoy its second life! LOL!

 

24K. I think you can do wayyyyyy better

 

Kyle, are you saying way better in price or wait for a better one to come up. What price makes this one a reasonably good buy.

 

$24K for an 03 with 100K miles seems high to me. But I"m not current on prices.

9/09 compression test results means nothing, now.

I don't like the driving to the dealer with a non-functional water pump. Jesus people I've had my Boxster towed nearly 90 miles to avoid driving it with a failed AOS and the tow cost me only around $150. How far did the owner drive? Nevermind. Doesn't matter. I'd skip this car.

The problem is with weather cool any overheating arising from driving the car with a failed/non-functional water pump might have been masked only to come to light recently with warmer weather. Hence the car's for sale.

$24K and needs tires? With tires comes an alignment. And brakes? $24K? No way.

What tires are on there? Michelin? Pirelli? Continental? N-rated? Or some non-N-rated tires? If the latter this owner's been cheap with the car.

Car can be cleaned for $200 or for a couple of hours of the owner's time. Means nothing.

If, big if, if you want the car, if it pushes all right buttons, if you can live with the price or get the price down, have the plugs pulled and look for signs of water/coolant in engine. One or more plugs will be cleaner due to any water getting past a head gasket, or through a tiny crack in the head.

Have the cooling system pressure tested.

Test/analyze the oil for presence of anti-freeze chemicals.

On a warm day, arrange for a test ride. Insist on a 15 mile (or longer) route. Mixed driving. Ride along and let owner demo car runs fine and engine pulls smoothly up to red line.

When you return to starting point, insist owner let engine idle. Be sure A/C off. You can test this for a while but try to drive with it off as much as possible.

Now you take car on same route. You want to give the engine every chance to get plenty hot. If everything ok engine should not overheat. Temp gage needle may climb a bit higher than "180" or whatever the number is but the coolant level should remain good, the cooling system should not emit any fluids, you should not smell any anti-freeze anywhere around car, and the coolant light should not come on.

You want to let engine idle after the test drive until you hear the electric radiator fans come one. Then shut off engine and stall for time waiting for something to drip, leak out, or for you to smell anti-freeze. Have engine compartment open.

Even if nothing turns up not 100% conclusive there is no lurking issue from teh failed water pump event but the best you can do.

You're looking at maybe $500 for the above on top of whatever you have to pay for the car.

Plus you need to budget for what you know the car needs. Tires/alignment. Brakes. Headlight work. Maybe even an ignition switch.

Roughly you need to have set aside 10% of the used car's purchase price to have handy to take care of the "little" things that seem to appear after one buys a used car, especially one this "old" and with this many miles and with the known issues. If you pay $24K, you need $2400 set aside. You may not use it all, especially if you can somehow negotiate to have the known issues taken care of by the current owner (unlikely) or arrange to negotiate the price down by the estimated amount of work you know or suspect the car needs.

I can't believe this is the best car you can find, afford.

I'd keep looking.

Check out the cars offered here in the classified. Check out PCA mag or PCA web site for cars for sale. Excellence magazine has a classified section I hear/read. Search www.autotrader.com or www.cars.com for 2002/2004 C2s and see what turns up.

Sincerely,

Macster.