first time buyer, help required

[Mattlan]

Gents, your collective help please, first time 911 purchase, wanting to scratch that 911 itch but mindful of eventual resale

pluses
convertible
manual
colour, ( dont want grey, silver or black particularly)
local
budget (could expand a further couple of £ if it would get into carrera 4 S)
did i mention colour ( love it)
mileage
hardtop included

minuses
lack of service invoices ( would the main dealers be able to track and provide previous invoices ?)
service gap 12~15, followed by "independent specialist" who's invoice ( the only one there is ) has Porsche spelt incorrectly
no info on potential engine issues


http://www.yorkshireclassicporsche.co.uk/used/pors...

fire away, looking to have a positive Porsche experience so be honest!! and thanks in advance for your input

Regards

[griffter]

For residuals, at that money, I don't think a converti is the best bet. But I don't have a crystal ball, so it is of course impossible to say. The same money would get you a 4s coupe or convertible privately which would probably be better in terms of future value (again, no crystal ball though).

I think you have to be realistic about history on a 14 year old car too. Personally I wouldn't be too worried about missing invoices. I'd pay more attention to pre sales prep, condition on the day you buy, and the reputation of the vendor.

However imho the most important thing is that you like it. It's not the car for me (mine went on a 2001 c4 coupe with the options I wanted - the colour was important but not essential). It has fsh but no invoices. I could have waited for the next car, but I haven't seen it yet!

Good luck. My advice is to do your research on the vendor and the car as it stands now.

[mollytherocker]

20k is top money but if you really want a blue cab manual 996 C4, there wont be that many around.

Have you inspected the condition of it thoroughly? Engine quiet? No sooty exhausts? Etc etc etc!

[Mattlan]

first time in a 991 so wouldn't know if the engine was quiet, told it's got sports exhaust, did have a nice rasp to it but test drive is scheduled for monday...ill check for sooty exhaust...what's that an indicator of? bore scoring?

[EGTE]

You must get the bores checked by an independent, no matter what. Lower mileage tends to mean increased likelihood of scoring.

If it's not had a new clutch, get one done as part of the deal and while you're in there remove the IMS dust seal (to protect the IMS bearing).

All in here:

http://www.911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=108257&hi...

[griffter]

EGTE said:

Lower mileage tends to mean increased likelihood of scoring.

Intrigued by this. Do you mean a life of short journeys? Or some (eg due to variations in manufacturing tolerances) fail early, but if it hasn't failed after a certain mileage it's probably OK? Surely a high mileage car was a low mileage car at some point. I can't see how mileage alone would indicate likelihood of failure (but I'm willing to be corrected!).

[mollytherocker]

griffter said:

EGTE said:

Lower mileage tends to mean increased likelihood of scoring.

Intrigued by this. Do you mean a life of short journeys? Or some (eg due to variations in manufacturing tolerances) fail early, but if it hasn't failed after a certain mileage it's probably OK? Surely a high mileage car was a low mileage car at some point. I can't see how mileage alone would indicate likelihood of failure (but I'm willing to be corrected!).

Throw in all the other multitude of variables and it becomes even more muddier;

Driving style
Mechanical sympathy
Labouring engine
Quality of servicing
Type of driving ie motorway or short journeys etc
Do you know if it has already being rebuilt/bodged/new engine?
Etc etc!

[EGTE]

mollytherocker said:

griffter said:

EGTE said:

Lower mileage tends to mean increased likelihood of scoring.

Intrigued by this. Do you mean a life of short journeys? Or some (eg due to variations in manufacturing tolerances) fail early, but if it hasn't failed after a certain mileage it's probably OK? Surely a high mileage car was a low mileage car at some point. I can't see how mileage alone would indicate likelihood of failure (but I'm willing to be corrected!).

Throw in all the other multitude of variables and it becomes even more muddier;

Driving style
Mechanical sympathy
Labouring engine
Quality of servicing
Type of driving ie motorway or short journeys etc
Do you know if it has already being rebuilt/bodged/new engine?
Etc etc!

As Molly said, but there's also Baz's theory (somewhere in that 911uk thread) that IMS dust seals tend to let go after about 70,000 miles and the oil leak actually protects the IMS bearing.

Cheers.

[Digga]

Inspection is sound advice. Unless you are buying from one of the absolute best dealers - a bit of a search will identify these - you are well advised to get an independent Pre Purchase Inspection (PPI).

Head and heart need to be engaged; if you have your heart set on a cabrio, go for it.