04-19-2008, 09:46 PM
Hi 968 forum members,
This is my first post here. My name's Dave, but my screenname is dep because all the dave's were taken and my nephew calls me dep.
Thanks for all the very helpful advice!
I recently got a black '92 968 coupe. It was a European delivery car, so its options may have been unusual for the year: limited-slip differential, 17" cup wheels with silver caps, sunroof, power seats, cruise control and a radio. Interior is also black with the porsche-labeled cloth seats.
I had been looking for something fun to drive that would fit me better than my '96 Miata (I'm 6'2"). I test drove a few contemporary cars: a Honda S2000, a model 3 Miata, a Subaru WRX. All three had more power than my Miata and also handled well, but even used, they cost more than the $10-15K that I was thinking of spending.
As I looked at various listings on craigslist, I noticed an '85 944 with only 50K miles for sale at a dealer not far away, so my wife and I checked it out. It was incredibly clean, but when I test drove it I noticed that it really didn't seem to accelerate any better than my Miata. The price was also rather high at 11K. After that, I started reading up on the 944 series and focussed my craigslist search on those. I was surprised to find that in the couple of weeks that I was actively looking, I contacted 4 sellers with '89-'91 S2s that ranged in price from 8.5K to 11K.
Eventually in my on-line research I learned of the 968. I had only seen one or two cabs before, and I'd never seen a coupe. On craiglist though, there was a coupe only 10 minutes away, so I went over and test drove it. It felt really good, with good acceleration, great handling, and it was far smoother over rough roads or on the freeway than was my Miata.
The seller wanted 12K for it. It looked great except for some road rash on the front bumper and some little bumps on the hood that I hoped weren't rust but suspected were. I had Bauer Porsche Repair in Oakland look over the car, and they noticed a few more little things: the windshield washer and hatchback release needed work, but the timing belts, etc. looked fine. Inside, it had a couple upholstery touch-ups that needed to be fixed, and there were two 1/4-1/2" dash cracks that weren't very noticeable. It had 88,500 miles on it, had new tires and brakes, and the maintenance record looked good. The biggest question was the nature of the bumps on the hood. They were only in the first foot or so from the front, and judging by the amount of road rash on the bumper, had probably been caused by gravel impacts that had rusted and then been repainted. I didn't see any other signs of rust on the car. I decided to go for it.
After buying it, I had Bauer upgrade the DME relay to the 993 model, inspect the variocam, and fix the rear hatch and windshield washers. I got a few estimates on the bumper and hood, and went with a guy who, after stripping and refinishing the hood, blended the repainted area with the fender color and buffed the whole car so that it all came out looking very nice. I also found a window tint specialist who owned 3 944's! He tinted the rear hatch on mine, a difficult procedure. All told, I put in another 3K, so I'm up to 15K.
One question: I'm thinking about putting some protective film on the front bumper so that I don't get road rash again, but I don't think I want the film line across the fenders or hood. Has anyone tried protective film? Does it degrade and look bad after a few years, or has it been OK?
Thanks again for a great forum! I hope you're enjoying driving your 968 as much as I am mine!
This is my first post here. My name's Dave, but my screenname is dep because all the dave's were taken and my nephew calls me dep.
Thanks for all the very helpful advice!
I recently got a black '92 968 coupe. It was a European delivery car, so its options may have been unusual for the year: limited-slip differential, 17" cup wheels with silver caps, sunroof, power seats, cruise control and a radio. Interior is also black with the porsche-labeled cloth seats.
I had been looking for something fun to drive that would fit me better than my '96 Miata (I'm 6'2"). I test drove a few contemporary cars: a Honda S2000, a model 3 Miata, a Subaru WRX. All three had more power than my Miata and also handled well, but even used, they cost more than the $10-15K that I was thinking of spending.
As I looked at various listings on craigslist, I noticed an '85 944 with only 50K miles for sale at a dealer not far away, so my wife and I checked it out. It was incredibly clean, but when I test drove it I noticed that it really didn't seem to accelerate any better than my Miata. The price was also rather high at 11K. After that, I started reading up on the 944 series and focussed my craigslist search on those. I was surprised to find that in the couple of weeks that I was actively looking, I contacted 4 sellers with '89-'91 S2s that ranged in price from 8.5K to 11K.
Eventually in my on-line research I learned of the 968. I had only seen one or two cabs before, and I'd never seen a coupe. On craiglist though, there was a coupe only 10 minutes away, so I went over and test drove it. It felt really good, with good acceleration, great handling, and it was far smoother over rough roads or on the freeway than was my Miata.
The seller wanted 12K for it. It looked great except for some road rash on the front bumper and some little bumps on the hood that I hoped weren't rust but suspected were. I had Bauer Porsche Repair in Oakland look over the car, and they noticed a few more little things: the windshield washer and hatchback release needed work, but the timing belts, etc. looked fine. Inside, it had a couple upholstery touch-ups that needed to be fixed, and there were two 1/4-1/2" dash cracks that weren't very noticeable. It had 88,500 miles on it, had new tires and brakes, and the maintenance record looked good. The biggest question was the nature of the bumps on the hood. They were only in the first foot or so from the front, and judging by the amount of road rash on the bumper, had probably been caused by gravel impacts that had rusted and then been repainted. I didn't see any other signs of rust on the car. I decided to go for it.
After buying it, I had Bauer upgrade the DME relay to the 993 model, inspect the variocam, and fix the rear hatch and windshield washers. I got a few estimates on the bumper and hood, and went with a guy who, after stripping and refinishing the hood, blended the repainted area with the fender color and buffed the whole car so that it all came out looking very nice. I also found a window tint specialist who owned 3 944's! He tinted the rear hatch on mine, a difficult procedure. All told, I put in another 3K, so I'm up to 15K.
One question: I'm thinking about putting some protective film on the front bumper so that I don't get road rash again, but I don't think I want the film line across the fenders or hood. Has anyone tried protective film? Does it degrade and look bad after a few years, or has it been OK?
Thanks again for a great forum! I hope you're enjoying driving your 968 as much as I am mine!
[color="#6666CC"]Dave
'92 968 coupe, black on black with script seats and option 220[/color]
