50 replies to this topic

[saxman]

I've been talking extensively to someone in the hollywood area with a 968 for sale, and it's getting to the point of wanting to have someone take a look before sending it in for a PPI. Anyone around there that would be willing to help me out? Thanks


This is the car in question if anyone knows anything about it

http://losangeles.cr.../376687196.html

located in 90004

[flash]

i'm going to be near there tomorrow

you have a pm

[saxman]

Many thanks for going and checking the car out for me today...

I told the lady that assuming all goes well with the PPI, I want the car, so with any luck, I'll have a 968 in the near future.

[josephsc]

Sounds like a good deal -- Give me a holler if you need to borrow any 968-specific tools in the Bay Area. Good luck!

[Mark]

, I'll have a 968 in the near future.

Seems hard to believe.

Hope it all comes together this time

[94SilverCab]

It will be nice to finally have you as a BONA FIDE member of the club...gonna need some lighting mods (No, I haven't changed my mind about fixed headlights, but I would like stronger, brighter lights)...

Good luck on your purchase.

Jay

[saxman]

Seems hard to believe.

Hope it all comes together this time

seriously... a year later...

apparently there is someone else(and someone local to her) interested in the car right now. So it's not mine yet... I told her I wanted the car, and offered a deposit, but told her I wasn't willing to make an offer on the car until I had the results of the PPI. Apparently the other person interested said the same thing... so we'll see where things go.

[flash]

i wouldn't worry about the ppi much - at the condition it's in at that mileage, and at that price, you are way ahead of the game - i didn't get to spend as much time with it myself as i would have liked, but dan looked at it, and ron drove it - ron's pretty anal about anything being out of whack - he said it ran very strong, and was quiet and tight - it's an original owner car with all records

the only things i found were:

big stone chip in driver headlight
front bumper cover needs repaint
lower grille is shot
engine has some leaks (spark plug holes very oily) - it's also very dirty
there is some small top-bottom play in driver front axle - not sure where
dent in driver fender that should pop out
significant "cracking" on the leather, but no tears i could see

other than that, it was normal stuff (rocker gaskets, hatch delam, chips, etc)

while i knew you wanted a ppi (it's a normal knee jerk reaction) i thought you were putting an offer in on the spot - i doubt they are going to find anything we didn't, unless you can get them to do things like a leak-down test and such (not normally part of such an inspecition)

by the way, you know a ppi is normally on your dime and not her's, right?

i think i would save myself the time and money, and buy the car if you like it - if you like the colors, i think this is the best car you will find for this money - if you want better, you need to spend more (and you will still need to park a couple grand in the bank for things that WILL go wrong)

[saxman]

Well, fortunately a family friend happens to be the service manager at Beverly Hills Porsche... it's hard for me to not get a PPI with that available a few minutes away from her.

I know there are going to be some things that show up on the PPI and such, I just want to have a somewhat better idea of exactly what issues there are.

In the mean time, it's going to take a little bit before I can actually get down there anyway, and she knows I want the car, so there's no harm in doing the PPI in the mean time.

[flash]

nothing wrong with a ppi - i certainly wasn't sugesting that if you had the inside track that you shouldn't get one - only that the car looks solid, the history is good, and you could probably do without one

kevin is a good guy, and i'm sure he'll be thorough given that you are "family"

i'd hate to see you lose out on it though, and end up settling later for less of a car

but then, one door closes and a window opens.......

[saxman]

The gentleman I know is named Treavor, not Kevin... perhaps another service manager there or something along those lines. I'm just relaying what I've been told from the side of the family that knows him better than I do.


Considering how long I've been waiting, I'm not really one to setting latter for less of a car...

although I suppose you could stay sticking with my 15 year old honda I drive currently as settling for less of a car

[flash]

roflmao - been there done that

sounds like they have a new service manager - to be honest i hadn't been there for quite some time, and i think it was trevor that set dan up with when he had an emergency down here - was very accommodating

i don't mean to suggest that you should pounce on something you don't want, but merely not to dawdle when you do find one, and that at the price she wants for this car, there isn't much of a chance of finding anything better - now, if you want to spend more money................

[saxman]

afaik, Treavor has been with them for quite some time. That said, I don't know the life story, so it's hard for me to say.

I would not object to spending a little more money, but am I going to find a $12-13k 968 that's going to be in better shape than this one, much less better than this one after putting $2-3k into it?(remember, I do my own work for the most part, so no need to include shop labor into that 2-3k extra either)

[flash]

i could be lame too - i am getting older and my memory could be playing tricks on me - i never have been good with names either

for 12-13k you can probably get a nicer hardtop cosmetically speaking, but probably not mechanically - not too many original owners left, and the ones that i have bumped into aren't letting their cars go that cheap - people who are selling their cars at the 12-13 range are usually doing so to avoid near pending mechanical bills

if you spent 3k on this car, you would have one very nice example

i am thinking, with you doing most of the r&r and such:
reupholster front seats 1k
repaint front bumper cover 400
headlight 200
rocker panel rubber 100
engine cleanup 100
spark plug oil seals 50
new front grille 80

that's 2030 - another grand for whatever, and you are seriously good to go

get the ppi and see if there is anything else major, but i think you're there

[saxman]

I wasn't thinking more along the lines of

spark plug seals
engine clean up
clutch master/slave/hard line
heater/radiator lines
new dme
new hall sensor
flush all the fluids
all new filters
etc...

headlight... as long as it works, I'm not going to be in a huge rush to do something with it... if I'm replacing a headlight, it'll be with something with a projector in it

the front seats are something I'll do eventually, but seeing as it's only cracked, and no big tears, I may try to repair before reupholstering... I don't expect the seats to be perfect, and I'd rather have all the mechanical stuff sorted before stressing about the aesthetic side of things.


anyway, I think you get the jist of what I'm after

[flash]

headlight - i doubt it will work for long, and any projector project is going to take a lot of time and money to come out right, so i figured replacement was easy and quick

seats - there is no repair - old leather is old leather - any shop will do it for 500 a seat and then you have new leather

however, yes, i agree completely about the mechanicals first - pretty sure that if you are doing the work, the grand leftover of the three will just about cover everything else on your list

which then would leave you with a very nice car indeed - either way, seems like within the budget

good luck

[saxman]

so I just talked to Treavor at Beverly Hills Porsche...

apparently they do a 2 hour PPI at *gasp* $310... an extra $155 if I want a compression test... what the hell are they doing for 2 hours if a compression test isn't included...

Isn't a normal PPI only an hour?

I'm not sure I'm in a huge hurry to spend 5% of the cars value on a PPI after the seemingly thorough inspection done by the trifecta of 968 ownership that was you guys looking at the vehicle on my behalf.

Any suggestions?

[flash]

a ppi on any car is going to be about the same, so worrying about it only on this one is moot - either do it or don't, but it should not be a factor from the standpoint of cost on one car over another

this is a car that will cost you money - no 2 ways about it - it is a porsche after all - if you want one, you need to get used to that idea

there were a lot of things i would have liked to have had more time to go through, but the schedule did not allow it after it took me nearly 2 hours to get there - we didn't find anything major, and in fact the car seemed to run quite well - theoretically a ppi would go through all of the items though - i believe there is a ppi checklist form here that would be very helpful in that regard

310 is a bit high, but if it's complete, worth the money for the peace of mind - for 155 they should be doing a compression AND leakdown

in the end though, it's a 968 and not a 944 after all, and we are talking about a $10,000 car, and not a $16,000 car, so you have to expect to spend a few grand on it

[saxman]

I'm expecting to spend a few grand off the bat on parts, and am prepared to spend more.


Spent the day going from one bank to the next and such sorting out the financial side of things... hopefully I may actually have a car soon.

[flash]

well, eyes open, these are great cars, and no more fuss than any other 14 year old performance car - expectations have to be reasonable, and budget has to be considered, but in the end, the fun factor will win out if you can get past the initial investment to get her right

good luck