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993 expiry

JamesThomas

Well-known member
Joined
5 Jan 2005
Messages
145
Hi folks, I'm still in the process of hunting for my baby (993, pref. varioram, c2, £18-22k budget) and have heard from a few of people selling LHD cars and/or high-mileage cars - 100k+ miles.

The condition of at least a couple of them 'looks' very good and they have had some significant amounts of cash spent on them quite recently (receipts for new clutches, track rods, gearboxes rebuilds, etc).

So, Question 1 is... can these cars be kept going 'forever' or is there a point (150k...200k...1m miles!!??) at which a car just becomes not economically viable to keep maintaining?

And to try and answer that, Question 2 is... What's the highest mileage 993 we've got on the Forum?

Cheers, James


Migration info. Legacy thread was 23173
 
I have heard people say that if maintained properly and regulary then the engines will go for 150/200 k before a rebuild. Of course it also depends on how it has been driven.

It does really boil down to maintenance and how well looked after they are. Look at the amount of excellent 911's from the 60's onwds that are still running and looking great are out there today. All these upto the 993 are based on the same basic engine design.

I had a 911 SC with 95,000 on the clock it was very strong and no sign of problems when I sold just some heat exchangers. The person I bought it off was the sole owner in all its 17 years and he had followed the service book to the letter and kept her garaged. It was perfect and ran like a dream.......

maintenance - service - driving style - previous owners - care ....... all these make the difference.

Will




Migration info. Legacy thread was 23174
 
There was an article in 911 & PW where they were reveiwing 2 high mileage 993. If my memory is correct they had 175k (that is miles not km) on each and other than routine servicing (and clutches) don't think that the engines had been rebuilt...

I will see if I can dig out which issue they were in and let you know.

Good luck



Mark


Migration info. Legacy thread was 23175
 
One of the themes of that article was that a well used, high miles car is better than one that's only been used vary sparingly. Keeping the engine more or less constantly warm and the electrics switched on is good.

There's also the issue of what sort of miles the car has done. Plenty of motorway miles are far better than lots of short journeys in town, for example. Better for the clutch and gearbox too.

Mechanical things, when used, inevitably wear, but the speed of wear can be minimised by the type of usage, the quality of oils and the quality and frequency of maintenance. So even a 993 won't go for ever without the need for some sort of serious work, but with the right looking after it'll go on a damn' long time.

In fact, on cars getting towards and getting over 10 years old, those few recognised body corrosion points could start to be more of an issue than some of the mechanicals.

As Henry Firman is wont to say: "Buy on condition, not mileage." :lol:




Migration info. Legacy thread was 23181
 
Previous poster said:
Quote: Originally posted by JamesThomas on 25 January 2005

So, Question 1 is... can these cars be kept going 'forever' or is there a point (150k...200k...1m miles!!??) at which a car just becomes not economically viable to keep maintaining?
damn well hope so, cause i'm prob' going to get through about 50k miles in mine over the next 4 or so years.. and beyond !

Migration info. Legacy thread was 23187
 
Not an 911, but BMW ran an E30 shape 325i for one million miles. Needed remarkably little work...

I have two BMWs, a '00 325i which my wife uses for local journeys, and was owned by someone else for 33k miles. I have an '02 330Ci which I have owned from new, and is used for shuttling me up and down the M40 on my commute. Both have done similar mileage (60k). My 330Ci feels like new, but the 325 feels quite tired and needs work from time to time.

My point? It is the sort of driving that is the key, and a car which has done a big mileage but has been very well maintained and loved could well be a great buy.


Migration info. Legacy thread was 23209
 
Thanks Mark, I'll try and get hold of a copy.

I fully agree that the kind of driving does have a huge impact on the longevity of an engine, which I guess is one of the main problems as relates to a Porsche - it's a sportscar, it gets driven hard. A 1996 993 with 80k miles may well have done 60k miles on the motorway, purring along at a nice steady 3000rpm and done it no harm at all... But in all probabilty at least some of the remaining 20k miles will have been the owner ragging it round a track or down their favourite B-road, bouncing off the rev-limiter, boiling the brake fluid and hitting the suspension stops - none of which is particularly good for the long-term, lo-budget, smooth running of your 2nd-hand, fifth-owner, supercar pride-and-joy!

Whilst I'll keep a safety net of £2-3k aside 'just in case' when I do finally take the plunge, it's not going to help when I need an engine rebuild 6 months later!

(Note: I'm honestly not trying to talk myself out of this... but I really need to have answers to these arguments when the girlfriend starts asking the tricky questions!)


Migration info. Legacy thread was 23217
 
don't worry about it... rebuilds may be needed from about 150k miles ! at the earliest...

but even then the car can still go till 200k miles and beyond on the same engine...

I'm already at 95k and I am not expecting any engine work or even looking into it till I each 150k miles...


Migration info. Legacy thread was 23219
 
Also don't forget the Golden Rule ..... get it PPI'd (Pre Purchase Inspection) from a Porsche Specialist and I would say an independent like Peter Morgan for example. Not AA/RAC and last resort use Official Porsche Center. Post here to find a good one near your seller....

You can try and get the seller to go halfs on the inspection saying that any serious buyer will want one. Even better say if the report comes back with such serious findings that you feel you have to walk away then the seller should cover the inspection but if it reflects the sellers description then you go 50/50 in the event you come to terms of a sale.

If you are happy with the report but need to sort out some of the findings you can get the price of the car down accordingly and get them fixed yourself to your standards etc....

I did all of the above when buying my 993 privately got £3000 knocked off the asking (Took hours of counter negotiations but thats what I do everyday) - the only thing was I used OPC in Edinburgh to PPI my car and they did miss a few minor things (but it still cost). I used the OPC as I am in Essex and the deal needed to be done quickly so OPC was part of the agreement as I did not know who to use and even the PCGB Regional Director was not 100 % who else I could use quickly near Edinburgh.




Migration info. Legacy thread was 23220
 
If you have an OPC inspection done, subject to T&Cs you can buy an OPC warranty for your car...

Migration info. Legacy thread was 23668
 
That is a plus point to having the OPC inspection..... If you don't want the warranty with Porsche though I would suggest an inde specialist for the PPI - PETER MORGAN is then man.

If Porsche do find things that need rectifying in order to give you the warranty you will have use and pay them to correct them which will cost more than a specialist.

With a 996/986/Cayenne and in a few years time the 997 then yes I would not hesitate on getting Porsche warranty - due to the known expensive faults.




Migration info. Legacy thread was 23670
 
I tried Peter Morgan for an inspection of a car in Kent, and he declined, preferring to work in the home counties/south west of London.

I used
www.classiccarinspections.com
who did a very good prompt job, albeit with no pics in the report... they give a discount to PCGB members too.


Migration info. Legacy thread was 23685
 

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