Pre-Purchase Inspections

[Rav Babbra]

Hi All,

I am currently looking at buying at a LHD 993. As this is my first 911 (have had 944 turbo se and 968 sport previous) in am getting the car inspected by a well known specialist in the Reading area. I just wanted to know, what this buys you? Is it the opinion of the indie? or is there a binding contract in there that could be used if worse comes to the worst ?

Also, what is the opinion of 993s with high miles? The car im looking at in a German car, It has covered most of its 120k miles in Germany. Due to the mileage, will it need an engine re-build? The clutch has been done, the shocks and ride feel good, but the engine has never been re-build.

The car has a small (10 pence piece size) of corrosion around the rear screen. I am assured that this is water ingress from around the rubber? Is this usual? How much would this cost to repair ?

Also the car has a welded door check strap on one side. I know this is a common problem, but is welding it the answer? How long will this last and how much does it cost to put it right?

Cheers for now,

Rav




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[Martyn1]

Rav

Welcome to the site.

Im no expert on this but I do not belive the inspection will give you any comeback if subsequent problems are found, however I would strong recommend having one for obvious reasons.

120K is clearly on the high side, there are many threads on this site regarding how strong the engines are but with any car after 120K things will need to have been replaced etc. From my experience (993 LHD with 72K miles) I believe that the car you are looking at should have had a new clutch new suspension shocks and possibly wishbones.

Dont know about the welding or rust sorry.

I would imagine you are paying less than £20K???

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[Martyn1]

Rav re the door strap...

http://www.911uk.com/forum/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=12&TopicID=5504&PagePosition=1


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[Rav Babbra]

Thanks Martyn1.

Yep car is up for £17k. Doesnt look like a check strap is somthing to be particulary worried about though.


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[Tiptronic]

Quote: Originally posted by Rav Babbra on 30 January 2006
Thanks Martyn1.
Yep car is up for £17k. Doesnt look like a check strap is somthing to be particulary worried about though.

Welcome to the site.

If the car needs and engine rebuilt that could cost as much as £5k, and the other repairs corrosion etc that you have mentioned.

Would it not be better to put that money towards a better car?

If it needs an engine rebuild you should be looking to pay no more than £12k, espesially with that milage and LHD.

Daz.

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[Maxy M]

I think there are inspections and inspections. They may be a good look-over by a Porsche 'expert' to check that all the serial numbers tie up, for accident damage, for signs of things wrong (eg oil leaks), check what works and what doesn't, and whether it drives OK. Also an HPI check.

But you can also get a service outfit (maybe indie) to get it up on a ramp to give it a really good exam. That way you stand a better chance of not finding out in due course that you need new shocks, wishbones, etc to bring the car up to scratch (if that is what you want).


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[Rav Babbra]

Agreed Maxy M.



But I was wondering if a good indie have serviced the car and the current owner knows the owner of the indie, how useful is the inspection going to be? I suppose that his business is on the line if he omits to tell me somthing in order to sell a car for his mate ? Hence the question of what happens if the engine explodes 1 mile after the inspection ?




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