Buying a 993?

[manek]

I've been all over the place (mentally speaking) trying to replace the Chimaera in my life. Now it's been gone five months and the stopgap is boring me, and I've just seen a 993 I really like the look of. I think it's a bit overpriced (95N C2 Coupe at £28,995) but it looks good from the ad (www.autobahn.co.uk, 5th car down the list of used cars).

Question I have is, a) am I right about the price, b) is the dealer known to anyone here? It's Autobahn in Coventry and c) is this a sensible thing to do (open question )

>Edited to add: D) Any known issues I need to look out for?

>>> Edited by manek on Friday 25th April 10:31

[C3 GTK]

Bought my car from there back in Feb and the only problem I had with the car(alternator went 2 days before I was about to drive to the Alps) they sorted out PDQ.
Price. They will haggle start at 10% and let them work you up.
Buying a 993? No regrets so far and damn good to look at in the drive

[domster]

Question I have is, a) am I right about the price, b) is the dealer known to anyone here? It's Autobahn in Coventry and c) is this a sensible thing to do (open question )
D) Any known issues I need to look out for?

a) The price is good IMHO. It's a later one if post 95 so should have Varioram and without the wiring loom fault. Haggle them down if you can tho'. You can get a LHD 996 for that money.

b) Dunno about Autobahn.

c) It's a very sensible thing to do. Maybe even too sensible. If you want something rawer like the Chimaera you should look at a 964RS. It is much more exciting for the money (but far less practical). Also, you shouldn't discount a Boxster or LHD 996 C2 if you have a more modern taste in Porsches as these are within budget too. To make the 993 more exciting, I would suggest an airbox, chip and sports exhaust. About a grand shoud do it. This makes the car more of an 'enthusiasts' drive, largely by sounding like more of a sportscar.

d) Search this forum. 993 problem areas and buying advice have been covered in detail before. There is a wiring loom fault pre 1995, otherwise they are generally quite sorted. Get the warranty from Autobahn anyway.

[clubsport]

The link to the site is down,assuming it is 60k odd avergeish & the colour is not too bad,the price really does sound spot on.You could quite easily see the car offered at £30k ish....Try the haggle,,if they will go 10% walk away as that would be too cheap!

>> Edited by clubsport on Friday 25th April 14:19

[manek]

It's in silver (which I think looks good and will be saleable) and has done around 70k miles so that's OK for a 7-year-old car.

And yes, it has to have some practicality since it'll be only daily driver -- have to get my telescope into it for a start: It's in a largish suitcase-sized case.

[domster]

Telescope... excellent

First we had 'can you get two golf bags and two people into a 993?'...

Now the telescope.

Any Grand Piano concert pianists out there, who need to test the 993's storage capacity to its maximum?

I bet you guys can't wait for the Cayenne to come out!!!

[steve-p]

I knew before I bought mine that my guitars, effects pedals and the large Marshall valve amp wouldn't fit. But I learned to live with it.

[manek]

domster said: Telescope... excellent

First we had 'can you get two golf bags and two people into a 993?'...

Now the telescope.

Any Grand Piano concert pianists out there, who need to test the 993's storage capacity to its maximum?

I bet you guys can't wait for the Cayenne to come out!!!

Hey hey! Just 'cos my idea of a good time is to sit outdoors in the cold and dark, somewhere miles from anywhere...

[Roadrunner]

I prefer night vision goggles and vaseline myself.

[manek]

Roadrunner said: I prefer night vision goggles and vaseline myself.

Why do you need to see what you're doing?

[Roadrunner]

LOL!!

[manek]

...and while I'm looking for said perfect machine, I asked one dealer whether the wiring loom on the early 993 he had for sale had been fixed, and whether the clutch was the original. This was his response:
"We have no record of wiring loom being changed we have sold over 500 early 993s and only changed 2 looms so we do not feel it is a major issue with 993s the clutch is very light and progressive so assume it has been changed."

Is he right?

[james_j]

To see if you may need to have Porsche change the wiring loom, quote the VIN number to a main dealer. Only cars with VINs up to a certain number (I can't remember what) were affected and Porsche might (I think only might) change it free or meet you part way.

[manek]

Hmm, thanks for that -- will check. Don't see how his comment about the clutch makes sense though. Think I'll let that one go...

[steve-p]

I think the clutch comment is a reference to the fact that the clutch gets heavier as it wears out. Or so I am led to believe. Mine seems quite light but the bite point is also pretty high.

[manek]

Well...Just put a deposit a 95N C2 993 from Autobahn in silver. I broke ALL the rules: saw only one, bought the first one I saw, and didn't get an inspection. And the test drive was in london, whcih tells you little. On the plus side, I persuaded them to give me a year's warranty, two new rear tyres and an extra grand on the part-ex. It looks very clean and tidy, the clutch was fairly light, and it has had only three previous owners.

And a guy I trust reckons he knows them, and the car, having both driven and sold it a couple of years ago, and reckons it's a sound motor. I can't wait to get hold of it!

Pix to follow asap...

>> Edited by manek on Tuesday 29th April 23:15

[steve-p]

Sweet! Hope you checked the telescope fitted first though

[manek]

Damn, knew I'd forgotten something...

..but seriously, I don't think it will. But then there's always mrs manek's old Golf banger-thing. I can use that for load-lugging.

[steve-p]

I'm sure there must be a double entendre in there somewhere involving the words telescope, mrs and rear

[manek]