Head or Heart - opinions please

[XJSJohn]

Folks,

After some opinions / thoughts on this 911 that i have had a look at, and am i just using my heart and about to walk into a serious wallet emptier of a motor?

http://www.sgcarmart.com/main/info-20xeK1jI-1229.h...

Few points.

1 - The car is in Singapore, so am I
2 - I realise that its been "facelifted" to a 964 look (a common thing here, they do the same with just about any marque)
3 - a 10 minute hoon test drive felt ok, engine sounded as i would expect and had the expected ooomph, i could not see any obvious issues.

Are there any known issues with facelifting these

any big bills due at 60,000 KM (its quite possible that that is genuine milage here)

any issues with the aircoolers living in hot climates (concidering that it will have rarely been "opened up" properly)

This is a bit of a wild card choice for me as they are like hens teeth here, and i did not expect one to appear within budget. (cars can be excrutiatingly expensive to buy here, and at 20k sterling this is a good bargain)

Cheers and looking forward to any comments, both from the heart and the head!

[steve.B]

The only way your going to find out if its a gooden is the service history and to buy it and hope there are no problems. It looks great!!!
If it cost you money then you load it on when you sell it.
You should have no problems selling it on in that part of the world.

[Singh911]

Get a proper inspection from a porsche specialist.

If anything major comes up but its not a dealbreaker, seek to reduce price by the cost to fix.

Ajit.

[XJSJohn]

Singh911 said:

Get a proper inspection from a porsche specialist.

now that could be an interesting challenge ... there is a porsche dealer here, but if they are a "specialist", now thats a whole different question

Was planning on some sort of inspection though, was just curious if anyone had any comments on these sort of "facelift" jobs and on peoples opinions on an old aircooler in this heat.

Cheers for the comments so far !!

[steve.B]

I ran a 964 for a year in southern spain without trouble.
The only advise I was given on this engine was give it a bit of stick fairly often. the history on the car should show you whats happen.
I would ring a porsche service person hear and ask the questions.

[XJSJohn]

steve.B said:

I ran a 964 for a year in southern spain without trouble.
The only advise I was given on this engine was give it a bit of stick fairly often.

my kind of advice!!

[thegoose]

Try and at least find someone to do a cylinder leakage test on the engine too - should be no more than half an hour to check all 6 cylinders.

The interior looks unusual to me, in that it has black leather and beige dash (which normally comes with matching seats etc) - just an observation, judge it more on condition and whether you like it.

I don't think the facelift adds any value (in the UK) and could make it a bit harder to sell here, but some will like/prefer it. If you like the car and it checks out OK then go for it and enjoy it.

[flattotheboards]

looks great good luck with.

[XJSJohn]

thegoose said:

Try and at least find someone to do a cylinder leakage test on the engine too - should be no more than half an hour to check all 6 cylinders.

The interior looks unusual to me, in that it has black leather and beige dash (which normally comes with matching seats etc) - just an observation, judge it more on condition and whether you like it.

I don't think the facelift adds any value (in the UK) and could make it a bit harder to sell here, but some will like/prefer it. If you like the car and it checks out OK then go for it and enjoy it.

Good tip on the cylinder test.

the yellow "ferarri" dials are a bit odd, but strangely i like to . I suspect that the change of dash colour may have something to do with the origional fading in sunlight (can strip paint in days here)

I am in 2 minds on the facelift, always find making something "lesser" look more modern / faster is all a bit bass ackwards but its more a case of there being more pluses than deltas

Manual - check (almost everything is auto here, including Honda ITR's ?!?!)
RWD - check
actually has some performance - check
is in my budget - check (just)

[Vanya]

I hope the inspection report proves the car is fine and good for it's year...


... because you know you WANT IT!!!

[XJSJohn]

Vanya said:

I hope the inspection report proves the car is fine and good for it's year...


... because you know you WANT IT!!!

shush evil one ..... heart has been sold, just have to satisfy head and wallet now ...

[Hammerhead]

Looks good, lah!

[XJSJohn]

Hammerhead said:

Looks good, lah!

... not too Ah Beng??

[rubystone]

So it's an SC that's been facelifted then? I guess that the relative UK values of such cars are of no use to you?

Have a leakdown and comression test done to see just how many of the cylinder head studs have broken. Ask them to confirm that the stiff clutch is due to wear in the selector fork and that the graunch as you change from 2nd to 3rd is indeed worn synchro. Hand them a cheque for about £4,000 to sort these problems out and you'll have a fine car.

But seriously, all that I have mentioned above are common problems with SCs and 3.2 Carreras, and if your local echanical support is weak on 911s, you won't really want to buy a car with any faults whatsoever will you?

[Hammerhead]

XJSJohn said:

Hammerhead said:

Looks good, lah!

... not too Ah Beng??

Definitely not, dear boy. Much to tasteful to be a zhng-ed motor.

[XJSJohn]

rubystone said:

So it's an SC that's been facelifted then? I guess that the relative UK values of such cars are of no use to you?

Have a leakdown and comression test done to see just how many of the cylinder head studs have broken. Ask them to confirm that the stiff clutch is due to wear in the selector fork and that the graunch as you change from 2nd to 3rd is indeed worn synchro. Hand them a cheque for about £4,000 to sort these problems out and you'll have a fine car.

But seriously, all that I have mentioned above are common problems with SCs and 3.2 Carreras, and if your local echanical support is weak on 911s, you won't really want to buy a car with any faults whatsoever will you?

Rubystone, cheers for what to look for and how to sound like i know about these cars properly ... There is full dealer support and a few aircoolers knocking about, there are probably also a few specialists that work on them too, its just a case of finding someone that i trust / believe knows what they are doing.

Sadly UK prices have absolutely no bearing or baseline on cars here. To import it has to be no older than 3 years. Then you have to pay 110% duty on the Original Market Value of the car plus 5% port handling fees and 5% registration fees.

Of the $65k about $10k is actually the 5 years remaining on its COE certificate (this is the right for the car to be on the road) and i should be able to knock 5k off the ticket so in truth this is a GBP16k car which makes it sound slightly less painful.

[XJSJohn]

Hammerhead said:

XJSJohn said:

Hammerhead said:

Looks good, lah!

... not too Ah Beng??

Definitely not, dear boy. Much to tasteful to be a zhng-ed motor.

ahh so you have experienced some of the amazing Kia Picanto's and Hyundai Getz's that we get out here

[Hammerhead]

XJSJohn said:

Hammerhead said:

XJSJohn said:

Hammerhead said:

Looks good, lah!

... not too Ah Beng??

Definitely not, dear boy. Much too tasteful to be a zhng-ed motor.

ahh so you have experienced some of the amazing Kia Picanto's and Hyundai Getz's that we get out here

Yes, but also experienced the supercar spotting as well to the point where they seem common! CLK DTM's, 599s, carbon fibre bodied Zondas etc etc all trundling down Orchard Road.

Anyway, non of them compare aurally to the diff whine of the Toyota Crown cabs

I love it out there, can't wait to go back.

[XJSJohn]

Hammerhead said:

XJSJohn said:

Hammerhead said:

XJSJohn said:

Hammerhead said:

Looks good, lah!

... not too Ah Beng??

Definitely not, dear boy. Much too tasteful to be a zhng-ed motor.

ahh so you have experienced some of the amazing Kia Picanto's and Hyundai Getz's that we get out here

Yes, but also experienced the supercar spotting as well to the point where they seem common! CLK DTM's, 599s, carbon fibre bodied Zondas etc etc all trundling down Orchard Road.

Anyway, non of them compare aurally to the diff whine of the Toyota Crown cabs

I love it out there, can't wait to go back.

Outside the Paragon Hotel on Orchard is that ?? Definitely on Orchard anyway.

Look closely at some of those "specials", they are often all bodykit and nothing more!

However there are 2 Zonda's registered here. Havent figured out yet if the 911 GT2's are genuine yet, but i know that a new GT2 in the dealers is $420,000 (thats about GBP140,000). There are too many people here earning more than me!!

Yes the Taxi's are quite an experiance aren't they, you wouldn't believe it to hear them, but they are all petrol engines too, and the driving

Drop me a PM when you next out here, can meet for a beer

[Hammerhead]

XJSJohn said:

Outside the Paragon Hotel on Orchard is that ?? Definitely on Orchard anyway.

Hilton International on Orchard

XJSJohn said:

Yes the Taxi's are quite an experiance aren't they, you wouldn't believe it to hear them, but they are all petrol engines too, and the driving

Petrol? Crikey, kinda ruff aren't they?! Still, muchos cheapness and a/c so no complaints.

XJSJohn said:

Drop me a PM when you next out here, can meet for a beer

Certainly will, fella. Tigers ahoy!

Cheers,

Steve
PS - don't you sleep?

Edited by Hammerhead on Monday 11th June 14:43