Tell me this wasn't a stupid idea....

[mainline]

n4aat said:

Fingered crossed for you.

My mate bought some poverty pork several years ago. He named it “The Beast”.

Bought it for £6k, spent £6k trying to fix it, then sold it for £6k.

I’m sure you won’t be as unlucky.

Ha, i hope not. If it doesn't work out it doesn't work out but so far the coolant level has remained pretty steady and everything else seems fine. It's mainly been my wife using it as I've been working in some far flung corners of the country this week and she's been enjoying the Boxster.

Four day weekend to enjoy it coming up!

[ReverendCounter]

mainline said:

I've bought a good few used cars including Golf GTIs, an Integra Type R, VX220, Alfa 147 GTA,205 GTI ]

If you don't mind going off topic slightly, do you see any similarities in the driving experience between the VX220 and 205 GTi?

I mean, the 147GTA and the Type R - both fairly grown up, well specced performance hatches - but the 205 and the VX220 seem lighter weight - both completely different experiences in all respects, do you feel, or any similarities? Any mods on those two?

Or were they perhaps purchased years apart?

[T1547]

mainline said:

Ha, i hope not. If it doesn't work out it doesn't work out but so far the coolant level has remained pretty steady and everything else seems fine. It's mainly been my wife using it as I've been working in some far flung corners of the country this week and she's been enjoying the Boxster.

Four day weekend to enjoy it coming up!

What a cracking car for £4k. Hard to believe they're priced so low these days. Even if you spent a few grand maintaining it over a couple years it is an absolute bargain. Enjoy!

[Bullet-Proof_Biscuit]

No it is a very good idea.

you are lucky with your insurance! more like £2k for a 3.2S for me in London! I've had to resort to a 2.5 to keep the policy 'down' at around the £1k mark...

Watching with interest, keep this thread going with your 986 owning experience won't you

beers,

[Tony 1234]

Bullet-Proof_Biscuit said:

Watching with interest, keep this thread going with your 986 owning experience won't you

beers,

+1

[mainline]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

The VX and 205 Gti are as alike as two completely different cars could be. As you'll know one is a fwd five seat hatchback and the other a rwd mid engined two seater. However there is (real and perceived) lightness of touch, there's non assisted steering, masses of feedback, not a lot of torque, but instant access to acceleration. They both feel gloriously alive to drive hard and slightly brittle to sit in. I owned them back to back and I can't split them for my favourite cars I've owned.

The Teg was firmly in the same camp as the GTi. Light, stripped out, very noisy, wonderful to drive, happy to overseer off the throttle but much easier to catch than the Pug. The big difference is the engine. Its a thing of absolute wonder. But, and it's a large but, only 10% of the time. If I had to take one of the cars I'd owned on track it would be the Teg. As a daily driver however it never felt special like the GTA. You see, the GTA is a car you can enjoy the other 90 percent of the time. Its a lovely place to sit, it has a peach of an engine, it makes sounds that even a person with no interest in cars would enjoy. Then you give it 10 tenths and it understeers, feels a bit stodgy, the 'box gets a bit clumsy and it underwhelms. However as a car to enjoy every day it was great. I should give my mk5 gti dsg some credit here as it basically did everything that any of the others could do, but all at the same time, without ever breaking down.

So, the Porsche. I'm starting to feel that I might have got away with it. Coolant level has stayed solid and so far all seems well. I've removed a slightly lairy Porsche decal from my wind deflector and taken it out a couple of times. I'm sure I'm not alone amongst 986 owners to say that it feels slightly exciting just to own a Porsche. I'm getting used to the pedals which feel a bit awkward. I'm a fan of heel and toe downshifts but am struggling to get any pressure on the accelerator unless I'm braking really hard. The gearing is also very long but in all respects I'm learning to enjoy it. As a mid engined two seater it couldn't be much more different to my old vx, but in my opinion that's a good thing. Weather looks good for Sunday after last weekend's washout (snow in April!) so I'm sure I'll be updating soon.

[mainline]

I thought I would update the thread having had the car serviced and given a thorough check over by Revolution in Leeds.

There is as expected some good and bad news. The good is that there's no metal in the oil or oil in the water or water in the oil. Neither is there any single particular horrific single item of impending wallet crushing expense. Nor does there appear to be or have been a coolant leak.

There are however a number of issues which need to be sorted right now. The front suspension needs one new damper and one replacement spring so a complete overhaul is the sensible option. the rear needs coffin arms and a droplink. The cost is two grand plus Vat to replace the front wishbones, track rod ends, steering rods, dampers, springs and top mounts and replace the rear arms, droplink and do a full setup.

It also needs new brake pipes and a tyre imminently as they are corroded and have a cut in the sidewall respectively.

Once you add that to the suspension work I reckon it's close to £3k.

Going forward I'm shortly due some exhaust bits and my aircon is stuffed.

Longer term my RMS is slightly damp and my coil packs are starting to crack. I'll need some plug tubes too at the same time. May as well have the clutch replaced when the RMS is done but their view is that it can wait for now.

General consensus is that it's an expectation that it will be another 1.5k to 2.5k going forward.

Take from that what you will, but the chaps at Revolution say that mine is typical of the sort of cars they see regularly where things have been overlooked by non specialist mechanics and allowed to build up over time.

Having a think about how to proceed and any advice greatly appreciated.

Edited by mainline on Tuesday 8th May 19:33

[ooid]

it does sound like a good car than...with that age, suspension cost/maintenance like that is pretty common for a sports car. Coil packs, RMS also inevitable with this model. I would be happy about the oil inspection and if the cooling also stable so far, I think it's a keeper.

The cost of porsche parts will always be pricey, and the labour will cost due to its engine position and mad OPC rates. If it becomes hobby for you to keep maintenance, definitely a bargain.

[nudgerwilliams]

That doesn't sound too awful for a 17 year old car at that price point. If you can afford it, you are enjoying driving the car, and expect to keep it a few years then the costs you can expect don't sound unreasonable to me. The 964 I ran for a few years had a £5k bill fixing a load of things like this the first time I had it serviced, but after that was pretty robust given it saw a fair few track days.

You can expect it to drive really sweetly as well with all the fresh suspension bits on.

To put it in some context, my wife's Fiat 500 at 7 years old needed new dampers all round, a new steering rack, handbrake cable, gearbox oil leak fix, clutch master and slave cylinders and exhaust. £2k!

David

[ReverendCounter]

mainline said:

The VX and 205 Gti are as alike as two completely different cars could be. As you'll know one is a fwd five seat hatchback and the other a rwd mid engined two seater. However there is (real and perceived) lightness of touch, there's non assisted steering, masses of feedback, not a lot of torque, but instant access to acceleration. They both feel gloriously alive to drive hard and slightly brittle to sit in. I owned them back to back and I can't split them for my favourite cars I've owned.

The Teg was firmly in the same camp as the GTi. Light, stripped out, very noisy, wonderful to drive, happy to overseer off the throttle but much easier to catch than the Pug. The big difference is the engine. Its a thing of absolute wonder. But, and it's a large but, only 10% of the time. If I had to take one of the cars I'd owned on track it would be the Teg. As a daily driver however it never felt special like the GTA. You see, the GTA is a car you can enjoy the other 90 percent of the time. Its a lovely place to sit, it has a peach of an engine, it makes sounds that even a person with no interest in cars would enjoy. Then you give it 10 tenths and it understeers, feels a bit stodgy, the 'box gets a bit clumsy and it underwhelms. However as a car to enjoy every day it was great. I should give my mk5 gti dsg some credit here as it basically did everything that any of the others could do, but all at the same time, without ever breaking down.

Thanks for the comparison and apologies for not taking the time to acknowledge your in depth reply. The reason for asking is, I've seen the way prices of GTis have gone and it seems N/A 220's have stayed reasonably stable so if I had to make a choice, was interested in your ownership experience as part of the 'emotional reward' gauge. I think a 220 would be hard to pass over, given the RWD/mid package - but as a contemporary classic and a simpler ownership experience, the GTi clearly has it's merits.

Again, thanks for the time you took to put your thoughts down. Noted and appreciated!

[mainline]

Thanks for the advice guys it's much appreciated. I've told the people at Revolution to carry out the work and I'm looking forward to experiencing the refreshed suspension. It's encouraging to hear from others who've spent a chunk of cash but then had a happy ownership experience.

Will check back in with an update when I'm back behind the wheel.

[mainline]

ReverendCounter said:

Thanks for the comparison and apologies for not taking the time to acknowledge your in depth reply. The reason for asking is, I've seen the way prices of GTis have gone and it seems N/A 220's have stayed reasonably stable so if I had to make a choice, was interested in your ownership experience as part of the 'emotional reward' gauge. I think a 220 would be hard to pass over, given the RWD/mid package - but as a contemporary classic and a simpler ownership experience, the GTi clearly has it's merits.

Again, thanks for the time you took to put your thoughts down. Noted and appreciated!

If I was going to buy one of two again and i had an eye on selling for a profit I'd go with the GTi. The level of demand is still going up and people are starting to squirrel away cars at the top end whilst breaking the cheaper ones so supply is falling fairly quickly. I loved my VX but I imagine they'll always be an acquired taste.

[ReverendCounter]

mainline said:

If I was going to buy one of two again and i had an eye on selling for a profit I'd go with the GTi. The level of demand is still going up and people are starting to squirrel away cars at the top end whilst breaking the cheaper ones so supply is falling fairly quickly.

I very loosely considered the 220 as a (kind-of) modern day Stratos-type thing (somewhat absurd I know - less cylinders, more common, not Italian etc etc etc). But that package and the performance of the non-NAs seem outstanding and they seem fairly robust as a long term performance propostion.

Thanks for giving it some thought. Seems reasonable GTis can give a better chance of a quicker return, based on starting prices for each (£4k GTi vs £8k 220 it seems).

[TROOPER88]

mainline said:

If I was going to buy one of two again and i had an eye on selling for a profit I'd go with the GTi. The level of demand is still going up and people are starting to squirrel away cars at the top end whilst breaking the cheaper ones so supply is falling fairly quickly. I loved my VX but I imagine they'll always be an acquired taste.

Glad you are enjoying the car and I like the colour.

Do you mind me asking, what you are paying to have the front shocks done?

Had you been local, I would have offered to do the shocks and springs for you. I have just done mine and tbh I think I could remove a shock, change the spring, mount etc and have it back on the car in under 30 mins as I had to do my one side twice (long story!)

Good luck

[TROOPER88]

Apologies, just read 2k plus VAT

[Bullet-Proof_Biscuit]

mainline just saw your comment on the poverty porker thread, will pm you thanks,

Also can I suggest you remove the coolant/oil filler plastic 'bib' cover fitted to the top of the coolant tank , as under this is a bleed valve, which has vent lines to the oil exchanger, heater core and rads, and should be opened and the engine run from cold at fast idle for a few minutes to bleed. Though by the sounds of it yours must be fairly well purged of air.