2002 986 S on 140K miles and not moved for 2 years. Buy?
Discussion
3anascooter said:
Many thanks all. The car is a couple of hours away so not too difficult to go take a look. Of course the million dollar question is "what would a good price be" and that price would differ I guess depending on whether I trailer it away as is, or if its mot-ed and drivable home. Maybe easier to spend £9-10k on a fully functioning one, but as with any used car that still carries risks.
2-4K without an MOT, depends if it starts and runs beyond that.....Agree, £2-4k would be a fair ballpark to work in.
If you take a look, maybe make yourself a checklist of what stuff these typically need money spent on. A good deal of the common stuff is mentioned in this thread, plenty of other info about too.
"Pretty well maintained", could mean anything from just an occasional budget oil change to fastidious servicing on time plus replacement of any item showing wear as required. If you know and trust the seller you should be able to get an idea of where in the spectrum their maintenance regime has been.
If it looks like it's been just an oil change then I'd be very suprised if there isn't a list of stuff that would need doing. Yeah some of it may not prevent the car from being driven but imo there's no point in having one of these if it doesn't drive and handle as it was designed to.
And if you decide to look at £9-10k stuff, sensible to use the same checklist! They might look shiny and clean but spending that amount will not guarantee you a 986 that doesn't need work.
If you take a look, maybe make yourself a checklist of what stuff these typically need money spent on. A good deal of the common stuff is mentioned in this thread, plenty of other info about too.
"Pretty well maintained", could mean anything from just an occasional budget oil change to fastidious servicing on time plus replacement of any item showing wear as required. If you know and trust the seller you should be able to get an idea of where in the spectrum their maintenance regime has been.
If it looks like it's been just an oil change then I'd be very suprised if there isn't a list of stuff that would need doing. Yeah some of it may not prevent the car from being driven but imo there's no point in having one of these if it doesn't drive and handle as it was designed to.
And if you decide to look at £9-10k stuff, sensible to use the same checklist! They might look shiny and clean but spending that amount will not guarantee you a 986 that doesn't need work.
Well I might as well chuck my story in here.
I bought a 100k 2001 3.2S for £5,100 about 2 1/2 years ago.
It is my only car.
It had barely moved for a few years prior to me buying it. The story being that it got traded in for a MUCH higher value car, and passed around the trade for a while trying to find the right market for a bottom of the range Porsche, then ended up with the small driveway dealer I bought it from, who kept it for a year or so as an occasional fun car for himself before selling it on.
It had a full set of service stamps in the book ... but no supporting paperwork at all. So no idea what (if any) remedial work on the big headline issues had been done.
Since then, aside from a couple of services and a set of tyres, all it's cost me is 1 drop link and 1 passenger door lock. Combined those were under £50 (the door lock was 2nd hand).
My view is that the IMS bearing is overhyped. If it happens to you, I'm sure it feels like the end of the world. But there's a roughly 9 in 10 chance that it never would (of all the failure rates I've heard, none of them have been over 10%). And of that remaining 1 in 10, a lot of those will have had some form of remedial work done. And with buying a 100k+ car, if it was going to happen, the chances are that it would have already. So those thoughts combine together to ensure it's not something I've ever worried about.
Thanks to Covid and all the associated malarkey, I've only done about 7500 miles since buying it ... but I think they've been very cheap, depreciation free miles, with 100% reliability.
I have learned that the battery will only hold charge for about 2.5-3 weeks of the car being unused. Through lockdown it did need several bump starts! I now try and give it a decent run at least once a month as well as nipping to the supermarket once a week for my shopping. I'm sure things will improve when I'm back in the office more and doing a little more mileage.
So yes ... it could be a money pit. It could also be completely sound and do you sterling service. I'd ignore the horror stories and look more at the general condition of the car. One that needs a lot of work will cost an arm and a leg to put right. But just because it's old, cheap, high mileage and been laid up for a while, doesn't automatically make it one of those.
I'd like to think I could get out of mine for at least what I paid for it ... so yes, there can be such a thing as a cheap Porsche.
Final thought - keep it on a trickle charger if it's only going to be an occasional car!
I bought a 100k 2001 3.2S for £5,100 about 2 1/2 years ago.
It is my only car.
It had barely moved for a few years prior to me buying it. The story being that it got traded in for a MUCH higher value car, and passed around the trade for a while trying to find the right market for a bottom of the range Porsche, then ended up with the small driveway dealer I bought it from, who kept it for a year or so as an occasional fun car for himself before selling it on.
It had a full set of service stamps in the book ... but no supporting paperwork at all. So no idea what (if any) remedial work on the big headline issues had been done.
Since then, aside from a couple of services and a set of tyres, all it's cost me is 1 drop link and 1 passenger door lock. Combined those were under £50 (the door lock was 2nd hand).
My view is that the IMS bearing is overhyped. If it happens to you, I'm sure it feels like the end of the world. But there's a roughly 9 in 10 chance that it never would (of all the failure rates I've heard, none of them have been over 10%). And of that remaining 1 in 10, a lot of those will have had some form of remedial work done. And with buying a 100k+ car, if it was going to happen, the chances are that it would have already. So those thoughts combine together to ensure it's not something I've ever worried about.
Thanks to Covid and all the associated malarkey, I've only done about 7500 miles since buying it ... but I think they've been very cheap, depreciation free miles, with 100% reliability.
I have learned that the battery will only hold charge for about 2.5-3 weeks of the car being unused. Through lockdown it did need several bump starts!
I now try and give it a decent run at least once a month as well as nipping to the supermarket once a week for my shopping. I'm sure things will improve when I'm back in the office more and doing a little more mileage. So yes ... it could be a money pit. It could also be completely sound and do you sterling service. I'd ignore the horror stories and look more at the general condition of the car. One that needs a lot of work will cost an arm and a leg to put right. But just because it's old, cheap, high mileage and been laid up for a while, doesn't automatically make it one of those.
I'd like to think I could get out of mine for at least what I paid for it ... so yes, there can be such a thing as a cheap Porsche.
Final thought - keep it on a trickle charger if it's only going to be an occasional car!
3anascooter said:
Thanks gents...and interesting read from Rotary Potato and others in the Readers Cars thread. Planning to go take a look Saturday week and have a bit of lunch with my old colleague. Will report back
Good luck! It'll probably run like a bag o' nails after sitting for so long. Don't forget your jump leads, and it might be worth researching how to open the frunk when the battery is flat by using the jumper point in the fuse box. Might be taking a look this weekend.
Owner put a new battery in it, tipped a bit of Mobil 1 in the top (to put a bit of oil up top) and turned the key. It started almost instantly.
Left it to idle until the rad fans kicked in and drove it a couple of metres forward and backward (on drive) so nothing was seized
He did mention a damp patch in the rear boot.
Think he is now considering servicing it and getting it MOT-ed with view to selling as a fully functioning car.
Looks like WYAC values it around £3600 so I'd guess a private sale would bring in a bit more.
Of course the risk he has is how much will a service and MOT cost, depending on what they find...and would the resale price be high enough to get his money back. Also think he might be of the mind to just keep it if he gets it running again, so lets see what happens
Owner put a new battery in it, tipped a bit of Mobil 1 in the top (to put a bit of oil up top) and turned the key. It started almost instantly.
Left it to idle until the rad fans kicked in and drove it a couple of metres forward and backward (on drive) so nothing was seized
He did mention a damp patch in the rear boot.
Think he is now considering servicing it and getting it MOT-ed with view to selling as a fully functioning car.
Looks like WYAC values it around £3600 so I'd guess a private sale would bring in a bit more.
Of course the risk he has is how much will a service and MOT cost, depending on what they find...and would the resale price be high enough to get his money back. Also think he might be of the mind to just keep it if he gets it running again, so lets see what happens
3anascooter said:
Might be taking a look this weekend.
Owner put a new battery in it, tipped a bit of Mobil 1 in the top (to put a bit of oil up top) and turned the key. It started almost instantly.
Left it to idle until the rad fans kicked in and drove it a couple of metres forward and backward (on drive) so nothing was seized
He did mention a damp patch in the rear boot.
Think he is now considering servicing it and getting it MOT-ed with view to selling as a fully functioning car.
Looks like WYAC values it around £3600 so I'd guess a private sale would bring in a bit more.
Of course the risk he has is how much will a service and MOT cost, depending on what they find...and would the resale price be high enough to get his money back. Also think he might be of the mind to just keep it if he gets it running again, so lets see what happens
See people get hung up on big miles and sat unused but generally cars are far more robust than many give them credit. Owner put a new battery in it, tipped a bit of Mobil 1 in the top (to put a bit of oil up top) and turned the key. It started almost instantly.
Left it to idle until the rad fans kicked in and drove it a couple of metres forward and backward (on drive) so nothing was seized
He did mention a damp patch in the rear boot.
Think he is now considering servicing it and getting it MOT-ed with view to selling as a fully functioning car.
Looks like WYAC values it around £3600 so I'd guess a private sale would bring in a bit more.
Of course the risk he has is how much will a service and MOT cost, depending on what they find...and would the resale price be high enough to get his money back. Also think he might be of the mind to just keep it if he gets it running again, so lets see what happens
I guess whatever the outcome here is - it will certainly end with a great car back on the road and not destined as scrap/spares
Thanks for the update. It's amazing that the WBAC value is anywhere near that. Px values on them until very recently were absolute peanuts because they were considered troublesome and undesirable!
The damp patch in the boot might be cracked expansion tank and/or the original screw top failing. I had both with my first 986 S. The former is obviously a lot harder to fix due to limited access.
The damp patch in the boot might be cracked expansion tank and/or the original screw top failing. I had both with my first 986 S. The former is obviously a lot harder to fix due to limited access.
Well folks, it was a rather quick look. While I am only 5-11 tall, I have a short body and long legs, and the seat won't go back far enough to be comfy. Previously had a Carrera 996 but of course that had more room (as we didn't use the rear seats)
So a Boxster is off my shopping list.
Car didn't look too bad for being sat outside, though owner had given it a wash and cleaned roof in and out. Usual Boxster issues with slight damp boot, and front carpets (but not under or behind seats). Signs of condensation inside windows and in the VIN number panel. Headlights also showing signs of condensation and rear plastic window has that glazed/opaque look.
While its been parked up the displays on the air con panel have both died with a funny pattern on them so would need an ebay replacement.
So options now are to spend a bit more (about £8K) on a Z4 or an SL350 as I can't think of any other spacious 2 seat convertibles
So a Boxster is off my shopping list.
Car didn't look too bad for being sat outside, though owner had given it a wash and cleaned roof in and out. Usual Boxster issues with slight damp boot, and front carpets (but not under or behind seats). Signs of condensation inside windows and in the VIN number panel. Headlights also showing signs of condensation and rear plastic window has that glazed/opaque look.
While its been parked up the displays on the air con panel have both died with a funny pattern on them so would need an ebay replacement.
So options now are to spend a bit more (about £8K) on a Z4 or an SL350 as I can't think of any other spacious 2 seat convertibles
Well, on the bright side at least you didn't get carried away and then regret it at a later date. I'm the same height as you and likewise struggled with the position of the steering wheel, but got used to it. I did tend to get knee/hip pain (which isn't totally resolved by swapping to a 987.2) so I have a difficult decision to make.
I can't think of much else to recommend for your budget, unless you want to see if a cheapo 2.7 987 works for you?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2021012081...
I can't think of much else to recommend for your budget, unless you want to see if a cheapo 2.7 987 works for you?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2021012081...
3anascooter said:
I did wonder if the 987 had a little more seat movement/leg room
Have taken the Merc SL off the list as they sound potentially horribly expensive to maintain.
Have added SLK and Mini Cooper S Convertible to the list....the later being rather different to a Boxster !!
Have taken the Merc SL off the list as they sound potentially horribly expensive to maintain.
Have added SLK and Mini Cooper S Convertible to the list....the later being rather different to a Boxster !!
Where in the country are you? You're welcome to have a sit and a spin in my 987.2 if you're near the East Mids. I'm just outside of Leic.
3anascooter said:
I did wonder if the 987 had a little more seat movement/leg room
Have taken the Merc SL off the list as they sound potentially horribly expensive to maintain.
Have added SLK and Mini Cooper S Convertible to the list....the later being rather different to a Boxster !!
SLK 55 AMG what a superb car. Have taken the Merc SL off the list as they sound potentially horribly expensive to maintain.
Have added SLK and Mini Cooper S Convertible to the list....the later being rather different to a Boxster !!
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