911 Is it a good idea?
911 Is it a good idea?
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Discussion

raceboy

Original Poster:

13,527 posts

297 months

Tuesday 8th June 2004
quotequote all
The TVR's gone bang in a spectacularly huge way, and when I get it back I'll probably be amazed by how fast it is again (after a month of 125 motorbike/1.4 Clio driving anything would )
But I think it could well be time to wave goodbye to the Blackpool money pit and buy something sensible
Of course to me that has to be interesting as well, but with a very limited budget (£16k) am I asking for trouble in the 911 camp
I seem to have a pick of 964's at that price on a G/H plate but are they ticking time bombs and are they that fast?
How much is a service and how often are they and does anyone know any specialist dealers/service centres in the East Midlands?

GetCarter

30,322 posts

296 months

Tuesday 8th June 2004
quotequote all
Welcome to the light side young Jedi

domster

8,431 posts

287 months

Tuesday 8th June 2004
quotequote all
raceboy said:

Of course to me that has to be interesting as well, but with a very limited budget (£16k) am I asking for trouble in the 911 camp
I seem to have a pick of 964's at that price on a G/H plate but are they ticking time bombs and are they that fast?
How much is a service and how often are they and does anyone know any specialist dealers/service centres in the East Midlands?



Well, the 964 isn't a ticking timebomb but things can go wrong. The engines can need rebuilding if they leak from the oil seals, and that is a good 3k bill. Have a look at Dr Alex's buying guide on the Porsche pages on PH. They are pretty quick, 0-60 just over 5 secs and onto about 160 top whack. You can tune them up a bit if you want more urge. For 16k I could recently have bought a LHD 964 C4 and a 993 Turbo 4 engine (408bhp) and had some change to get someone to plumb it all in. Of course, that sounds much simpler than it is, but you get the gist.

A Porsche is more about owning a piece of engineering with classic idiosyncracies and a red braces silhouette. You don't get one to outdrag a Cerbera - although if you do want to, I may know a 450bhp Audi S4 that could be up for sale and comes in for your budget That thing eats Cerbies for breakfast

Service bills on the 964 will be between 200-600 quid depending on minor/major interval and other work. I'd budget 2k a year to run one. The intervals are every 12k tho'.

Good car and you could tune it like tony.t's for not a lot.

ATB
Domster

Melv

4,708 posts

282 months

Tuesday 8th June 2004
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Also see:

www.porsche964.co.uk

Mel

raceboy

Original Poster:

13,527 posts

297 months

Tuesday 8th June 2004
quotequote all
Cheers for that I'll have a read, it could be a while off as I'm looking at a £2k bill to rebuild the Chimaera engine at the moment but it's something I fancy, and the choice of Cerbera (more of the same) M3 (to sensible) and 911, the 911 is winning
It would have to be RHD I'm afraid, my only other worry is the noise, the de-cated TVR is a monster and 911's usually cruise by on whisper mode, I'm guessing there is a whole host of aftermarket sports exhausts but are they any good and will I need a 2nd mortgage to afford one

domster

8,431 posts

287 months

Tuesday 8th June 2004
quotequote all
Sports exhaust is easy on a 964 - it's called a J pipe and involves putting the whole rear silencer in the bin! Saves weight too. Costs about 80 quid, nice and cheap on a 964 as single tail pipe.

You can also get rid of cats if pre 92.

Plenty RHD around at sensible money, even if the real bargains are left hook.

As soon as you open and shut the door for the first time you'll see why the Chimp had to go... nowt clunks like a 964 door and even Barclays borrowed it for the sound effects for their vault doors.

rubystone

11,254 posts

276 months

Tuesday 8th June 2004
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Dom, if you did want to do the C4 conversion, I know of a sound lhd C4 with a less than sound engine (standard cylinder leak problems) that could be bought for less than 5 figures...

tony.t

927 posts

273 months

Tuesday 8th June 2004
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The answer depends on what you want the car for.

After a TVR anything for similar money is likely to be a disappointment as far as acceleration goes (unless its some kit car type) but 964's aren't slow and I'd wager faster than the Chimp over the ton. Anyway I know were there's a 360bhp engine.

Build quality is in a different league and Porsches of this era in general will take a lot of abuse.However maintance is expensive when things go wrong and the early cars will need an engine rebuild at some point. PPI andFSH with all the big jobs already done and it will be cheap to run considering the negligible depreciation. A poor example will be ruinous.

The thing that does it for me is the proven motorsport heritage. There are lots of factory or proven motorsport upgrades that make the cars as near bomb-proof as possible and seriously quick for track work.

poorcardealer

8,609 posts

258 months

Tuesday 8th June 2004
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I think the thing to remember is you will be tinkering with it lots to keep it tip top........thats down to the age of the car rather than a quality issue........I think I am right in saying that a 92/93 964 is less likely to suffer severe oil leaks.

demolitiondan

50 posts

264 months

Tuesday 8th June 2004
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My 911 Turbo is for sale in pistonheads' classifieds, it has just had an engine rebuild and is mechnically spot-on. You're welcome to come and have a look at it, it's well inside budget at £14995.

Cheers

Marquis_Rex

7,377 posts

256 months

Tuesday 8th June 2004
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poorcardealer said:


I think the thing to remember is you will be tinkering with it lots to keep it tip top........thats down to the age of the car rather than a quality issue........I think I am right in saying that a 92/93 964 is less likely to suffer severe oil leaks.


Not sure I agree with this, My ancient 928 has been resplendent and everyone always tells me these have all sorts of gremlins. You just have to keep on top of things.

As always check for the oil leaks on the 964 and the twin mass flywheel