968 buying advice?

[DanL]

Hi all,

It's, ah, come to my attention that there's a white 968 CS for sale in the classifieds... It's got 144k miles on it tho. Any advice on what I should/shouldn't worry about? Is the milage a problem? Lots of history, etc, apparently. Going to look at it next week (owner at Le Mans), and hopefully selling my car a week Saturday, so it could work out nicely.

Also - the CS is supposed to be an excellent drive, but are there any downsides to it? This one's got a/c, which is nice... Anyone know anything about service intervals, cam belt changes, etc? Think it could be the ideal replacement for my VX220...

Ta,

Dan

[dogsharks]

I have a white 944 S2, which has 208 US horsepower, and the US spec 968 was something like 245. It would be one quick car over the road, for sure, as my S2 pulls quite well.

Naturally, with any 944 variant, you must check the belt age and milage. You must also check into the chain drive between the cams, as the belt only drives the one cam directly, and in the early days the chain had some problems. The 968 is new enough to have weathered the development curve on the chain, however, due to the milage on the car I would tend to that as a precaution.

With all Porsches, be aware that simple electric malfunctions in the relays can be serious enough to keep the car from starting or running properly, so I'd change the critical ones out, those being the ones that run the fuel inection system.

Put a good GL rated synthetic 75W90 gear lube in the transaxle and enjoy. I think highly of AMSOIL Series 2000 20W50 and their Series 2000 75W90 gear lube, both of which can be found here.

http://intershop.amsoil.com/cgi-bin/Amsoil.storefront/40c8e2f304d89906271cd1f0e3f00703/Catalog

Dogsharks

[AJLintern]

The camshaft chain sprockets can wear on 968s due to the variocam system - replacement camshafts aren't cheap! The S2 doesn't suffer from this, though you still need to check the chain and tensioner.

[Thom]

seller said:

Indeed last service as of 28/05/04 including new front brake discs, pads and caliper overhaul. A new clutch and dual mass flywheel has been fitted within the last 1000 miles, the pinion bearings were replaced in November 2003. The camshaft sprocket teeth have also been recently inspected, showing no wear - therefore all 968 weak (and expensive!) points have been resolved

Most of the annoyingly expensive things have been checked, so it looks like a safe buy IMO.

[kamal996]

Thom said:

seller said: Indeed last service as of 28/05/04 including new front brake discs, pads and caliper overhaul. A new clutch and dual mass flywheel has been fitted within the last 1000 miles, the pinion bearings were replaced in November 2003. The camshaft sprocket teeth have also been recently inspected, showing no wear - therefore all 968 weak (and expensive!) points have been resolved Most of the annoyingly expensive things have been checked, so it looks like a safe buy IMO.

Sounds like every weakpoint is covered! Just look for items such as bushes, shocks, steering rack etc. See if the car feels fresh. The problem is that these cars run fairly stiff suspension and by 144k can feel tired becasuse they rattle and creak.

[DanL]

Thanks for the advice, folks! So, the milage itself isn't a reason to put me off? Are there things that should have been done at x miles, that I can check for (cam belt change, or whatever?).

Thanks once again!

Dan

[Thom]

Belts change comes every 50,000 miles (or so) or 5 years, whichever comes first, oil change/plugs/filters every 12,000 miles, gear box oil every 48,000 miles.

Along with pinion bearings (not an issue on this particular car, apparently), torque tube bearings are worth being looked at as at such high mileage they might be not far from having run out of grease, and a new Torque Tube is a rip off at around £1,000

>> Edited by Thom on Friday 11th June 15:20

[shoestring7]

Mileage itself shouln't be a problem, but check it over as you would any other car. You're looking for a car that's been well maintained and cared for, not a tired scruffy neglected thing that's been tracked half to death.

There are 944 turbo's (with a similar drivetrain) around with >300k miles.

SS7

[Thom]

shoestring7 said:

There are 944 turbo's (with a similar drivetrain) around with >300k miles.

Although it's a similar design it would seem that S2 and 968 develop some bearing illnesses in their transmissions. While true that most 944 turbos (and even the base 2.5 944s that shares the exact same transaxle apart from gear ratios) barely develop transmission issues it is the opposite with S2s and 968s. At least in my humble experience.

[bobfrance]

DanL, I got lots of great info from the Porsche guys on a thread I started a while ago.

www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=48&h=&t=80012

I'm still (strongly) considering the 968 possibility myself, although I have recently been looking at 911's too (which of course is a whole new can of worms).

[DanL]

Cracking - thanks folks!

Dan