Anybody know this 993 C4

[oldnbold]

I've been looking to purchase my first Porsche for a month or so and have narrowed my choice down to a 993. A C4 at a local specialist has come onto my radar at a great price.

I test drove it yesterday and spent a good couple of hours looking over it, it has lots of detailed history including a full back to metal body refurb in 09 by a Porsche approved body shop and has a Porsche lifetime warrenty on the work. It has been inspected annually at OPC Cambridge since the refurb.

Its had the same owner for the last 10 years who used it as his daily putting about 7k a year on it. The seller has serviced and looked after the car on a regular basis for the last 10 years.

Problem is it has lots of little niggly faults. Sun roof seal not fitting well, drivers door check strap needs doing,slight weeping from the cam and chain covers, wheel wobble at about 50-70mph, NSF damper weeping,Heater fan not working, AC belt has been removed, and a water leak into the OS rear footwell.

The dealer says he will sort all of this out before sale, my problem is something is telling me this could be the tip of the iceberg and a whole raft of other problems could be coming my way after I part with my cash.

Advice and comments be most welcome

http://www.twg-porscheservicing.co.uk/cars-for-sal...

[mollytherocker]

oldnbold said:

I've been looking to purchase my first Porsche for a month or so and have narrowed my choice down to a 993. A C4 at a local specialist has come onto my radar at a great price.

I test drove it yesterday and spent a good couple of hours looking over it, it has lots of detailed history including a full back to metal body refurb in 09 by a Porsche approved body shop and has a Porsche lifetime warrenty on the work. It has been inspected annually at OPC Cambridge since the refurb.

Its had the same owner for the last 10 years who used it as his daily putting about 7k a year on it. The seller has serviced and looked after the car on a regular basis for the last 10 years.

Problem is it has lots of little niggly faults. Sun roof seal not fitting well, drivers door check strap needs doing,slight weeping from the cam and chain covers, wheel wobble at about 50-70mph, NSF damper weeping,Heater fan not working, AC belt has been removed, and a water leak into the OS rear footwell.

The dealer says he will sort all of this out before sale, my problem is something is telling me this could be the tip of the iceberg and a whole raft of other problems could be coming my way after I part with my cash.

Advice and comments be most welcome

http://www.twg-porscheservicing.co.uk/cars-for-sal...

Ive never heard of TWG, maybe someone else can comment.

In terms of the faults you have found, it doesnt match up with the description of the 10 year owner. The suspension in particular needs looking at properly as if it needs the lot, you are looking at 2k.

If this really has been serviced at an OPC, one wonders why these issues havent been addressed?

It is a good price though. If you do go for it, get all of the work agreed and in writing before ANY cash is handed over.

[Wozy68]

oldnbold said:

I've been looking to purchase my first Porsche for a month or so and have narrowed my choice down to a 993. A C4 at a local specialist has come onto my radar at a great price.

I test drove it yesterday and spent a good couple of hours looking over it, it has lots of detailed history including a full back to metal body refurb in 09 by a Porsche approved body shop and has a Porsche lifetime warrenty on the work. It has been inspected annually at OPC Cambridge since the refurb.

Its had the same owner for the last 10 years who used it as his daily putting about 7k a year on it. The seller has serviced and looked after the car on a regular basis for the last 10 years.

Problem is it has lots of little niggly faults. Sun roof seal not fitting well, drivers door check strap needs doing,slight weeping from the cam and chain covers, wheel wobble at about 50-70mph, NSF damper weeping,Heater fan not working, AC belt has been removed, and a water leak into the OS rear footwell.

The dealer says he will sort all of this out before sale, my problem is something is telling me this could be the tip of the iceberg and a whole raft of other problems could be coming my way after I part with my cash.

Advice and comments be most welcome

http://www.twg-porscheservicing.co.uk/cars-for-sal...

Sunroof seal aint a problem to replace (as long as the headlining is ok)
50 - 70MPH wobble shouts more of a front droplink or possibly a wishbone a bit worn. Drop link including fitting about £200, wishbone plus fitting probs £500.00 and then should have the geo done.
The aircon is most probs caput, working aircon on a 993 is nice, but alot do not work. Aircon can cost up to 2K to put right, if the wrong parts are knackered.
Damper weeping, this really means replacing all four, that will be 1.5K plus then. I would not want one replaced, maybe at least both on the same axle, and then only if the rest are pretty new.
Check strap, this can be a £150 bodge or about £400 (I think) for the correct repair.
Cam covers as long as they are only a weep are nothing to worry about, and only need doing if shes either losing alot of oil or you just fancy having them fixed. The part is as cheap as chips

To be honest it seems that the guy has had the car serviced, and put up with everything else. I have seen this alot on 993s
I would be checking for rust around the windscreen and rear window, in fact rust anywhere, plus of course equal panel gaps all around the car.
Make sure the service book is there, with matching labels under the bonnet and inside the front of the service book ...... check these carefully. Also that the chassis numbers match in the book, bonnet sticker, windscreen and in the front locker.

I would think, you'll have a 911 that needs fettling, but fettling does cost money, I've spent over 2K in the last year on mine plus servicing, and did some of that myself.

Best of luck .... I love mine

EDIT. Just re-read and noticed shes had a respray .... just check the panel gaps then

Edited by Wozy68 on Friday 22 February 16:51

[oldnbold]

mollytherocker said:

Ive never heard of TWG, maybe someone else can comment.

In terms of the faults you have found, it doesnt match up with the description of the 10 year owner. The suspension in particular needs looking at properly as if it needs the lot, you are looking at 2k.

If this really has been serviced at an OPC, one wonders why these issues havent been addressed?

It is a good price though. If you do go for it, get all of the work agreed and in writing before ANY cash is handed over.

Only the body work refurb has been inspected annualy at an OPC to validate the lifetime warrenty. All other servicing has been done at TWG. Its had discs and pads all round with in the last 15k miles but as you say no significant mention of any suspention work. perhaps this is why the steering wheel shakes at certain speeds and not just a wheel balance issue as suggested by the dealer.

[mollytherocker]

oldnbold said:

Only the body work refurb has been inspected annualy at an OPC to validate the lifetime warrenty. All other servicing has been done at TWG. Its had discs and pads all round with in the last 15k miles but as you say no significant mention of any suspention work. perhaps this is why the steering wheel shakes at certain speeds and not just a wheel balance issue as suggested by the dealer.

Ah, it was this line in the add that wasn't clear and a bit misleading....

'Porsche Full Porsche Service History With TWG for 10 years'

As the other poster says, it does sound like only the minimum servicing has been carried out. It doesnt mean its necessarily a bad car, but make sure you understand the full cost of sorting it.