924 buying advice

[Chris71]

Hi,

Looking at a couple of Porsche 924S's and wondered if anyone can give me some viewing tips.

Someone posted a link to an excellent buyers guide (it was from a dealership covering all front engined Porches and possibly the others....) but sadly I've lost it.

One of the main questions would be mileage - most of the examples claim around 70,000 miles almost irrespective of age (which seems odd) How long do they actually go on for and what parts tend to expire when? (I'm aware of the cam/balancer belts and don't intend to buy a car without fairly recent ones!) One of the examples appears to be in very good condition with a substantial service history, but has covered twice as many miles as most claim to have done (its up to ~150k), how much of a problem is this?

Also, can anyone suggest a price guide, based on my own straw pole I'd say:

Early (base) 924 - approx £1000 on condition
Late car or mid run 924S - £1,600 - £2,000
Late 924S low mileage, VGC - £2000 - £2500

Any info much appreciated!

Chris

PS Am I right in thinking the later S's had 944 suspension geometry or is that the turbos?

[basil brush]

Hartech have a pretty detailed buying guide on their website.

[Tam Lin]

Chris71 said:

Hi, Looking at a couple of Porsche 924S's and wondered if anyone can give me some viewing tips. Someone posted a link to an excellent buyers guide (it was from a dealership covering all front engined Porches and possibly the others....) but sadly I've lost it. Any info much appreciated! Chris PS Am I right in thinking the later S's had 944 suspension geometry or is that the turbos?

The excellent market summary was from Hartech, link
[url]www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=253895&r=3199765&hm=59909#3199765[/url] .

Like the Hartech guide (and Henry-F, though 924s are a bit below him these days) say, ignore mileage, go on condition. The 924S I bought in November last year has about 144000 miles, and mechanically is in excellent condition. I can't see how a car could only have covered 70000 miles in 20 years, without it standing for a year at a time, causing various seals to perish, and condensation to collect everywhere. That's assuming the 70000 miles are not compiled using New Labour Standard Statistical analysis.

Prices, for a good one, I'd be prepared to pay more, one way or another ;-)

Look for rust around rear wheelarches, sills, and at the back of the front wings. Yes they're galvanised, but 20 years plus is a long time. Bodywork repairs are very expensive: to give you an idea, I just spent twice the purchase price on mine, getting it up to "no rust, no dents" condition.

The 1988 has slightly more power ( & central locking..) compared to the earliest years, which is the one I went for. There's a Le Mans special edition, with better suspension (or it had once..twenty years..), but I couldn't find one.

The 924s has "late" 944 suspension geometry (ie Fuchs wheels will not fit, bohoo, but Design 90s will, hurray) minus a couple of inches width, and a bit of a compromise: rear has aluminium wishbones, front has pressed steel..which I intend to replace on mine asap.

Hope this helps, I drive mine daily into London, and enjoy it.

[Chris71]

Thanks - that was the one I was after!

Have decided that out of 4 cylinder porsches a late probably 924S makes the most sense, with the possible exception of paying considerably more money for a 944 S2.

Any body suggest a price range?

[Henry-F]

Other than ignore the mileage, (given most 924`s have little or no service history these days you can pretty much have what ever number on the speedo you fancy), I would say don`t discount normal 944`s. I like the `86 onwards "oval dash" cars which automatically have power steering, are a generally "lighter" drive and will be easier to sell given they have a prettier looking body. The problem we always used to have with the 924 S was explaining that it didn`t in fact hace a VW engine.

As with all cheaper cars if you find a particularly good example of anything ignore all my advice and buy it !

Henry