Independent Inspections

[mr_yogi]

How important are independent inspections for a car if it’s bought from a specialist (Porsche or General sports car), and thus will come with some sort of a warranty?

Also how much more would you expect to pay buying from a specialist rather than a private seller? I’m currently looking at 944 S2s/ Turbos. So far I’ve only looked at one which seemed over priced, a 220 Turbo with 90K on the clock with full Porsche/ specialist service history for £9K. But I thought it would be a good benchmark to compare any others against.

Also is S2 much softer than the 220 Turbo?

Thanks

[domster]

mr_yogi said:

How important are independent inspections for a car if it’s bought from a specialist (Porsche or General sports car), and thus will come with some sort of a warranty?

Depends how much you trust the dealer or the warranty. Many warranties exclude 'wear and tear' items and have other bits of small print. You are protected under sale of good act, but for 100 GBP an independent inspection gives you a good bargaining position if there are faults, warns of what may or may not doing and can give reassurance. Not as essential as if buying privately, but still consider it.

mr_yogi said:

Also how much more would you expect to pay buying from a specialist rather than a private seller? I’m currently looking at 944 S2s/ Turbos. So far I’ve only looked at one which seemed over priced, a 220 Turbo with 90K on the clock with full Porsche/ specialist service history for £9K. But I thought it would be a good benchmark to compare any others against.

A 9k car at a specialist may be sold privately between 7-9k, it depends. Often private punters overprice to begin with, then drop when they really need a sale. This is when specialists often get them as they offer ready cash. There are no hard and fast rules, but you pay for dealer service ie warranty and the fact he has bought it in on your behalf. You will generally pay more, but maybe not much more than for an optimistic private sale.

mr_yogi said:

Also is S2 much softer than the 220 Turbo?

In my opinion it is. I have always found the Turbo appreciably faster than the S2, and if it has M030 suspension pack then it will ride harder as well.

9k for the car above is overpriced, BTW. For that money you can get a 968CS, which is arguably nicer than any 944.

I'd pay 6.5-8k for a sorted Turbo 944.

Cheers
Domster

[iguana]

Yip waaay over priced, I know of nice 100k miles 220T's bought for sub £4k, ok this is real bottom end money and there are a heck of a lot of hounds about, (& doggy 944T's will cost lots to get right) but its posible & this wasnt a trade sale or anything, just ads in local papers & owners who needed to get rid.

You would need your lucky shoes on to get a car as nice for that money, but I personaly certainly don't see 220T's up at the £9k level- excepting perhaps the odd ex Sultain of Brunei 1000 miles jobbie that has been regularly washed using the tears of a virgin Peruvian mountain deer & waxed using Ocelot pelts.

Been a while since ive driven a non MO30 944T but diddnt think they were was any stiffer than an S2.

The shocks on 944s in general can tend to get a bit boat like with old age & wear & thus negate any differences from new.

(Thom the walking 944 encyclopedia is ya man for the suspension question really)

[neon_fox]

From my personal experience, I would _always_ get an inspection, even if you _are_ buying from a specialist

But then I'm a distrustful sort

Fox
---

[diver944]

....and make sure it's an inspection done by someone who knows Porsche, NOT the AA or RAC

I have 250T and my wife has an S2 (211bhp) and in the real world, there is not that much difference in performance, but the Turbo 'feels' much faster because of that hit when the boost comes on but I still can't get away from my Mrs when she's in a hurry

The S2 and the 220T have the same suspension and it is slightly softer than a standard 250T. An M030 is noticeably stiffer My wifes S2 has had new shocks all round last week after 146k miles, and it has tightened everything up very nicely.

£9K is at the extreeeeeeeme top end for a 220 so it had better be mint with new clutch, new engine, new gearbox, suspension, brakes etc

Make sure you test a few so you know the real difference between good and awful - it is a huge chasm

[mr_yogi]

That was the thinking about taking a look at the most expensive one first to have something to compare the others against, and try and see why it was more expensive. I thought it was expensive for a 220, i've seen S2 ragtops and 250Ts for that money. It wasn't perfect, small rip in the leather seat, rubbing strips on the side not flush with the body, Rear spoiler looked a bit ropey and overall it looked like it could do with a thorough clean inside. As this is the only one i've seen so far i don't know if this is the norm or weather this is better than most. However it is a 17 year old car.

I also thought it was quite low, lower than i imagined it would look, especially as it was on teledials and suposidly standard - did they have the M030 back then? Dealer didn't mention it.

Thanks for all the reponses.

[domster]

I had a 1988 944 Turbo on MO30. Certainly go back a little way.

A 9k one should look near-showroom condition.