52 replies to this topic

[hk968]

Hi everyone,

I am considering the purchase of a 968 with a little more than 100k miles on it. The car seems well maintained (and has complete service records), and you can tell that the seller is into cars and knows what he is doing.

However, the car has only been driven 4,000 miles since 2008 which is also when the last big service was done. Since then, just the yearly oil changes and one brake fluid change. The timing belt was replaced in 2004 and adjusted in 2005 about 15,000 miles ago. Now I am not sure what that means for me when I buy the car. Is there a back log of maintnance now, and does e.g. the timing have to be replaced right away? Or will it be OK since the millage accumulated since than has been relatively small?

Also, should I try to gat a PPI even though there are complete records available?


Thanks a lot for your advice,
HK968

[Rap]

Welcome. A PPI takes the guesswork out of your decision making process!

[94SilverCab]

You will definately want to replace the belts immediately, rubber deteriorates with time, not just wear. Otherwise, the car sounds well sorted. I would never recommend against a PPI, but it sounds like a good candidate.

Jay

Edited by 94SilverCab, 07 March 2012 - 06:09 AM.

[DaveN]

Belt replacement is around 4 years or 45K (max) which ever comes first.

[JWahlsten]

Get the PPI, do the belts, and good luck. Sounds like a great candidate. Many of our cars are well over 100k and counting. Mine just turned 113 on the way to the Daytona 24. Never skipped a beat and got 26 mpg for the trip. Very nice...

[Scott Collins]

Hello HK968,

What year 968?

Definitely replace timing and balance belts. The belts are about $150 and the labor is another $1,100, unless you DIY.

The other potentially big item is transmission, and if operating properly, it should be fairly quiet when driving. If you hear whining, that's a potential problem. The issue in our transmissions is the pinion bearing, that has been know to fail. Check the service history to see if the previous owner(S) have had that replaced. If so, then you are good.

Great cars and so much fun driving that it's well worth the time and money.

Cheers!

-Scott

[Cloud9...68]

I mean no disrespect to those who, for usually very good reasons I'm sure, take their cars to mechanics to get them worked on, but to me, when you buy a nearly 20-year-old Eurpoean GT, you're not buying a car, you're buying a hobby, and again, this is just my opinion, but part of the hobby involves working on it yourself. The difference in cost between a DIY belt job, for example, and having a mechanic do it, is staggering. And when you go through the list of common issues with these cars, I quite honestly don't understand how all but the wealthiest of individuals can afford having professionals work on their car. I'm not a one-percenter by any means, but my senior engineer's salary puts me comfortably in the top 5%, and the cost of taking the 968 and the other cars in our family stable to professionals to do all the work I've done myself would absolutely cripple me financially - I'd have had to dip seriously into my savings, if not my 401K. And it's not just the initial post-purchase repairs, it's the ongoing maintenance. I suppose compared to buying a new, say, 370Z, the cost of having a professional work on your 968 doesn't look quite as onerous as I'm making it out to be, but if you can do the work yourself, you've got yourself a unique, very cool car for very minimal out-of-pocket expenditure, which strikes me as one of life's great bargains. Plus, learning how to repair and maintain your own car is really a lot of fun (usually!). Also, this community needs the collective experience of as many DIY'ers as possible to help keep these cars running their best.

One thing I've thought about for a long time is taking a basic auto maintenance class at the local community college. Even though I've worked on cars as a hobby my whole life, I figure this would be a great way to learn a bunch of stuff I wasn't previously aware of. So, my recommendation would be to get a thorough PPI, then do a search on this site of the items the PPI uncovers, and, starting with the best trade-off of the simplest/most urgent items, dive on in! But, of course, this assumes the 968 isn't needed as your daily driver, that you have a garage, tools, etc. Otherwise, as others have said, budged many thousands of dollars in repairs on top of the purchase price.

OK, off my soap box. Best of luck either way; these are really special cars.

Edited by Cloud9...68, 07 March 2012 - 10:54 AM.

[Rap]

Good lord cloud, you engineer types can look at almost anything and figure out how to fix it. We among the unblessed can't, although we might like to try and learn. If you buy a 20 year old sports car I don't think it unreasonable to figure it may cost you some ongoing financial expenses. Just a respective opinion of course! Hk, best of luck regardless of which percentage you fall into. The car is a blast and quite simply turns heads as we all enjoy!

[tamathumper]

Welcome, and best of luck in your search!

[94SilverCab]

I have found that if I fix it myself, I break everything and a $150 worth of parts becomes a tow to a specialist and the $1,100 becomes $5,000.

I used to do a (very) little bit on my Miata, because I could afford to break it. The 968 I polish, gas and check fluids and air.

JMHO,

Jay

[Rap]

Ahh someone of the same ilk! Lol

[hk968]

Thanks everyone for the advice! It seems that I should figure in a timing belt change at the least. There is no clutch replacement in the rapair list ... How much would it cost me if I really had to replace it?

Also, it seems to be the concensus that I should do a PPI - and right you are! I just thought about it, and the first thing that I would do after I buy the car is to take it to a shop to have it checked out - so it makes every sense to do this BEFORE I actually pay

HK968

[tamathumper]

Quote on my clutch right now is $3K.

[hk968]

Thanks!

Now lets see how things work out - I'll keep you posted ....

[Cloud9...68]

Quote on my clutch right now is $3K.

Gasp! I see why they call it a "clutch" job - that's what I would be doing to my chest when presented with an estimate like that!

[robadams56]

Speaking of DIY.....excited about receiving my Canton Racing Filter today. Nice unit and fantastic construction. As soon as I get those uber cool spill directors from Griot's I am going to get this bad boy installed. Oil filter changes should be a pleasant experience after that!

HK, welcome and good luck on your purchase. The advice you have received here is spot on. Mine had only 4,500 k on the belts but they had been done about 6 years back. I wasted no time having them changed.

[tamathumper]

Gasp! I see why they call it a "clutch" job - that's what I would be doing to my chest when presented with an estimate like that!

With that being said, I purchased all the parts myself and am just waiting for spring to put it on a friend's lift and do the job myself. I considered doing it on jack stands, but I'm not interested in that much frustration. I am also strongly considering just purchasing a lift myself for that amount of money.

[craigawoodman]

My whole gearbox rebuild including the 2nd gear shaft was only around $3k. $3k for a clutch seems a bit steep - the clutch change out should be lots easier in a 968 than a 944.

[Cloud9...68]

With that being said, I purchased all the parts myself and am just waiting for spring to put it on a friend's lift and do the job myself. I considered doing it on jack stands, but I'm not interested in that much frustration. I am also strongly considering just purchasing a lift myself for that amount of money.

Ah, yes, a lift. Definitely on my list of things I'd love to own. I took my clutch and flywheel out with the car on jackstands - oh what fun to turn the engine an eighth of a revolution at the front pulley, get under the car, install the flywheel lock, slightly loosen a bolt, remove the lock, go to the front of the car to turn the engine another eighth of a revolution, and repeat, over and over and over, because you want to loosen the bolts gradually. A lift would have made it much more comfortable. But I'm so cheap that I would rather do this with broken glass all over the garage floor than pay someone $1500 in labor.

Which pressure plate did you get? Apparently, there is a very limited supply of actual 968 pressure plates. There's one for the 964 that technically works, but, and I'm probably not going to get this exactly right, the clutch pedal pivot points are different for the two cars, so using a 964 plate in a 968 results in an excessively heavy pedal, with not additional force actually being applied to the disk. At least that's what Pete from RS Barn told me.

[flash]

lift: double edged sword. makes your life easier. also tells your friends to come over so you can work on their car. it's a lot like having a pickup truck and moving. i'll never own a pickup again, and i'm fighting the instinct to get a lift.

pressure plate: that's essentially correct.