High Miler - Any worries? - Page 1 - 911/Carrera GT - PistonHeads UK

Newby here - I may have the chance of a 92 Carrera 4S with 95000 on the clock - should I be concerned?

They didn't make a 4 S in 92?

ok thanks - need to check that out. But I guess my question applies to 911's in general?

Well if it turns out to be a C4S then it could be a: 993 - aircooled, so valuable and should be fine at circa 90k, but could require a rebuild at some point. 996 - arguably the best looking 996, but the engines can be prone to failure. 997.1 - fragile engines on C4S 997.2 - these got direct injection so should be robust. Quick overview, depends on servicing and hoe the car has been treated but you'd best get an inspection done by a Porsche specialist.

I think you need to be "concerned" when buying any car that old for more than a few hundred quid. Get an inspection done before handing over the cash. Not specifically because of the mileage, but because there are lots of expensive bits to go wrong. My '92 C2 has been as good as gold, but I bought it from a great dealer - Adrian Crawford. No rust, and all original. The only "mechanical" parts needed in 2.5 years of ownership have been a new battery and one drop link, both surprisingly cheap. I have replaced a couple of cosmetic items (rear reflector panel and steering wheel), and the cost of those was another matter entirely!

clockworks said: I think you need to be "concerned" when buying any car that old for more than a few hundred quid. Get an inspection done before handing over the cash. Not specifically because of the mileage, but because there are lots of expensive bits to go wrong. My '92 C2 has been as good as gold, but I bought it from a great dealer - Adrian Crawford. No rust, and all original. The only "mechanical" parts needed in 2.5 years of ownership have been a new battery and one drop link, both surprisingly cheap. I have replaced a couple of cosmetic items (rear reflector panel and steering wheel), and the cost of those was another matter entirely! What utter tripe. The only common sense comment above is that you bought a Porsche from Adrian Crawford. The rest is pants. Eyes open should come to mind. Mind you saying that, there is something wrong with your description there.

No, mileage itself not a problem at all. Quality of the car is what you should worry about. Use common sense and assess whether it's a good car. Then if you buy it enjoy!

Mileage will have the biggest impact on 'values'. Once it has clicked over 100,000 miles it will certainly be categorised as higher mileage. This may have no significance in terms of a car's quality, but the market tends to add a premium for low mileage and a discount for higher mileage.

Wozy68 said: What utter tripe. The only common sense comment above is that you bought a Porsche from Adrian Crawford. The rest is pants. Eyes open should come to mind. Mind you saying that, there is something wrong with your description there. Not sure what has offended your sensibilities? Any car can have hidden problems. The older it is, and the more owners it has had, the higher the potential for things to be wrong with it - poor maintenance, badly repaired accident damage, rust, wear and tear. If it's a cheap car, you can take a chance, and just bin it if it's a lemon. When spending £20k+, it makes sense to get it checked over, or buy from someone with an excellent reputation.

With the greatest respect, I am concerned that you dont seem to even know which model you are looking at! What I will say is that 90k miles on a 1992 car is very low mileage. If its genuine. However, this is irrelevant. Its a 22 year old car. The clock is the least of your worries.

clockworks said: Wozy68 said: What utter tripe. The only common sense comment above is that you bought a Porsche from Adrian Crawford. The rest is pants. Eyes open should come to mind. Mind you saying that, there is something wrong with your description there. Not sure what has offended your sensibilities? Any car can have hidden problems. The older it is, and the more owners it has had, the higher the potential for things to be wrong with it - poor maintenance, badly repaired accident damage, rust, wear and tear. If it's a cheap car, you can take a chance, and just bin it if it's a lemon. When spending £20k+, it makes sense to get it checked over, or buy from someone with an excellent reputation. It could be your slightly exaggerated claim about paying more than a couple of hundred quid for a car that old in relation to classic Porsches. Not sure you could actually buy a 911 for a couple £100. Either way there is no 1992 C4S so find out what it actually is. As others said that mileage isn't an issue.

Maybe I wasn't clear with my wording, but my point was that it's worth having some kind of inspection done on any old car that costs more than a few hundred quid, unless you really know what you are looking for. I wasn't suggesting that you can get an aircooled Porsche cheap. I was also trying to make the point that there are more things to watch out for when buying a 20 year old Porsche than how many miles it had on the clock.

Sorry guys what a tit I am - it was a late 2002 car...

Personally, there are deals to be had with high mileage cars. The C4S 996 market seems to start at around £16k up to £25k for low mileage minters at specialists. A lot of people worry about bore scoring and IMS/RMS problems with cars of this era. Does the fact that the car has racked up 95,000 miles mean that it doesn't have these problems or they've all been taken care of by previous owners? I would be looking at maintenance history. A stamped up service book and a wad of invoices supporting a well looked after car. If you don't mind me asking, how much is it up for?

In my experience high mile cars usually run a lot better than a 500 mile pa garage queen

Koln-RS said: Mileage will have the biggest impact on 'values'. Once it has clicked over 100,000 miles it will certainly be categorised as higher mileage. This may have no significance in terms of a car's quality, but the market tends to add a premium for low mileage and a discount for higher mileage. Except when they buy a 143,000 miler from Coys for over £60K !!

Fastfred said: Koln-RS said: Mileage will have the biggest impact on 'values'. Once it has clicked over 100,000 miles it will certainly be categorised as higher mileage. This may have no significance in terms of a car's quality, but the market tends to add a premium for low mileage and a discount for higher mileage. Except when they buy a 143,000 miler from Coys for over £60K !! Bought a what?

A 1995 993C4