thinking of buying a 964 but dont know much!! - Page 2 - 911/Carrera GT - PistonHeads UK

can be rot boxes and can be mint. great car if not a rot box, but take all the paint off and a few will prob fall apart ;-) you need to know what you are buying other wise you could be into a 20k refresh or worse. so many get covered up to hide the rot esp at the front A-pillars. getting to a point a bare metal refresh is on the cards for a lot of cars now.

Yil said: Have the opportunity to buy a 1900 964c2 Targa with 88k. What's it worth assuming its it excellent condition. I would have a professional inspection carried out before purchase. Are These cars appreciating in value? What would it cost to run doing about 3k per year. Are engine rebuilds required at 100k What do I look for when viewing. I love these cars and fulfilling a dream, I understand Targa isn't the drivers choice but I don't mind that. Thanks in advance. - 15-20k (higher end for manuals) - yes - 500-1k per year - not always. Oil leaks dont always mean a rebuild is required - focus on rust (get underneath the car they rot from inside out - what glitters is not always gold!), and then mechanicals etc. Pay an indy to inspect it. best 150-250 quid you will spend - if u find a good one it will be fun

I would say £15k to £35k, but there's no such thing as a 'cheap' air cooled 911. The market seems to prefer Coupe, Manual, Lower Mls and condition is the big 'imperative' - hence the importance of a thorough inspection. Yes, there will be annual running repairs, but a good one shouldn't depreciate - quite the opposite in fact.

The same issues are likely to be true of coupes, or indeed other cars that age. I bought one a couple years ago & it took a while to refurbish - mostly age-related stuff & some minor rust around windscreen. Sounds fantastic with the roof off & feels solid to drive.

Have the opportunity to buy a 1990 964c2 Targa with 88k. What's it worth assuming its it excellent condition. I would have a professional inspection carried out before purchase. Are These cars appreciating in value? What would it cost to run doing about 3k per year. Are engine rebuilds required at 100k What do I look for when viewing. I love these cars and fulfilling a dream, I understand Targa isn't the drivers choice but I don't mind that. Thanks in advance. Edited by Yil on Thursday 25th September 13:22

I know of a very nice one that's just had an engine rebuild (by the old-hand OPC tech) and a week or two ago a full inspection at Unit 11 (who know these cars very well) with nothing of any significance found (they were very thorough, even commenting that one of the two horns wasn't working). It can be bought for £30k. The guy who had it inspected wasn't able to buy it because his 993 wasn't really quite as nice/valuable as he thought it was, so the seller declined the deal. PM me if you want any more info.

Really appreciate all your comments. The car is in Herts. Anyone know of a good independent guy that will do an inspection?

Yil said: Really appreciate all your comments. The car is in Herts. Anyone know of a good independent guy that will do an inspection? JZM or RPM your best bet in Herts. Be best if vendor can take it to them so they can get it up on ramps.

I've noticed some have teardrop style mirrors, some are flatter. Was there a facelift?

The prices of these cars seem to be all over. What is a good, rust free, sub 100k 1990 manual targa worth?

The 964 had a minor 'facelift' in, I think, 1992 (93MY?) with a few minor improvements - and visually identified by the 'teardrop' mirrors and 16" (or optional 17") 'Cup' style wheels. However, a lot of the earlier '90/91/92 964s have had these retro-fitted - some with correct original parts, some with replica parts. Porsche sold a lot of 964s in 1990, the first year of production, but there was a severe financial collapse by 1991 and there are far fewer '92/93 cars.

Definitely get a comprehensive inspection carried out, you could quite easily spend the cost of the car again just getting it to a decent standard if you bought a wrong 'un

Yil said: The prices of these cars seem to be all over. What is a good, rust free, sub 100k 1990 manual targa worth? It's very broad I'm afraid: Good as in serviceable with no major work immediately needed = early £20k's Good as in better than most others available, with lots of recent work to major (cost) items = early £30k's - and possibly better value than the other example I've given.

N24 said: The same issues are likely to be true of coupes, or indeed other cars that age. I bought one a couple years ago & it took a while to refurbish - mostly age-related stuff & some minor rust around windscreen. Sounds fantastic with the roof off & feels solid to drive. Beautiful car. Look at the line between the top edge of the headlight and the top edge of the tail light. Stunning.

I've been and seen it, driven it. All in all its vert clean, small amount of oil on sill in front of rear wheel. off side. There is only service history for the last 6-7 years, there was and engine rebuild before this bit not documented anywhere!so basically no service history! So mileage not verified, but it drove vert well, lots of torque. Small amount of vibration under braking through steering wheel, maybe new discs needed. Need an I inspection done now I herts area.

No service history , no rebuild paper work I would not pay much for it at all. I would want bills for 10 to 20 k to buy a 964 over 12k

Hmm, it would help if you told us how much you're looking at paying for it, but as for the car itself, it sounds like you'd be better looking at the one I mentioned earlier on, with amongst other things the benefit of a freshly rebuilt engine (with proof!) etc.

It's for sale at 20k.

I can't comment on much, but the fact that it's been running for 6-7 years without a problem should give you some comfort around service history I would have thought? I'd be a lot more worried if it was the most recent 6-7 years that were missing. If there's no documentation for an engine rebuild then you should assume there hasn't been one.

The car has only done 83k. (or reads this). And only 4-5k in last 5 yrs. I wonder why it would have rebuild, nor enough miles.?

Yil said: The car has only done 83k. (or reads this). And only 4-5k in last 5 yrs. I wonder why it would have rebuild, nor enough miles.? Many 964's have had top end rebuilds to fix oil leaks (rather than that their engines are worn out), so it not always linked to mileage.

yep, understand. a good inspection should reveal any oil leaks from the head/block it is leaking under the oil tank in front of the offside rear wheel.? I think this if pipes that need fixing? Can you overfill these cars, that would cause a leak.

yep, understand. a good inspection should reveal any oil leaks from the head/block it is leaking under the oil tank in front of the offside rear wheel.? I think this if pipes that need fixing? Can you overfill these cars, that would cause a leak.

An overfill can cause a leak, but not necessarily around the tank area. More often, an overfil will cause a smoky exhaust instead. A leak around their would likely be from one of the tubes to/from the oil tank, thermostat or the expensive ones going from the theromostat to the oil cooler under the front wing, or maybe from the power steering pump seal. Your PPI should disclose where the oil is coming from.

O/P - did you take the plunge? Any pics??

OP just be sure to get an inspection carried out as all that lies beneath may not be evident immediately. You don't want to get entangled in something like this http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... Edited by Scooty100 on Sunday 26th October 11:32

IMI A said: Yil said: Really appreciate all your comments. The car is in Herts. Anyone know of a good independent guy that will do an inspection? JZM or RPM your best bet in Herts. Be best if vendor can take it to them so they can get it up on ramps. If the cars in Herts I'd find out who's been servicing it. You'd hope it would be one of the indies below. As per IMI A's comment you've got a few options on getting it inspected in Herts. - JZ Machtech (Kings Langley, Herts) - RPM (Long Marston, Tring, Herts) - Jaz (Wembley) but Steve Winter is in Chiswell Green, Herts and I'd often dropped my car off and picked it up from him in Chiswell Green. I've used both JZM and Jaz and would recommend both.

Decided against herm. Lovely car but no history. I've also learnt there is no such thing as a cheap Porsche. Head over heart

name of this thread made me come here. I have Obsessive–compulsive disorder regarding buying Porsche - recently I decided 964 is my destiny. would like to hear you view about my choices. Because I am a continent rat I need LHD Coupe in manual preferably C2 but maybe C4 would do. I searched UK dealers and autoscout and mobile.de and I found I can either get 200.000km piece at 25.000 EUR plus or if I fancy some under 100.000 tidy car it would cost me 40.000 EUR and more. question is: is this correct observation? If not please could you source me with cheaper tips please? what do you think is better value - grap as cheap as possible getting some space for repairs and later investments or is it necessary to buy expensive pieces?

DELETED: Comment made by a member who's account has been deleted. Not true. Teardrops were first seen as standard equipment on the 964 RS. They were then available as an after fit from the dealers along with the cup alloys.(not magnesium)

I was told there is no such thing as a cheap Porsche. I would have no issue with a higher mileage 964, providing there is comprehensive history. If there isn't, assume your in for a 5-10K bill at some stage. I didn't buy the one I looked at. One day!

giggle said: DELETED: Comment made by a member who's account has been deleted. Not true. Teardrops were first seen as standard equipment on the 964 RS. They were then available as an after fit from the dealers along with the cup alloys.(not magnesium) The 964 turbo had teardrop (cup) mirrors as standard in 1990 and that predates the 964 RS by a couple of years. 964 Cup cars, which also came out in 1990, had these as well. Presumably it's the Cup cars that had them first given that they are really called "Cup" mirrors.

these are becoming so rare, at £20k if the inspection stacks up it might be worth rethinking ?

giggle said: DELETED: Comment made by a member who's account has been deleted. Not true. Teardrops were first seen as standard equipment on the 964 RS. They were then available as an after fit from the dealers along with the cup alloys.(not magnesium) They may have been available as an afterfit from Porsche, but they were actually standard from 1993 model year for (all AFAIK) 964's.