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morghen · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 9095 Location: Romania

so...it seems the bank will give me the money to buy it.
i've found a nice looking 951S 1989, ABS,ASR,AC..power...everything. has a +20HP chip...928S4 brakes as default....its black...has minor cosmetic issues.
I'm going to see and test the car tommorow or the day after tomorrow.
The car has been bought from germany with the intention of registering it in Romania...then he hit the new registration tax law wich does not see this car as an EURO2 polution standard and kindly asks for 11k to register it...however the tax is being dropped to 3.6K and if i can get them to see the car as an EURO2 polution standard...i'd get away with 1.8K.
The guy wants 5k for the car and will not consider droping any amoun from that price. Ofcourse all the prices are in euro and a decent looking 951S would cost about 8-9K in germany.

My plan is to get the car and keep it in storage until i can sell the CGT and the 932....then..pay back the bank and register the 951S.
So...in the case that the car is indeed in good shape and i like it...the CGT will be up for sale...and so will be the RHD 931.
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Catamax944 · Joined: 14 Jan 2009 Posts: 140 Location: London UK

Great to hear it morghen,i hope it's in good shape and you get it.
NO 944,951 or 968 has ASR or any kind of traction control if that's what you mean by ASR.
I suggest you do a read-up on what to check for on a 951 before you go and see it,that is if you are not already familiar with 951's,it's a very diferent beast from the 931.

Chrenan · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 3903 Location: Canada

Good luck, you are about to head down a slippery slope...
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1987 951 - M193 Version for Japan

morghen · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 9095 Location: Romania

yea....with a bit of luck it'll be fine and it will be worth it...as the 951S is a better car....i was going to put more money into the 924..was going to install AC..even had some ABS tougths..but 17K is enough for a car that will never sell for that price...so i'll just buy the 951 and try to enjoy it.
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cgalyon · Joined: 05 May 2008 Posts: 249 Location: Knoxville, TN

951S is a fast car, but I don't know what kind of maintenance you're getting yourself into.
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1988 924S Navy Blue - Phone Dials

alexvex · Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 2:24 pm Post subject:

I'm going the same route too...

People on here tend to think they are money pits..they can be, but if you find a nice one with good maintanence then you're set. And if you do all the work it's cheap too. The extra money is definitely worth it as it's a much better car IMO.
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--Alex--
1992 Porsche 968 (VW 2.5L I5 Turbo swap in the works)
1995 Audi 90 Quattro Sport (4.2L V8 Swap)
2010 Touareg TDI
Past Pcars: 80 931, 87 924S, 87 951

morghen · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 9095 Location: Romania

well my CGT has costed me 17k euros until now....so talk about money pits.
The 951 i'm buying has a partial service history...so it should be ok...plus i have a bunch of guys around me who know a thing or two about the 44 engine...i'll see what's what...tomorrow i'm going to see it.
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edh · Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 240 Location: Derby, UK

I've never driven a 931, but the 951 is a very different car to a 924S - that's for sure

It's a heavier car - maybe not so nice to drive around town, but a great long distance car, & good (if a bit heavy) on the track. I've had mine for 3 years & can't find any reason to change it.

Run it in stock ('ish) setup and it'll be reasonably cheap - tune it (and you have plenty of options) and you can end up sinking a load of cash into it.

It's well worth altering the boost control - a cheap boost enhancer from Lindsey (or MBC) + chips & wastegage (Tial?) will give you a massive kick in mid range performance + around 40-50 more HP for not much money. Watch out for old headgaskets letting go if you raise the boost

With a tired wastegate you might be a bit disappointed by performance - slow to boost and dropping off at high revs.

Of course that's after the usual belts, waterpump, calipers (plate lift) etc.. are sorted.
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current - '90 944S2, '00 986S,
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morghen · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 9095 Location: Romania

thanks edh, the 931...actualy the 937 is heavy too and a nightmare in town as it has no power steering....however its great on long distances.
thanks again for the info, i've been afraid of the belts and bla bla...but i have a friend in the next city who has had a 944 for more than 5 years now and he has never had problems with it...ofcourse he serviced it properly and thats what i intend to do.
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924RACR · Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 11:02 pm Post subject:

Yeah, with car prices, I'm almost tempted by a 951... but too many projects right now, and no place to put one... which is good, since I don't have the cash for one!

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edh · Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 240 Location: Derby, UK

one other thing, if you're buying it for the AC, check it works (not easy when it's cold outside!) - the AC might be there - but most of them have leaky pipes / hoses (and the new AC gases leak worse!). I often see ads that say AC works just needs re-gassing

That actually means AC doesn't work because it leaks!

Re-fitting new factory lines is a big job, and expensive! - you can get some flexy hose replacements here, but I don't think that includes the big ones that go to the bulkhead.

http://www.griffiths.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=15_16_52

I gave up on trying to fix my AC

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current - '90 944S2, '00 986S,
ex - '90 944 turbo '86 924S, '88 924S

tuurbo · Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:36 am Post subject:

I would want to make sure there isn't a 'fatal flaw' somewhere in the engine department...how the heck do you know when you buy one of these old gals that there isn't an engine time bomb waiting to happen?
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1980 924 turbo, MSD, Meth. Inj, otherwise stock.

morghen · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 9095 Location: Romania

You dont...if it happens it happens...nobody can guarantee anything...its sold as it is...an old car. Being a porsche makes things a bit easyer...if it runs smooth and it sounds like it should sound then probably it will not fail.

The guy said that the AC works perfectly and he topped it up with freon when he got the car.

The main issue now is the fact that tomorrow i should go to see it and i've called him to anounce my arrival and he was on his way to an urgent matter 400kms away...so i cant see the car this weekend anymore.
Another issue is the fact that it seems he might have gotten a paper from PORSCHE AG that says the car is an EURO2 polution standart...meaning less registration fee....meaning he said he is thinking not to sell it anymore.

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alexvex · Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 8:43 am Post subject:

tuurbo · Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 10:45 am Post subject:

True. It can happen with a new car, hell. I know a woman who replaced a drivetrain in a PT Cruiser with 6 months on the clock because of a transmission screwup. And it was warrantied.

But I've only ever seen anyone buy a car with a soon to be blown engine once. He got a few drives out of the car, not too fast, and the engine blew. It was a 951. He started with the car at $12.5, not a bad deal, and by the time he was done rebuilding it was $22K total cost. I'm not a pro with the 951 but I think the '89 is a special series car, the best of the '88 and '89s. Rose interior? A fussy and very fast car. Probably not cheap.

Call me superstitious. When he listened carefully to the car after buying it, he'd heard a very slight almost inaudible sound in the engine. Later he discovered it was shot.

Buyer Beware, right?

Personally I would want that car inspected by Porsche first. Yes it's true faults could slip by Porsche, but so what? You've done your best. Just getting Sam the local guy to check the car out isn't enough, I don't think, unless you're dealing with a worthless car or a beater. I think with sports cars you have to dig deeper in proportion to how much it's going to cost to fix - I call it 'mitigating' my risk. True I'm not able to mitigate exposure cause Porsche isn't going to guarantee it...but you can lessen your sense of overall risk by gaining their reassurance. People beat the crap out of sports cars. I think people should mitigate their risk with 951s. Why 951 and not the 931? Cause I'm ignorant of 951 cars - and I'm superstitious. I think experts are there to help people who don't know the early signs of something really wrong.

If it were a 931 I'd be more trusting of my judgment because I know them a little. But assuming someone wanted 951 prices for one, I'd get Porsche to look over a 931 comparably priced too! I wouldn't get anyone Porsche to look over a new car, however, because the odds of a soon to be blown engine are so small. But an expensive used car that was made to be driven fast? Oh yeah.
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1980 924 turbo, MSD, Meth. Inj, otherwise stock.