944/968 inspection list

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Adam Johnson
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Joined: Sat Apr 12, 2008 1:51 am
Location: San Mateo, CA

944/968 inspection list

#1 Post by Adam Johnson »

A friend in the SF Bay Area is looking for a 944/968. I suggested he should use a model-specific pre-purchase inspection list. Does anybody have such a list they could share? Thank you.
Adam Johnson

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Doug McDonnell
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Re: 944/968 inspection list

#2 Post by Doug McDonnell »

http://www.944online.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/ ... 1298752427 I used this when I bought an 88 924S Special Edition model. The biggest addition with 968 is pinion gear in transmission. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche- ... klist.html
1965 356C 2000 BMW 740i Sport 1967 Honda CL77 There is never enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it over.

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Adam Johnson
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Re: 944/968 inspection list

#3 Post by Adam Johnson »

Thank you Doug. This is helpful.

Hope you get your 'escape from the snow' trips in this year.

Cheers!
Adam Johnson

Steve Douglas
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Re: 944/968 inspection list

#4 Post by Steve Douglas »

A 968 is a great car, but expensive to repair. I bought one 4 years ago, and love it, it's a "modern" car, and not your typical Porsche. We had an 82 SC that the wife drove but didn't like the stiff clutch and the wannabe A/C. She saw our friends '94 968 that was for sale and she said she wanted it, it was similar in feel to her old BMW 330i, plus it has the Tip-Tronic. I didn't think much of the 924-968 cars, as it wasn't air-cooled, and wasn't primitive. I had a PPI done, owner had a new battery, spark plugs, belts checked, oil changed, trans serviced, and coolant flushed. Being that it was a Bay Area car and had known services since 1998, I felt a bit safer buying the car. However there are very few shops who know these cars good enough to fix them and know what is wrong or to look for.
The car was in concours condition, placed well in 2 Parades, and we got 2nd in the Concours on the Avenue in Carmel. But, it also hadn't been driven, it had 4500 miles since 2005, the suspension bushing were frozen up, the shocks/struts seals leaked, and needed to be driven to sort out things.
Fast Lane-Tim Benson in Santa Cruz, Don Wise in Campbell, Moderman in Sunnyvale, and Dave Merry in Santa Rosa, Hi-Tech is San Rafael are the only ones in the Bay Area that I can recommend as capable of doing a PPI. Even then it's an old car and things go wrong, like: the Flex Plate broke on a PCA tour, we made it home but it rattled a lot. Parts are hard to find, and many have been sitting on the shelf for years, such as most of the rubber flex plates, found one made in 2004, (suffix .05) but it cost $1500 with air freight from Europe, and 16 hours to install. $$$$
Part Heaven in Hayward has a stock of used parts and offers discounts on many new parts, talk to Al or Spenser. Bill Patton in Hayward has like 10 968's and is selling off a few occasionally, he has the "art paint" car. Check with the shops and Parts Heaven to see if they know of any good cars.
Expect the prices to be all over the place. When we bought ours we paid all the money plus some, $15,000, but now it's in the $30,000+, what other Porsche that is drivable and has all of the features of a 968 can be had for that price? The last 8 months there have been numerous 968 articles in Panorama, and 2 years ago the Werkes Reunion featured the transaxle cars, and now they have been rediscovered, at least by the PCA and Hagerty valuations. There is a 968 Registry that is part of PCA, it doesn't offer much but is a recent work in progress.
A known service record is important, and a good PPI too. Yet still be ready for issues.

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Doug McDonnell
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Re: 944/968 inspection list

#5 Post by Doug McDonnell »

With only 4242 968s with 2234 of them being coupes imported to NA not a common car so parts and service can be problematic. I do like them more than any other 924,944,968 though. I just love the headlights.
1965 356C 2000 BMW 740i Sport 1967 Honda CL77 There is never enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it over.

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Adam Johnson
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Re: 944/968 inspection list

#6 Post by Adam Johnson »

Steve, Thank you for this great info. This is the type of knowledge that is important to know but difficult to obtain except through experience and time. Cheers!
Adam Johnson

Steve Douglas
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Re: 944/968 inspection list

#7 Post by Steve Douglas »

Adam, do you come to the monthly San Mateo 356 breakfast? It was at Mimi's in Bridgepointe, but it closed 3 weeks ago so we are looking for a new place. Feb 3rd will be a special garage tour, still meeting at the old Mimi's at about 9:30 to pick up route instructions, short drive to the discrete location.

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