Newbie questions - first aircooled purchase (87-89 coupe)

[Samtrot]

I caught the bug recently after attending too many cars and coffee events in Southern California, and unfortunately there's no turning back at this point. I've narrowed the search down to an 87-89 coupe after having tested a G50 transmission - probably not the one I should've started with!

I've come across an '89 that is low miles and single family ownership which I like. Based on all the research I've done, the recent service paperwork I've seen and a test drive, it feels like the engine and transmission are well sorted but I haven't done a PPI yet, and wouldn't be surprised if that comes back with an issue or two. I'm willing to spend money for a top end rebuild either shortly after purchase or squirrel money away for that down the road as I know that's an eventuality, so that's actually not what has set me back a bit. More interested in the following:

- the carfax shows pretty consistent mileage for the first ~20 years of ownership and then little to no miles the last decade until a couple of recent services, including fuel pump/filter, clutch and clutch fork, valve adjustment, brakes and pads, tires, oil sensor in the engine. I have no reason to believe this other than from the mileage cadence but as noted above I suspect that a bit more will have to go in after purchase. But more importantly, the carfax shows a mileage discrepancy - the last log shows a about a 1,000 mile drop in the reading from most recent to the prior service. My gut suspects this is just a complete miskey on the part of the shop that serviced the car, as the odometer was pulled during this service - that service entry was from four months ago and the car is already back above the prior reading. All the same...weird, and I'm most concerned that it significantly impacts resale value down the road. Note - I'm not in this to make money, but also don't want to be foolish either

- car passed most emissions checks until late 2000s, right before it sat for a decade; since then it had a spate of failed emissions in early 2019 which was shortly after the first of the two major services noted above. It has passed once since then and was re-registered earlier this year

- no service history work is available prior to early '19 as it doesn't seem like the owners were fastidious about that. the option code sticker was unfortunately removed from under the hood and there is no sticker in the warranty manual either. The warranty manual also isn't stamped for service early on in the car's life. Anyone's antennae perk up hearing this, or just a sign of an owner who enjoyed the car and didn't necessarily care about things like this?

- the rubber cap that seats over the molding on the passenger side frame that runs from front to rear wheels has become unseated and slightly askew in the rear of the car (little rubber piece just forward of the rear passenger wheel). Nothing makes me suspect the car was in a major accident but figured I'd call out as it jumped out at me on my walk around


I'm not looking for a show car for my first purchase and would almost rather get into a car with a couple of cosmetic blemishes the first go-round. All the same, I do want to avoid a time bomb. I know the only way to do that is through a PPI but interested in community feedback on some of those items above. Cheers and many thanks

[Noah930]

This is the turbo forum. Granted on this forum we're Porsche 911 owners from the same years, but there's lot more traffic on the 911 Technical Forum. You'll get a lot more opinions posting over there.

Regarding the mileage issues: I recently bought a car with similar issues. Car had been driven a lot and regularly for the first 20 years of its life, and then sat with sporadic use for the next decade. But I knew the guy selling the car (family friend) and knew that he had knee problems that kept him from driving the car (his reason for selling), so the cadence of mileage wasn't suspicious in my car's situation. In fact, it fit his story. There was one issue where the annual smog mileage also jumped back, but in retrospect I think it was an example of a typo done by the smog guy. The rest of the service records (fortunately I had those) had mileages that stacked up as expected. So the discrepancy didn't worry me. Irritated me, for the same reason you've listed. But it wasn't an example of odometer fraud and it was only off by maybe a few hundred miles, so I didn't sweat it.

My car also had no options sticker under the frunk hood or in the owner's manual. Never figured out why. But the maintenance manual was at least stamped for the first owner, so again I didn't fear any attempts at misdirection. Some owners are fastidious, and others not so much. I think you'll have to see if the car's condition looks appropriate for the stated mileage as a guage. I also think a PPI can pick up things (like bodywork/crash damage) that your not-professionally-trained-eye might miss.

As long as it passes smog now, I wouldn't be as worried if it didn't pass smog for a bit a year ago, as that problem has been fixed (as long as it's a reputable smog shop, and not a place that'll pass a car with a few hundred dollar bills and a wink of an eye).

Good luck on your search.

[Samtrot]

Ah, thanks Noah930 appreciate it! I had a sneaking suspicion this might've been placed in the wrong forum. Thanks for the thoughts nevertheless - hopefully see you and the 930 around LA at some point