OPS on a 1988 Targa

[FenderGuy]

All service records back to 1995. Too many apgrades to list. New brakes, CV boots, Electric Oil cooler to name a few. this car had a 100 point inspection on it prior to me buying it. It has not had any valve work done to it. I have all the maintenance and repair records back to 1995. It was very well maintained. It does have 2 oil leaks, one at a compression fitting to the external oil cooler. I think the other will be corrected after on re-torque the lower valve cover bolts on the right side. This drives great. Very tight, no rattles, vibration, etc. I am the third owner and have only owned it since Oct. 2003. Cosmetically, there are two pictures on the auction that show (2) imperfections on the exterior. A small paint chip on the top of the driver side front quarter panel and a "rub" on the passenger side wheel flare. The dash has one crack in it and the front seats do show some wear. Hopefully that answers your questions. 117222 miles

[ZAMIRZ]

The lower front valence also has a substantial dent in it, must've hit something hard / large for it to do that. Looks like a clean driver though, good luck selling it

[FenderGuy]

i am not selling it i am interested in it

[Beethoven]

Price?

[FenderGuy]

16800 buy it now but i am thinking he wants 15k?

[krichard]

If the PPI comes back good then 15k would be a good deal. Spend a couple k making it perfect and you will fall in love with it.

[FenderGuy]

color is my fav and the white interior is a way plus the car looks good...the 3.2 is way plus but i am worried that no vavle work has not been done..i have heard that the vavles on these cars needed to be replaced at 5o or 60k miles?

[Beethoven]

Do a PPI. At that milage, you're looking at potential clutch / transmission work. Have the mechanic check the fuel lines in particular. Has the A/C been converted? There is no photo of the crack in the dash--how bad is it?
There is no reason why this car should leak oil--that would worry me the most. Don't believe the "all Porsches leak" story--it isn't true, and leaks can either be a pain to chase down or point to real problems with the engine.
Other than that, it looks good, and of course that's Porsche's best year.

[FenderGuy]

hey Krichard how much do you spend on maintanice on your car?

[krichard]

Valves need to be replaced???? Maybe the valve guides but I have never heard anything about the valves needing to be replaced. Have a PPI done with leakdown and compression and let the mechanic know about lack of valve maintanance and see how it comes out.

[FenderGuy]

well maybe not valves replaced but valve work ...i keep reading from the posts here that the cars should have valve work around 50 or 60k? depending on climate

[krichard]

I bought my car in August of last year and have spent 4k on it since. That includes AC conversion with new compressor, fuel line replacement, swarbar bracket replacement and a couple other odds and ends. I consider this just sorting out the car. I paid just under 16k for the car and it had little records.

[FenderGuy]

4k for 5months? and thats just sorting hmmm sounds you sorted just minor items and not major items. i know these cars are not cheap i would hope i would not have to go into that excessive amount to sort a car.

[Beethoven]

Even if the PPI comes out ok, I would think you need at least 2k in reserve. And that would mean that you're just reacting to things, not actively sorting it, as Kerry did.
My car was in as good a shape as you can get it, and I still needed the fuel lines (1.5k), and assorted clutch/AC/electrical work.

[Zeke]

Unless you do the work yourself, $4000 doesn't go very far anymore. For instance, 4 shocks installed will cost, give or take, a grand. Only 3 grand to go. Nice tires like Pilots, close to another grand. Only 2 grand to go. Cars need things. People don't often sell cars that need nothing. Something motivates them. You need to find the motivation. If the car was just gone thru and now there's a divorce, you might get lucky. But, for the most part, cars are sold w/o the last bit of needed maintenance.

[nostatic]

100 point inspection? That is dealer-speak...is this a private party sale? What about a proper PPI? And what about the records before '95? If there aren't records of the clutch, shocks, brakes, and valve guides, you can assume that you will have to do these, possibly sooner rather than later. I think 120K on a 3.2 is getting close to top end rebuild time.

Also have a body shop check for damage. That front valence looks "concretized".

[FenderGuy]

private party sale here in arizona.... top end rebuild on top of the purchase buy? damn thats a 23k car already right?

[nostatic]

every 911 is at least a $20K car...you pay up front and/or later. You could get another 30K out of the engine without major work...it all just depends. The car is well beyond the "premature valve guide" window, but is heading into the plain of valve guide wear miles. But again, it depends on the records and a good PPI. If there is no record of the clutch, assume it needs to be replaced. Same with shocks and brakes, although a PPI should pick those things up.

[DonDavis]

Listen to nostatic.




Wait.....listen to no static.....get it?

That was funny.

Anyway ...
what nostatic said.

[LeeH]

As someone who called about my second 911 put it... "I want a car that was somebody's baby." I don't get that feeling from this car.

The valence is crunched, the engine bay is dirty, and the brake/seatbelt light cover is missing. All of these things could have been taken car of for relatively little money. I'm not saying that these things make it an evil car... it just makes me wonder.

The owner lists the flaws as a partial rear tire "rub" on the fender and driver side mirror paint chip. Why doesn't he mention the valence? One thing I've learned is that a lot of car problems that aren't mentioned are not attempts at deception - some people really don't see the little stuff. I just wonder what else this car needs.

I looked at a 911 once that had obviously been touched with a rattle can in many, many spots. The owner really couldn't understand my objections. He thought it looked great.