968 maintenance?

[tcuuh]

I am looking at purchasing a 91 968 with 119k miles on it. The owner has receipts for all the maintenance he has had including timing belts. My question is, how long should I expect the clutch to hold out? How about the suspension shocks and bushings? The brakes have been recently replaced. What about any other expensive items to repair or replace. How long do the components last. He said the car was used mostly for long trips he had to take for work so these were highway miles. The car is in great condition except for some wear on the drivers side seat.

Thanks

[Trevor]

92 968 or 91 944 S2?

[iolguy]

Sorry it is a 92 968.

[Trevor]

Clutches last depending on how the car is driven. I've heard of 944 derivatives with clutches exceeding 150,000 miles and also those with less than 40k. The good thing about the 968 is the clutch is relatively easy to replace. The belts are suggested to be replaced every 30,000 miles are so and retensioned at 2000 and 15000 miles accordingly. 968s are reliable cars, a big thing to look out for is body damage because that can get very expensive very fast. Good luck, let us know how it goes. -Trevor

[mike944]

You need to find out whether the variocam chain & tensioner (or tensioner pads) were replaced recently. with 119K on it, if they've never been replaced the're way overdue.

These parts are not that expensive to replace, but if they fail, you're looking at 3-6K to repair pretty much the entire valvetrain.

Clutch can be inspected during the PPI. Timing belt does not need to be retensioned, the 968 has a hydraulic tensioner, but the balance belt should be checked at similar intervals as a 944, although the balance belt is not quite as critical.

Nothing else sticks out in my mind as a problem area. the 968's were the result of 10 years of evolution of the 944, and most of the kinks were worked out. Beyond the variocam mechanism, they're pretty reliable cars.

Try http://www.968.net and go to their discussion area. That board is completely 968 oriented, and you should find answers to most any 968 question there.