Money Pit 951!

[dmw319]

Today is roughly my 1 month anniversary for owning my 951.. and so far I've spent $949.78.

Timing Belt, Camshaft Belt, Water Pump, Water Pump hardware kit, Thermostat, Short elbow hose at waterpump, bosch super plus copper plugs, distributor cap,rotor, 4 oil filters, Mahle Air Filter, Fryebraid spark Plug wire set (red), 4x drain oil plug seals, fuel filter, DME relay, Triple Square Cheese Head Set, Black Leather Shift Boot, New Battery from Oreillys, 1 gallon prestone coolant, 2-3 new hose clamps installed to replace rusty ones, new RainX wiper blades, and a remanufactured Bosch Starter.


PHEW!

[bleu951]

No such thing as a cheap Porsche. I would advocate replacing all of the cooling/heater hoses at the same time. Coolant is such a PITA to deal with and you do not want to overheat one of these cars.

[951 Scott]

Welcome to the Club....contrary to popular opinion and also 4 Sale prices.....these cars are $12K cars....either you pay $6K and put $6K into it....or buy a really nice one for $9 or $10K and put another $2 or $3K into it.

Anyway you add it up....you are spending $12K.

Scott

[Ga 951]

What made you think this would be a cheap car to own and maintain?

Roughly 15K in mine and it's a 98% car Just gorgeous and runs like a raped ape! More $ to come I'm sure!

[Born2bwild1191]

I've owned my 951 for about a year and a half...I should go add up my long list of repairs and blow your mind....But the way I look at it, everytime you replace something, you're that much closer to having it perfect. It's an old car, things will need replaced, but eventually it will stop breaking....sort of

[aj951]

These cars are like girlfriends, some are good and some are bad. Some are worth spending the time and money on and some are not.

A.J.

[dmw319]

Originally Posted by bleu951

No such thing as a cheap Porsche. I would advocate replacing all of the cooling/heater hoses at the same time. Coolant is such a PITA to deal with and you do not want to overheat one of these cars.

Probably a good idea. I just got done though so let me enjoy driving it for at least a few weeks! LOL

Originally Posted by 951 Scott

Welcome to the Club....contrary to popular opinion and also 4 Sale prices.....these cars are $12K cars....either you pay $6K and put $6K into it....or buy a really nice one for $9 or $10K and put another $2 or $3K into it.

Anyway you add it up....you are spending $12K.

Scott

Very true.

Originally Posted by Ga 951

What made you think this would be a cheap car to own and maintain?

Roughly 15K in mine and it's a 98% car Just gorgeous and runs like a raped ape! More $ to come I'm sure!

I never thought it'd be cheap, just didn't think it'd drain the wallet as fast as it did. Haha.

Originally Posted by Born2bwild1191

I've owned my 951 for about a year and a half...I should go add up my long list of repairs and blow your mind....But the way I look at it, everytime you replace something, you're that much closer to having it perfect. It's an old car, things will need replaced, but eventually it will stop breaking....sort of

Phew. I am hoping it lasts a long time. The only other major issue I hope I don' run into is the rubber clutch center goin out. *crosses fingers*

[Pete R]

I got lucky I guess, I spent $5k on a track car. Only changed fluids and replaced fuel lines. I tracked it all year. This winter I will do rear wheel bearings, sway bar bushings and changing all the hoses only a few hundred dollars... I may have just jinxed myself for this Sunday.

[Jrboulder]

Originally Posted by dmw319

Phew. I am hoping it lasts a long time. The only other major issue I hope I don' run into is the rubber clutch center goin out. *crosses fingers*

You don't have a rubber centered clutch. Those privileges are reserved for N/A owners only.

[Lawrence Coppari]

I can't complain about mine. I bought it in 1996 for 7K with 89K miles on it. I immediately spent another 5K on engine upgrades for more power, some suspension changes, and a roll cage. So there is my 12K.

The car is a semi daily driver and track car. It now has 185K on it. Replacements include the water pump, AC compressor and receiver/dryer, electric water pump for turbo, rod bearings, two turbochargers, waste gate, 1-4 header (original didn't have bellows), clutch, two rear left wheel bearings, lots of pads and rotors, lots of tires, TPS, little pump that sniffs cabin temp near glove box, throttle cable, engine rear main seal, 1 caliper rebuild, cam seal at distributor, balance shaft front and rear seals, odometer gear, both halfshafts, both A arms, front wheel bearings, the steering rack, and the short shaft with u-joints that attaches steering column to steering rack. The left rear stub axle was also replaced because the PO had wrecked the car and it was slightly bent. This caused the rear wheel bearings to croak. Once replaced, no more bearing problems. The cruise control died and was removed.
The BOV was also replaced a number of years ago.

In its favor, the car has over 100 track events on it. The only repair I did not make was the engine rear main seal so other repairs only included the price of parts. In my opinion, it's been an excellent car. Most of the above replacements would not have been needed if it were not run on the track.

[wild man]

Originally Posted by 951 Scott

Welcome to the Club....contrary to popular opinion and also 4 Sale prices.....these cars are $12K cars....either you pay $6K and put $6K into it....or buy a really nice one for $9 or $10K and put another $2 or $3K into it.

Anyway you add it up....you are spending $12K.

Scott

I'm going to have to go +1 on that one!

And if you have someone work on it, expect to pay them alot (don't forget the "brand" tax), but don't necessarily expect good results.

The 951 is a perfect example of German over-engineering. Maybe it's even the pinnacle (probably is, when it comes to automobiles)! But I do love mine, none-the-less. They ARE unduly difficult and hassle-ridden to do work on. And considering they are all over 20 years old now, the mechanics at even the german car specialty shops probably rarely ever see one. So they probably don't know any more than anybody else when it comes to working on one of these soon-to-be-vintage cars.

My recommendation is to suck up all of the info on this site (and others) that you can.

That said, if you want to drive one of these beautifully crafted machines, you're going to have to buck up - either way.

[nize]

i think people have unrealistic expectations about porsches as some magical bulletproof be-all automobile.

to put things into a more realistic perspective, i'd like to see someone buy any other 25 year old car, regardless of brand, not spend any money fixing it up, and have it outrun most modern sports cars at the track.

[chrenan]

Lots of great points.

Here's a phrase to keep in mind:

"Turbo Porsche. Which part did you think would be cheap, the Turbo part or the Porsche part?"

[GorillaFoot]

There is no such thing as a "Poor Man's Porsche". If you don't have the funds and don't have a spare car, don't own a Porsche of any stripe. Period.

That being said, I find few greater joys than running down one 997, 986 and Cayman after another at the track. I'm passing cars who's value depreciation in 2 years more than pays for everything I have into my 951. Even better, I know that THEY know.

[wild man]

Yes there is a PMP! It is called the 924 (that's where I started, back in the 80's). The 944 not too far behind it (aside from the engine). But you do have to be crafty, and good with a wrench, to be in on the PMP game.

Now step into a 951, and you just stepped into a whole different world. It WILL cost a whole lot more, there is no question about that. But the 15K that you are now into (including mods) really is chump change, for the privilege of being able to play with the BIG BOYS, who are in it for 5-10x what you have in your car.

[89-944NA]

$949.78? That's all? Last 6 weeks I've added a new bigger turbo, MAF, Dual Port wastegate, electronic boost controller, steel braided fuel lines, 3bar FPR, and tomorrow I'm picking up a piggyback fuel controller, oh, then there was the engine freshen, valve job, new clutch, 8 million feet of silicon hose of assorted sizes, and the list goes on.....Still to come, test pipe, and suspension rebuild.....then the paint and the interior gets the treatment......enjoy the $950 you just spent and consider it a fond memory when you really get the upgrade bug. Now I get to toss in another $$$ to get a car that won't pass the visual smog inspection certified.

[djtalon]

bought a very tastefully modified 951 that sat in a barn for 8yrs for 7500 put 3000 in it right away to get it road worthy. I consider that a steal for what i got! After that i put at least another 2k into it just because i love the car. When i was searching for a 951 it seemed like the 12k rule applied.

[333pg333]

God how I look back fondly with a tear in my eye thinking of the days of only $900 invoices...in fact I don't remember getting one that low...

[Komenda Fan]

I've had my 951 for about a year and a half, put on 21,000 kms (13,000 miles) on her in that time, and touch wood all I've had to do mechanically is buy a thermoswitch for the turbo coolant and replace the sunroof gears (really cheap). Oh, and an oil change with Mobil 1.

Looks like I might have a $1,000 bill coming though, some woman backed into my car this week and took off before anyone could get her plate number. Front fender and bumper cover damage.

[GorillaFoot]

Ya know, I was running 15/50 Mobil 1 in my car for years, but I always noticed when I ran hard at the track, my oil pressure would drop to about 1.5 bar (in a straight line, not in the curves). That's not good. I read on this site that some people have changed oil brands and brought their oil pressure up, so I decided to give it a shot.

Loaded in Valvoline VR1 synthetic 20/50. Higher ZPPD with anti foaming agents. Now my pressure BARELY drops below the 4 bar in even the most brutal of conditions. My car seems to like it too.

As a company, I don't think Mobil 1 is what it used to be and with the changes they make to oil formulations every couple of years, I'm of the opinion that Mobil 1 oils are no longer the best for our cars.

Just a rumination. I don't MEAN to start an oil war, but go at it if you like!