What to look for in PPI 968 cab

dheinz · 10-12-2005, 08:06 PM

A neighbor has a friend selling a 1994 968 cab. I am going to look at it tomorrow. Is there any thing in particular I should pay attention to? I am new to the water cooled side of the Porsche world but have always been attracted to the 968 model.
I will post the details after checking this car out.
Thanks in advance for all opinions and info.

chuckw951 · 10-13-2005, 08:42 AM

I would want to see the records for the car to make sure that the belts have been recently changed and that the car was well-maintained in general. 968s also had a transmission issue with the pinion bearing. Some cars had a problem, others did not. I believe it is a $3K fix though. Also look for the condition of the wear items that can add up quickly: tires, brakes, front A-arm bushings.

After that for me it would be all about condition: paint, top, seats, dash, etc. After 10+ years paint starts to fade and seals begin to dry out.

You might also check out this forum:
http://65.61.16.109/forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=5

BTW. I have a white 95 968 cab for sale with 64K miles. One of these days I get around to posting an ad on the Pelican for sale site. Price is $20K, recent professional respray.

The Chris · 10-13-2005, 10:41 AM

You really should spend a lot of time reading up on 968.net (see link in previous post)

You will find many many threads on what to look for. Good luck!

dheinz · 10-13-2005, 12:13 PM

Thanks guys for the info and links. I' ll post pictures of this prospect later.

pokey · 10-13-2005, 06:37 PM

Be sure to check the car thoroughly for socks...

mike944 · 10-13-2005, 09:10 PM

have the variocam mechanism inspected!!!!. It's not part of the regular PPI, and it will require removal of the valve cover, so you'll pay for a new gasket (not expensive). This variocam mechanism is a problem on 968's, and failures are very expensive. Of course, the person inspecting it has to know what they're looking for too. Your best bet, if you call some porsche specialty shops in your area, find someone who specifically reccomends this inspection for a 968. If the shop knows about it, and reccomends, that should mean the shop is familiar with 968's. The variocam mechanism gives absolutely no warning signs before it lets go, so inspection is the only to prevent problems.

The variocam system will probably need a new chain, and tensioner pads around 100-125K, but it's been known have problems as early as 55K miles, but it seems primairly due to poor quality oil, and improper viscosity. Of course, with any used car, you have no way of knowing the history, so have it checked. check 968.net, or 968forums.com. The latter one is better, but requires registration to even view the forums.

The only other 968 specific problem, and it's been mentioned in a prior post, is the pinion bearing problem. Unless the car is currently having bad pinion bearing symptoms (a whine, like a jet engine spooling down, while decelerating from about 65 to 45). If the car has no symptoms of pinion bearing problem, don't worry about it, that car is probably fine. Even if it seems fine, the pinion bearing gives no early warning signs, so you won't necessarily be able to tell. At least the pinion bearing problem seems to affect only about 10-15% of manual transmission 968's, where the variocam wear affects them all.

Beyond the variocam and pinion bearing, the same things affect the 968, as affect the 944's.

Don't let this scare you off though, the 968 is a great car. I like mine very much.

Good luck!