Silver '87 930 in Southport, CT

[Tremelune]

1986 Porsche 911 Turbo | Antique Auto Sales, Classic Cars, Exotic Automobiles | The Classic Car Gallery | Southport, CT

To whom it may concern, my father looked at this car for me (he owns a 993, had a 3.2 for a year or two, and had a 930 for three months before it was stolen, all bone stock). I've included his assessments below.

VIN is WP0JB0936HS050171. Ultimately, it seems like a fine car, but it isn't turn-key, and there are real red flags. It didn't hit the reserve on eBay for $27k. I think the dealer wants $28k-$29k. Definitely one of the nicer dealers we've dealt with.

In general it appears to be a pretty good car. It's a 1987 and not a 1986 as advertised. It's titled and reg in CT to a couple in Stamford and it's here on consignment. Dealer says the motor was rebuilt about 10k miles ago. Says he has receipts for rebuild and other service. It has the wrong front, the wrong wheels and the wrong exhaust system which eliminates the CAT and exits from both sides of the car. The heat exchangers are intact and appear to be in good cond. There were no oil spots on the floor but the engine is leaking from both sides I think from the valve cover gaskets but I'm not sure. It's all wet under there. The driver's side is not as wet as the pass side which is leaking oil onto the heat exchangers. Easy (cheap) to fix if it's just valve cover gaskets. The oil return tubes appear to be dry. It has green Bilstein (I think) shocks in rear. Someone has made some adjustments to the rear stabilizer bar.

While the wheels are not OEM they are Borbet. The rear tires are 275/40 x 17 vs stock 245/50 x 16. Fronts are similarly oversized.

This car was repainted about ten years ago with the same color as original. The drivers door along the side and up into the LF fender is "glazed". That means as you look at it directly it appears to be scratched. Dealer said he tried to rub it out but it's under the clear coat. It's not that noticeable but it's there. There are two small dents in the top/middle of the passenger door (where you would rest your are with the window open) which are noticeable. It appears something dropped on the door like a log or a pale. Battery box is OK. Interstate battery fitted. Front is too low to see under but what I could see looked OK. Interior seemed good with no rips or cracks that I noticed. All black. Forgot to look at the headliner.

He started it for me in the showroom. The was some smoke on start up - the passenger side more than the driver's side. It didn't seem excessive to me. The muffler is louder than OEM but not that loud and not annoying. The heat/sound deadening material is missing from the back of the engine compartment. This will make it noisier/hotter inside the car. The guy I spoke with is Steven Landau who owns two 930 turbos and nine motorcycles three of which are Bimotas. Nice man.

He later took it for a test drive:

I asked for the paperwork on the engine rebuild and service receipts. He has them but not on the premises. I asked if it was just a top end or a complete rebuild including pistons and rings. He thought it was complete but he wasn't sure. I asked if the head studs were replaced? He thinks yes but not sure. Motor was rebuilt by Stuart Morton of Morton Competition in Stamford. I've heard of him. Steve is gonna check on exactly what was done to the motor.

I did a walk around while the car was outside in the sun. There are two golf ball size dents in the passenger door. The RR tire is a Goodyear Eagle. The rest are Bridgestone Potanza. All are old and more than half worn out esp the Bridgestones. The rims are pitted around the polished part. The interior is dull, worn and faded but not ripped. This car looked much better inside when I last looked at it. In the light of day it doesn't look as good.

On startup a puff of white smoke comes from the passenger side exhaust. I believe this to be normal. The driver's seat seems to adjust as it should using the electric switches. The clutch is very hard to push down. Steve said when they did the engine they probably put a Centerline clutch in it. It works OK but hard to push down. HVAC system does not work as it should. When you are moving warm air comes into the car but the blowers for the footwells and def are not working. Out on the I-95 the car shifts and accelerates nicely. The turbo kicks in as it should and gives you a wicked rush up to about 80 or 90 mph. I was still in second gear. The bar indicator gauge for the turbo seems to work as it should. When the turbo kicks in the bars go up.

This car drives "OK" but not great. It runs smoothly at all speeds, idles correctly, shifts well, steers OK but may be slightly out of alignment. It doesn't shake on the hwy. It feels like it has far more miles than the 99k indicated, has had some hard use and/or it has been in a serious accident. It's loose, not tight. When I accelerate hard and the turbo kicks in the rear end moves to the left and I have to correct with the steering or back off on the accelerator. It should not do this. Causes could be worn out trailing arm bushings, improper installation of the aftermarket sway bar I noticed or the car was in serious accident and damage was done to the trailing arms themselves. When Porsche 911's crash they almost always crash backwards. Steve told me the RR tire (G-Y Eagle) would not hold air b/c of damage to the rim. They had a wheel guy come in to repair the rim. My question is: Why was the rim damaged in the first place?

As we're driving back I'm checking all the gauges to make sure they work. I notice that when we left the dealer the odometer read 99094. And the trip read 117. So we're 20 minutes into the road test and I said to Steve the ODO has not moved from 99094. So he reaches over and resets the trip set to 0. And that's where it stayed the whole way back and ODO didn't move off 99094 even though we covered 20 or 30 miles. The speedometer works fine. This situation is not unusual for these cars. This is a common problem. The speedo works but the ODO does not. What's even worse is that SOMETIMES the ODO will work and other times it doesn't so you never really know how many miles are on the car. Sometimes the owners themsleves don't even notice. A seller will tell you it must have just broke. Reality is it could have been broken for 20 years. As a buyer you must assume true mileage unknown and in this case I'll bet it's somewhere near 150k or 200k miles.

[pavulon]

Thanks for taking the time to share this with all of us!

[Amg_only]

I believe he hoping 3 times a charm for ebay..