Before becoming a member on Rennlist I am hoping that the Porsche experts on this forum can help... What are the service intervals and what should I expect to pay for service (I live in Chicago)? Are there known problem areas? What is the value range? What should I watch out for? Any bits of information would be appreciated. Thanks for your help.
Hello Stu...... Rough estimates in CAD $ including parts and labor.......I have owned several, and sold many, as well as paid for all of these repairs many a time.......YMMV........ Once a year or every 10,000 KM you will need to change the synthetic oil and filter at a cost of $200 +/-................. Every 48,000 KM you do a "major service" which entails a valve adjustment amongst all the usual stuff (filters, oil, plugs, belts, visual inspection of a number of items and road test).....$1,500 +/-........plus whatever else they may find. Tires.......$1,000 +/-....... Windshield and seal.....$1,000 +/-....... Alternator.....$1,000 +/-....... Clutch kit (flywheel not included)......$3,000 +/- Brake pads and rotors on 4 wheels are $2,000 +/-....... Valve job....$5-7,000........ New turbocharger.......$2,000 +/-....... New muffler.......$2,000 +/-...... Complete engine tear down and "stock" rebuild with valve job......$15,000 +/- Complete transaxle rebuild....$5,000 +/-...... Everything depends on where you buy the parts, and whose parts you use, either OEM or aftermarket, as well as labor time (by the book or straight time) and cost per hour. You may want to read the start of the Porsche FAQ for more info....... 1986-1988 are the years to buy.....avoid 89's unless they are priced the same as first gear in the G50 is useless anyways and guys try to overcharge for the car based on the 5 speed transmission. 1982 and earlier cars have the older interior which personally is not to my taste. Find the best mechanic that you can who actually has experience on these older cars......they usually DO NOT reside at the franchised dealerships as a rule. Your local Porsche club will be an excellent resource.
Thanks KDS! When my dad got my mom the Boxster a guy followed him into the post office and told him he should join the Local Porsche owners club. I think we both will now. How much would a great mechanically conditioned car with full service docs run for? Say Guards Red.
You may want to double check the service intervals for a major service. My Dad had a 1987 930 bought it new back in 87, and I remember the major service intervals being every 7,500 miles, while on his normally aspirated Carrera it was every 15,000 miles. Maybe with synthetic oils things have changed a bit, or maybe techs today have a difference of opinion compared to what the factory recommended back then. But thats what I recall Porsche said for the service intervals on the 86-87 Carreras and 930 Turbos. Definitely check and see what the guys at Rennlist say.
Stu..... Well.....I've listed about $32K + of common repairs.......a blown engine and transaxle can be sold for $5-7K easily (done it many times, as well as bought junked engines for just the case halves, cylinder heads and crank).....a body shell with suspension and OEM wheels for $10-15K + (done it, both bought and sold).....so scrap value is $15-20K +/- depending on other variables such as color, interior condition and body damage if, any. That is your baseline when it is parted out.........the rest is up to you, what you are prepared to live with, and the state of the current marketplace. Dino...... A $1,500 + major service being due every 7,500 miles would likely result in next to no more cars being sold once the word got out.....even back in the "go go" 80's. Over the years Porsche has lengthened the intervals for their services due to vastly improved oil quality, computer controls, and technology in general. Today the factory says you can change your 997 oil every 24 months or 24,000 KMS..........something I would personally never do.
Hi Kds, I'm not saying that a $1,500 major every 7,500 miles is practical, just what the Porsche matterials stated back in the day. Back in the 80s before synthetic oils, major services at 15,000 miles and 30,000 seemed pretty good on the normally aspirated cars. I also remember a ton of Porsches back then being traded or sold with around 12,000 miles or 25,000 miles, so the current owners could get out of their cars before paying for larger service bills. If the original poster is comfortable with the service costs of a 930, its certainly one hell of a car! I love that whale tail and flared fenders!
Who knows eh.........things varied in different markets......and dealers try to gouge as well. I started selling Porsches in 1989 up here and what I stated were only the manufacturer's scheduled intervals for our market, where we get 4 real harsh seasons. They had synthetic oil in the cars back then.......and the oldest service booklet I have on hand is from 1991, which was printed for VW Canada, the Porsche importer. Our local dealer was famous for overselling service work as well.....funny thing is.....when someone traded in a car needing $2-3-5K of service work just to not pay the bill, they got this money deducted frmom the trade-in value accordingly. I never understood why they did that....heh.
Sorry for not being clear! How much would a very good conditioned car run for (from a purchasing not a servicing standpoint)? Thanks again!
Depends on the market, your tolerance for pain, your specific requirements and the car.......everything has adjusted downward a lot.......and my standards or anyone else's may be different than yours. For my generic answer I would put it this way......."today" I would not pay any more than $40-45K USD for an absolutely cosmetically clean, no accident, original paint, true concours condition 1986-88 930 Turbo with <50K miles and a complete service history..........and I would assume that I'd spend $5K on it in the first year for unforeseen stuff that cannot be picked up during a PPI.......others will say that is way too much money, and some will suggest it is not enough.......ergo the phrase, tolerance for pain. Spend any less and IMHO you get the higher mileage cars, older cars (1982 and earlier) or cars needing lots stuff that may or may not be sketchy. Absolutely nothing wrong with that, but, the problem is, if you don't know your cars incredibly well, you'll always get burned and have a bad taste in your mouth when there was no need for it to happen that way.
I would agree with KDS on the numbers, and I know just a bit about these cars as well, and whenever anyone who is is not handy asked me about these cars, I always ask, why do you want one?
Aren't the earlier ones becoming pseudo-collectible? There's a 1975 going through a restoration here in San Diego. I don't know the numbers, but I would be stunned if they guy had spent under $50K by the time the paint dried. I understand that people died by pressing the accelerator, but still...
pre-intercooler u.s. cars (76-77) are getting cult classic status. my friend tim lingerfeldt has been on a tear in buying all of the pre-intercooler cars he can muster. he is up to 5 at this point. i just have my 87 930 which i have now owned for 7 years. it is my third 930 and i can say i will not make the mistake again of selling it when i get another business card on the windshield with a message indicating a desire to buy my car. it actually happens quite a lot. flattering really. my car has is largely stock appearing but has approx 500 hp according to andial. they did my engine @ 18k miles when i bought my car. it's quite engaging and is fast...faster than a 996 turbo x-50 to compare. kds is sooooo right about the 4sp vs. the 5sp. i am a big fan of the 4sp box as it is very useable and very able to support big, big horsepower.
Since being in kindergarten when the '86s were new, I have wanted one of these. Like everyone else suggests, my research indicated '86-'88 would be the best years to buy. Unlike other cars I dreamed about when I was 6 years old, this is the only one I've driven and wasn't disappointed with the reality. My hope is that I can actually afford one before they get too classic and beyond a reasonable "fun car" budget. As for some of the maintenance quoted above, I think the parts costs are bit off. K27 turbos are regularly available for $1,000 or less, not $2,000. Complete gearbox rebuilds I've seen for around $3k if you deliver the box to the rebuilder out of the car. Porsche maintenance is not cheap, and the 930s seem to be about double what a same-era Carrera would cost. Fortunately, one saving grace here is that I don't see myself putting more than 5,000miles a year on any 930 I would purchase and I'd imagine most would-be buyers are in the same boat. From that perspective, you greatly reduce running costs. Even the 930 seem quite a bit less "fragile" than the 308/328s of the same era. My Porsche mechanic's advice (I also have a 944) when I inquired about getting one was that I should have $5,000 in the bank, $10,000 available on credit, and put away $200/month.
To tell you the truth I really have no clue about that. It could be the case, but I have never had a soft spot for those two years, and as a result, never paid attention to them at all. Drove a couple over the years but never found them to be the scary beast everyone said they were........rather boring IMHO.......now ferraripete's car with 500 HP or the 458 HP 1992 I built for a customer, that is what I am talking about when I say hairy. I think it was the tartan cloth seat and door pattern some of the early ones had that threw me off........others loved it however. Steve..... You can also buy a custom made to order hybrid hi-flo K27 unit for $3K...........all depends on what and where obviously. Image Unavailable, Please Login
There is a recent TopGear episode where they were comparing the 997T Cabriolet and the R8 V10 Spyder. Clarkson's conclusion was that neither car was a winner as they were both unnecessary (and expensive) dilutions of the cars on which they were based. I feel same way about a 930. With a regular Carrera, the targa top adds to the experience. With a 930, it takes away.
Back when they were new, the Targas and Cabriolets also had a substantially higher MSRP than the Coupes. In California a 930 Cabriolet might be more desirable than in the Northeast, as they have a longer top down season. The Targas, even on Carreras, had a reputation for leaking and rattling (although a friend's Dad has had no problems with leaking since replacing the seals). Some people are not fans of the Targa as they feel it spoils the original/clean lines of the 911/930 coupes on which they were based. I kind of like the way the Targa looks with the huge wrap around rear glass. People that want to track a 930 will almost always prefer the coupe due to its rigidity. All are nice cars. IIRC, there were fewer 930 Targas built than Cabriolets or Coupes. None are undesirable if they are in good condition...you just have to find the right buyer.
There have been some interesting articles on the early non-intercooled cars moving up in collectibility and value. They make less BHP, roughly 260. I believe the 76-77's in US form may have had the annoying thermal reactors rather than cats which tended to bake hoses, wires and pretty much everything else around them (BMWs and MBs of the same period used them also). Hopefully, those have been removed on most cars so there may be fewer reliabilty issues than there were back in the day. Several articles I had read years ago said stay away from 911s from 1975-77 due to the thermal reactor issues...I'm not 100% positive as to weather the 76-77 Turbos also used thermal reactors. The early cars (with and without intercoolers) had a bit less BHP, but supposedly feel more agressive with boost coming on much sooner and catching many newer owners off guard. This is true of the 76-79 cars. Most people don't seem to want the 1980-85 930s which in the USA are gray market cars as Porsche did not officially export them to the USA in those years. The 1986-89 Turbos make more BHP 282 and 278 for torque than the earlier cars. But the boost comes on later and it doesn't feel as dangerous/unpredictable as the early cars. Still you don't want to go into a corner fast and lift off the gas unless you want to meet a tirewall a$$ end first. My Father had an 87 930 coupe and that car was a lot of fun and very quick. Never pass up an opportunity to drive a 930, it's a smile inducing event!!!
