YACT: How reliable are old Porsches?

[GasX]

this one for example...

 

[theNEOone]

i've had my porsche 911 turbo for 3 months and it's been great.


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[GasX]

Originally posted by: theNEOone
i've had my porsche 911 turbo for 3 months and it's been great.


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what year?

 

[Anubis]

we have a 1974 porsche 911 and it still runs fine, about 2 years ago it had some work, mainily cosmetic, replaced cracked dash and old seats.... no major engine work, and it had its first paint job sence the origional, still runs like a dream

i can get pics up if you want them

 

[PowerMac4Ever]

Have you considered a newer 944 Turbo?

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: PowerMac4Ever
Have you considered a newer 944 Turbo?

No, but I am willing to...

 

[Squisher]

I thought 911's clutches were prone to wearing out and are a bear to replace?

 

[PowerMac4Ever]

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: PowerMac4Ever
Have you considered a newer 944 Turbo?

No, but I am willing to...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6434&item=2473320234&rd=1

I believe they're ~250hp stock (1990+). With an illegal exhaust system and some new suspension components (since the car is ~14 years old), it would be pretty badass imho.

 

[GasX]

I just love the old 911's though... The one in Spy Game was gorgeous...

 

[GasX]

nice 928

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
nice 928

Wow I thought those were 80s cars. 1974? Now that is ahead of its time, styling wise.

 

[Vette73]

If you can afford teh car you better be ready to afford what it takes to keep it up.

The newwer ones are supposed to be better but the older ones (pre 99 ish..) are not as good. Parts and labor are major $$$.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: PowerMac4Ever
Have you considered a newer 944 Turbo?

Far worse to repair than a 911. The 931 and 951 are highly maintenance-intensive cars and have often fallen into the hands of people who don't take meticulous care of them.

The rule for older Porsches: If maintained properly, they don't break. If you skip the tiniest little bit of maintenance they do Really Expensive Bad Things very quickly and can snowball like nobody's business. You need to be damn sure that the car has been well cared for. Maintenance is going to be more rigorous than on your Contour by far, but it's nothing out of the reach of a reasonably competant home mechanic. Just tends to be time-consuming because things are really crammed into a small space.

I've got two older P-cars, a 914 and a 924S (924 bodywork, 944 running gear). Both are in the process of being brought back. The 914 is just plain old and sat for too long (it was also the victim of a half-hearted "restoration" and a guy who tried to treat it like a VW which has caused me some problems with missing ductwork for the air-cooling). The 924S was inconspicuously un-loved. Cosmetically taken care of, mechanically neglected. Found that out too late but she hasn't been too bad.

The car you linked to has potential, it did win at a PCA event. I'm worried that it mentions a new "pop-off valve" though. The SC was not turbocharged from the factory, so unless he's referring to something other than the obvious, the engine currently in the car is not the original.

ZV

 

[theNEOone]

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: theNEOone
i've had my porsche 911 turbo for 3 months and it's been great.


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what year?

i don't have a car, i was just neffing.


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[Silex]

Originally posted by: theNEOone
i've had my porsche 911 turbo for 3 months and it's been great.


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"Been great" like you had to pay up the wazoo to keep it running especially since it's a turbo? Plus, you never knwo if the previous owner did warm-ups on every start and kept the turbines spinning for a minute or two on idle after reaching their destination.

 

[CubicZirconia]

Originally posted by: Silex

Originally posted by: theNEOone
i've had my porsche 911 turbo for 3 months and it's been great.


=|

"Been great" like you had to pay up the wazoo to keep it running especially since it's a turbo? Plus, you never knwo if the previous owner did warm-ups on every start and kept the turbines spinning for a minute or two on idle after reaching their destination.

We've got a genius right here folks.

 

[0roo0roo]

question is if you have the money to toss away. a dodge neon srt4 can beat it heh 5.3sec 0-60
and its got airbags too!

 

[Excelsior]

The 1983 911 we had was wonderful when it came to reliability. It seems as though all 911s are the same. They are solid cars, very well built.

 

[flot]

I have to agree with the sentiment above. I've never understood the fascination with the older Porsches... the newer ones are drop dead gorgeous.. but the old 911s and 944s... As far as I know, they aren't THAT fast, they aren't THAT nice and they aren't THAT much of a status symbol... I guess I just don't get it...

 

[0roo0roo]

yup, money pit for maintenance, not as safe as new cars, and well.. i guess mostly good for collector value

 

[Silex]

Originally posted by: CubicZirconia

Originally posted by: Silex

Originally posted by: theNEOone
i've had my porsche 911 turbo for 3 months and it's been great.


=|

"Been great" like you had to pay up the wazoo to keep it running especially since it's a turbo? Plus, you never knwo if the previous owner did warm-ups on every start and kept the turbines spinning for a minute or two on idle after reaching their destination.

We've got a genius right here folks.

Eh? What means you? If you want to prolong the life of your turbos, you seriously need to make sure that that warm-ups and cool-downs are performed so that there isn't a radical change in temperature which over time could crack the turbine housing creating expensive repairs (which we already clarified are expensive for Porsches in general).

 

[Squisher]

Originally posted by: flot
I have to agree with the sentiment above. I've never understood the fascination with the older Porsches... the newer ones are drop dead gorgeous.. but the old 911s and 944s... As far as I know, they aren't THAT fast, they aren't THAT nice and they aren't THAT much of a status symbol... I guess I just don't get it...

I like the looks of any 911.

I believe the 911 came out in the early 60s and up until the late 80s, the non-turbo version had the best 0-60 time of any car.

Nobody answered my question about early clutch failure???

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: Silex

Originally posted by: CubicZirconia

Originally posted by: Silex

Originally posted by: theNEOone
i've had my porsche 911 turbo for 3 months and it's been great.


=|

"Been great" like you had to pay up the wazoo to keep it running especially since it's a turbo? Plus, you never knwo if the previous owner did warm-ups on every start and kept the turbines spinning for a minute or two on idle after reaching their destination.

We've got a genius right here folks.

Eh? What means you? If you want to prolong the life of your turbos, you seriously need to make sure that that warm-ups and cool-downs are performed so that there isn't a radical change in temperature which over time could crack the turbine housing creating expensive repairs (which we already clarified are expensive for Porsches in general).

And that right there, folks, is the Skoorb Effect!

 

[OREOSpeedwagon]

Originally posted by: Silex

Originally posted by: CubicZirconia

Originally posted by: Silex

Originally posted by: theNEOone
i've had my porsche 911 turbo for 3 months and it's been great.


=|

"Been great" like you had to pay up the wazoo to keep it running especially since it's a turbo? Plus, you never knwo if the previous owner did warm-ups on every start and kept the turbines spinning for a minute or two on idle after reaching their destination.

We've got a genius right here folks.

Eh? What means you? If you want to prolong the life of your turbos, you seriously need to make sure that that warm-ups and cool-downs are performed so that there isn't a radical change in temperature which over time could crack the turbine housing creating expensive repairs (which we already clarified are expensive for Porsches in general).

hahah, I want to clue him in but it is just too obvious

 

[flot]

I believe the 911 came out in the early 60s and up until the late 80s, the non-turbo version had the best 0-60 time of any car.

I find that hard to believe - I've never seen one of these older porsches exhibit any sort of speed on the road... plus as I recall a 67 vette would do 0-60 in about 5 seconds. I'm sure there are any number of musclecars from the 70s that would walk all over a porsche in a straight line. (And no, having owned a 400 horsepower .92g car, I don't want to hear any nonsense about straight lines not counting)

And as for the non-turbos, I can't seem to find anything online that suggests anything better than a 6 to 7 second 0-60 time... that's not terrible, but not great either.

I will admit, I rode in a buddy's turbo 911 (one of the later years, perhaps 96-98ish?) and was very impressed at the flat out acceleration. But even that car disappointed me, I had expected something much nicer inside...