[denise993]

Originally Posted by Landjet

Car needed constant renovation of one sort or another, large and small.

Couldn't agree more... although my car is very reliable and hasn't left me sitting anywhere (knock on wood) it seems like there is always some thing that needs to be tweaked.

You definitely need a 2nd car.

On a positive note.... you'll love every other thing about it!

[Rick Lee]

Just found this one. I would be very wary of any car with no records and equally wary of a car that had been "cared for" by any dealership. I haven't come across too many dealerships with 993-savvy folks. If that car drove tight, then it's had the suspension redone. You can confirm this without even getting down on one knee.

I don't know anyone who's had a fussy 993. Mine certainly has not been. I just drove mine to the Grand Canyon this weekend, where it turned 64k miles. While getting gas I decided to add some oil. It needed .5 qt. When I entered it into my log book, it turned out the last time I had added oil to it was when I did an oil change at Steve V's house in March, almost 5k miles ago. Other than body repair and alignments, my 993 has only ever been in the shop one time and that was for some fuel and emissions diagnostics that I couldn't DIY. My 993 has been the most reliable of anything I've ever owned. I think I've spent $500 (rebuilt injectors and diagnostics) on it in the last year and maybe $600 (plug wires, rebuilt dizzy, caps and rotors) on it the year before that. I blew the budget on new tires the year before that at $850. Any Porsche you can keep running perfectly for well under $100 a month averaged over several years is what I call reliable.

[Noah]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

My 993 has been the most reliable of anything I've ever owned.

X2. I've owned my 993 since June '07 and it has never broken down and the only work I've done on it is discretionary mods and tweaks and such. It has never needed any actual repair.

The only way to tell if the top end was done, or needs doing, is to find out from the owner how much oil the car consumes. My car (w/ 97K on the odo) had the top end done the year before I bought it, and I've never added a drop between oil changes, and the oil level doesn't change a bit.

If the car is in presentable condition, drives nicely, isn't worn out, and hasn't been wrecked, I'd say that $22K is a hell of a deal. If you don't want the car, I probably know someone who does.

And as everyone else said, get a PPI.

[Lupin..the..3rd]

Rumor has it that moving from an SC/Carrera to a 993 is a great way to save money! You'll never have to work on it! You might want to upgrade the shift knob though - I hear that's popular with the 993 crowd.

But seriously, do you really want to drive a 993 in the snow? Or let it get beat-up through the tribulations of DC-area rush hour traffic?

[Noah]

George is right, you'll want to upgrade the shift knob. The stock one is rubbery-feeling and ugly, sort of like George's girlfriend.

[Mark in Baltimore]

My 993 is so reliable that dollar bills shoot out of the exhaust!

Seriously, although my car has about 50,000 miles on the odometer, it has been almost utterly bulletproof. My car was never a daily driver, but spent most of its life on the track. I broke a shifter fork at the Summit race three years ago and probably unnecessarily replaced the master cylinder two years ago while I chased a spongy brake pedal issue, but that's it for my non-varioram, OBDI '95 variant. Engine seems to pull fairly strongly, too. I hope to squeeze another 25,000 track miles put of it before a rebuild.

[The Donkey]

Thanks guys. I think that 22 or so could be the number. I am talking numbers to them right now but we will see. Not a big fan of the color. It isn't the black, silver, blue, green that I would prefer. Thanks for the advice. Agreed, a PPI is an obvious course of action.

I follow these pretty closely and this one appears to be in pretty good shape but I understand that can be decieving.

Good points on the suspension. I will check that.

Would it drive tighter if it had 19" wheels on it? It didn't feel too harsh. I would have thought it would.

I am trying to come to grips with the color, lack of records and what I don't know about it. All other 911's I have bought I knew the history of the car.

Luckily I won't be dealing with DC traffic that often since I live in C'ville but I will on occasion. Anyone had any trouble with overheating in traffic like the SC's or Carrera's? That always made me nervous.

Thanks,
Wm

[Rick Lee]

I wonder if 19" wheels would mask worn suspension or amplify it. You should check for a steering rack brace too, which is required on 95's when adding larger wheels.

[The Donkey]

Good point, RL. I will check on that.

[Noah]

As far as overheating, probably the first mod you should do on the car is the oil cooler fan bypass switch. You add a switch to the blank spot in the center console that operates the oil cooler high-speed fan. You'll never crack 200 with that fan running, no matter how hot out it is.

BTW, why the big mystery about the color?