I'm looking at an 86 Porsche 911 with higher miles. Besides a little smoke start-up, he car runs strong. The owner did tell me he ran it in an occasional auto-cross, should this be a cause for concern? This brings me to my second question, when I go look at other Porsches, is there an easy way to spot if the car has been abused? I wanted to steer clear of a car thats been run in and lived a hard life. Thanks.
ALWAYS insist the owner permit you to take it to a mechanic of YOUR choice to get a pre-purchase inspection. NOT a Ford dealer! ;-) He should do both leak down test AND a compression test. You can hear bad exhaust valves leaking at the exhaust pipe during the leak down test.
Check fluid levels, is the brake fluid black? BAD. Oil honey colored? GOOD.
Have the mechanic drive it and listen for little noises in the transaxle, suspension, etc. It may cost you $350 or so, but it's worth it in the long run. Porsche's are expensive to fix and maintain. But, they are worth it.
Smoke on startup doesn't mean too much, most will do that. But you can look for oil and brake fluid seeps, especially leakage!
DON'T buy a pre-owned Porsche from a doctor or lawyer. They abuse them just sitting still. ;-)
Good luck...
Mister Mister wrote:
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if you wanna know how hard it was driven then put all your weight on one of the front fenders, if the care has been driven hard there will be give in the suspension, the cars are built to handle the road so they will have a very stiff suspension
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