The cars and bikes thread!

[Samanator]

Older 911s have a pretty solid reputation for reliability, though, don’t they? I would also imagine the older cars are much simpler and thus easier to maintain and work on than the newer cars.

Don't hold your breath. So unless by some miracle you find a car with every service receipt it ever had you need to start to categorize items into groups for replacement on old cars. Everything has a life so you need to determine what those are. Even with the receipts it may not indicate what work or part was actually replaced. Some shops depending on brand can get access to dealer service info , but again it just may not be available. So potentially you may have no status on several items. If what you buy is fully running and functioning I would set up a two year plan to replace all fluids and all the lines and rebuild all the systems attached to them. Since it is air cooled you don't have water lines and coolant radiators, but those had all kinds of oil coolers all over the place(which are sometimes worse than the water ones). Those have possibly 25 year old lines that have possibly broken down with time so expect to figure out when to change all that. Expect to spend several thousand to buy new plug wires and plugs for this car and that was what they costed about ten years ago. All the braking system lines that are rubber should be replaced and all systems flushed out. While doing that you probably want to rebuild the master cylinder and all the calipers. Also you probably want to put in new rotors may be in order and while doing that put in new bearings. The half shaft boots may be close to cracking and the axle bearings may need replaced and should be in the 3-4 year plan if they do not fail before that. Then there are electrical and other rubber things like window motors, fuel pumps, alternators, gas lines, ABS computers, engine computers, door seals, the rubber guides for the windows in the door, shifter boots, cracked dash and a thousand other thing to fail (remeber this is a cutting edge sports car when it was made so there is a good deal of tech here). Also remember this vehicle has had 25 years for the everything in it to age and decay. Murphy will come visit if you try to push this car and do not go through it throughly before taking it for more than a 20 mile drive. If you don't have towing, get it and know how far they will tow something back. Even with good reliability you can't battle age.

It took me four years and double what I paid for the car to get my 2002 XK8 to the point that I'm not afraid to take it on a weekend trip to the Keys(about 4-5 hours). These are fairly reliable, but you learn pretty quickly that even the best and most reliable cars loose to age. About two weeks into ownership the roof lines blew in the a windshield header spewing green oil down. Google green shower on a XK8 forum and nearly every member has a story. You never find these things until it happens to you. I'm certain there is at least a list of 20 things that break quite regularly on an air cooled Porsche. Even Toyota, Hondas and Subarus have these lists and they are near legendary for reliability. You can't win against time. I do 60% of the work on the XK8. Finding a Porsche that has all these things addressed before you buy it will cost more than a 4 year old new one. So that was why I did what I did and those were only 14 years old when I did that. Generally pristine Porsches that are not on the Mecum auction block are up for sale because the next round of spending is about to start. Generally the people that keep them are mechanics with good access to parts, or have money like Jerry Seinfeld to spend on them to keep them running.

[93EXCivic]

^^^ truth. I mean the suspension bushings will probably be worn out from age. The rubber weatherstripping wears out from age. Basically the only way to own a older car is to put in some work up front refreshing it and then it can be reliable but that upfront work is going to either be a decent amount of time or money or both.

[Samanator]

^^^ truth. I mean the suspension bushings will probably be worn out from age. The rubber weatherstripping wears out from age. Basically the only way to own a older car is to put in some work up front refreshing it and then it can be reliable but that upfront work is going to either be a decent amount of time or money or both.

Exactly. As I said no matter how good it is or looks you can't fight age.

[Samanator]

Oh man they have a Paul Newman R31 Skyline... https://www.duncanimports.com/wholes...bfe4d07665.htm

From what I have seen the cheapest way to do it is get in contact with a broker in Japan but then you are stuck with some of the extra work as far as paperwork and transport.

And no assurance it can be titled.

[93EXCivic]

And no assurance it can be titled.

If it is over 25 years old it should be able to be from my research.

Sent from my LM-G820 using Tapatalk

[Samanator]

Oh man they have a Paul Newman R31 Skyline... https://www.duncanimports.com/wholes...bfe4d07665.htm

From what I have seen the cheapest way to do it is get in contact with a broker in Japan but then you are stuck with some of the extra work as far as paperwork and transport.

I really wish I did not look up that site. If you have read an article on how the Toyota Centuary is made they are just amazingly crafted. Must resist, but it would be cool.

I'm cruising though that site now and there are several cool things. Like a Lotus Super 7 replica with a Miata drive train. i worked with a guy back in the late seventies that was hand building replicas of those with Toyota 16 valve 2.0L engines from Japan and all Toyota drive train and electrical. It was the engine in Japanese Celicas. He was the Toyota Dealer in Fredric MD and I painted the first 10 cars he built.

[Raza]

Well, I don’t really think you can compare a Jag XK8 to an air cooled 911—XK8s were never considered reliable.

But there’s a lot of food for thought. Still, I think I’d rather deal with the mechanical issues of an older car than the technological issues of a newer one. I mean, look at my brother’s S4...$8,000 to replace a $900 sensor that renders the car undrivable when it fails. Ridiculous.

Modern cars no longer hold my interest and aren’t fun to drive anymore. I guess I’m just going to have to deal with the issues of older ones.

[litlmn]

Oh man they have a Paul Newman R31 Skyline... https://www.duncanimports.com/wholes...bfe4d07665.htm

From what I have seen the cheapest way to do it is get in contact with a broker in Japan but then you are stuck with some of the extra work as far as paperwork and transport.

A couple of really nice RX-7's too, granted those are more common.

[litlmn]

Well, I don’t really think you can compare a Jag XK8 to an air cooled 911—XK8s were never considered reliable.

But there’s a lot of food for thought. Still, I think I’d rather deal with the mechanical issues of an older car than the technological issues of a newer one. I mean, look at my brother’s S4...$8,000 to replace a $900 sensor that renders the car undrivable when it fails. Ridiculous.

Modern cars no longer hold my interest and aren’t fun to drive anymore. I guess I’m just going to have to deal with the issues of older ones.

Here is a beauty at the showroom just a few miles from me:

https://www.gatewayclassiccars.com/O...sche-911-Turbo

[93EXCivic]

Well, I don’t really think you can compare a Jag XK8 to an air cooled 911—XK8s were never considered reliable.

But there’s a lot of food for thought. Still, I think I’d rather deal with the mechanical issues of an older car than the technological issues of a newer one. I mean, look at my brother’s S4...$8,000 to replace a $900 sensor that renders the car undrivable when it fails. Ridiculous.

Modern cars no longer hold my interest and aren’t fun to drive anymore. I guess I’m just going to have to deal with the issues of older ones.

Have you looked at the prices of air cooled Porsches recently? They have gone insane imo. Of course I think a lot of cars have. Another option if you want a reliable almost super car, the 90s NSX.

I agree with you on the modern car thing though. The grand total of new cars that I have any interest in at all are the Morgan Roadster 3.7 and Plus 4 (hardly modern either of those), Caterham 7 (same), Fiat 500 Abarth, GT86 and Honda S660 (which we don't even get here). The current Civic is too big, the current Miata isn't enough like a Miata, never really had much interest in German cars but the last 3-series I drove was boring, no more EVO, new STi is too big. I think my next daily driver is going to be another 5th or 6th gen Civic and spend a bit of money on doing a bit of a restoration (new bushings, replacement lines/hoses, the common fairly items) + a few mods. Cause ultimately I am child of the Fast and the Furious era and grew up reading Sports Compact Car, Super Street, watching Initial D and Best Motoring videos. Personally I find the 90s/early 00s a good crossover of reliability to repair-ability if you get a car with good support (ie Honda, BMW, Porsche, Toyota Supra, Nissan 240SX, etc). Just budget more then just your purchase to catch up on maintenance.