1989 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2

Make: Porsche
Model: 911
SubModel: Carrera 3.2
Type: Coupe
Year: 1989
Mileage: 145000
VIN: WP0AB0912KS120139
Color: Black
Engine size: 3.2
Number of cylinders: 6
Power options: Sunroof, Air Conditioning, Power Locks, Power Windows, Power Seats
Fuel: Gasoline
Transmission: Manual
Interior color: Black
Drive side: Left-hand drive
Options: CD Player, Leather Seats, Sunroof
Vehicle Title: Clear
Location: Fenton, Missouri, United States

Description

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[isdntekvideo] I've owned this car for a little over 10 years which I suppose means it's spent nearly 1/3 of it's life in my garage. I bought the car out of South Carolina (from a dealer on EBay in fact) although the carfax I receivedat the time indicated it had spent its life in Florida. I personally hate doing bodywork and rust is my primary concern when buying a classic. The car is effectively rust free and not only has it never seen snow - let alone salt - it hasn't even been wet since the summer of 2008 when I was caught in an unexpected shower. I have not had any need to do anything but wipe it down with quick detailer since. Taking it out for these pictures was the first time it has been on the road after October since I've owned it.
The engine runs strong, has good oil pressure, does not overheat, has a solid idle, and starts hot or cold. All flexible fuel-lines on the engine were replaced. The section of line between the engine and the car flexes as the engine moves; as a PSA for the air-cooled 911s - no matter which one you buy - check this line before you drive the car very far. At this point there are a lot of cars with terrible delaminated/frayed dripping fuel lines waiting to burst and spray fuel onto a hot engine. You should not smell even a hint of fuel when shutting down a Carrera 3.2. On a somewhat related note, this car is running slightly rich - not rich enough to cause the hunting idle Motronic cars get but enough to make you smell like you just mowed the lawn if you run it in the garage for a while. I replaced a bad fuel pressure regulator (driver's side) not long after I got the car and I'm suspicious that the passenger side might be causing the rich idle. The car got new Valves (it didn't need the valves) and valve guides (and seals of course) so it does not have the typical air-cooled smoke on startup. It appears to leak a drop every few days from the rear main seal.
The G50 is nice but a tight LSD G50 is better; this one shifts smooth up and down. Fresh Mobile 1 Synthetic in the gearbox.
The fenders and bumper-covers are fiberglass. The paint is certainly above average for it's age but it's not show quality with some rock chips and scuffs front, some rock or loading damage behind the rear wheels. There's only one blemish in the sheet metal that I'm aware of, a small dimple in the drivers door - it wouldn't show up in anything but a close up - the rest is as straight as can be. there's a scratch visible in the pictures on the rear bumper (just below the passenger reverse light) that I have made no attempt to touch-up and if you look closely at the rocker panel just behind the driver's side front tire, you'll see the rocker itself is proud of the fender. This is actually the fender that needs to be adjusted out but the A/C dryer is crowding this area and I've never looked into it. There's no sign of even minor crash damage anywhere. It could use a few details, e.g., the mesh in the engine cover is just expanded aluminum, but the body work itself is nice. I have no idea when the glass fenders were done and I suppose some purists will scoff (not the cool ones) but for me it's tasteful and the reality is I would never have bought the car if it were a narrow-body with impact bumpers; I expect it'll be the same for the next buyer. If you're like me and wanted the 993 body on the original 911 platform, you're in the right place.
There are a few noticeablechanges beyond the fenders. I love the novelty of the RS Door panels and their red pull-strap release, the original panels are dated and clunky. The RS Style wheel is a neat part and a friend machined a solid aluminum spacer to move the wheel away from the dashboard by about an inch - the offset spacer that came with the wheel left barely a fingers width between the wheel and the dash and for me the wheel moving up and down as it spun (due to the offset) was disconcerting. It's a Dashtop cover over the original of-course cracked dash. Aluminum foot-well plates, and a fresh sound insulation mat. B&B Stainless headers (with aluminum heat exchangers) and matching stainless mufflers. It's a $2800 exhaust and the headers are nice - the muffler is not my favorite but more fun than stock I'm sure.
The Cup-II wheels (215 front 255 rear) are cool and understated but I expect the next buyer might want to fit something more interesting; as such I'm not messing with the tires. They were marginal when I bought the car but the inside edges of the rears are spent and I locked up the front tires in the attached video too easily. Considering there are no driver aids, I would not do any spirited driving on these tires.
The A/C blows cold when charged but will not hold a charge the next season. Thankfully the B&B Headers have heat exchangers. Power Windows, Seats, Sunroof and Locks work although the Central locking module was removed by a - presumably '90s - car stereobutchers when a keyless entry system was installed. This also disabled the pretty cool 1989-Only red flashing "alarm" lights on the locks for each door. After some time with the wiring diagram I was able to confirm they still work (and will actually flash approximately once per second) with just a single wire. The keyless works. The stereo does work although I never installed speakers in the RS door panels. I do have the relay cover (not pictured) for the engine bay, and HVAC cover that is not pictured under the hood. The driver's door check was mangled and has been removed; unfortunately it's extremely common and this is probably the biggest nuisance on this car. If I keep it, I'm going to pull the passenger side as well and install strap door checks.
In general I'm sure no one is going to arrive expecting to find an all original time capsule. Still, it's a world-classplatform ready to build into something excellent, or just a cool piece of garge art to cruise around as-is. If I were to keep the car, which I suppose could happen, I'd probably go further down the light-weight brawler path and remove the A/C, Stereo, Power seats and so on - selling each because the 911 community uses every part of the buffalo - then fit massive tires and brakes. For better or worse, we are preparing to move cross-country and it's hard to justify keeping a car that has seen a couple thousand miles in the last decade.
Another PSA about a possibly best kept secret in the 911 resale market: at this point, I'll wager nearly every Carrera 3.2 with a working odometer has been repaired. The VDO gauge has a gear that becomes brittle. I bought a replacement gear from a guy who apparently does a fair bit of business selling odometer gears for Porsches. I'm sure some cars were repaired right away, but I'd hesitate to bank too heavily on a 50,000ish mile claim when buying. It's very likely that car went a few years without a running odometer. Based on the history I'll guess this car has done 140-150K. This car's odometer (and all other gauges) are fully functional.
About that "from a dealer" part I mentioned above; in Illinois I went in expecting to pay a pro-rated amount of sales tax based solely on the model year of the car but it turned out that, although it was not mentioned on the website, if you buy from a dealer it's a percentage of the sale price no matter what year the car is. I ended up writing a check that was two orders of magnitude bigger than I had planned on that day. For what it's worth, I am not a dealer.
I apologizeabout the video and picture quality; all three cameras had sound issues and the result here really doesn't do the car any justice. The car is actually rattle free, the noises you hear in the video are from the camera that's barely holding on to the seat-belt. It's a faithful ride-alongwith no cuts - even the part where I didn't notice it was a 3-way stop is still in there.I'm afraid things are busy and I just don't have time to do anymore.

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