Disaster!!! Side walls/sill collapsed in - corrosion + bodge job

[peanut]

sorry mate you must feel absolutely gutted . I know I would be suicidal. I suppose there is no comeback against the dealer that sold it to you is there ?

I have to be honest that car looks more rusty than all my Datsun 240z's and MGB's put together.

I would say from experience that you would be wasting your money trying to restore that. It would take over a thousand pounds to do anything halfway decent even if most of it was DIY .
I would break it up ,sell the bits and get a sound 944 on ebay for £1000 or so. and spend a bit on it now and again restoring the interior etcmaybe using some of this car to refurbish the other

 

[Hilux]

absolutely agree with the others. The garage have clearly not jacked the car in accordance with safe and recognized practice. It was probably hoisted by an unskilled person.
You shouldn't let the garage bamboozle you into accepting this damage. They are insured against such events.

The fact that the cills have been bodged and are rotted has nothing to do with the damage they have caused by their negligence.

Definitely the fault of the garage 100%

My sons Polo GTi had both (sound cills) dented front and rear. The garage coughed when I confronted them and contributed (I wouldnt let them near it again) to alocal VW specialist who had to cut out dents, weld in new bits and repaint.

The garage monkeys were right to**ers but his gearbox broke and they had a good price to fit a refurbished upgraded one. They have a good reputation (apparently) but a youngster jacked it on a two poster without chocking up the 4 arm cups

I NEVER ever let any car I cherish out of my site until (despite dismissive gestures) I insist they listen as to how to jack any car of mine.

Garages pay peanuts to monkeys - not all are skilled.

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: Hilux



I NEVER ever let any car I cherish out of my site until (despite dismissive gestures) I insist they listen as to how to jack any car of mine.

Garages pay peanuts to monkeys - not all are skilled.

absolutley 100% agree. I have had so many simple things go wrong that i insist on being present . Things like using air tools on titanium wheel nuts grrr they cost £5.00 each

I tell them exactly where they must jack and it has to be on wishbones and no-where else .
A garage recently disconnected the tube from my battery and the tube from my hatch pin so my boot got soaking wet when it rained and the hydroclauric acid fumes were gassing me in the cab !

You really cannot trust anybody

 

[pauljmcnulty]

A garage recently disconnected the tube from my battery and the tube from my hatch pin so my boot got soaking wet when it rained and the hydroclauric acid fumes were gassing me in the cab !

You really cannot trust anybody

Had you upset them? [][]

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty

A garage recently disconnected the tube from my battery and the tube from my hatch pin so my boot got soaking wet when it rained and the hydroclauric acid fumes were gassing me in the cab !

You really cannot trust anybody

Had you upset them? [][]

[][] no I actually praised their paintwork and bumper repair. I think someone looked under the battery in the boot to see if they could find the bumper fixings and pulled the tubes out then. Being behind the carpets I might not have found out for a year or more []

 

[Northern924]

Sorry to add more voice to it, but the garage doing the work are at fault and he's right you want to be f****** furious...... WITH HIM!!

That sill wasn't in poor condition, the mechanic you took it to has cause that damage and is trying to shift the blame.

Even sills with holes in don't collapse if the car is jack in the right place, he screwed that up and there are any amount of mechanic who will back that up.

 

[Outrun944]

Hi guys

Thanks for all your input. I'm not going to dwell on the 'jacking' issue, the rear jack points are shot and crumbled away - I'm not going to say anything else right now just in case for legal reasons but we should move on from this issue. The real culprits is the garage that sold me a bodged up 'dangerous' car. And now what I'm going to do with it.

I've not done anything further in the last 2 days, been at the hospital with family ... lets just say its been one of the worst weeks ever.

What I could do with in terms of assistance from you guys is sourcing parts and where I should be looking. We're talking inner and outer sills, and possible 1/4 panels and floor pan - the latter especially. I need to do some costings and ball park figures before I make any decision. Don't worry about welding and labour time/costs right now.

I must admit, I have fallen in love with my car so I should explore all avenues first before making any decision.

Thanks in advance.

 

[edh]

If you can, I would really suggest you try and get your money back & walk away from that car.

If you really want an early, red 944 - I just saw this on pistonheads. No guarantees, but I bet your repair costs won't be much less than this

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1678359.htm

I have a hunch that the early models will be the ones that eventually hold their values

 

[pauljmcnulty]

If you can, I would really suggest you try and get your money back & walk away from that car.

If you really want an early, red 944 - I just saw this on pistonheads. No guarantees, but I bet your repair costs won't be much less than this

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1678359.htm

Seconded. Although the PH car is so stunning it's really going to be a museum peice rather than a useable 944!

Certainly, a fraction of the repair costs will buy you a good Lux. That'll be a better starting point than a collapsed one.

 

[peanut]

I have a hunch that the early models will be the ones that eventually hold their values

[/quote]

I guess it will come down to scarcity . There should be far fewer 944S2's than early 944 Lux's . I believe there were only a little over 3000 S2's imported into the UK .
Personally I much prefer the interiors of the post 86 Lux . The early 944 always looks like the console was DIY . Sorry no offence intended to early 944 owners , just my personal observation

 

[edh]

As for parts sourcing - you need to call a Porsche Centre. Exeter are good.

 

[Suffolk944]

I really want one of those early 944's and that one advertised looks great - love the seat trim ! Strong money but if its in the condition that is claimed then yes a much better bet than repairing one that needs major surgery.

 

[edh]

really needs the door cards as well - If I ever buy another 944 I think it will be an early one

- ignore the rest of the page & click on the interior pic
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/porsche-design-and-baldessarini-special-edition-9446.html#image2

would be better with the 4 spoke wheel, but otherwise is spot on.

I remember in the early 80's the captain of our cricket club had a blue 924 turbo with this interior, maybe a different colourway, but it's a lomg time ago. IMHO I've never seen a better interior on a Porsche []

 

[Outrun944]

Hey guys,

Can you help me out with where to source parts from? And where I should be looking for inner and outer sills, and possible 1/4 panels and floor pan.

I can speak to Porsche directly on Tuesday after the bank holiday, but there must be somewhere else that can do them that won't charge 'official Porsche prices'?

 

[pauljmcnulty]

I can speak to Porsche directly on Tuesday after the bank holiday, but there must be somewhere else that can do them that won't charge 'official Porsche prices'?

Porsche are the cheapest, as we always say, in most cases. There are a few cheaper pattern parts, but apparently they don't fit very well so the labour charge for messing around with them negates the slightly lower cost. Some of the suppliers in the faqs are worth a try, but I've not known anyone ever end up spending less than the proper parts overall.

 

[NeilW]

Porsche for panels. When I was contemplating repairs on my previous 944 (now MarkK's track car), my OPC were prepared to give me 25% discount if I bought all panels from them. This is a discount that they in turn have to apply to Germany for quoting the VIN number of the vehicle that the panels will be used on.

 

[DivineE]

You have been warned like me that this is not the easy or the cheap way but if like me you want to make the choice to save a car and know at least that the car you own doesn't have any dark secrets then honestly I would probably buy most of my panels from someone who breaks the cars rather than new. James Eaton (cant remember the company name but I was given his number when I was in your position) is contactable on 07772911911.

He does not try to make the last penny by giving you the minimum parts covered by your description but will instead listen to what you need and can cut out / supply complete sections of the car which comprise of more than one panel. This means you can replace large sections 'you actually need' very easily without buying complete panels and having to cut apart good factory welds which only create more trouble when trying to re seal. Besides the practical benefit the parts will probably cost you a third of what you would pay new. IF he has what you need in good condition.

Some of the parts I couldn't get through him because all of the cars being broken had rust starting in those areas. In retrospect these parts would be far cheaper to buy from a dealer than have made up (unless you can do the work yourself) because as I found that can be very time consuming.

If you want to do it I have great respect and wish you the best of luck but make a realistic list with prices against it before you start. Bear in mind my car cost me £1400 to buy and I'm looking now at a minimum £11k build cost to create a totally standard car. I'm about as dedicated a person as you might find to these cars but boy is that a hard fact to swallow when I could have two very nice examples on my drive tomorrow for less!

 

[Northern924]

Must apologise firstly about my reply.

I didn't look at the pictures on Page 2, in fact I didn't even look at Page 2 or 3!! Front what the other pictures show it looks like the rear jacking backk has collapsed in on itself.
Nothing the garage could have done about that.

 

[Outrun944]

ORIGINAL: DivineE
James Eaton (cant remember the company name but I was given his number when I was in your position) is contactable on 07772911911.

Hi DivineE - thank you for that ... so yes I take it he works for a company / garage / scrapyard and he won't be 'who the hell are you?' if I call his mobile number? []

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Some of the parts I couldn't get through him because all of the cars being broken had rust starting in those areas.

This is certainly the case with front wings. IF you can find a good one for sale, and IF it's as good as described, it'll still need a bit of cleaning up, small repairs at least, fitting and painting. It is very unlikely that this will work out and cheaper than properly repairing the existing wing. It's more likely that used parts could cost as much, or even more, than new.

The parts which suffer on a 944 are front and rear wing bottoms, outer, and in very bad cases inner, sills, and in really bad cases extending into the floorpan, suspension mounts and, as we've seen, lifting points. It's going to be rare to find a car at a breaker with perfect bodywork in these ares, isn't it?

Back to the original poster, how did you get on with the dealer who sold you the car? And, I'm guessing that you're considering repairing it so is everything else in good order; history, major mechanicals, interior, tyres etc? Bear in mind that a clutch, head gasket, service including belts, water pump etc, and a few bits and pieces could also cost £000s.

Not trying to be negative, just that it looks pretty past economical repair from the pics. I'd hate to see it beautifully restored, then you get hit for something major mechanically. [&o]