Menu toggle

Potential Purchase - Opinions?

tegwhitehead

New member
Hi,

I am currently looking to buy a decent 944 S2 coupe.

I spotted this one at JMG Porsche in Bournemouth and wondered if any members were familiar with either the car or the garage?

If so, any opinions welcome.

The guys seemed decent and genuine to me but always wise to check these things in my experience.

Thanks in advance,

Tim

944 S2
 
Two things with JMG

1) They wont sell cheap
2) They wont sell crap

So if your not looking for a bargain but are asking to pay a bit more for security in your purchase
You will be happy with JMG

Dont go for half measures buy a turbo [;)]

Mas
 
Jon Mitchell has an excellent reputation, and he is the technical advisor to Tipec. I believe that anything bad that youll hear about JMG will have been from about a year ago, when his wife died in an accident, which caused a lot of problems for a family business run by himself, his son/s and a family friend.

First rate work, although I suspect that JMG can charge like a bull in a china shop! [:D] If he was closer and the car was worth the money, then Id use JMG without hesitation.


Simon
 
Either this car has been for sale for quite a while or JMG keep using the same line 'from the Jon Mitchell collection' with all the S2's they sell. Whilst I'm sure he is an honest and trustworthy guy the ad could certainly be bit more honest and upfront.

220-230bhp?? really? Never seen a S2 with that much before. No mention of mileage, which makes me suspect its not low, I know condition matters more but at £5500+ you want to have an idea of what its done.

I'm sure its a good car but at that money you really do have the pick of the bunch, not sure if this car is it...


Edd
 
It is the same car ed , its been for sale for ages.
It just proves that what ever waffle some folk come out with online ,
Its damn hard to get 5500-6000 for an s2 (or any 944) these days

For what its worth , i find the ad rather 'estate agentish' :)


Mas
 
As has been said, anything from JMG will be good but £5.5k is steep money for an S2. May explain why it has been for sale for so long. Good colour combination (Baltic/Linen) and no doubt excellent condition but you are paying for it. If this fits within your budget and you want a good example, and to sleep soundly at night, then you could probably do worse. Alternatively, if you are willing to put some time into looking around, you will find similarly good ones for a goodly chunk less. Whereabouts in the country are you based Tim?

Edd, that's not that uncommon a figure for an S2 in good nick. Mine was RR'd at over 220bhp a couple of years ago, and that was before I fitted the chip (not that that makes that much difference to max BHP.)


Oli.

P.S. Anyone notice this bit?

"In the forums arguments rage as to which car is quicker, the 944 Turbo with its turbo charged 2.5 litre engine, or the 944 S2 with its 3.0 litre engine. Without a doubt, on a twisting track, from a standing start or on country lanes, the 944 S2 is a faster machine as standard, with its 220 to 230 BHP and no turbo lag."


Methinks someone reads these pages on a regular basis! (And they're right, of course - the S2 IS quicker than the turbo!)
 
definitely. [:D]

although I suspect mark's red car would be slightly quicker [;)] (mark how does your 968 compare with your blue turbo racecar?)

oli I've been expecting you to jump on my project thread at some point as I've seen the light.
 
Edd

Jon may well keep using the line 'from the Jon Mitchell collection' as I know from talking to him in the past that he had amassed quite a collection of his own cars over the years which he was gradually looking to reduce. I have to say in all the dealing I have had with JMG over the years they have always been very polite and honest and done an excellent job, so wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.
 

ORIGINAL: edh
oli I've been expecting you to jump on my project thread at some point as I've seen the light.
You have indeed Squire, although I am waiting until everyone else has as well! (It won't be long, trust me ... )


Oli.
 

ORIGINAL: zcacogp


Edd, that's not that uncommon a figure for an S2 in good nick. Mine was RR'd at over 220bhp a couple of years ago, and that was before I fitted the chip (not that that makes that much difference to max BHP.)

Perhaps, but didnt subsequent runs on following years have everyone running less than was indicated on that dyno run (silverstone?) indicating that dyno machine was a bit over enthusiastic? I really would be surprised if a standard S2 had 230bhp, 22 more than from factory and after 23 years. I mean really, come on.... S2 racers dont run that much.

I'm sure Jon is an honest and good bloke and I have met him myself at JMG when we had our little bbq after a dyno run down the road there a few years ago. I do think however that this ad could do without some of the commercial BS and 'estate agency' like copy, as Mas puts it. If honest people sell honest cars (which I believe they do) then he needs an honest looking ad....


Edd
 
:)

I only pop in here occasionally, usually busy in the TIPEC forum, the workshop and the mail order side of things.

I currently have 23 Porsche in my collection. All of them for one reason or another is special for me. But it is a ridiculous number and a logistic nightmare to keep track of them all. I probably get one SORN fine every other month because on has missed being taxed or SORN'ed. They are also mostly dry stored in industrial buildings around Bournemouth, which also costs me a fortune... But I do not drink, do drugs or very much like that, so it is my only vice... apart from smoking, (outside of my cars I might add!)

However, Mark (my oldest son and one of my directors) along with everyone that knows me, tells me I have a serious problem, car collecting... and I suspect if it goes on, they will be getting the chaps in white coats to take me away... So, I do honestly try to slim down my collection.

In the collection at the moment is 4 S2's (it was 5 I sold one two months ago, a J reg cobalt blue for £6k), along with 4 944 Turbo's, two 968's, a couple of 924 turbo's and several other cars including a Boxster I can't get enthusiastic enough about to drive and a tuned 930 turbo I am too scared to drive (since loosing my wife I became a bit risk adverse)

This one I bought from a customer 4 years ago, he was spending a lot of time in Afganistan and every six months he would pop in because the car being stood for months either had destroyed another battery or a door handle was sticking, or something else minor but unavoidable with a car being parked in army bases for long periods.

Originally the plan was to use this one to stop me putting miles onto my 75k white 86 turbo which is my favorite car. But then again, I usually have a lame excuse for all the cars I buy.

On the bad side, this car has done 140k from memory, but it has a history going back to the 1990's with receipts, MOT's going back further, and a service book with OPC stamps going back to the day it was new.

The car was up for sale last year, but I never advertised it more than putting it on the website, I am a bit half arsed about selling it, because I do still like it... I am mainly selling a couple of cars at a time to keep friends and family from giving me earache.

The good side of things, this car was great when I bought it, but since then I have tackled every achillies heel of the S2, it has had new wheel bearings all round, cam chain, cam chain sliders, waterpump, belts, tensioners, rollers, front engine oil seals, clutch, transmission service, 48k service, caliper rebuilds, new disks and pads, coolant, thermostat, wheel refurb, starter motor, alternator rebuild, injector ultrasonic cleaning, power steering pump, ignition leads, distributor cap, rotor arm, crank sensors, hall sensor, suspension bushes, and I would need to check, but I think we even changed the head gasket for the hell of it back when I bought it... Oh and I spent about £500 having the seats re-conolised, so they are like new, it also has an engine bay you could almost eat your dinner off of!

The other good thing is that the belts, all fluids (transmission, engine oil, brake fluid, clutch fluid, coolant will be changed for the new owner so he starts with a fresh sheet.

The car has also had its oil changed every six months since I bought it, which was about 4 years and only 2000 miles ago!!

Whenever I sell a Porsche, I do not get any paintwork done, the reasoning is that if someone see's fresh paint, they might think it has been in an accident, or is too good to be true. However the price includes the car's paint being sorted 100%

The car has two tiny rust blisters, a few stone chips on the front PU and the run roof has a couple of chips near the seals... As part of the advertised price, all of these will be sorted out, which will not be a quick touch up, but a complete respray of the front end and roof, I have budgeted £1000 to do this, into the advertised price. So if someone can live with these bits, the car can be had for £1000 less than the advertised price.

In other words, someone can buy this car for £4500 without the paintwork. Which, considering how most 944 S2's out there will probably need £1000 to £2000 spending on them to get them mechanically sound, is a bit of a bargain.

With the paintwork done, you will probably be looking at the best, original yet mint, 944 S2 out there.

On the other hand... if I do not advertise it elsewhere.. and if having it on the website keeps the heat off me from friends and family, and it does not sell..... I am quite happy remaining in my blissful car collecting! lol

The problem is... if someone buys her... then I need to put another one up for sale [:(]
 
Tim,

This forum is a friendly one, and there are chaps on here who know their 944's very well. If you find one you like the look of, you'll probably find someone on here who is happy to go with you to look at it and try and dissuade you from buying it, for petrol money and a couple of beers. 944's can throw up some big bills and there are things that are worth keeping your eyes open for. On that note, there are a couple of very good buyer's guides around which are well worth a read - one of them is on the JMG website (and I think Baz Hartech has another one, although I can't see it on his website at the mo.)

I've never met Jon Mitchell (Indi9xx - as above) but he has a good reputation on here and would probably stand by whatever he sold. The price is high, but if it is a good one then you may well get a couple of years out of it without anything other than servicing needing to be done.


Oli.
 
Thats a good point Mr Bedroom Slippers (love that)

Every car I sell (which I try to avoid doing) comes with an initial 3 month cooling period and warranty... the idea is during this time, if anything is not right, mechanically, electrically etc.. even if it is wear or tear, or even what some warranty companies would call "petty" or not covered, can be sorted free of charge. The only thing we ask is that it comes back to us, so being an older car, like any older car, I ask that a buyer buys RAC cover, because it is not our fault if someone in Ireland or the northern tip of Scotland buys a car from us on the southern tip of the country.

What this means is.. if so much as a door squeaks, a speaker sounds pants, or the windows are a bit slow.. bring it back and we would sort it free of charge, as we would do with anything major.

Only two things are not covered.... tyres wearing out or anything cosmetic... If you manage to wear out your brakes or clutch in 3 months (crazy idea) we would replace them.

After the 3 months, every car is invited without further inspection or expense (other than the monthly subscription fee) to join our maintenance plan which is detailed on our website, at a 10% discount of what it should be, for the entire time the buyer owns the car.

In addition, if the engine was to blow up, or anything else, within a reasonable time frame from the day of purchase, we would look at it as completely, or partially our responcibility... In other words, if in 3.5 months the engine blew up, we would replace it without question.... if it happened 4 years later, we might still discount it somehow... unless that was 4 years of torture on trackdays and the car had not been back for servicing..

A common sense approach, where I stand by the car as much as could be expected in any case.

I sold one of my black turbo's a couple of years ago, and as I knew the customer spent 50% of his time in Saudi and was a long standing customer, I extended the warranty to 12 months.. a slight mistake because he was always away (a bit like the afgan customer I mentioned) so we had to deal with lots of niggles door handles sticking and batteries playing up, but he is still a customer now... so we take the long term view, hopefully a car sold today might mean I still get to see my previous loved cars in the future and earn money from them as customers cars eventually...

This all fell down with the lady who bought my black 968 Club Sport a few years ago though.... No warranty claims, never seen the car since... which is the point.. She promised to bring her back from time to time for a visit... :(
 

ORIGINAL: Indi9xx


In other words, someone can buy this car for £4500 without the paintwork. Which, considering how most 944 S2's out there will probably need £1000 to £2000 spending on them to get them mechanically sound, is a bit of a bargain.

This is the key point - There won't be many if any S2's for sale out there that you could get to A1 condition for that sort of money unless you were very very lucky. Back that up with a JMG warranty and it looks great value.

I know how much it costs to fettle these cars - even "good" ones
 
It's the other blue 944 you should be looking at. The one with the 3.2 lt engine and the undisclosed price. I saw it a few months back when the engine was fitted and it looked great. Safe to say, it's "quite" fast!!!
 
Same engine, different car.

LIL (Paul's car) is now used for datalogging development and testing of tuning parts

The car Ewan is talking about had the engine installed earlier this year, but now the owner is off shore too much to enjoy it so has decided to put it up for sale.
 
You could do a lot worse (much worse) than buy a car from Jon Mitchel especialy if he throws in a warranty to boot! Jon's a good guy with a great little firm and, i wont take my Turbo any where else. I'd bite the bullet and go for it if i were you![;)]
 

Posts made and opinions expressed are those of the individual forum members

Use of the Forum is subject to the Terms and Conditions

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed on this site are not necessarily those of the Club, who shall have no liability in respect of them or the accuracy of the content. The Club assumes no responsibility for any effects arising from errors or omissions.

Porsche Club Great Britain gives no warranties, guarantees or assurances and makes no representations or recommendations regarding any goods or services advertised on this site. It is the responsibility of visitors to satisfy themselves that goods and/or services supplied by any advertiser are bona fide and in no instance can the Porsche Club Great Britain be held responsible.

When responding to advertisements please ensure that you satisfy yourself of any applicable call charges on numbers not prefixed by usual "landline" STD Codes. Information can be obtained from the operator or the white pages. Before giving out ANY information regarding cars, or any other items for sale, please satisfy yourself that any potential purchaser is bona fide.

Directors of the Board of Porsche Club GB, Club Office Staff, Register Secretaries and Regional Organisers are often requested by Club members to provide information on matters connected with their cars and other matters referred to in the Club Rules. Such information, advice and assistance provided by such persons is given in good faith and is based on the personal experience and knowledge of the individual concerned.

Neither Porsche Club GB, nor any of the aforementioned, shall be under any liability in respect of any such information, advice or assistance given to members. Members are advised to consult qualified specialists for information, advice and assistance on matters connected with their cars at all times.

Back
Top