I suspect it may be no great secret that seldom used machinery can suffer somewhat..? I can remember reading of stories of huge mileages achieved on particular marques, thinking Volvo as perhaps one example..?
Having been around Morgan forums and others over a number of decades, it seems rather obvious that classics as well as modern and somewhat expensive sports cars, may exist to some degree as treasured possessions, and as such may be rarely used, often perhaps for months at a time, a situation that seems unlikely to have been high on the list of priorities in the initial design processes..? Iy seems forums tend to attract rather a lot of traffic on flat batteries, stuck clutches, corroded brake discs/drums, and seized components usually at the beginning of warmer weather in any one year. Other considerations might be that when parked up with a hot engine, followed by perhaps a few months of oil drain down time, initial fire up after resting can take a while to build oil pressure, perhaps accompanied by various rattles as the oil pump works to re-circulate the oil around rattling areas to provide them with lubrication once again..? It seems unlikely that the aforementioned issues might combine together to show up on a regularly used machine as they might on a machine being wakened after slumber...?
I suspect when mileage is taken into account in terms of the distance travelled relative to time, in terms of the age of the machine. i.e. It seems possible that a 20 year old regularly used (in the manner Ewan suggests) and well maintained classic with 100k miles on the clock, might be found to be in far better condition than a 5 year old similar example of the same marque with a mere 4k miles covered...?
I also suspect in the case of modern sports cars that might be rarely used may be bought as track day specials, or bought as being a release from general day to day pressures and used for a quick Sunday morning blast to blow the cobwebs away, and perhaps not given time to warm the engine through before giving it the beans...? There are others who may rarely use their machinery due to financial pressures, whether bought as an investment or otherwise. It seems such is the world of car finance that some marques will attract multiple ownership in a relatively short period of time, thus the old ideals vehicle assessment in terms of minimal owners and low mileage may no longer be the wisest datum on which to base purchase decisions, but then old habits/teachings die hard do they not....?
Peter, I suspect the IMS bearing shaft is the issue that may be the one possibility that scares many of the owners/buyers of 996- 997.1 buyers as I have read elsewhere that IMS failure seemingly has the potential to convert an engine to scrap value only, even at car park speeds, and without prior warning and very few miles on the clock covered..?
In terms of the Porsche models mentioned, I think it best to factor in a possible expenditure of circa £15k to the purchase evaluation of even a low mileage one owner a Porsche as possible insurance, to have the potential engine issues engineered out to some degree by the Porsche specialist mentioned by MPH, and not an OPC. I paid out £3k+ to buy into a Porsche extended warranty for a 991...! With that in mind I can well understand the idea that there will be many out there who may think that a 996-997.1 may be a future classic that may rise in appreciation/value with the passage of time and be worth spending a bit extra on an engine rebuild, perhaps more so if it seems to be using oil, or may be a tad smoky on occasion, but then IF or when the time comes to sell, I suspect that most potential purchasers may have done a bit of research on the marque and model, and....?
Heinz, as for the headlights... Hmm..? There are those who like to promote that the fried egg style is similar to that of the Porsche GT1 LeMans racer...I guess it is a mindset kinda thing...?
John, I dislike to be the one to dampen your ardour re the 997.2 on...(-: It seems Porsche may not be alone in reports of possible intake manifold fouling on Direct Fuel Injection (DFI) engines as the sludge from the crankcase and other areas of the engine is fed back into the intake in the DFI engines to cut down on emission readings, as the intake manifold does not have the benefit of regular petrol washing, as do indirect, single point injection, or carb fed engines have..? Lots to be read with a bit if interweb searching, blasting with the shells of nuts seems to be one option... Nuts or what...? (-:
Howard and those with Ferrari interests, If you have read this far... (-: The chap who`s vid I linked to a couple of days back re the maintenance of his Ferrari, has posted yet another vid, this one seemingly bolstering my thinking that Ferrari is just that bit more special than Porsche as a brand..?
