Would you like to buy back one of your favourite cars? Do you regret selling any of your old favourites? I sold my 1986 Porsche 924S three years ago. Today I bought it back.
The chap selling it had bought it from the bloke I'd sold it to as a project car but due to work pressures he felt he wasn't spending enough time with it to justify keeping it. It'd been off road for several months. After he placed the ad on eBay someone pointed it out to me via twitter. I got in touch and we agreed a deal.
When I sold in early 2014 it it was my daily driver. Basically it was in good condition but there were many small things that weren't working or were malfunctioning. I sold it in order to buy something modern, something reliable (although the 924S had never broken down) and something I could open the driver's door on.
Of all the inconveniences on the 924S the driver's door handle mechanism was the biggest pain. The clasp broke the day after I bought it and a replacement Porsche handle and mechanism was around £200. I couldn't afford that so bought a Mk2 Golf handle for a fiver which was almost, but not quite, the same.
When I went to pick the car up this morning the handle was still knackered. The seller had tried his best to fix it but you still have to leave the window open to open the door - or lean in from the passenger side.
Aside from that it felt great. The journey home was 110 miles. I'd forgotten how loud it is on the motorway. At 80mph in fifth gear it's ticking over at nearly 4,000rpm and the stainless steel exhaust booms constantly. You have to raise your voice to talk over it.
At that speed the car used to feel quite floaty, as if its aerodynamics were working against it and pushing the front up, but this seems not to have been the case. The seller has had the tracking fixed and now it feels planted at any speed.
When I sold it the car the sunroof leaked but the seller has replaced the seals, and all the seals around the windows. As well as that he's replaced the seats with lovely body hugging ones - in spectacularly brown pinstriped velour. In fact he's replaced or updated an absolute ton of stuff. The full list is below.
As I drove the Porsche 924S home the one thing that reminded me of why I loved it was the gear change. Porsche always makes a great gearbox and in the 924S the feel of the gear change communicates the brute nature of the car's mechanicals into the cabin. If you place your hand on the lever whilst at speed you can feel the rotational force of the engine buzzing away in your hand.
The 924S will now be my second car rather than my only car. I'll be able to spend time on it doing such things as fixing the dent it has acquired whilst out of my hands as well as trying to finally get the driver's door to open properly.
I'll report back on progress every now and again.
By Matt Hubbard
Full list of work completed by the chap who sold the Porsche 924S back to me (I have no idea what FPR means!):
Renew gear lever inner sealing gaitor
Service kit + 10w40
2x engine mounts (Meyle)
Fixed horn not working (corroded earth)
Minor oil leak (damp, no drips) on diff (output shaft seal)
Fixed headlight washers (just clogged)
Fixed power steering (new radiator)
Paint work + rust removal
New radio (bluetooth + handsfree kit)
Adjust handbrake
Fix rocker cover oil leak
Renew gear shift lever + bushing
Renew wipers
Clean all along clutch linkage (gear change is nice now)
Change transaxle oil with GL4 + renew plug
New PS fluid
Flush and renew coolant
Fit 2x transaxle output seals
Fit better steering wheel (old one worn around rim)
New pins for rear hatch
New distributor and rotor
Renew P/S wing mirror gasket
Fix heater control (new HCV needed)
Re-seal tail lights
Fix short / bad earth with interior lights + restore hbrake light
Fix power windows (new switches)
Fit new injector seals / filters
Renew dashboard lights with LEDs
Fit sound deadening (bonnet and boot)
New battery
New Distributor cap and rotor arm
New door handles
2x new tyres (front). All tyres have loads of tread and are Goodyear EfficientGrip
Tracking / 4-w alignment, fit 2x tyres
MOT
New seats
FPR
New ICV
New windscreen (old one was milky around edges)
New aerial
Porsche parts (misc - manif. gaskets + pipes)
New bonnet insulation