Is there a paticular year that anyone reccomends for reliability? What are some of the things I need to look out for on 80's era 911's?

you can get a sweet carrera for $20k or less, one that was really taken care of.

carrera started in '84, had 3.2 with motronic instead of the older style jetronic the SC had.

'87 and new carreras had the much improved G50 tranny which is much heavier duty and shifts better with hyd clutch.

take your time looking. these cars are holding their value now. find a good one.

the '87 I had was one of the best cars ever, sorry i sold it. Not brutally fast but all the best of the early 911 atributes with just enough modern technology.

dr

Look for a '87 - '89 Carrera 3.2
Mind that the valve guides on the 3.2 are notorius to wear out around 100K miles
Other than that, they are pretty bulletproof

cheers,

Jeroen

actually, I've read (don't have one) that the valve guide issue was mostly with the later 3.2s. I'd still look for an 87-89 car, but so is everyone else. A clean 84-86 sunroof coupe would be a very nice daily driver, too

Actually, any 3.0l on up is a safe bet. Stay clear of the 2.7's of the 70's. The 3.0SC on up are all rock solid and can go 200k miles+ when well taken care of.

This month's Excellence magazine has the updated 911 market report and a very informative article on the 3.2L Carrera.

It's always recommended that you spend the most that you can and buy the best example of the car you can find.

I have a 1982 which is "sort of" famous...