944 valuation please

[Harey]

Hi, I am after some advice. I have been offered a 1989 944 S2. 1 owner from new, 38.000 mles, White leather trim, FSH, All MOTs. Its in very good order throughout just needing a good clean. It is in a dark met blue colour.
Could anyone tell me what they think is worth. I know nothing about these cars really so if there is any weak spots on them to check for please let me know.
Many thanks Neil

 

[DavidL]

Do a quick search and that will throw up pages of buying advice. For an S2 look for the usual cill rot issues, belts (rollers etc) and cam chain amongst others.
If the mileage is genuine the car could be absolutely mint and worth whatever you are willing to pay - 7+K perhaps, or it could be a neglected shed with belts 10 years old waiting to snap, rust in the structure and needing every rubber seal replacing and worth almost nothing.
Don't assume that just because its a low mileage car it will be nice - it is 20 years old after all which means it has covered 1700 miles a year. It will still have needed the usual fluid replacements even though what is coming out will be virtually unused.
Go and look with healthy scepticism but if it has been loved it could be great. If not....

 

[Harey]

Thanks david for your reply. It is orignal miles and has FSH any every MOT from new. The gentleman selling it is 88 years old! It is has just had a MOT put on it on thursday and i have spoke to the tester who has said it is mint underneath. There is a a couple of scabs on it, one each side on the bottom of front wings and a very small one on pass side cill. These are very small surface scabs with no rot. Thats it on the full car. It is the MOT tester is selling it on behalf of the owner. he has MOTed it every year from new.(well 3 years old) I have been offered it for £800!! The old gent just wants rid of it and thats what the MOT tester valued it at. I am picking it up on tuesday when the garage reopens. Looks like it is a bit off a bargain then! Thanks again.

 

[944 man]

...and people think that I was lucky to get a free pair of well worn leather seats the other week...

 

[MRGT]

I have seen S2's going from anywhere between 2.5K for tatty and 9K , so if its £800 bite his hand off !

Alternatively I will offer him 1.5 K []

 

[pauly]

I can smell fish [8|]

 

[John Sims]

I tend to agree. Why ask us what its worth if you are only paying £800 for it?

However, unless it has record of a belt change within three years you will be paying the same again to get that done. And you want to get that done straight away as otherwise your £800 could be worth £0.

 

[Alpine]

That sounds a bit odd to me too. Why sell for £800 when it would be worth more than that to scap it.

You need to make sure that you do the deal direct with the registered keeper, I wouldn't go through a third party.

You should also look closely at those rust scabs. The cills and bottom sections of the front wings rot from the inside out, so what might appear to be just a small problem could be a big one viewed from behind. Open the door and remove the black plastic air vent in the door pillar and with a torch you'll be able to view the rear section of the cill for rust.

Low mileage might sound all well and good but that means it has spent most of its life sitting doing nothing, which can be damaging in itself. These cars like to be run regularly so I would still get it checked out by a mechanic or an independant Porsche garage to avoid any big surprises later on.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

I can smell fish

Possibly, or just an Easter good-luck story? [] I've heard of several cases before where elderly people have let their garage sell their car for silly money when they've come to the end of their driving career, it's a painful loss of independance. My grandad did it, rather than tell us, and I lost out on a one-owner car. []

Welcome Neil, I hope you've got a real bargain there. The blisters will be coming from the inside-out, so you've got some work needed there to repair the corrosion or at least arrest it's spread. Even if you spend a few thousand on the car to bring it up to as-new condition you'll be one of the few 944 owners not losing money! [&o]

As mentioned, it's ridiculously cheap. Almost suspiciously cheap, so do check paperwork is all in order. And, spent a day reading this forum (you can set the "display posts from last" to a year), and you'll learn everything you'd ever want to know about the cars and our great community or owners. Any decent independant will happily go over the car with you, put a location in your profile and someone will point you in the right direction.