Advice on Buying a 944

[Guest]

Dear All

Id welcome any advice on the use of a 944 for the daily runner and as the weekend blaster..i currently own a 1991 TVR V8s thats a great drive but Id like a more practical car thats a hard top. Id driven a 968 CS a number of years ago but in my late 20's the insurance wasnt attractive

I appreciate this forum is for the educated..im not so any advice would be greatly received..Id like to know which model is most practical and in terms of possible costs to buy a good one and servicing etc etc. I live in Shropshire and wonder if anyone out there knows someone thats looking to sell or could recommend wahe I should be looking

The TVR has been very reliable but I seriously fancy a change to sell both my cars and run a Porsche instead..

Thank you all very much for your time - Regards - Laurence

 

[Diver944]

Check out the links in this post at the top of the page:

http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=38842

and read the buyers gude and FAQ here http://www.clarks-garage.com/

If you are planning to keep the car standard then I would say go for an S2, if you want to modify to scarey power go for a Turbo. Both cars are ideal for day to day driving year round and can also be great fun on track. They are wlll built and take all sorts of punishment if maintained properly.As with all older cars you must buy on condition alone. Forget mileages and age of car, but look for one that is owned by an enthusiast who has plenty of invoices to back up it's history.

A good S2 should be circa £7-8k, good Turbo should be £8-10k. Minters will be more and there will be some complete dogs advertsied around the £3k mark. You 'can' be very lucky and find a good one underpriced, but there is also the flip side of buying a dog at top whack simply because it looks shiny []

Once you've found one (and be prepared to travel and look at many) then get an independant inspection from a Porsche specialist (NOT AA or RAC). These cars are cheap to buy but if you suddenly need a clutch change or, and gearbox rebuild then say goodbye to a few thousand []

 

[John Sims]

then get an independant inspection from a Porsche specialist (NOT AA or RAC).

I agree with Paul's comments completely and, with personal experience of the above, would emphasize that an AA/RAC inspection is a complete and total waste of time and money when buying a 944.

Other than that - the only real issue is to tune or not to tune? The Turbo tuning route is great fun, but a massive money pit, and you need to ensure you can get insurance for a tuned Turbo first if you are thinking of going that route.

 

[Fen]

ORIGINAL: Lozza

I appreciate this forum is for the educated..

Damn, I wasn't aware of that. It's been nice on here but I guess I'd better be off then...

Seriously Lozza there is no need to be "educated". You have proven you can make a serious post in excellent English without the need to resort to the txt spk that plagues ne number other forums so you are most welcome.

A few of us on here run a 944 as an everyday car. I have driven over 110,000 miles in 5 different ones and currently my cab clocks up about 25k-30k/year (which I think means I have the most 944-seat-shaped bum on here), albeit that it's up for retirement because I fancy a change.

I'd echo what the others have said in that you should be choosing between the S2 and Turbo with the sort of budget I guess you're looking at. Again the simple rule is that Turbos are for modifying and S2s are for keeping standard. The reasons being that a standard S2 is almost as quick as a standard 250bhp Turbo but is much nicer to drive, however they don't respond particularly well to tuning unless you want to blow close to the value of the car on a supercharger conversion.

Unless it's had quite a bit of money thrown at it to replace things like the wastegate, hoses etc. a standard Turbo these days is likely to be a nasty, laggy beast to drive and probably not get close to the power it is supposed to make. Of course that can be more than offset by throwing a few hundred pounds at a set of chips and wastegate shims, but that way there be demons and you will get swept up into the whole boostie boy thing where suddenly 300bhp just isn't enough any more...

All the coupes are equally practical as they all have the same body/boot etc. so it's only running costs and driving characteristics that separate them. The S2 is cheaper than the Turbo in terms of service intervals (12k vs 6k, but most S2s here get a 6k one too...) and fuel economy with spares being broadly the same costs - only really brakes and possibly springs and dampers are actually different).

If you search there are a few posts with buying advice and what to look out for and I have contributed to them so I won't repeat it all here. Paul is pretty much on the money when it comes to, erm, money. It used to be that a nice S2 could be had for £5,500 to £6,000 but having taken an interest recently with a few friends looking it seems you need to add at least £1,000 to that nowadays. I guess Turbos still command a roughly 15% premium over those increased figures.

 

[carlmthompson]

There's an excellent buyers guide here for all of the 944's.

But don't read it and think they fall apart!

I've just gone through the process of buying one, and while it was enjoyable, I can subscribe to Divers views that there are some expenisve dogs about. Just make sure that there are bills to back up the service stamps, and get an inspection done.

I eventually got mine by joining the owners club and seeing an advert in there - but if you subscribe to 911 & Porsche World magazine, you also get an extra sheet for adverts that didn't make it to press in time.

I bought a Turbo because this is what I was after from the start, but I'm sure an S2 would cost less to run if you're using it everyday.

 

[chrisr]

Just to echo what everybody else has said, do your homework, look at plenty and plenty of cars , establish what you want the car for and condition/service history is everything where other cars mileage is sometimes the deciding factor, I saw plently with sub 100k ( supposedly ) on the clock that me as a complete novice could tell would need thousands spending on - I went through an excellant independent and paid good money but for a good overall car even though it had 122 on the clock.

Take your time as when you do purchase it will give you zoodles of fun[8D]

 

[danmason]

If I can just add something on the tuning front, there are also cheap ways of enhancing the performance of the Turbo. Fitting a Boost Enhancer (£70 from another club member) reduced the lag on mine massively, completely transforming the way the car drove. Then a set of Blitzchips (£20 []) gave me + 30bhp and +60lbft , plenty for me to be going along with for now.

As others have said, condition and history are everything on these cars. And the 944 is, for me at least, a joy to drive regularly and over long distances - I just never seem to get tired, the car provides such accurate feedback and handling in a supremely comfortable driving position (love those seats!). Whilst the gearing (of the Turbo at least) can take some getting used to around town initially, once you remember not to keep changing up a cog it's very nimble in rush hour traffic. Definitely works for me as an every-day car.

Happy hunting!

(edited for typo)

 

[wizard]

Laurence - welcome to the forum.

I talk from my experience on searching for a 944 Turbo. I spent almost 2 years looking for the right car during which got very frustrated as they were going like hot cakes, often sold in a few days so my advice is to move quick on getting a drive but not too hasty in the final descision.

I was very lucky with my car which was bought private, 1988 TurboS with 150K lots and lots of bills and service and bought for £5800! I'm sure it is worth a bit more now. The only glitches so far in 8 months seem to be typical ones.
1. water pump knackered
2. tired wastegate - loosing boost but has been rectified temporarily with a boost enhancer.
3. Dump valve had a worn diaphragm.
4. dim dash lights which plagues alll oval dash 944's.
5. Electric window motor seized on passenger side.
6. Air conditioning condenser seized.
7. Front Brakes squeeled due to missing shims.

Although the car had excellent service history, I spent a large wedge of money on getting the car serviced for my own piece of mind which included changing the belts and having a good going over by the specialist.

I would recommend getting the car serviced by an independant specialist rather than an OPC as you will save £££'s on basic cost. I had a quote for a 12,000 service of £420 from an OPC but the specialist I now use is £235.

If you are not in too much of a hurry, keep an eye on this forum for any meetings that are to be held, you will pick alot of hints up and the guys here are very approachable. If I lived a bit closer I would offer up my car to give you a benchmark of what to expect of a Turbo.


All the best in your search.

 

[Guest]

Dear All

Thank you very much for taking the time to respond to my query, greatly appreciated.. my search will begin in earnest..I need to test drive and view as many as possible, armed with all the information youve provided whilst trying to sell my V8S which IMHO is one hell of drive (and a lot more solid and reliable than popular belief albeit not to teutonic standards)..the search begins inearnest and to paraphrase Captain Scott.."I may be some time"

If anyone know of a good motor please dont hesitate to drop me a line and happy motoring []

Best wishes - Lozza

 

[Guest]

ORIGINAL: danmason

If I can just add something on the tuning front, there are also cheap ways of enhancing the performance of the Turbo.

That's the funniest thing i have ever read on a forum...

 

[Diver944]

ORIGINAL: Lozza

If anyone know of a good motor please dont hesitate to drop me a line and happy motoring

Try this:

http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=91349&mpage=1&key=

I have not seen this car and have no affilliation with Bob but if it's anything like he's described then it's a very good price []

Also look at the car for sale on http://www.promaxmotorsport.co.uk Andrew (the owner) knows a good 944 when he see's one

 

[Guest]

Hi Lawrence, I've got nothing to add to the excellent advice already given except to say that there are decent examples out there but it may require a bit of legwork to find a good one. Having recently gone through this process, and settled on the fifth S2 I saw in the flesh, I can say it's well worth the effort and you'll be thrilled when you finally find The One.

Good luck with the search, and let us know how you get on.