Few newbie questions.

[JimmyK]

Well hello everyone, Ive always had a fondness for the 944 and I've since started my plan and my fund to purchase one, was just looking for some advice. The idea being that this will be a side project to begin with, and hopefully eventually my daily car. Now for the tricky bits.

Firstly I'm only 22, what is insurance going to be like realistically for me? The car will be garaged and like I said probably will only be driven on weekends at first, no 500 mile road trips or anything of the sort. Can I get a classic policy?

Secondly, I am no mechanic. Theory wise, I know how most parts function and their purpose, and i'm quite a technical person. But ive only really done the basics in practice, things like serviceable items, bulbs, interior bits, fluid changes etc, but im always willing to learn and im obsessed with anything restoration wise. What I want to know is how difficult of a car is the early 944 to work on, if the need arises? Which brings me onto the second question, I have heared the 8v 4 cyl 2.5's are quite reliable when looked after, is this true?

My budget will probably be anywhere from £1100-1800, is it going to be possible to find a mechanically sound early 944, that just needs a bit of cosmetic TLC?


Thanks for the help!

 

[deafasapost]

welcome

i think being only 22 the insurance wil be quite high as its a group 20 car, and iirc, you wont qualify for classic insurance as you need to be 25.

consumeables like oil water etc.. are basically the same as with any car, but i think judging by past posts that the coolant needs to be bled properly to function correctly. parts on the whole are not too bad price wise, some will be cheaper than you imagine some, well, its a porsche so carry a porsche price tag .

i wont get into the early cars or the s2 debate as i wanted an s2 convertible so didnt consider the coupe so i cant say what the 8v 2.5's are like.
i'd echo what the members are going to say to you tho, buy on condition, not mileage as bodywork can be costly to fix, mechanical wise if you buy a car that needs belts etc, the price should reflect this.

have fun, but if i were you, get a quote on insurance first before you consider buying as without it, you can get the best 944 out there, cosmetically and mechanically, but will be an expensive ornament if you can't afford to get it off the drive.

look into the insurance sticky at the top of this 944 forum, it'll tell you what we are paying so will give you an idea.

good luck!

 

[Lowtimer]

Definitely see the insurance sticky - but is this going to be your only car? If so, another factor apart from your tender age that will narrow the field is that many classic policies are only offered when the driver has access to another car as a daily driver.

There are plenty of 944 Lux models around in your price range. Some of them are good ones, but a lot of them are bad ones, so it is very important to buy carefully, as deafasapost says. The cars are very capable of looking nice superficially while requiring a lot of expensive work done to them.

Compared to most modern cars, these are easy to work on as they are designed to be taken to pieces and put back together in more conventional ways than today's computer-designed and robot-assembled stuff. Against that, on any 20 to 30 year old car it can be hard to shift bolts and screws that have been there for a long time, and a lot of cars have been neglected, so that's another really important reason to get one that has had the maximum love and attention put into it. Enthusiast-maintained 944s can be very good, providing the enthusiast knows what he is doing.

I suggest you pick a specific car out of the adverts and obtain a few insurance quotes for it before going any further, and please report back on what they say. I hope it goes well for you.

 

[JimmyK]

I do actually have a runaround that I use now daily, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future so if this is an advantage towards a classic policy (if there is any insurers out there willing to go under 25). I highly doubt the car will do more than 3-4k a year, either. Just hope it is realistic enough to be affordable. Group 20 is certainly high! Will report back on the findings. Thanks for the help.

 

[Suffolk944]

Insurance, insurance, insurance !

If you find a quote that doesn't make you pass out on the spot then yes you should be able to find a decent Lux within your budget. However, in all likelihood even a nice example is going to have jobs needing doing so you may well want more budget to address those issues. Quite a few folk buy early cheap cars and then sell them again quickly when the first raft of bills land - these are fine cars but they are getting on now so you need to anticipate and budget for work to be done else ownership may well end up being unsatisfactory and brief. Of course if you have a go at the work yourself thats going to save a bucket of cash.

The 8v's are very robust as long as they have been looked after. You need to make sure they have had their belts changed within the last three years or so otherwise you will need to budget for that too.

 

[JimmyK]

Well like I said I am very keen on doing the jobs myself, and I'm fully expecting to do work on the car, which to be honest will be part of the enjoyment. (Hopefully!). I've just received a quote of ~£450 through Heritage Motor. But that's for 3k a year, fully comp, 2 years no claims, garaged, not used to commute etc. But with an excess of £600 which I expected. But all in all not too bad.

I was going to set aside a few hundred as a bit of a fall back just in-case, too.

 

[Suffolk944]

Not a bad quote ! Certainly wasn't trying to put you off, just that some folk dont go into the whole process with their eyes open []

 

[Pastry]

* a 2.5 is group 18 insurance not 20

 

[simdel1]

ORIGINAL: JimmyK

Well like I said I am very keen on doing the jobs myself, and I'm fully expecting to do work on the car, which to be honest will be part of the enjoyment. (Hopefully!). I've just received a quote of ~£450 through Heritage Motor. But that's for 3k a year, fully comp, 2 years no claims, garaged, not used to commute etc. But with an excess of £600 which I expected. But all in all not too bad.

I was going to set aside a few hundred as a bit of a fall back just in-case, too.

I'm happy to be corrected on this, but my understanding of the way the insurance works is that you can't use your no-claims on both your run-around and the second car. The insurance issue stopped me from considering anything racey until I was 25. I'm 26 now and it's amazing how much difference it makes to the insurance. As a second car, a nice 944 Lux will cost me less than half what I'm paying for my diesel Rover 75 with 6 years no-claims!

 

[robwright]

Buy the best example you can afford. If it has had the sills replaced at your budget more the better. Any signs of rust on the sills even if you think it is just bubbling under the paint again at your budget just walk away. There are cars out there for you and as stated particularly the lux can be found at that price range. Sorry to harp on about budget but at yours don't just buy the first thing you see. Shop around there are plenty to choose from. For an old low budget car I would budget for around £1 - 1.5k in the first year. Cheaper if you can do the work yourself but worth it if she will be a keeper. Good luck [] Square dash cars are generally considered easier to work on than later oval dash cars and are indeed less complicated. Not everyone's cup of tea but I have driven one and was very impressed with it's capabilities. Too much 80's going on inside for my liking though but for some that is the appeal and more power to em.

 

[JimmyK]

Regarding the quote I took the no claims off and it stayed the same price, for whatever reason. Can't complain. More than happy paying around that price. Beats £1200 for a punto :/

Thanks for the advice so far, makes me feel a little more confident. I've always shopped around and viewed/drove several of any other car Ive ever purchased (which surprisingly for my two years is 5 cars) so no doubt I'll do the same with this.

Got the last few hundred to save over the next few weeks anyway so gives me enough time, next big decision is the colour

Are there any other well known potential rust spots I should watch out for?

 

[Northern924]

Even with such a limited milage thats a very good quote at your age, I'm 18 years older and don't play much less than that, although I don't have a milage limit and only have a £250 excess with just 1 years NCB.

Main rust spots to watch out for are inner/outer sills, around the 4 post jacking points, lower front edge of rear arches, front edge of the wings where they meet the front bumper (because the lip is behind the arch liner these are reg. forgetten and get loaded up with mud and salt) botton of the doors. Other than that there not a lot to worr about as far as the old tinworm goes

 

[Lowtimer]

Further to what Rob said, when you are looking through history files it would be an advantage if any car you are considering has had a head gasket within the last decade or so. Sufficient time has now elapsed that when people now come to lift the head on cars that were still on the original gasket, they quite often find that it has started rotted away. A head gasket failure on a 944 need not necessarily manifest itself in the traditional oil/coolant mixing, mayonnaise-style. Sometimes it just enables the coolant to circulate on a shorter than intended circuit, missing out quite a lot of the hot bits of the cylinder head. Which is not great news.

 

[colin944]

Where abouts in the country are you? I am sure if you find a car someone on here would have a look for you. Don't worry about colour or model just buy the best one you can for the cash available.

 

[JimmyK]

I'm in West Yorkshire Colin. []

 

[colin944]

Your abit far away for me to help as I am in Ayr. But I'm sure someone will be along shortly to offer help.