Well your initial intentions of concentrating on bodywork is the best approach so you're halfway there. Turbo's and S2's have different front wings and front panels and have a platic under wing and sill trim. Give this a wiggle along it's length and if it is loose or wobbles then it is highly likely that one or more of the studs have corroded away which is an indication for you to have a closer look. Concentrate on the bottom edge of the wings - this is a 'problem area' on S2's and turbos as the plastic trim holds water. I'd say that the vast majority will have some corrosion at this position so it is not a show stopper as it can be fixed by having he bottom 5 inches or so of the wing removed, a repair panel made and welded back on. It would cost around £600 for this. You should take a close look at sills also. I would argue against the impression that the cars are susceptable to rust in this area but some people are reporting corrosion in their sills. People have reported repair costs ranging from £500 - £1000 per sill to replace so it is not a cheap job and again shouldn't be a show stopper if you can get the cost knocked off the asking price. If OEM parts and a good body shop are used then there is no reason why repaired sills shouldn't be good to last another 20yrs.
No matter what car you go for in the end then budget about £1500 to cover the mechanicals. The main reason why people tend to sell their cars when they do is that they suspect (or have been told) that a large maintenance bill is not far away so try to suss out what that job is. For example timing belt (and chain, tensioner and possibly camshaft on the 16v engines) need to be budgeted in, clutches, brake linings or cylinder head gaskets. Approximate costs for an 8v engine belt change is from £400 to £800 depending on where you take it, a clutch is around 12 Mh of labour and about £400 for the clutch kit, cylinder head replacement is about 10Mh labour plus a couple of hundred for parts. Unfortunately with these cars due to their age you usually pick up a few 'while your in there you might as well......' extras on every job, but if you take care of your 944 it will reward you.
For an early turbo expect to pay £6500 - £7000 for a pretty good one and a couple of grand more for a later model. Unfortunately i've no idea on what you should be paying for a 2.7. Good luck!
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