Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi all im Laurance and im 25 and im a Yamaha technician. This is my first post. Iv been mad on Porsche since i was a young lad and my grandad had a 924 but dont feel i no enough so thats why im here.

Im getting to the point now where im looking for my first Porsche (a little young you may say) so i thought id come here for the advice!

Hi and welcome.

Well you've come to the right place, although I'd suggest going along to a local meet (where are you?) so you can talk to the people who drive these things.
Plenty of people on here will give some good advice, depending on wish list, budget, annual budgeted running costs, etc.

Just fire away, and good luck in the search

Thanks Graham.

Well where to start. Im form Hertfordshire.
Do you guys every meet near at all.?

Ok. budget would be around the £6000 mark. It wont be used for an every day ride as i ride a motorcycle so it would be more of a toy so to speak and the odd trip nurburgring I dont have a garage so it would have to be kept on the road in a parking bay wich is almost on my door step.

How reliable would you say they are ??

Id love a 944 but some how i think the running costs would be a little steep for me so maybe start with a 924??
I doubt il start searching for one just now as i would like to gain another years no claims so that wont be untill April.
What sort of money would you say Id be looking at for the running cost.


So many questions.

Not familiar with Herts, but their venue page is here : http://tipec.net/region_northlondon.php

There are lots of 944 owners on this site, so I'm sure one will be along very soon to give assistance.
I'm guessing for £6k you'd get a sorted one (for that, you could get a Turbo).
A mate of mine has just bought a 944 S2 Cabby for under £2k.

Good luck

Hi Laurence,

924 you say? The 2ltr N/A can be picked up for peanuts. Classic car insurance (which requires no no-claims) is cheap cheap cheap, but is dependent on you having another vehicle and being over a certain age and probably restricted mileage.

£2,000 will buy you a top car at the moment (it's the Porsche bargain). Very easy to live with, simple (golf/beetle) mechs.

924 Turbo is a very different animal. Quite rare and a beast to drive, try one!! £4,000 is all that will be needed to buy a top car. Again, classic car insurance is much cheaper than highstreet insurance.

924S is a safe halfway house. £3,000 will secure a top car.

Happy hunting!!

There is a buyers guide here for 944s, take a read:

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=5183

Hello and welcome, £6k will get you one of the best S2s, insurance about £200-£250 and budget about £1k for servicing, as mentioned get to a couple of meets and chat to 944 owners, happy hunting

I am 28 and got a 944 s2 a month or so ago. A fanastic car and the 3 litre engine has got some real go to it.

Found that Footman James were best for insurance for under 30s, some classics wouldn't consider me until I hit 30. However, I am paying £320 for 5,000 miles per annum, so there are good policies out there, you just have to find them!

Something I have found is that the parts for the s2 are quite a bit more expensive than the Lux, probably because more of the luxes were made. A side light for the turbo/s2 for example is £260 for a new complete unit, compared to under £100 for a lux. I have also found dizzy caps and rotor arms, etc are very pricey compared to the Lux as well. By the end of month 2 i reckon I will have spent £600 to £700 on parts to get everything running as i want it to. However, I fit most of the parts myself, so have only spent £30 on labour so far. If you want to keep costs down you have to be prepared to get your hands dirty.

Saying that the S2 is awesome and I was told that I should have a grand or so put aside for parts/repairs each year, so had the parts money covered anyway. In my opinion, if you just want a 944 for the sake of having a decent, affordable late 80's Porsche go for the Lux, but if you want added performance and better looks, then the turbo or s2 are the way to go.

Dave.

Ah mate 320 quid for the insurance would me grand. Thats cheaper than what im paying on my 1.2L 55 reg polo.lol.
Getting my hand dirty is not a problem at i work on bikes all day every day. Would you say i would be able to do most the work with out having my own garage tho?? Tools are not a problem.
When you speak about the servicing cost of £1000 a year ... Is this taking the car to porsche ??
What are the servive intervals on the s2. Do you have to change major parts or is it a case of oil and filter and having a good check over??

Thanks alot every1 for all the help.

Hi and welcome to the forum from me

A classic policy has specific criteria so check you meet all these otherwise it's in the high risk sports car grade of insurance meaning £££'s
At the end of the day all the 944's are 20 odd year old high performance supercars so servicing and repairs are going to be higher or more frequent but the rewards for owning and driving one of these cars on the days they work are very special and this is what makes it all worth it The guides on here are excellent to get an idea of what's involved in running a classic 944.
Can only advise to have a go in a club members car to get a feel of a old Porsche (the 924 for instance has a dog leg gearbox could you live with that? etc) and try get a car from a club member who will be only to be pleased to talk to you all day long about what he's done with his pride and joy. My car for instance went in February and i'm still discussing it with people even now!

Only very few 924s have the Porsche dog-leg 'box.The majority have sensible Audi 4- or, later, 5-speed 'boxes.

Oops sorry my mistake. Just the ones I've driven have all had them, showing my age as it was a long time ago

Sorry, should have mentioned, that quote is mileage restricted and you have to be a named driver on another vehicle that you have regular use of. On a non-restricted policy i would be paying £750. Get some quotes before buying the car to make sure you will be ok.

The £1k is just a rough guide of how much you could expect to be paying on maintenance to cover parts, repairs and the MOT, etc. It is not an exact figure. If you want to be doing everything by the book, you should be doing an oil and filter change every 6k and then spark plugs, air filter, lubricate hinges and linkages and all main checks every 12k. Belts changes are recommended every 48k in the manual, but are also effected by time degradation, so i have been advised to get mine changed every three years or so. Personally, I give my cars a 12k service as soon as I get them regardless of service history, a lot of garages do cut corners. For example when I got my S2 and changed the air filter, it hadn't been changed at the last 12k service as it still had the previous garages name and mileage on it.

Also because the car is old, stuff will always be going wrong. Most of it will just be minor niggles like something electrical not working, some of it will be stuff that needs sorting at the next MOT like warn discs and pads, wheel bearings, etc and then if you are unlucky you will have something more substantial that needs doing straight away. If you like problem solving then you will never be bored with a car of this age, it is the minor niggles that give the car character.

I don't have a garage and have worked on quite a few cars in the past. So long as you have a good trolley jack and stands you have access to most of the car. The only problem is the weather. Ideally you want to get as much work done in the summer ready for the winter. Trust me, changing a dizzy cap with a rusty spring loaded fastener is no fun in the middle of winter, in thick snow, when your fingers feel like icicles!

Dave.

Hi Laurance and welcome,

A guy with your experience working on bikes would find 924 easy to work on and you will save a huge amount on costs and know jobs are done correctly, quite apart from how much you will learn about whichever car you choose in working on her. All the front engine Porsches are great DIY prospects - well built and well documented cars - but 924 simplest with its VW engine. I am sure the £1000 mentioned is for routine servicing where you are paying someone to work on your car. However you will have unexpected bills so very hard to give accurate figure.

Cheers

Adrian