Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Dear All

I currently own a 944S and am very pleased with it. However, whilst the car is mechanically very sound the ongoing niggles such as tempramental door locks, sticking boot locks, relentlessly leaking sunroof and a generally "aged" feel to the interior and the odd bubble in the sills means I perhaps wish I'd spent more and got a newer 968 instead.

The 924s and 944s are in an older generation of cars and with that seems to come more modest cost for servicing and spares etc. The 968 whilst looking very similar moved the game on considerably technologically and to my mind is a much more "contempary" Porsche... and with that I guess comes much increased servicing and spares costs???.

Should I be fearful of dramatically increased costs of ownership if I were to upgrade to a 968?

Any thoughts please?

There will always be people on both sides of this topic, but remember that unless you have to do body work the 968 is at heart a 944 S2, yes some parts will be a lot more expensive, but the majority of the serviable parts are the same as owning a 3.0ltr '44.

As always a lot of it depends on how much work you do youself

Unless you've owned both it's probably going to be hard to compare the costs so I'd suggest you take a look
at the costs of disks, pads, filters, etc. to see if the cost of general service type parts are much different. I
checked out one independent garage and service costs are very similar. You'll probably find it's easier to get
second hand parts for a 944 than a 968 simply because there aren't many 968s around.

Then you need to take into consideration the age and past history of any car you are considering because even
at 15 years plus there may well be some parts on the car that are original and will need replacing in the near future
at possibly great expensive. As an example I had to replace both camshaft on my car last year. The cam
shafts alone were £1000 and they come with a myriad of belts, tensioners and gaskets. Even the exhaust and
suspension are original.

There are always a good selection of 968s on Pistonheads and they normally take weeks to sell so don't rush into
buying one. If it's well sorted expect to pay around 9-10K.

I hope that helps.

I would expect the servicing costs to be similar, camshafts can loose teeth on the 944S as well, rust doesn't seem to be as much of an issue on the 968 (yet !!) but I'm sure thats only a matter of time, watch out if you are hankering after a Clubsport as most seem to have found their way onto a track at some point

I'd agree with Lindsay on the rust so if you come across one with rust along the door bottoms or arches it's
probably had some sort of accident. Proper re-sprays, even to attend to small rust bubbles on wings can cost
a lot of money and the paint isn't that easy to match as it's all water based these days and they haven't
mapped all the paints colours over. As with the 944s check the sills.

Some good pointers there, despite Porsches claims at the time that something like 85% of the car was new its still the same basic shell as the 24/44 so the same places are still prone points for rot, they're all under 20 years old still, good thing is that with their relative rarety they are generally very well looked after.

While I personally perfur the look off 944 s2/turbo the 968 is becoming more known as classic collectable, ( due the 5 year release ) and there 4 are holding there money well. Which makes it easyer 2 justif the costs. 968 is the final chapter off 944 and will def feel like an up grade over 944 S. Better brakes, suspension, 6 gears, useable power, I'm not 2 sure why they weight another 100kg more?

I wouldn't call a 968 an upgrade. It produces no more power than an S2 despite it's complexity. Its also heavier. The looks are a personal thing. They aren't that new either. You are just as likely to find a good 944 as a good 968. How much your prepared to pay at the end of the day. It's personal choice.

I thought that the S2 had 210 BHP?
The 968 has 240, or did when they left the factory

Very similar running costs to an S2, calipers and pads are the same, oil filter the same, plugs will be similar etc etc

Belts, rollers and waterpump the same.

Cams are weak point the Variocam unit causes more cam wear which can land you with £1k+ bill.

Practically the same as an S2 inside.

Similar performance although the 968 has 240hp v S2 208hp. Slightly more torquey.

968 drives a little smoother and has a 6 speed box.

Rust in my opinion a little less likely as the sills have good drainage and the holes less likely to bung up due to the different design covers plus around the rear wheel is a different design.

As for the body being the same - front wings, bonnet, sills, rear quarters, front panel all different.



I have had an S2, 2 944 turbos and 2 968's all good cars best for me would be a 968 with a turbo engine.

All my opinion of course.

Rich

Richy, do you mean a 968 with a 944 turbo engine in it, or 968 with a turbo fitted to it's engine?

Really? Heathly 968 producing a liner power cuver as 944 turbo S?? Not an upgrade over a 190 bhp 944S that u got 2 rev over 4500 revs 2 feel the real protenail??? 968 is deff more femernine 2 look at? But I dought it's a girly drive!

Mark,
You may want to have a look at the 968 Buying Guide in the February issue of GTPorsche magazine: http://www.gtpurelyporsche.com/thismonth.asp
John

I suspect that insurance costs would be far higher on a 968 than a 944 or a 924. Also, probably too new to qualify for a classic car policy.

968 is same group as S2, last ones were around 94 so yes min. of 16 years old & depenedant on Co. may not be eligible.
Some 968 specific bits are NLA apparently on Porsche so this is a consideration.