Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Serious question here guys - I want to know whether a 944 would be the right car for me. Basically I have spotted them for the last few years and thought they look damn good, despite evidently being an aged car - they still look fresh. Seeing one on Top Gear tonight reminded me how much I like the look of them...

Here are the things about me that I'm worried mean that I would be completely out of my depth.

- I know very little about cars (tried to pick up more from colleagues) and would in no way be able to fix any issues myself
- I have a budget of about 3k
- I think the only 944 that would fit my needs would be a 2.7 due to insurance (i'm 24 with 6 points) and fuel consumption costs

Is the 944 a completely ill-fitting car for me? I have an Alfa GTV at the moment and have had any repairs done at garages, but it's not that old of a car so there are places that can do work for me for not completely unreasonable costs.

Despite the fact I love the look of the car, love what I hear about the handling etc... and of course owning a car with a 'Porsche' badge would be great anyway - do you have to know your way around a car if you own a 944 due to their age?

Cheers

A 944 is always right but I would say that wouldn't I

Running any classic can b done but it's a different mind set to running a modern. You need to find a decent trust worthy independent, become a member of a club to get feedback from other locals on what needs doing or can be left. Give us an idea of where you live & we can advise.
Also we can put you in touch with your local region & you can have a chat with them.

My 944 did 38K in 18 moths as my daily driver with servicing and a clutch slave.

Given your driving record I'd A. get a quote & B. a 944 2.5 would be a better choice but is still group 18.

agree with jim above, pop along to your local regional meeting and gleen as much knowledge/advice as you can from the members they will only to glad to help with your search

Hi,

You might want to buy a buyers guide to read all about the ins and outs before you purchase:

http://www.pmmbooks.com/shop/2/index.htm

As you scroll down the page, its about the 3rd book down. I found this 944 and 968 Buyers guide very good in helping me buy my 944 S2.

Regards,

Ben

Ben, we (TIPEC) actually have a free buyers guide (the one I wrote for Gaydon) which I'll send to anyone who PMs me their mail address.
I found the buyers guides you buy a bit limited, as most of that info is for free from various places if you look.

Where is the country are you?
The 944 is propably the most practical Porsche ever.
Honestly you will never regret it.

Stephen

Hiya,

I bought my 87 944 2.5 Lux in April for £1800 after having all sorts of FWD fodder in the past. I'd heartily recommend it as a first RWD car to anyone. The noise even my humble 2.5 makes when you get it wound up past 4000 rpm is just amazing! I'm only managed to make it to one TIPEC meet, but the guys there were very friendly and helpful. I'm expecting to find that I'll spend between £1000-1500 on ongoing maintenance per year which sounds steep but then I don't expect to see the value of you car drop like I would with a newer model vehicle. That is what happened with the Pug 205 1.9 GTi that I had previously. Bought that for about £1600 in good nic, spent about £3000 over two years, then sold it for about £1600 at the start of the credit crunch to the first person to view it.

I would say that a late 80's 944 is a very different driving experience to a mid/late 90's FWD coupe. It has taken me a few months to get use to RWD, especially in the wet, but OMG!, it's been worth it so far! And to thing I nearly went for a mk1 MX5! Not a bad option, but a bit girlie. I'm not a hands-on mechanic type either. I can work out what a problem might be and who serious it is and can normally tell when a mechanic is feeding me sh...uger! But £3000 should get you a good car and shopping around should find you an insurance policy that isn't too painful.

Good Luck and happy hunting.

I would have to agree a 944 is an easy option to owning a Porsche and with a little basic knowledge you can do most of the routine maintenance yourself such as oil and filter changes, air filter etc. I would say that if you are seriously thinking of buying one to buy the best you can afford and if possible take someone with you who knows what to look for, or go along to a few regional meetings and ask the guys there what problems they have had and what to look for. From experience bodywork is the most important thing as well as service history as dodgy bodywork can cost a fortune, so make up your mind which one you want, early, late model Lux, S or S2 and then buy as I said buy the best you can afford.

Join the club first. Then after going out in some you can make an informed choice & have an idea what to look for. A fit Lux beats a tired S2 anyday. But you have to buy a good one! There are many tired 944's now & unless you've been out in a few you won't know the difference until it's too late. If you can insure one get it. Theres nothing else like them save a lotus 7 & you can't put a suitcase in a 7!

Hi, you may find the cost of insureing a 944 to much tho on the plus side they are now a classic,even the last s2 can be insured as a classic and with a limited milage you should be o.k.
I managed to insure a tvr when i was 20 this way.
Go for it.
stuart

I managed to insure a six month old Triumph Spitfire 1500 when I was 20. It was my first car - and I still own it on paper. The car was £2000 (tax free in Germany), the insurance premium was about 2500 Deutschmark, or £500 - in 1979!!

Funny thing is it's still £400 plus now with all the no-claims, even at 50 years old (me not the car) and so on.

Is this on the 944? For a Classic second car? You is getting ripped off if you are paying that. I pay around 130 for 3K per annum & not garaged at 52 Years. My ARO at 40 pays around the same for a garaged car.

Loved every minute of my 944 ownership. (Until the guy I sold it to blew it up on the way home from picking it up!)

Great cars! You won't be disappointed. By the best you can afford with the most complete service history.

I bought a '88 2.5 lux at christmas and love it. put 3000 miles on so far with no problems other than a dodgy window switch that was remedied after 10 mins with a screwdriver. Actually there was another problem... most (all?) of them leak somewhere at some point. mine it was from the boot lock, but a few questions and a few hours of fiddling and i fixed it.

I dont know much mechanically myself but love learning as I go along, this and the pcgb forum have answered most of my questions. if youve no interest in getting your hands dirty it might be a list of niggles youd rather not have, but a lot are simple fixes (as Jezzer showed on top gear). Certainly buy the best you can but have a float to sort anything if it does go wrong that needs a garage, i keep aside about £1000.

paying £300 year on classic policy for 5000 miles and including breakdown cover (35, 6 points (bad luck not bad driving - in a golf SDI of all things) )

From what ive learned its lack of maintenance and corrosion that kills these cars, despite being galvanised. Most '44 owners can show you around a car and what to look for, theres also a lot of info already on the forums regarding corrosion, particularly in the sills, rear arches bottom of the front arches on s2/turbos.

When its purring along the road it puts a smile on my face every time, all the feedback ive had is positive (apart from the inevitable midlife crisis ribbing when i bought it)

I just love owning something you dont see in every other driveway, something with character, and such a bloody excellent piece of engineering, all for the price of a 2nd hand shopping trolley.

It's my everyday driver Jim, averaging about 15000 a year - maybe that's the reason I don't have too many problems with it. My wife has a two-year old MX5, which she wants to change for a BMW Z4 coupe. She realises I will not be getting rid of my 'junking heap' as she calls it. As for the the 1990 Mini that (if you remember) I restored to put on the road for my son..... well that's back in my garage now in need of a complete front end He lasted almost four weeks before skidding up somebody's back-end. Still, I suppose he's done well to be driving for four years without an accident - and I've got another 'project' car in the garage for something to do over the winter months