Porsche 944

[Al Wyn]

Anyone had one of these? Mates been looking, dont ask , at 924s because hes always wanted one as a second/weekend car and has found now found a 944. Its a 1990 944 2.7 lux manual box highish miles with some early main dealer history and loads of bills and reciepts more recently. Anyone got any hints or tips of unusual things to look out for on these bargain basement porkers?

[4WheelDrifter]

Tell him to be careful driving it when it's wet. Seriously.

[Al Wyn]

Yep hes well aware the world and his wife have tried in vain to steer him towards a variety of different, better cars, and me obviously down the Audi route to no avail. This is the same man who owned a MG Montego Turbo and loved it so i will say no more Anyone else any tips or hints on these as ive got to go and look with him in the morning

[dubmeister]

Try this:http://www.hartech.org/docs/buyers%2...20part%202.pdf

(Second page)
Buyers guide done by porsche specialists

[Acidburn]

Just general checks on the service history and check all the dials inside etc. Have a quick look on google for a buyers guide

[Dubbedup]

Had one of these for a month, and in the dry it was an amazing drivers car and very well balanced. in the wet.....It was *****...
Always trying to throw you out and the back end can get very very light (even tho it's meant to be 50:50 weight distribution.
The engine only produces it's peak power above 3500RPM, so to make good progress, you really need to rev the engine, and it's all in the tope range. The Cams in my 2.5 16V was like a turbo kicking in at 3500, and it really pulled well, but the power delivery was a bit brutal.

Look for accident damage (obviously) Sills are a real weak point, and especially where the sill meets the rear arch, as it's very susceptable to stone chips and rust.
Reciepts are a must and the timing belt must be changed at 40k miles or 4 years max. Any doubt get it changed as it's interference engine and you will have at least 8 bent valves and a new head if you skip it. the engine also has a harmonic balancer in the engine that is run off the cambelt and if the timing of the balancer is upset you can literally shake the car to bits (seriously) , both belts should be replaced at the same time along with the water pump.

Smashing car and I hope to own another one day. But I would have to go for the 3.0 968 Club Sport, the earlier 944's (8V's) are not worth it at all, and the 2.5 and 2.7 (16V's) are a little raw and only good on the limit, and like all good Porches on the limit they always want to spit you into a hedge backwards ;-)

Good Luck..

[Briggsy]

this is not a bad site http://www.944uk.com/
i used to own one but didnt get to drive it much, all i can say is that make sure you get one with full service, pref by porsche or specialist. the 16v cars are more fragile. it was a great drive and they dont weigh an awful lot so its a good experience. i think the 944 is a good choice, just think of inferior cars he could have picked!

[Briggsy]

forgot to add that i joined TIPEC (the independant porsche enthusiasts club), and they are very helpful and have some great offers and discounts!

[Al Wyn]

Thanks guys just seen my mate and he popped round and had a sneaky peek at said 944. Has only 200k on the clock, 3 months mot and tax. Its in need of some tidying up mainly dirty seats, carpets and needs a major clean up externally. He had a quick drive seems ok according to him. The guys wife said "its got to go before the weekend, so make us an offer" my mate ummed and ermed and said he didnt know how much to offer and then the guys wife said "we want £........." how much do you guys reckon????? and what do you think its really worth? Mates as keen as mustard for the sun to come up

[Jamo]

According to Doug and Audiman they're not quick enough

[Markarina]

The wife has had her 944 for the last 9 years, it is a 1982 2.5 LHD and has generally been pretty reliable and cheap to look after.

We can also safely say it saved her life, she got side swipped on the A41 a few years ago got spun around and into the central reservation facing the wrong way, the impact broke one of the alloy wheels, kinked the rear wishbone and every panel apart from the drivers door was dented and she walked out without a scratch. We got it repaired and it is still going strong.

Depending on where your mate is based I can point you in the direction of some good garages.

[Dubbedup]

Mine was a minter, and I mean super super mint, still had all the factory stickers under the bonnet and FSH, a stack of reciepts from Porsche and Paragon.

Sold it on ebay for £2750, it had done 134k miles and needed nothing at all..

I would suggest offering around £1500 to £1800 and see if you can get it around that price, they sound desparate to shift it. It's a later 2.7 and the miles are not on it's side at all, 200k is high miles for such a high revving engine.

My old 944....i do miss her...but never loved it as m uch as i love my S2

[Briggsy]

try it on with £1000, i sold my 944 around 2 years ago it had 186k on the clock, £18500 in receipts some of which were RUF and all the other was Porsche themselves, it had full cream leather 12 months MOT and i sold it for £1950, it was a 2.5l 8v though.

[Jamo]

Yep hes well aware the world and his wife have tried in vain to steer him towards a variety of different, better cars, and me obviously down the Audi route to no avail. This is the same man who owned a MG Montego Turbo and loved it so i will say no more Anyone else any tips or hints on these as ive got to go and look with him in the morning

Dont diss the Montego turbo, when it first came out the Police wanted it banned as they couldn't catch it in car chases

[Al Wyn]

Been and looked at said 944, not as good as i expected tbh but it drove ok for the miles i suppose and was presentable. My mate as i said before was as keen as to snap it up but i had a chat with him on the way, something along the lines of "calm down dear its only a 944 Porsche" Anyway we played it cool and we found a number of minor faults and some rust that will need sorting and we said we would call later after we had had a think about an offer for it. The car was then parked back in their back garden and if anyone could see the for sale signs in the windscreen from the road they would have to be upstairs in a double decker bus. No other interested parties so my mate has put in a cheeky`little`offer on their answerphone and is waiting to hear, they move in a day so should know pretty soon. Time is in his favour he might get the worlds cheapest Porsche at this rate. Thanks to all you guys who have passed on info mates glued to the web now Will let you all know what the out come is.