1989 944 Auto buying advice

[Oliverwenman]

Hello all, i'm new to the forum and was looking for a little advice on buying a 944.

I have been looking at buying one for the last two years. Done plenty of research, but the time has come and I have one locally. its not quite what I was looking for because its an auto, but its in stunning condition with a full service history and 130k on the clock. I'm finding it hard not to go for it! I was initially after a track car, but now am happy to just tinker and create a car I can be proud of.

I just wanted to ask what I should look for when going around it and when driving it? All the electrics are fine bar the fan sticking on, I'm sure its a simple fix? but the guy was happy to knock the cost of repairing it off the price I pay him anyway. Being an auto is there anything I should really look out or listen for? The engine seems good but there was tapping from it for the first mile or so, after driving it around the block that had gone so not a massive problem? it also smoked very slightly when standing and when starting up, but it is a 21 year old car... should I be bothered? The timing belts were changed 4 thousand miles ago so not an issue there.

The interior is great, no splits in the seats. the cassette box hinge has broken but a £16 fix. generally very well looked after!

Its Guards Red, the colour is good but with a little polishing I'm sure I can get it perfect. There is a little bubbling on one sill, looks like it might have been driven of a high curb and its lifted the paint. But i'm sure it wouldn't cost the earth to fix it.

and the obvious question, is it good value for money? he wants £1,750 for it.

Sorry to have bored you with all that!

I hope you can help and I look forward to spending more time on the forum having got my 944!

Ollie

 

[robwright]

Sounds like a good car for the money. Again I would double check all the leccy bits. When were the belts changed? If it was four years or over then they will need doing again anyway regardless of miles. The smoke on start up if it is blue could be valve stem oil seals, but I wouldn't worry too much at the price. The engines are fairly bombproof as long as they are well serviced. I would also go over those sills with a fine tooth comb. Give them a good non-destructive poke to check for rust. They rot from the inside out. There are some black plastic vents on the back or the door aperture. If you remove them his will allow you to see down to the rear sill section and inspect the rear quarter. Get in there with a good torch. If it is rotten you may have some tough decisions to make. Good luck []

 

[Oliverwenman]

Thanks for the advice, I have just contacted the guy and asked if I can have another look over the car today. I have a feeling the belts were changed last year.

All going well I hope to have the car by the end of the day.

Any more advice would be appreciated!

Ollie

 

[zcacogp]

What Rob said about the cills. Check carefully. They don't always rust from the inside out, but usually do, and that will be an expensive fix.

But my bigger concern is the auto aspect. Are you sure you want an auto? You started off wanting a track toy - this will be light years away from that. Auto 944's aren't great and are hard to sell. You will struggle to move it on when the time comes, and it will be less fun to drive while you own it. Are you sure you want to go there?


Oli.

 

[Suffolk944]

I think most fo the basic advice is here, though I would echo Oli's view about the auto slushbox. That said if you have driven it and like the way it goes then fair enough !

 

[david924s]

I would echo what has been said, regardless of the sills and overall condition you need to decide if you can live with an automatic, have you tried a manual to compare it with. I would have thought for that price or similar you would get a good early car with manual gearbox and a lot less miles, but these cars need to be bought on condition and maintenance not mileage too much. There is a guy on this forum selling a 944 S2 which needs some work but basically sound from what I read (and he is reliable) for £1600 might be worth considering.

 

[ukmastiff]

I would avoid the auto unless you genuinely want an auto specifically and I dont think you do from wht you have said. In this market there are lots of good luxes for sale sub 2,000 so dont rush and buy even though I certainly know what it feels like to
'really want' to get buying and driving.

I think you may regret it later and as for the price , it may be a good car ( or not) but autos fetch less money and sell slower than any other 944 which one suspects is for a good reason.

Best of luck

Mas

 

[Lowtimer]

Don't buy a car that isn't the car you really want. If you really wanted an auto (which you don't) a 968 would be a far better choice: the box is much better than on the 944. There are more good Luxes out there.

 

[Oliverwenman]

So sorry I haven't got back sooner guys, had a rather hectic weekend!

I did go for the auto in the end. Im sure you are all very correct about going for a manual, as you say thats what I really want but for now its nice to just have a smart car, and to have bought my first porsche! My thinking is that I can pop this car straight onto pistonheads and enjoy owning the car whilst I wait for someone else to buy it.

One quick question is how easy is it to replace the fan switch? the fan is sticking on whilst the ignition is turned off. i'm just popping the relay out to stop it at the moment, but a more permanent fix would make life much easier.

Hope I have included a picture...

Please tell me what you think and what things you think I should have a tinker with. The paint has come up beautifully with one lap of t-cut the a wax. I was originally unsure about the pepper pot alloys but they have really grown on me.

 

[Suffolk944]

Well she certainly look smart ! [/anorak mode] The correct name for those wheels are teledials. [/end anorak mode]

Not sure about the fan switch problem but am sure someone who is will be along presently. Enjoy your new toy ! []

 

[Diver944]

Certainly looks nice - congrats []

The thermo switch for the cooling fans are at the bottom of the radiator on the passenger side, circa £20 from a dealer IIRC. You will need to top up and bleed the coolant afterwards. Take a look at the Garage Shop Manual section at www.clarks-garage.com for good advice on bleeding 944's as they can be a real pain []

 

[Mr.FixitNorm]

Nice looking car, I had a radiator fan switch go on mine,it was running when I locked the car, didn't think much of it as it had done that and switched off after 3 or 4mins, trouble was it ran all night and totally flattened the battery !!

The problem is the battery's in the hatch area and it's only on solonoid release and with no power........ anyway I took a small sealed lead acid mobility battery, wired it up to a cigarette lighter plug, plugged it in to the cigarette socket and bingo, enough power into the system to release the rear hatch.

I took my duff fan switch down to my local Wilco and asked them to match it in their parts book, I didn't tell them what it was off as I've found the instant reply is often ` we don't do parts for Porsche's' anyway they found an exact match, it was an Audi one, cost £9.00[] and worked perfectly.

With respect to buying an auto, just enjoy the car for what it is, a lovely piece of classic german engineering, yes it won't be quite as fast off the mark as a manual, but it will still hold it's own against most modern boxes. I've owned several autos, my last one being a Mitsubishi Shogun 2.8 V6 Petrol ! it was great to drive and with the kickdown would really pull, I found being an auto was much more relaxing to drive in town as well.

Enjoy.

Norm

 

[pauljmcnulty]

The problem is the battery's in the hatch area and it's only on solonoid release and with no power........ anyway I took a small sealed lead acid mobility battery, wired it up to a cigarette lighter plug, plugged it in to the cigarette socket and bingo, enough power into the system to release the rear hatch.

Next time, pop the bonnet and there's a little terminal you can use for exactly this purpose. just next to the blower assembly on the offside, near where the antenna booster is. []

Ps, edit to add only on later cars where the boot lock is electric.

 

[Oliverwenman]

Thanks guys, all great advice. I have been on clarks-garage.com before, its a fantastic site. I will whip the switch out and get a replacement sorted. Im used to working on Land Rovers so its very different having an engine that fills the bay!

The boot release tip is well worth remembering!

I should probably start a new topic, but the electric seats don't seem to be working. I haven't had a proper look yet, but is there any common faults I should look for? Both of them don't work so I presume its a fault with the system rather than a fault with the seats themselves... any suggestions?

Ollie

 

[Northern924]

Looks like a cracking car, having had a 924S Auto which is basically a 160bhp 944 in a different shell I can say that now I have a manual '44 the difference it apparent, but with some work the auto box can be worked, and on a run its a true GT.

Seats not working is quite often the pistons that operate the movement, check there is power getting to it and go from there, as for the thermo switch I would always back the idea of replacing it rather than adding a cut out and for the price IMO its a lot easier just to fit a new one.

Having had an auto that needed the damper changing I would always advise that you make sure the rubber grommets for the inspection holes are still fitted in the bell housing and the rear oil seal isn't leaking, it'll rot the rubber in no time and to replace it its a box and TT out job, I've done one and its a pain as is trying to get a replacement! But so long as there is no knocking from the bell housing at tickover you should be fine, just check it and the grommets for piece of mind[]