New Member - Looking To Buy My First Porsche

[choness2004]

Hi all, so as above, I am looking to buy my first Porsche. I want a project car so have decided on a 944. I haven't got a lot to spend, £2000, maybe £2500 at a big push but I would like to spend as little as possible, after all, buy cheap with lots of problems, have fun fixing them!

If anyone has any tips on buying then please let me know. I have found one for £1000 but needs a new alternator, which from Euro Car Parts is £400+, so we shall see how it goes when I get the chance to go have a look.

So I'll be having a look through, trying to find out as much as I can and go from there, with any luck I'll have a nice 944 project soon []

 

[GlennS]

Looking for a project... mmm....

How are you with welding, painting and bodywork?

Most of the really "cheap" ones will have bodywork issues. The cars tend to be very robust mechanically but they are vulnerable to corrosion in the sills, the wheel arches and the bottom of the front wings. Because of the stone guard applied to the sills and the fact that they rot from the inside out it can be hard to identify until major work is required. That's expensive to have professionally fixed and is what places many of them in the bargain bin.

If you're good with bodywork, then fine. Finding a cheap '44 that merely needs mechanical fettling might be a more difficult task.

 

[Hairyarse]

Glenn is right, best unless you're a whizz with bodywork buy the best you can structurally. Also ref new alternator for example, save yourself a few quid and try one of the many second hand parts specialists on here, such as Alasdair and Elliot - both I'm sure would sell you a good quality alternator - or other item you need - for much less money []

Good luck with your search

 

[andrew_churcher]

I think you may be better to save a bit more and get a tidy one. They tend to be ongoing "projects" anyway and you can easily be in for £10k if you need to sort rust and and other major components.

This for example looks pretty tidy and if I recall correctly used to be owned by someone on this forum. It's only a few k more and you benefit from the previous owners outlay. I am not affiliated with this car just used for examples sake

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/porsche/944/porsche-944-turbo-1991/1161087

 

[Rat]

Hi, I have a nice 1988 944 Lux that I am currently selling for £2,000 that has just been serviced and MoT'ed (cambelts etc were done a year ago).

Let me know if you want more information as it may give you an idea of what is available at that sort of price range.

Ian

 

[choness2004]

Thanks for the replies. I'm not too bad welding, but I am restoring a Triumph Herald with a friends so I am getting better. I have been looking, and seen a few good ones for around £3000 so may save a bit more for one.

Rat - Do you have a for sale add and pictures? As you said it will give me a good idea on what is about for that sort of price.

 

[choness2004]

ORIGINAL: andrew_churcher

I think you may be better to save a bit more and get a tidy one. They tend to be ongoing "projects" anyway and you can easily be in for £10k if you need to sort rust and and other major components.

This for example looks pretty tidy and if I recall correctly used to be owned by someone on this forum. It's only a few k more and you benefit from the previous owners outlay. I am not affiliated with this car just used for examples sake

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/porsche/944/porsche-944-turbo-1991/1161087

That is a very very nice 944! I'm not 100% sure on the wheels, there are another set of Porsche wheels I prefer (think they are found on the earlier Porsche Boxter?)

I may speak to the bank for extra cash and get in touch

 

[Hairyarse]

For £3k you should get a tidy 944, the early square dash I used to have until last summer cost me about that and it was pretty much mint, bar a few stone chips. I had no real issues with it. Spend a grand or so more than you had planned and you'll save much more than that in repair bills IMO.

Where in the UK are you?

Good luck with the search []

 

[dunc]

What are the thoughts on fiberglass front wings as an alternative to welding and plating the originals? Is it hard to match the colour once sprayed?

Dunc.

 

[supersport]

I think as with most things it depends on how long you are looking to keep the car and were you want to go with it. You could pick up a cheap project which would be a good fun car and a good learning cycle that might only last a couple of years. If you wanted a keeper, then this is not the approach.

As an example, my own car cost £1800 four years ago and has been well used as both a family car and more recently a third car, used in all conditions (great fun fun in the snow), used on track and for family holidays. It now has 206,000 on the clock the front seats are torn, the hint of a crack in the dash is starting to appear, despite being garaged for the last four years. I don't expect it to pass more than one more MOT and I don't think it is worth repairing, rear suspension mount points on one side. There is rust on the wing bottoms and the rear arches.

In the time I have had it, I had a little welding on the outer sills, new rear discs/pads and a clutch slave or master cylinder (can't remember which). done my own servicing, sadly not on schedule, slapped wrists there.

Both my wife and I love this car, it is so much fun to drive, you can easily throw it around and it doesn't appear to bite. It will be a sad day when it dies, but it is also going to be the best value car I have ever owned. Pretty much nothing has gone wrong with it other than getting it sorted when I bought it, you just can't get motoring this cheap, let along this much fun and enjoyment.

So I would say, you could buy a cheap one and still have a great deal of cheap fun for a couple of years.

 

[choness2004]

Hairyarse - I feel I may just do that, I've found a very nice one locally to me for 3000, and thats with 12 months MOT so it cant be all bad? I'm from Portsmouth

Supersport - It depends on how much I spend on it really, I would pay less and it could be a long term project, but then I would want it to be under 1000, which is difficult. I could spend up to 3000 as said, but then it would become a daily or a weekend toy, not really sure until I have it I suppose. I'm not bothered about engine size either, the 2.5l is perfectly fine, if I'm right it has 190bhp?

I rather enjoy doing all of my work myself, and I can do most things. I have friends that can help aswell so it should be a nice project, unless I buy a more expensive one in which case I would prefer to not have to do anything in a while (within reason).

 

[GlennS]

ORIGINAL: choness2004

I'm not bothered about engine size either, the 2.5l is perfectly fine, if I'm right it has 190bhp?

The 2.5L 8 valve engine in the "standard" (often referred to as "Lux") 944 has @163 bhp. The 2.5L 16 valve engine in the 944S has 190bhp.

 

[Hairyarse]

Feel free to put up a link to the one you've found locally, we can 'critique' if you like?

Also, if there's someone in your area on here maybe they'd be happy to come and view with you if you need an unbiased pair of eyes!

 

[Rat]

ORIGINAL: choness2004

Rat - Do you have a for sale add and pictures? As you said it will give me a good idea on what is about for that sort of price.

Hi, here is the link to my car which is for sale: http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/porsche/944/porsche-944-lux-1988/1218204

Hopefully it will give you an idea of what is available at that sort of price.

Let me know if you'd like more information about my car.

Ian

 

[choness2004]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201303105706172/sort/default/usedcars/price-to/3000/model/944/make/porsche/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/page/1/radius/1500/quicksearch/true/postcode/po75ur?logcode=p

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190818646828?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Those are the 2 budget ones I am looking at, these would be the ones I would use as a project rather then a daily.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201303195843909/sort/default/usedcars/price-to/3000/model/944/make/porsche/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/page/1/radius/1500/quicksearch/true/postcode/po75ur?logcode=p

That one I would want to use as a daily car tbh, although Im not a huge fan of the lower reat bumper section and would prefer the other one they do, sort of a sporty rear spat type thing.

 

[J4CKO]

I think with any 944 you need to be hands on to keep it cheap, you shouldnt have to contend with depreciation, insurance is cheap and VED isnt too bad, they arent expensive to buy and two grand should get you a serviceable Lux.

I bought my Cab just over a year ago, the previous owner spent about seven grand between 2007 and 2011, Respray, new hood, Clutch, brakes, tyres,top end rebuild, starter and various sundries, so I got it in fairly good order for £4250.

I have done the following

Belts £300 (didnt do these myself)
Battery £100
Heater Knob £15
Seat Refurb £70 (Plus £160 on the compressor I bought to do it)
Gear Linkage £100
Coolant elbow £6
Brake Hoses £25 second hand off member off here
Cam Cover gasket £30


Plus other stuff, it hasnt cost me that much but it is still cost, these are old cars and I bought one in good order and it still had issues like a crap gearchange, losing coolant, oil leak and rust bubbling up, I cant really afford to pay someone else to do it so have to do stuff myself, the belts were the exception.

Will tackle the bits of rust over the summer and put it in for paint, estimating £300 with me doing the metalwork.

Very easy to buy a 944 shaped ruin, that needs everything replacing, look for evidence of stuff being replaced.

 

[Hairyarse]

That first one does look tidy and early square dash 44's are great cars to drive. However, £1600 with no MOT seems steep to me - it would have to be absolutely mint, otherwise why doesn't the seller spend the £50 or so to put a years ticket on it and then sell for more? Well worth a look though

EDIT - Just to add, with those sill covers you need to be sure that the sills are really in tip-top condition underneath and unless there's history to back up the low mileage then assume it's gone around the clock once so will be 143k miles

 

[Veerzigzag]

There's a nice-sounding turbo just appeared on this forum ("UKmastiff") that seems to require the sort of tidying-up that you are partial to....get in there while he's still seriously hacked off with it!!

 

[Lowtimer]

ORIGINAL: GlennS

ORIGINAL: choness2004

I'm not bothered about engine size either, the 2.5l is perfectly fine, if I'm right it has 190bhp?

The 2.5L 8 valve engine in the "standard" (often referred to as "Lux") 944 has @163 bhp. The 2.5L 16 valve engine in the 944S has 190bhp.

Glenn is perfectly correct according to the factory numbers, however it is worth bearing in mind that when the car were new no reputable road test ever got significantly more acceleration out of a 2.5 16V 944S than out of an 8V, so it has always been a bit of a mystery where the extra 27 horses went. The 3.0 S2 is another thing altogether, genuinely much quicker than any of the 2.5 normally aspirated cars.

 

[Veerzigzag]

Hi Choness, you have slid off the front page - hope the above comments result in a purchase..
On the power numbers game, I would just say that variants of 944 are all pure 944 so will (relative to more mundane machinery) go like stink and offer seriously top-level grin factor.
Post a pic when you are an owner!!