Thinking of buying a 944 - advice welcome

[Bigmatt]

Thinking of buying a 944
Good evening all, I hope you're well,

I am thinking of buying a 944 - there is a 2.7 litre 1990 model near me that looks very well looked after.

My problem is that I have a company car so insurance is too pricey for an s2 or a turbo but a younger 2.7 will be adequate for my weekend toy.

Are there any major things to look out for?

What are parts like to buy? Is it porsche dealership only?
Any good websites or suppliers?

How much is a typical porsche service going to cost?

I've owned a series 3 land rover so I know all about fixing for passion but the porsche is probably a different league. For <3000 miles a year will I be looking at a very expensive hobby?!

Thanks

Matt

 

[bighead]

Hi Matt, welcome to our forum, I would say 3k per year mileage is not alot , I do about 1-2k per year on mine.

the major ones are Rust on the sill lower wings, recent service history ete etc( i say this because there is no point knowing if the cam belts were change 5-10 years ago !!),and i would advice on a inspection by someone that know these cars (will save you in the long run )if yr not capable yourself ,as most items on these 20+ year old car need replacing .

servicing if done by indie will cost £3-400 per year (just parts if you can do yourself), and have £1-2K as back up for the work that the car will need after purchase

i had mine near 2 years know , I've spent more on it than the purchase price ( mine was in very good condition when I bought it) as i like my cars spot on

just keep an open mind as it not your average 20 year old second hand car .

good luck with yr search []

 

[Eldavo]

Hi Matt, I've a company car so effectively 0 NCB too but for that mileage you'll be getting a classic policy where NCB isn't important anyway. I'm 32, car is garaged, 3000 miles pa and pay about £160 a year through RH Insurance.

 

[Alpine]

ORIGINAL: Eldavo

Hi Matt, I've a company car so effectively 0 NCB too but for that mileage you'll be getting a classic policy where NCB isn't important anyway. I'm 32, car is garaged, 3000 miles pa and pay about £160 a year through RH Insurance.

Same for me. On a classic policy I would have thought there would be almost no difference in price between a 2.7 and s2

 

[944 man]

£150 FC for a 944 Turbo, for me. A 2.7l should be under £150 no matter where in the country you live.

 

[Lowtimer]

Yes, NCB is irrelevant to classic policies.
Rust is the biggest problem: poor accident repairs from years ago rusting out, then sills, front wings, rear quarters.
That apart, 944s are very good at looking nice from the outside but at the same time being pretty worn out under the skin - not necessarily from mileage but from sheer calendar age. So what you need to know is in addition to routine servicing how much serious mechanical refurbishment / restoration has been carried out in the last three to four years. Any 944 nowadays will be far below par unless it has has had a complete suspension refurb, which involves a lot of bushes as well as dampers. If it hasn't had a recent head gasket then it would be prudent to budget for that (and a top-end overhaul) too. The bottom ends are usually very robust providing the engine has not been overheated. Depending on model they are prone to corrosion in the brake calipers, leading to what's known as "plate lift", which needs doing on most cars that haven't had caliper rebuilds in the last few years. Steering column joints, gearshift linkages and power steering pumps are other common refurb requirements. Transaxle whine is common and rebuilds are expensive. Cam belts, balance shaft belts and water pumps are lifed by time as well as mileage and most of us work to a four year calendar max for the belts, change the water pump every second belt change. Driveshaft CV joints are often worn out too, by the way.

As with most things, it is much, much cheaper to buy on that someone else has spent all the money on than spend it yourself. But if you do it yourself, then at least you know that it was done, and by whom. Excluding body restoration, mine has over three years cost me at least the purchase price in mechanical refurb, and that was for a late Turbo that ws in far from terrible shape compared to a lot of them out there. But now it drives like a well-kept three year old car, not like a 23 year old car.

 

[Mike_Pollock]

Insurance wise the guys have said it all.

As a weekender buy on condition.

They are all great, with slightly different strenghts.

where are you? there are quite a number of us who will look at with or for you.

Biased - 2.7s have loads of torque and the proper front bumper!

 

[Veerzigzag]

Great comments and an accurate summary from Lowtimer. A couple of comments from my experience in acquiring a 1989 2.7 (145k now 157k miles): a major lifestyle change for this vehicle from Garage Queen to son's main transport (0 miles per year to 10,000 miles in 7 months) resulted in some to-be-expected work: new rear disks/pads/shoes, then a new clutch and slave cylinder at somewhere around £1300. K&N filters, iridium plugs, new rpm sensors, new sub-woofers; not much else needed doing. Runs much better than when we got it - these are definitely red-line engines. This is a very good looking car that was kept in good shape bodily and mechanically. The rear end looks very purposeful with a turbo rear valance (as in A9XX's personal picture above). Having previously owned a 924 Turbo in the 80's and then a series of 4 911's, this is the best running, best handling, best sounding of the lot. Not sure if it's just loose baffles in the exhaust, but there is a healthy rasp at 3,000 rpm that sounds just great. Now, where has my son hidden the keys?