r911

or the MR2 spyder...

smshirk

I certainly didn't mean you shouldn't buy any Porsche. Its just that 6k doesn't buy a very good P car, unless you find the proverbial barn dweller. The parts alone to rebuild an air cooled engine could cost 6 grand. You could get into a 944 for 6k, but not a well maintained example. 6k may buy you a decent 914, if you take your time and find one that has had recent maintenance records. Some would argue they aren't real Porsches, but they have likely never driven one. My first P car was a 914, as was my second. I bought the 2nd one to fix the first one. That was the late 70s and I still have a few parts laying around, including a Targa top that I haven't been able to give away to get it out of the basement. The prices of 914s have gone up in the last year or two, but 6k looks like the going rate for a driver. Stick with the 2.0 if possible, and have a knowledgeable 914 mechanic check it for rust first and then mechanicals. They have around a 100HP and every bit of it could be used even in a 90 degree turn.

Best buy for 6k in a fun car though is a Miata.

2002M3Drew

You can definitely BUY a 944 in decent shape for $6,000...but you can't OWN a 944 for $6,000. The 944 motor is essentially derived from the 928 motor, and is inherantly complex and expensive to maintain. You can do it on the cheap and it may work out in the short term, but over time that wll create costly repairs that regular feeding might have prevented. The 944 is one of those enthusiast "bargains" that gets a lot of people into trouble. They can get through the front door of P-car ownship with them, but then be knocked squarely upside the head when the thing needs its first repair. I think this is why you see so many bought and sold quickly among younger buyers.

I've been on both sides of car ownership. My second car at age 21 was a brand new BMW 318is. I could afford the payments and gas and insuurance, but then that 15K service for $450 through me for a loop! Then the $600 for tires...and so on. With my Porsche, I fortunately bought one at the point where I can afford to really OWN the car. I do preventative maintenance without a second thought, and I enjoy the car rather than resenting it. That's key...owning a car like a Porsche and hating it because you're broke is a crime.

The Miata is good because for $6,000, you can either get a great Miata with ultra low miles, or a very good one with medium miles for much less even. Lots of money left to play, great reliability, easy to maintain yourself, and you never have to worry about that back-breaking bill looming. Oh, and when you want to sell it, you get what you paid.

Mysterytrain

Back when I was looking to buy I drove a 944..felt like a camaro. Then I drove a 911 felt like a sports car. Bought the 911SC.

Jay Laifman

I'm going to agree with the other comments. For $6,000 you will get a Porsche that will sour you to Porsche's from here on out. Better to get the Miata and enjoy sports car driving to own a good Porsche in the future, than to be turned off Porsches which are truly remarkable machines.

I too might vote for the MR2 Spyder over the Miata too. As far as I know, it doesn't have the spec racing world with it. But, IMHO, more fun to drive.

Peter Zimmermann

This is an interesting thread. No, you can't buy a good 911 for $6K, but you can buy a "good" 944 for that. However, 944s don't stay "good" for very long at a time. The early cars (pre-'86 models will be in your buy range) require a timing belt, water pump, sometimes rollers and oil seals, balance shaft belt, etc. replacement every 30K miles. You must have the $500 factory belt tension tool, and you MUST know how to use it (no small feat). You MUST have factory manuals, if you don't earn a living repairing 944s you will be lost. To replace the clutch requires a full day, and lot's of common sense. We won't even talk about motor mounts and all the other problems that the cars have. 944s put a new spin on the phrase "pay me now, or pay me later." With the 944 it's "pay me today, or pay me tomorrow." 944s are mechanic-reliant cars to the extreme. On the plus side the early 944s are fun to drive, but they don't have nearly enough power to stretch the handling and brakes. Their paint holds up well, as do their interiors. A garaged, cared-for example might even be worth the mechanical aggravation.
Pete

TONY3.2

I know one person's experience doesn't count for much, but I bought a 2.7 944 seven years ago with 100,000 miles on the clock, drove it for another 135,000 miles, after which it still drove beautifully. I maintained it properly and apart from the normal consumables only the water pump and alternator let me down. I sold it for peanuts to buy the 3.2. If this is half as reliable as the 944 I'll be a happy boy.

Jay H

Peter:

Thanks for the interesting post on the requirements/costs of 944 maintenance. For years I've read about the frequency of water pump replacement on 944's. I am wondering why these water pumps are in need of replacement every 30k to 60k miles? Is is a poor design?

Jay
90 964

Peter Zimmermann

Jay: The water pump is driven by the cam belt, which I feel was a huge design flaw in the car. OK, you had the belt and pump replaced at a 30K interval. As is required, the belt was set up to an extremely tight new-belt spec, which causes it to quickly stretch to its normal use spec. The belt is then re-set at 1K miles after replacement, and over time becomes loose, requiring another re-set at about 15K miles after its installation. After you've driven another 15K (or 5 years, whichever comes first) it's time to replace the belt. For 30K miles the water pump has been loafing along with a timing belt driving it that's been set near to the belt's running spec. Now you put a new belt on, and set it to the new-belt tension spec - WHAM!, the water pump can't tolerate the additional pressure and fails. The first time we saw this was in about 1985, the car came back in less than two weeks following its first timing belt replacement. We assumed that it was coincidence, but logged the problem. The next two cars we did had the same problem; one car's pump failed the next day, the other lasted about a month. We knew that we were on to something, and began replacing the water pump with every timing belt. What a difference a timing chain, a better water pump, and a bell housing that allowed clutch replacement without trans removal, would have made. The 944 could have been the best entry-level, front engined sports car ever built. But you know what they say; there's the right way, the wrong way, and Porsche's way!
Pete

Jay H

Pete:

Thank you for the excellent explanation!

Jay

Saakey

when was the 904, 917, 962, or the 959 (US) for that matter, ever sold as a production car?