theiceman

Katalog I can't belve you would allow your wife an open botle of nail polish in your car .. especially when driving, your a bigger man than I :-)

Witch Doctor go ahead and post your question on the 944 forum , I would love to hear what they have to say as they are as proud and as defensive of their cars as we are ours ... :-)

it might provide for some good entertainment without bashing ...

LaughaC

Witchdoctor - For what it's worth, I tried to replace my Infiniti with a 928 as a daily driver but the maintenance was too high. A 944 and a 911 might be a good, affordable combination of cars if you don't have to carry big kids.

Graufuchs

When I had my 944 on he track my goal was to see how many 911's I could pass....now in retrospect i only passed the people who didn't want to push their car to the limits like I was.

GothingNC

I was considering a 944 or 928 before purchasing my 911 and I am glad I went with the 911.

The 944 is a very good car, but just did not have the right feel and uniqueness of handling, sound , rawness. Getting behind the wheel 911 is like putting on my favorite pair of Converse sneakers-driver and the car are "One".

I might consider a 944 as a DD/second car if it is in "perfect" shape for $4,000 but it's still no substitute to the 911

John

TroyN

Second or third the comments on the sound of the 911 - I fell in love with it the first time I drove one as a valet. From idle to redline it's all beautiful. I test drove a 944 and it just sounded like a 4 banger. I know you can make a 4 banger sound pretty good but it would never be as good as that air-cooled flat 6.

murfysflaw

2 words... nine eleven. I wanted once since I remember seeing my first one when I was 5. Was able to get one a few years back and LOVED it. It drove like nothing else and as others have said, is more unique. Not that I'm an attention hound, but who doesn't like it a bit?

I sold my first one when we bought a new house last year. I'll have another, sooner rather than later, but the next one I'll shoot for a red targa w/ a whale tail... that's the one I dreamed about as a kid.

Donald Nance Jr

I loved them both, I owned a 1996 911 Cab C2 and I know own a 1986 944 Turbo. Both cars are great and I found them equally easy to drive everyday. The 911 was louder (air cooled) and a ton of fun to drive down Lake Shore drive on a nice summer eve with the top down, the Turbo is a blast to zip onto the expressway and feel the turbo rush. All in all, I liked them both about equally, I so think the Trubo is a bit more fun to drive, but either way you can't go wrong, I am thinking of picking up another 993 Cab and having the best of both worlds. I am not a fan of the 996 or 997, I have driven many variants Turbos and non-turbos of both models, I will stick with the older Porsches. Just my 2 cents. I don't think you can go wrong either way.., one thing, while you may be able to get into a 944 Turbo on the cheap, TRUST ME, once you start doing this and that to the car, the price will climb exponentially

arbeitm

I had an 85 944 for two years before I got my 83 911SC.

I had always wanted an SC since I think I was in college. I was finally able to get my first Porsche about 10 years later, however due to the amount I had to spend I ended up finding a 944. My original intent was just to have something to mess around with, however I ended up falling in love with it. The 944 is a great car. The handling is awesome. And it is not as user friendly as the above posts may lead you to believe. It really has no comforts (other than maybe a better AC system). It's not as raw as the 911, but it's definitely no BMW either. My biggest disappointment with the 944 was the lack of power. I'd recommend a turbo if you can go that route.

In the end, my desire for the 911 outweighed my love for my 944. So now I have my 911SC which I love just as much, if not more.

I'd recommend driving both and see how you feel.

Mike Murphy

The first 911 I drove was an '02 C2. As soon as I got behind the wheel, I wondered why anyone would ever drive any other car in the world. It just made sense to me. I didn't feel the same way behind a Caymen or Cayenne or any other Porsche.

WitchDoctor

'Afternoon, Fellas,

I'm really enjoying your advice and experiences you are sharing here.

I've gone on line today and ordered Pete Z's book from Amazon. I'm taking the good advice to restrain myself here, and it ain't easy, for if you were to search Calgary Alberta at www-autotrader-ca, you might see a nice looking '86 carera targa top the owner claims to have been babied throughout it's gently driven life span, which has covered a mere 125, 000 Kilometres. Nearly $26 K he wants, but that seems reasonable compared to the competition around town.

So, I might give him a call and go have a look at it, but I'll not fall in love at first sight, as per your advice. Now, when it comes to "lust", I can't guarantee it. But love should be a more carefully considered, and consequently deeply experienced...experience.

Gosh, Murph', the car I'm talking about looks just like yours!

Anyhow, I better read Pete's book. Take my time, as you say. But can someone tell me this? Is there a rule of thumb about what one offers in relation to the asking price? I mean, if I were to decide on a car, have it checked out, and want to proceed, but the price is too high by, oh, 25%--is there any point in bothering? Is it an insult to "low ball" someone, even if you don't think it a low ball?

Back at cha, all.

Brent

Pedro356C

Good move...

old man neri

Really depends on what the PPI comes up with. If there are a lot of things wrong with the car the price should be adjusted. Also keep in mind the time of the year, as the summer draws to a close people will be more willing to make a quick sale to avoid having to store their car over the winter. Really depends on the seller, some are expecting a lower offer, some are willing to negotiate and some set a very high price and are dreaming.

Lastly, you may wish to start looking at cars in the states. With the strong Canadian dollar the cars are much cheaper. If the car is older than 15 yrs it is very simple to import it. 86 targas do not go for 26K in the states.

cars.com and autotrader.com are good places to get a feel for the prices in the US.

Cheers!

theiceman

I second the above motion , look in the states..way more selection and better value..Did loaded sell his car ?

WitchDoctor

Updating on my progress...

I looked at previously mentioned '86 carera tonight. Not sure what to think. I had mixed reactions. Inside and outside it was clean and, as the kids say these days, "sweet." (Or maybe that expression is already stale.)

It's been repainted, though, and he said he got it that way in 2000. There's overspray in the fender wells, on some of the rubber bits, and on the bottom of the exhaust, making me wonder if it was a sloppy job. I dunno, don't you guys usually take some care in getting first rate paintjobs? Does it suggest that some owner of this car cut some corners?

I was a bit worried about who holds the title. Sounds like there was a complex arrangement where by he sold it for stock in a new company with a partner, with a contingency holding that if the company doesn't go ahead, and the stock becomes worthless, the car goes back to him -- which it did. But did the title go with the car when he took it back?

Didn't ask, and didn't get a vin number. Guess because I want to look at 2 or 3 more first. I didn't get to drive the car, its not insured. He's happy to get some temporary coverage, should I be interested enough to go to the next level.

Oh, one more thing. He, at first, balked when I mentioned PPI, telling me a mechanic once did some damage to a car of his during one of these inspections. Then he acknowledged my need to be absolutely sure about what I'm getting.

So, to recap, a nice looking, but questionably repainted (and questionable who-knows-what-else) 86 carera, of unclear title held by a fellow who, while very nice, was reluctant about the PPI.

And, gee, when you're selling a car... is it really reasonable to have it "out of commission" by virtue of no insurance for a test drive?

All this for $25.9k.

Oh, 126,000 kms on the clock.

Being a noobie, I'm maybe a tad squirrelly, but, I'm just left with too many sources of mounting uncertainty about this car.

Am I being a nervous nellie here?

Thanks in advance.

Amber Gramps

keep looking....this little doll was $20,000 at 57,000 miles I think. It still looks new, smells new, drives new, and is less than $1.00 per day to insure.