las911

I just became a 944 owner 1984 same color as your car. I can't even fathom comparing any Japanese car or discussing one on a Porsche forum. Horrifying lol.

My new to me car needs bits and pieces replaced and repaired and I am really enjoying going out to the driveway to tinker and clean. They just don't make cars like this anymore.

RJ80

@TomR If you go into a dealership with an attitude problem, that's the way you're going to be treated. Frankly, if I sold cars, I wouldn't want to deal with you either. Life's too short. Bitching about tire pressures not being dead on on a dealership test drive? Come on.

I drove a BRZ daily for the better part of a year when they first came out. Loved the car and preferred the way the suspension was set up on the Subie vs the Scion (now Toyota). The engine has a bit of a flat spot halfway up the rev range and eventually all the fuel pumps get a little noisy, but other than that the car drives very well. Not as torquey as my previous 944 S2, but felt smaller, lighter and more nimble. To me, the 944 is a grand touring car, while the BRZ/FRS/GT is more of a true sports car.

I drive new cars for a living and the cars I own are just weekend toys, but if I needed to buy a daily driver, I'm 95% sure it would be an off-lease BRZ.

marc abrams

There was once a time any foreign car was horrifying for me. F*** that foreign junk, American Iron!!! Was my moto. Well the 944 replaced my 1980 Corvette. My daily driver is a Toyota Tacoma. Funny how our choices change as we get older.

BTW good luck with the new/old car!

Noahs944

Congrats and welcome to the best 944 forum on the planet

The BRZ is very comparable to the 944. Perhaps it is the greatest forum of flattery... a Japanese tribute to Porsche's mid-level rock star, the mighty 944!

I love that in a time where our cars are aging... there is an alternative that carries the same type of spirit. A real driver's car! The ripple effect of cars like the 924 and 944, 968 has left an impression. And it's gaining momentum.

marc abrams

Sometimes. I've been embroiled in the war of internet words a few times here and more recently Otto mechanic (Scott) something not nice was said about him.

Tom R.

Read the first part again. I walked into the dealer with a check in my pocket and a plan to walk out with a car. I wasn't comparison shopping a Camry against an Accord. That's not how I buy cars. I guess knowing what I want when I walk in makes me an ***.

When I took a turn the car handled worse than the Astra I came in with. That wasn't attitude. I'm not talking one pound, I'm not talking an aggressive turn. I'm talking tires that wallowed. I wasn't pushing the car in second gear. I was babying a car I wasn't going to buy because of the color. I was giving the salesman the opportunity to prep the car for the test drive. If I drove up in my BMW or 944 would my comment have had more merit?

Since that test drive I purchased four cars. I bought those four cars with less of a desire to buy a car than I had that day. When I bought a number of used cars in the last few years I gave the seller a personal check and came back in a week to pick up the car. No PPI, just a handshake and a picture of a title.

But if you say wanting to take a two mile drive in a car that isn't very under inflated is bitching, you must be right. I drove it less than a mile, that's how unimpressed I was (and when I told the manager it didn't feel right he inferred it was me, that's when I brought up the Porsche connection. I wasn't some old guy in an econobox looking for a midlife crisis car. Had a dozen of those already), and I read the reviews so I had an idea what to expect, and crisp was not in this cars vocabulary.

I you drove this car as part of your job, this tread would not have been started since the model would have died before it hit the shores, and no enthusiast would have spent the last few years pining over one. A year later I decided to replace the Astra and I bought a local used 128i with three pedals. I spoke to the seller about fifteen minutes on the phone, went to his house with my wife (she approved the color and condition), and consummated the deal within an hour. Picked it up the next night. Now that's bitchin!

Life is too short to teach the salesman about what he is selling. If they don't know what they are selling, I don't have confidence they know how to service it. Thanks for your constructive criticism.

Noahs944

Tom R,

Car salesmen come & go. You get all types.
Sounds like you were dealing with someone who doesn't know squat compared to you about sportscars. I wouldn't trust the service dept either based on that experience... mind you, it was probably not PDI'd yet...

Obviously you know what you want. You were ready to buy if you liked the car. In order to determine it's charector you need to drive the thing. It's not a fair comparison, nor does it do the vehicle justice to drive and judge it with low pressure.

I totally agree with you.

Noahs944

[QUOTE=RJ80;14400443
I drove a BRZ daily for the better part of a year when they first came out. Loved the car and preferred the way the suspension was set up on the Subie vs the Scion (now Toyota).

I drive new cars for a living and the cars I own are just weekend toys, but if I needed to buy a daily driver, I'm 95% sure it would be an off-lease BRZ.[/QUOTE]

What is the difference in the suspension set ups?
I noticed the Toyota needs more steering input as it has less oversteer than my 944. Or the steering ratio is different. -Again, we had very little time in the car.

Off lease? Neat idea, how do you recommend doing that?

Scott at Team Harco

Really? It is clear from Tom's comments, these clowns didn't know their product and did nothing to inspire confidence. Telling the customer it must be him - not the car - that is the problem, is a clear path to; no sale.

Maybe Toyotas sell themselves because there are so many clueless individuals looking for the most mind-numbing, boring means of getting from point A to point B.

The way I read this - it was the dealership with the attitude. But then, I suppose Tom is just making the whole thing up.

Yep - I'm an *** too. I know what I want when I shop for a vehicle. My tolerance for BS is very low. We do seem to agree on one thing - life is too short.

V2Rocket

RJ80

Tom R, apologies as my post was worded a little too strongly on reflection.

I guess my point was, most of what these guys sell are Camrys, as you allude to, and other "appliances." If you start going on about tire pressures from the seat of your pants and that you race Porsches, etc, you're going to get eye rolls from sales people at a Toyota dealer.

Agree they salespeople should know about the cars they sell, but truth is, half these guys could have been selling real appliances (like washing machines) a few weeks before. Standards for new car salesmen are pretty low. Shouldn't be that way, but it is.

Tom R.

All is good. I can be pretty harsh in person (and here too), but I know I wasn't this day. I didn't talk about the Porsche until the manager tried telling me it was me.

If my daughter (the kid in the avatar gets her permit in six months. Oy!) gets to use the 128 I may test a toyotbaru again. I like them, just not in orange. Then again, if the 944S needs a clutch, and she helps me install it, I may treat it to a quick spray and let her have/drive a shiny red 944S with some fun mods when she hits sixteen.

944 Lachlan

I remember when these first came out. I was a Subaru guy, and I was excited to see their low-COG flat four (or a variant thereof) mated to RWD in a light chassis. I'd be all over one if I could afford another play car. But there are so many good, cheap, light-weight FRs from the '70s and '80s, its hard to justify spending that much on something new.

odurandina

Sledgehammer now w/ 35k miles, 6 completed transcon drives and never happier.

drive a humane car that can take you on a spirited drive.

these ain't it.

that is all.

Scott at Team Harco

Thank you, once again, for your enlightened perspective.

That is all? No one believes that for a second. You will pop up where you are least needed at any given time.