SOCHRocket

hey-
This past weekend I drove jabbadeznuts 88 944 na, and loved it. So, now i'm looking for a 944 that's similar, but I was wondering which one you guys would reccomend. I've heard something about the 86 and earlier models having some kind of control arm issue. I'm 17 and trying to spend less than 4k, mileage isn't too big of an issue, but something under 200k miles would be good. Also, I live in CT and I'm hoping to find something in the new england/ new york city area.
Thanks

roy_josef

Less than 4K and around 200K miles for a post 86 car maybe more trouble than its worth. Wait a bit, save a bit, and get a car in good shape that you won't hate down the line because you're eating mac and cheese every night to keep it alive. BTW, I do like mac and cheese.

jabbadeznuts

Headley, Keep your eyes open and a good deal will find you. Trust me.

marky522

Hey there is a nice one for sale a mile or two from me and i just drove from CT to MI bout a week ago its only ten hours guy is asking $3500, car looks good and my cousin drove it and said it drove good too, but he didnt ask about maint records though.

Mark

Dave

I've never heard of a control arm issue, the only change was the length and the same ball joint is the weak link for both. Either way, there is not a difference in price usually for an 85.5-86 vs an 87, the 88 and 89 go for a few bucks more due to the extra few HP. OTOH, the early 83-85 have the steel control arms and have serviceable ball joints (argueably the best control arms) and the early interior drags down the price a little (as does the few less hp), at your $$$ range you may want to consider the early cars again.
HP is as follows (since I mentioned the changes above)
83-early 85=143hp
85.5-87=150hp (cam and DME changes)
88=158hp (compression increase)
89=165hp (displacement increase)
Weight went up over the years along with the power so the differences are even smaller than they might appear, FWIH only the 2.7l in the 89's made much difference. I would not worry about the year so much, the common advice is to by the best specimen you can afford and to keep a chunk of cash in reserve as most 15-20 year old cars will need some sort of work. I know what the NYC area market is like, you may have better luck to the north. Good luck and have fun test driving a few!

Dave

I can't stand the stuff, don't even want to smell it, ever since the summer of '83 when I had to eat it every night to pay for car parts!

SOCHRocket

Thanks for all the help guys, I've already figured some repair costs and insurence into the budget so I won't have to worry about eating mac and cheese, although it is good. I really want to do some autocrossing soon; I did a little bit of it a few years ago in my mom's old volvo, but I think a porsche might do a little better
-Mark: thanks for the offer, but it really needs to be within about a 4 hour drive or no deal w/ the folks

Mike