eandress

I'm interested in buying a 944 in the 87-91 range but I can tell owning a Porsche is a lot different from owning a a civic. I'm basically coming here looking for advice on do's and don't's when it comes to keeping the value of the car to people who collect them. I'm a younger kid so i personally don't care much about correct color codes or factory parts but obviously moving into owning a Porsche i wont be changing anything from stock due to the fact that it will ruin the car to collectors which essentially screws me for selling it when the time comes. If anybody would be willing to give me advice i'm all ears.

tempest411

Take your time and for the love of God, stay away from Uro and Hamburg Technic parts!

eandress

noted. I'm not getting one until i actually can do some more research about them don't wanna jump into it and be screwed. my main concern is just with paint color and parts, im assuming its the best to just go oem everything, or would it be acceptable to do something as far as building is then return to everything oem.

951Dreams

This is a super common question, there are many resources out there. Just Goggle "944 buying guide" or the like. You wouldn't even have to got back but a few pages on here to find a thread about it.

However, your approach is a bit different. My first question would be: Will this be your only car? If so, throw all those value thoughts out the window for now. In fact, throw any 30 year old car out the window, and get a 10 year old civic, Then buy a 944 as a "Toy" or a fun project later.

If you already have a Daily Driver, and this would be your "Toy", and you care about value and collectability, the number one thing is documented service history. FROM DAY ONE is best. Next is the original paperwork. Window sticker, dealership paperwork, etc. To the collectors, this is the first thing they will ask about. The original tool bag, air compressor, alarm key, things like that are big +++'s. Next is odd colors/options. The more rare a Porsche is, the more it's desired. If it's a common color, look for lots of options. Often well optioned cars will have them in package codes. Normally they will start with a letter in the options tag. I* or M* are good. It means it had enough options they couldn't fit them all on the tag, so they roll them up in a special "package" code. The M ones are pretty well known, the I ones are just guesses. You really need the original window sticker to figure it out most of the time. Even Porsche doesn't often know what they meant it seems.

Then the next best thing is original, original, original!!! Original paint, original engine (no mods), original wheels, interior, etc. An unrestored original car is worth more than a restore. The more it's like it was as it rolled out of the showroom the better. The collectors can tell.

But unless you've got much more money than sense, you'll be hard pressed to find one of those rare, well optioned, rare colored, original cars. I answered your question as best I could, but my advice is don't worry too much about value, or resell. Find one you like and drive it and enjoy it. If you want to collect them the enjoyment is in shows and PCA events, not in the driving. I find the driving is more enjoyable when your young. You can still go to shows and events with a DD 944. I do. And it gets a lot of attention.

But you may be into shows and the like. So your mileage may vary.

My .02 cents.

eandress

This is super helpful, the main reason of posting on here is to get an idea of what the collectors look for because my concern is trying not to "destroy" a gem basically. I am a young kid and im aware i have things that i have yet to learn with cars, i've really just been in the honda scene but they're everywhere and i love the way porsches look, they just stand out no matter how old/new or what model they just have a certain elegance about them. Plus it will be a project car but i dont wanna go too crazy i feel weird thinking about doing anything to it just because i feel like preserving the oem stuff is more important than just making it fast, which im way more than okay keeping it stock and having a cool weekend driver/car meet kind of car. Overall its just a little weird and overwhelming thinking about buying one because there are people looking at this stuff as a dream car kinda thing and to me its more of a car that ive only ever seen a few times in person that was designed beautifully.

951Dreams

I agree, that ageless style, and childhood dreams, is what brought me to owning two of them. My plan is to keep it mostly stock. My only non Porsche upgrades are a Lindsey boost enhancer (that can be removed in 5 mins) and a short shift kit. The kit replaces a lot of worn components that need replacing after 30 years anyway. And 99% of enthusiast wouldn't ding the value for that. In fact it increased the value for me.

The MO30 sways I have are a toss up. They came on later cars, so it's not exactly non-stock. For me it's also a value adder. Most would agree. Only in concurs does it become an issue.

Porsche people are funny. Generally any upgrades to suspension are value adders (better parts, not modifications). But doing the same to the engine will often hurt the value. Most won't see upgraded springs, sways, and shocks as a bad thing. But chips, mafs, bigger turbos, aftermarket waste Gates, etc only add value to the right buyer.

You seem to belong to the MrGreenJeans school of Porsche ownership. It's refreshing to see in a younger person. There are lots of guys here, especially the 951 guys, who like to mod however. Drivers, racers, and collectors all have different things they look for. The true value is based on who's looking to buy. But in most cases the collectors are the ones paying top dollar. Not that a 600hp Porsche won't bring a pretty penny also. It all about finding the right buyer.

Personally, I'm a fan of preserving all the road cars out there. The race cars are for modding. But that's just me.

harveyf

If you want a quick lesson in 944 values, go to www.bringatrailer.com and use their search tool for Porsche 944 auctions. You'll get a feel for pricing. As an example, one recently sold for $41,000. It had 695 miles and was a true "time capsule". It would be the very definition of a collectable Porsche 944. Although this is a lot of money, as you will see, you can still buy very nice cars in the $10,000 to $20,000 range. They probably aren't collector grade cars but should put a smile on your face without having to deal with a lot of deferred maintenance. Deferred maintenance can easily add thousands of dollars to the true cost of a car so I would probably avoid the $5000 Craigslist cars unless you really enjoy working on them! The buyers guides will give you insight into what types of maintenance are important and help you ask the right questions when considering a purchase.

Have fun. Keep us posted.

V2Rocket

Purely my opinion, but anyone who buys a car like this worried about selling it down the road is missing the point, and a fool.

Cars are not good investments, generally, especially not "run of the mill" 944s.

If you picked up a rare color combo, or some super low mileage example it'd be a different story, but you aren't looking for one of those.

The numbers people throw out vary but any N/A 944 is a $5000 car - whether you buy it for $1000 and dump $4k to fix it up, or buy a clean one for $4500 and just need to refresh some stuff.

SloMo228

I'll second that - there were a LOT of standard 8-valve NA 944s produced, at least when you're talking about a fairly niche car. And they hold up quite well against age and the elements, so even most of the neglected ones can be revived relatively easily (compared to a lot of other older cars).

If you want one that will be valuable, you need to find an absolute GEM of a car. All documentation, low miles, original everything, perfect condition. An "average" 944 isn't likely to lose a lot of value, since it's basically already at the bottom of the depreciation curve, but I don't think there's going to be much gain, either, except for the special models (Turbo, S2, and to a far lesser extent, S and maybe the 2.7NA) and the very few that are still pristine.

My point is that if you want it to be an investment, you should probably skip the 8V NA. On the flip side, if you want a project, you're not going to be committing some great crime by modifying a 944 unless it's really collector-grade. They're really not hard to work on, either, especially compared to modern cars.

mrgreenjeans

Resist the urge to modify with glowstix and a huge coffee can for a muffler and you'll not miss the mark by too far ......

jm2c

Best wishes on finding the BEST 944 within the budget you are allowing yourself. They are truly GREAT sports cars. The higher the value equates commensurately with the lower the miles and the greater the care by it's previous owner. The BEST cars demand the BEST money and deserve it.

5,000 dollar cars do not fit in this category and most likely never will. If you ever have opportunity to closely inspect a 40,000 dollar 944, or even a 20,000 dollar car, you are going to note a huge difference in quality, rubber flexibility, fit and finish, and interior quality. There won't be any split seams in the leather or cracked dashes. A perfect regimen of documentation on it's care and keeping will be present. 5,000 dollar 944s are pretty much everywhere and will have 100,000 miles or more on them. A 20,000 or 40,000 dollar car won't have any where near that and every bit of it will be like it came from the factory in Neckarsulm 30-35 years ago. It will be almost jewel like in appearance and have every piece of equipment it was born with. The more options the better..... and the rarer those options are, the better.


Best wishes and I hope this all helps

eandress

Thanks to everyone who has answered and gave a word of advice, my thing with the selling value is that i didn't want to take a car that had the rare color or packages and ruin them unintentionally. I personally wouldn't care if i came out and sold it for a quarter of what i bought it for just as long as i enjoy the car which i'm sure i will. It was just since I don't know the ins and outs i want advice on basically what not to do when you own a porsche. It seems like to find something that would be a gem would obviously cost a lot of money which i don't plan on going anything over like $10,000 or $15,000 for now cause like i said i'm young and have a tighter budget. So i'm not as worried about it but still i feel as if its rolling history and it just deserves a certain type of care and respect basically. Overall i'm happy with the information i was given and i will definitely keep the thread updated as much as possible. Once again thank you all so much. Have a great day/night.

jbrob007

No matter your price range you need to get a Pre-Purchase Inspection (PPI) before you commit to buying any 30 year old car... porsche or otherwise. If you know a 944 enthusiast they'll likely inspect the car for you and the price you pay is a beer... maybe pizza too. If you have to hire a mechanic, ensure that they KNOW 944s in and out and know what to look for... Just any mechanic at an "Import" shop is not the guy you're looking for. The price may be around $300 for the inspection, but it'll be the best $300 you've ever spent. This way you'll know exactly what the car's high points are and all of it's NEEDS prior to purchase. The inspection may also be a good bargaining tool to lower the price as it will identify issues (large & small) that will need to be addressed either now (prior to purchase) or later down the road... or you may decide not to buy the car - saving you THOUSANDS. I just bought a very nice N/A automatic (kinda rare, but not a collectable) 944 with very nice paint and exceptional interior, but it needed a lot of deferred maintenance. We did the work ourselves and saved about $5K in labor, but the parts still ran approx $1K... that's cheap compared to a 928's parts, but nothing with a Porsche part # will be "cheap"... ever. Good luck in your search and remember the guys on here can and will answer most if not all of your questions... use their wisdom and have fun buying your toy.

jbrob007

We just did the entire front engine, seals, belts, tensioners, rollers, etc, on my 944 and frankly every parts place I looked at from Pelican to Paragon to RockAuto to PartsGeek listed Uro parts with Porsche Part #s... BTW, a few of the rollers / tensioners we removed were Uro...

What's the scoop on this manufacturer??

Thanks!

SloMo228

It's just cheap crap, no quality whatsoever. I learned my lesson with Üro caster blocks and motor mounts, figured it was worth the gamble because of the high price of OEM items. The caster blocks lasted one summer before the rubber bushing tore apart, and the motor mounts did slightly better, lasting about a year before the idle vibes came back.

Scott at Team Harco

I share the same opinion as Spencer. If you are looking for a collector car - this is not the way to go.

If you are looking for a fun project car to drive, wrench on, enjoy, wrench on, drive some more - then this may be it.

I also echo the sentiment that you need another car to drive when your 944 is getting wrenched on.

Best of luck regardless of what you find.