Finding a cheaper 944 S or Turbo...
03-27-2006, 07:50 AM
#16
Burning Brakes
Hey man, I bought an 82k mile 944S with a big dent in one of the doors and needing a belt change for 2500 bucks. I spent about 500 in parts (belts, front seals, cam tensioner pads) and it was running great. Then again I did all the maintainance myself (probably almost 2k saved in labor) and the car wasn't a daily driver.
I would advise against a DSM. They are all getting older and are basically rolling scrap heaps (lol, lets get ready to see some fireworks from DSM owners). Everyone I know that has a DSM, enthusiast or not, has problems ranging from failing cabin electronics galore to lock cylinders to crank walk and blown head gaskets. They are cool because they are quick and can be made super quick with very little modification, however they just arn't too well built, particularly if you can't service the nickle-and-dime stuff yourself.
That said, a cheap Porsche probably still isn't a great idea. My first car was a saab 9000 turbo and I've had a bunch of subsequent saabs. They are cool. What's even cooler is the BMW E30 chassis, aka the 3 series. Get yourself a late 80's or early 90's one, in the "iS" or "iX" trim, and preferrably with the 2.5-liter engine (some die-hards like the late 318is because it is similar to the M3 in some ways). They are cheap to put some decent suspension on and they are all over in junkyards, so parts are everywhere. Plus they just look cool and go pretty quick, quicker than a ratty-*** early 80's 944 that is going to cost you a bunch of money to make as nice as a comparably priced 3-series of respective era.
I would advise against an 80's supra turbo, or any japanese turbo car from the 80's at this point. Cars from 1986 are getting collector's plates this year, that means that Japanese cars notorious for corrosion that have been cheap for awhile (meaning mostly owned by people who don't dump ridiculous sums of money into them because the early to mid 90's jap turbo cars are way more desirable, whereas 951's and the such don't have a 90's porsche equivalent- and are porsches). Don't get me wrong, a 323 GTX or RX-7 turbo II (notice both these cars are Mazdas) something would be a blast, but I'd hope you know how to do a little body patching and mechanical work (replacing the engine is pretty much on the service schedule of the latter at a 60-80k mile interval).
It's really late at night and I lost at poker, so typing a whole bunch of trivial stuff seems like a good idea...hope it helps a little.
I would advise against a DSM. They are all getting older and are basically rolling scrap heaps (lol, lets get ready to see some fireworks from DSM owners). Everyone I know that has a DSM, enthusiast or not, has problems ranging from failing cabin electronics galore to lock cylinders to crank walk and blown head gaskets. They are cool because they are quick and can be made super quick with very little modification, however they just arn't too well built, particularly if you can't service the nickle-and-dime stuff yourself.
That said, a cheap Porsche probably still isn't a great idea. My first car was a saab 9000 turbo and I've had a bunch of subsequent saabs. They are cool. What's even cooler is the BMW E30 chassis, aka the 3 series. Get yourself a late 80's or early 90's one, in the "iS" or "iX" trim, and preferrably with the 2.5-liter engine (some die-hards like the late 318is because it is similar to the M3 in some ways). They are cheap to put some decent suspension on and they are all over in junkyards, so parts are everywhere. Plus they just look cool and go pretty quick, quicker than a ratty-*** early 80's 944 that is going to cost you a bunch of money to make as nice as a comparably priced 3-series of respective era.
I would advise against an 80's supra turbo, or any japanese turbo car from the 80's at this point. Cars from 1986 are getting collector's plates this year, that means that Japanese cars notorious for corrosion that have been cheap for awhile (meaning mostly owned by people who don't dump ridiculous sums of money into them because the early to mid 90's jap turbo cars are way more desirable, whereas 951's and the such don't have a 90's porsche equivalent- and are porsches). Don't get me wrong, a 323 GTX or RX-7 turbo II (notice both these cars are Mazdas) something would be a blast, but I'd hope you know how to do a little body patching and mechanical work (replacing the engine is pretty much on the service schedule of the latter at a 60-80k mile interval).
It's really late at night and I lost at poker, so typing a whole bunch of trivial stuff seems like a good idea...hope it helps a little.
03-27-2006, 09:03 AM
#17
Rennlist Member
get an n/a-- you could probl. afford to maintain it if you can wrench, and if you make improvements, someday when you can afford it you can always sell the n/a, youll be aclimated to how these cars work, and then you can get a turbo or an s2. They are plenty fast stock even though some would disagree and are very fun if you get into the Porsche Club PCA in your area and start autoxing it.