Wipeout

Don't go for the turbo yet. Not so much "too much car," but for financial reasons...save the money for now - put a few hundred/whatever in your savings account each month and when you graduate, snap one up.

pozican

x2 to that!

I'm 19, I bought my 87 944 at early 17. All I could think of was this is a great car [...] but I wish it was a turbo.
I had the car for a year, worked out small bugs, then found a deal on the turbo.

So far here's what's happened to the turbo.
Blown CV (left me stranded 4 blocks away from my house, could have been worse)
Blown Heater Control Valve (embarressing, done in a rich city, stranded 30 miles away)
Blown Head Gasket (yay, great fun)
Blown Transmission (Ugh, I actually broke the carrier)
Blown KLR (Don't want to talk about it)
Massive vacuum leaks
Sunroof gasket (Holy **** expensive)
Power steering leaks
Sunroof still doesn't work
Gotten 2 tickets, one deferred, one lawyered up and off my record,and ALMOST a reckless (cop didn't turn it in?)
I'm just barely getting by $ wise upkeeping both the NA, and the turbo, and keeping the girlfriend happy

I'd do it all again in a heartbeat.
I've poured lots of money into that car, got a great deal on it (even though the interior is torn up), fixed plenty, but learned a lot!

I love my turbo. And it is too much car, but that's part of the reason I love it.

-poz

Just a random off-topic question, who all bought their 951's under 21?

V2Rocket

If you've got the wallet and are willing to claim ownership of your double-set of danglers and take responsibility, then by all means get a 951. Hell, the van in my driveway makes more HP than a stock turbo. These cars are hella fun if you get the chance to stretch its legs once in a while. Just don't go rocketing around after every stoplight, and be ready when things start to break.

Mighty Shilling

I dunno. I had difficulty makin ends meet in college... I worked part time, and through gas, social activities, etc. etc., there was no way a car payment would work. now I have a full time job that pays well, and I have at least 2 times my car payment put in savings every month. I have my car payment pulled directly from that account. therefore, I never actually GET the money, so I never have the urge to spend it... yet everything is paid on time.

IMHO, wait. it'll make it much better knowing you're not stretching yourself to keep the car happy. for example, a good friend, cosigned on her boyfriend's car. he opted for a $600.00/month car payment... lost his job a month later... she's working 2 jobs, and going to school full time to support the car so her credit isn't thrown in the ****ter, and she doesn't even drive the car...

Granted that's a different situation, but keep yourself financially happy, and get the car when you can reasonably do so.

MM951

I'm 19 with an n/a and a 951 (not running at the moment). I'm scraping by $ wise at the moment..school + cars will have that.

The N/A is a GREAT car and has only cost me about $1,100 and it looks and drives great...If your n/a is reliable (knock on wood) and paid off keep it.

If you find a 951 and can afford it go for it but if your scraping by as it is I'd say wait. I wish I didn't waste soo much time working on the car and then the rest of the time was working to pay for the parts to work on the car.

TRWright

What? You want a turbo? You'll shoot your eye out, kid!

iloveporsches

The worst thing you can is to load yourself with debt when you are young.

Mighty Shilling

+1. I had a couple friends $40,000.00 in debt right outa college, not including their student loans... sucks for them... I got out debt free...

porcho heat

I was in the same boat, I wanted a turbo since I was 17 (When i bought the n/a)

I saved up for it... and saved up a whole bunch of repairs money... then I bought a house at 19.

Now the house is making me money, theres no 951, but there is a 968 powered 944 which is still great.

Make a good investment, don't let your car make you broke... but if you can afford it with money to spare, enjoy your life.

jabbadeznuts

I bought my '88 N/A when I was 17 for $3500 with no help from my parents or otherwise. I never really had that many problems except for a broken A/C compressor/alternator belt tensioner and a blown clutch. Drove it for two years in high school and then took it cross-country to Oregon for a year and then took it back to Atlanta.



At this point, it's a track car. I ended up getting a 4Runner last year and haven't had any regrets. This year, I bought a motorcycle. More fun than any car and soooo much easier to work on.



In short, save your money on the turbo. Be happy with what you've got now and if you really want one, wait until you get out of school and have the finances to make it happen.

jabbadeznuts

HA! Student loans alone will be on the order of $130,000 for me.

Dan Shea

I'm 22 now and I'll tell you what everyone told me when I wanted to move up. Keep the money and use it to make the most important part of the car faster... the driver. Save the extra grand a turbo is going to cost you and flog your N/A at a DE. Trust me on the track the N/A will be more than enough to handle. Plus there is no getter joy than when my 20 year old car, that is 147hp, is blowing past the $60k vettes, 911's, and such. Sure it won't satisfy you craving for the turbo rush, but it will divert it to something else, and it will make you appreciate the turbo that much more.

Porschefile

The 951 too much car to handle? Hahahaha! Whoever thinks that about a stock or bolt-on 951 needs to stick to driving FWD econo cars. Once you drive a 951 or any 200+hp car, you'll realize the n/a 944's are ungodly slow! Yes, you can still have plenty of fun with them as they are nicely balanced chassis' and give good feedback, however that ultimately doesn't make up for the lack of power to some people. It's all about driver control. A 951 is docile enough to be perfectly safe as long as you aren't over zealous in the wrong situation. All it takes is some common sense and a healthy respect for reality. Unfortunately more inexperienced drivers might be too tempted to just floor the gas pedal and go faster than they are capable of handling as well as ignoring their surroundings which is probably how lots of accidents happen in sports cars. It's all common sense.

Chwatson, I personally would recommend waiting for a few years to buy a 951 unless you happen to come across an excellent deal. It sounds like you have a pretty nice n/a 944 so I'd just stick with it for now until you're done with college or can afford it easier in the future. 951's can be maintained on a low budget relatively inexpensively, however you have to be very careful to find a good one. Just speaking generally here but, on a college budget IMO that's a bit of a risk and would probably put the average individual much more on the edge of their financial ability.

pozican

I suppose we are in a different boat.

I bought my NA during HS, while I worked for my school district in IT, then from hs I went straight to another IT job for a very large research facility, get paid pretty well, and the only college classes I will take is for the CCIE I want to get eventually (key word).

College isn't something I'm really having to pay for.
A lot of people think this is the wrong decision, but I have yet to see one of the people telling me it's a bad one to have actually been in a situation similar.

Yummybud924

I wouldn't get a 951 unless you can afford to buy one in mint condition and have a garage, tools, and ability to fix most things yourself or else you will need a full time job just to drive the car.

how will you be able to afford, maintenance, gas, insurance, parking etc while going to schoo? I don't knwo about you but I'm pretty busy and cant't work more than 16-20 hours week and I won't make enough to pay for insurance, gas and do repairs when they come up.

the 944na is already a expensive car to maintain for a student. I always think about selling it and getting some econobox while going to school, then just get the car you want when you get out.