This is what it looked like for almost a year after I bought it

And yes thats sheep skin in there, its all gone now.
Now I think the sunroof looks even worse, as a result of a rattle can job gone horribly wrong

 

A 944 engine can still run OKish if the timing is off by one tooth (in most cases). In some cases it can even run if it's 2 teeth off, but it would run ROUGH.

The sway bar bushings are a breeze. Even the rest of the suspension stuff shouldn't cause you too much trouble. I can't remember when they changed it, but somewhere along the way the 944 went from steel control arms (good) to aluminum (bad). The steel ones are dirt cheap and easy to repair/rebuild. If I had to guess I'd say they made the change in '87, so I think this 85.5 would have the good steel arms.

I don't know how you like to drive, but if you want to ever drift this car, first consider that changing the clutch is a royal PITA for a 944. A friend of a friend used to drift an early 944, and he said it was fun and an easy car to drift, but he ultimately got rid of the car because the clutch was too hard to change (and drifting a lot will destroy a clutch).

 

Makes ya wonder about how much the seller knows about his car (or about this honest ) when he lists his '85 normally aspirated car as a turbo.

(unless he put on an aftemarket turbo or converted it....)

Aside from the front end being different, the factory 951 came out as an '86.
Since you ran a Carfax, you have the VIN - on a turbo, positions 7-8 will be "94", on a turbo it will be "95"

Reminds me of a salesman a long time ago... we walked up to a SVO mustang with "turbo" stickers on it, popped open the hood, looking at the turbo engine. I said, "How's the turbo?"
He says, "this doesn't have a turbo; I don't think they make turbo 4 cylinder cars"

 

Well I just got back from looking at the car.......quite a disappointment.

The interior is pretty ratty.....empty spot in low center console (radio bay, I assume), A/C faceplate is torn up, some trim is broken, corners of pieces are broken, etc. I didn't see any obvious signs of leak damage, but it looks like the front edge of the hatch glass has completely separated from the rubber trim seal. Carpet and interior pieces aft of the rear seats are missing. I did notice the spare tire and jack are still there. Also no noticeable rust down there (but I guess that's pretty much the norm on these cars). I think actually the front seats are good (though I was a bit overwhelmed with the condition of the rest of the interior to pay much attention to them, hah). Couple of minor dents on the left front and rear corners of the body including the aft section of the left rear fender.

It's definitely a N/A, though the guy still seems to be fairly certain it's a turbo (I have to assume this is based purely on preconceived notions of 944's, as the car has no turbo badging, a N/A front end, and absolutely no evidence of a turbo or its associated fittings under the hood). I'm also pretty sure the valves are hitting. We turned the engine over a few times.....really sounded like something knocking around in there. Too bad, he said when he had the top end apart it looked like it had been done recently (fresh seals etc) and the car was running fine.

I'm curious about something on the front sway bar.....I noticed on the passenger side, there was part of an old bushing hanging on (ahead of the two main attachment points, which were intact). On the driver side at this point, a thin metal tab came down out of the engine compartment and attached to the corner of the sway bar. What's this for? The tab doesn't look stout enough to be of any structural significance. Anyway, the passenger side tab was completely missing.

Apparently the car belongs to his mom, she bought it a few months ago (for $1,700) and didn't want to put any more money into it to correct the oil/coolant problem, so she had him work on it. He's pretty sure she won't go any lower on the price.

A clear case of sports car abuse.

 

yeah, those valves are bent, i speak from experience...

i can still hear the sounds in my sleep

 

Btw, just wanted to add a quick thank you for all you folks who gave me advice. GREAT tips, it certainly helped me go into the "inspection" better informed (and will be beneficial if I happen to come across another possible 944 purchase).

I gotta say I really digged the 944 in general (despite the poor condition of this particular example), first time I've had a chance to crawl around one. Really classy and high quality, plus cool exotic looks.....I can only imagine how they must be to drive, after what I've heard about them.