Yeah I'm not sure what some of these people are talking about. At least here, in the Chicago market, $5k or less will buy you a rat - Turbo, N/A, or otherwise. I know... I spent a LONG time looking for mine. $9k might be a *little* high... I'd say more like $7k if the car is clean.

Now that being said - there are some expectations that come along with the $7k price. Full (or at least decent) service history. All typical maintenance items are done (belts, etc.) and done recently. I'm not sure on the 16v cars, but on the 8v cars, the interval is "every 3 years or 30k". So if the belts were done "just 20k ago" or "2 years ago" realize that it's almost due again.

It shouldn't NEED anything (like a clutch, or brakes), doesn't leak, runs smooth, no issues. Paint should be in good shape... shiny, smooth, no major scratches, dings or dents. Interior should be in good shape - no rips or tears in the seats, carpet is clean, etc. Dash may or may not have cracks in it (it's very hard, even in mint cars nowadays, to find a crack-free dash.) No rust, or at the maximum, very little. These cars generally don't rust unless they were involved in a collision and improperly repaired.

 

Too much, you can pick up a decent 968 for that!

 

decent is one thing,but a mint 1 or 2 owner low mileage car with all services done is a different car.
I will always overpay for the mint example.I am not saying this is the condition of the car that the OP is looking at,but if it is,it may be worth the money to someone.
I am not satisfied with anything other than near perfect paint and interior and I don't want a high mileage car.For me to spend $5-6000 on a decent car and then have to repaint it,put a clutch in and brakes and ...well you get the idea.I could never come out on a bargain priced 944 and be satisfied.Keep in mind though,I can't do paint and major work myself,so it would be way too cost prohibitive for me.
I "overpaid" a few years ago and could not be happier.I have not had to put $0 in the car besides oil changes .The previous owner had just done a front to back refresh which included clutch,timing belt,water pump,new torque tube,brakes,rotors,brake lines etc and the bills totaled $10,000.The car has about 51000 miles on it now and rund great.
My point is that not all people are looking for just a cheap decent car and are willing to "overpay" for the right car.

 

Exemple of a well taken good care off car for sale on Pelican: 87-951/ 80,290k/asking 10,900 all records up to date plus many goodies personaly think price is fair don't know about you guys but I will personnaly buy this car even if the price is a little higth .Asking the question will you guys buy it .

 

If I were in the market something like this, at least at first glance, would be high on my list to look at.

 

to all you twin cam owners
you MUST FIX THIS AS SOON AS YOU GET THE CAR

http://www.944online.com/cgi-bin/for...num=1209471555

I can not tell you the number of cars we have saved because

hope this helps
ian@944online.com

 

I'd check for any clutch work. I'd hate to buy a relatively low mileage example, at a market high price, and then have the rubber center clutch fail soon thereafter. Clutch job (at a shop) will be a $1500-2K bill which makes the car posted by the OP, worth no more than mayb $7K.

also, imho, unless you are always driving OVER 4500 rpm, you may never notice the hp of the 2.5 16V. Its 188hp came all very high in the RPM range compared to its 8V brother.

 

Ian, I wondered if this would lure you in! Thanks for the cam way back then, by the way!

 

I have owned a couple 944's and that price seems a little high unless the car is in pristine condition inside and out. The car would also need to have a spotless service history and pass a PPI with flying colors.
Good luck in your search.

 

I also just noticed - it looks like the car is sitting at a used car lot. Is that correct?

Every 944 I looked at that was at a used car lot was WAY overpriced. You get the greasy sales guy who saw "Porsche" written on it and set the price accordingly. Me personally, I'm afraid of buying a car like this off of a lot instead of an individual owner. History is sooo important with these cars. If you buy it off of a lot, realize that in order to be safe, you should just plan to do all the regular maintenance NOW (unless the car happens to come with a full service history, which usually used car lot cars don't.)

I walked away from a REALLY clean '86 944 Turbo because it was sitting at a Chevy dealership. I just didn't trust it. It sure LOOKED like it was babied but it had ZERO service history. These cars can get expensive in a hurry if they break. I didn't want the risk.

 

What Ian said about the cam tensioner. That's a must do if there's no record. It's an if not when it will break sort of a thing. Get 'er done.