As far as all the comments about owning a 944 while in college my experiance was to the contrary. (I never had any problems) I kept my car at school in the fall and then took it home during thanksgiving (left it in the garage at home during the harsh winters in Ithaca NY) Then brought it back to school after spring break.

I even kept it covered with a lock that held the cover in place (it stuck out like a sore thumb). I always parked it in a well lit area and near my building so I could see it from my front door or window and it was fine. The only incident I had was the cover was stolen once (I think but it might have just blown away except that my cover was tied down and locked to the car). I never had any bad issues but maybe I was just lucky.

I never even had any issuesm as far a reliability with it except for a blinker relay going bad. (led to a funny encounter at the local VW dealer becuase the 1980s Jetta used the same relay). As Long as a 944 is well sorted out and kept to date on maintenece it is a pritty reliable car. Just be aware that maintenence can be costly at times. Also though my car is a low miles car 55,000 miles currently. It had about 40,000 3 years ago when i graduated college.

And good luck with your search and in college.

 

The car is not the right car for you. Owning a Porsche, especially a 22 year old Porsche requires patience, and the ability to read, and digest what you read.

It is clear to me that you did not bother to click on the links I provided, and if you did, you didnt have the patience to read at least 62 of the posts. If I was interested in the car, and somene linked me to the history of said car I would read at least 62 posts in each thread. i would also search for every thread the seller and buyer posted to learn more and see more pictures, etc.

I dont think you have the patience to take care of a car that needs preventative maintenance. You were spoon fed everything you could want to know about the car yet you refused to try and digest it.

Good luck in your search. If my brother decides to sell the gray S2 i sold him a few years back, I will figure out a way to buy it and get it out west before it falls into the hands of someone that doesnt understand that one doesnt own a porsche, one maintains a porsche for the next owner.

 

What do you mean, I looked through those links and saw that Pete sold it to Russian Rocket. I know that it would take a lot of caring for but it looks like it has had plenty of maintenance done to it recently and looks to be in really good shape. So it looks like the only real maintenance that needs to be done on my end is keeping the timing belt and the water pump in check. Also I do plan on keeping my mustang especially for winters.

 

Then contact Vlad and find out more if you want. We cant stamp the car OK from here, you have to make that decision. You got more of a history of that car than just about any other porsche sold on ebay in the last few years. you know what pete wanted for the car a few years ago, know how many miles vlad put on it unless he set the clock back and now have to decide if a S2 is the right car for you.

 

Alright, well thanks for the advice. If I were really impatient i wouldn't be here asking about it though

 

Tom,
thanks for summing up exactly how I feel about some potential 944 buyers that call and email me. Overall, selling my S2 is proving to be a disastrous experience, courtesy of flaky, impatient and impulsive buyers that managed to waste over 10 hours of my time already.

Tifo,
the car does still looks and drives like the day i bought it and drove it home from Ohio. How are you doing yourself? I have tried to reach Pete but both of his emails do not work.

My fiancee recently landed a competitive residency in NYC so i have to move there for 4-5 years. However, she promised to buy me any 944 S2 I want the day she opens her private practice so I couldn't say no I'm even keeping my Porsche key chain, its so cute to be a trophy husband.
I owned this car while I was in college, hence the reason i put 5K miles on it in 4 years. This car is too nice to be parked on a large university campus, however, it can be done. At that time this was my largest investment so I protected it the best way i could. It always sat at my parents house, and my dad put most of the miles on it

 

I have seen this car in person (and had the pleasure to drive it) and all i can say is its nothing short of one of the cleanest i have ever seen.

Hell if i didnt need an SUV for work i would love this as a daily driver.

Good to see you around also Vlad.

 

Vlad,
those potential buyers sound like me when i bought my M3. when i call about a car if the call ends within five minutes it is because i dont want the car. i was on the phone with the seller for close to a half hour. i was taking notes, and trying to find a hole in his story when he asked me if i was serious about the car.

i told him if i wasnt serious i wouldnt have spent this much time on the phone (he didnt know i wasnt planning on buying for about a month) when i asked about the clutch. he told me again that he bought the car when it was 3 years old with 90k on it. then he told me he knew nothing about the clutch because he never touched it. that's when i decided the car was going to be mine. i checked it out a few weeks later, and bought it without a PPI because with 181k it drove and handled better than one with 77k i tested at the fancy schmancy bmw dealer.

you should get a feel for the buyer within about ten minutes. lay out your story, let him ask a few questions, then invite him over to see the car. if it keeps going, and going and it seems like they dont know what they are asking about send them to the FAQ site.

 

Tom,
Believe it or not, I do exactly what you have mentioned and spend over 30 minutes on the phone, people come and drive the car, love it but when it comes time to pay everyone vaporizes into the 4th dimension. Over the past 5 years I sold 7-8 cars and I never experienced anything like this. And the worst part is that no one has anything negative to say, which is what truly boggles me.
One guy actually paid for PPI which came back nearly perfect and then i get an email stating that he lost his job.
A month ago I sold my 02 Maxima 6-speed to the first person who came to see it. I had $6300 in my hand within 24 hours and the car was out of my driveway. Price was over KBB but car was solid and person was 100% serious and ready with cash in hand.
It seems that just like the car, 944 buyers are offbeat individuals who usually have more desire than funds.
Vlad.

 

The biggest problem I'm having is that my dad doesn't trust the car because of the mileage and he can't see it in person which does make complete sense. If only we didn't live so far away, we could take a look at it.

 

had the same with my 90 S2 and my 89 951 with 51k. a few days after a guy flew in and drove home with the car i get a call from someone five miles away.

 

It's not so much the mileage on these cars that makes the difference, it's the service history. There are a lot of undermaintained heaps with less miles on it than this one, unfortunately. OTOH, there are also well looked after examples that are going strong with twice the miles.

But while the S2s aren't as maintenance intensive as the turbos, they still require a minimum level of expenditure to keep in good shape, even if you get one that has been well maintained. Many 944 owners on a tight budget start off with a reasonable car but let things slide to the point where they end up with a rolling heap of junk after a few years. That's a pity. The trap is that the entry cost of ownership is almost zero, so that virtually any high school kid or college kid can _buy_ a 944, but, as has been discussed, few can afford to (properly) maintain one.

You might be lucky with an S2 though. Mine was well maintained when I bought it a few years ago, and was relatively light on repair and maintenance bills for the first few years. The last couple of years has been the time to pay the piper though, with alot of the typical issues like power steering repairs, aircon, clutch, belt jobs etc. all coming due. I couldn't have afforded to keep the car if I was still at school. And I would have been in real mess if I was relying on it for my daily driver.

My advice (meant in the kindest possible way) is to get a well-maintained Honda. They just go and go and keep going with very little complaint. If something does need fixing, relatively easy and cheap to fix. At least in my experience.

 

Jon,
Thanks for the kind words. I frequent LI since my women lives in Stony Brook. How far are you from there? Maybe we should grab a few brews in John Harvards @ Stony Brook next time I head over there. I'll probably drive my S2 there next week.

 

Vlad is a good guy and that car drives well. Even though I'm new to 944s, he let me take it out and drive it. He only winced once....it shifts well and feels good, and it's upgraded and well-maintained. You've got a handful of people, you can tell your dad, on Rennlist telling you that the seller is a decent person and the car is good.

That said, for all the reasons above, get a cheap Japanese car.

 

I believe Mark is giving you a real solid piece of advice here but if you absolutly want to buy a 944S2 you & your Dad should trust peoples on this site when there are saying the car is worth buying after all this is what this forum is about steering peoples & new so be Porsche owners in the rigth direction either fixing their cars or buying one, as you can see this S2 is well known -well maintain -& even thougth a littlt higth miliage you know excatly what your getting.But once again read carefully what Mark is trying to tell you.