volvoguy

I'm a loyal Volvo owner. The last couple cars I've driven have all been Volvos. They aren't so fast, but they are comfortable and unimaginably reliable. The weather has been getting warm, though, and I've got the itch for a car a bit more sporty than my Volvo. I installed front and rear IPD swaybars on my wagon and turbocharged the 2.3l N/A block with a mitsubishi 15g but it's still a Volvo wagon.

I've spent the last month or so looking for a nice-handling car in decent shape worthy of driving and fixing up. I considered E36 BMW's, Nissan 300zx's, and RX-7's. I've always liked the look of 944's, though, and I happened to stumble upon one for sale. I'm heading two hours north this evening to buy the car.

The car is an '85 with gold exterior and brown interior. Two small spots of surface rust, but otherwise the car is rust free. There's also a fairly significant dent in the right rear tire well that I'd have to pull out.

The interior is complete and in decent shape, but could definitely use some vacuuming. Can was daily driven until recently when the owner bought a new car.

The car has 84,000 miles. It runs, but the owner ran bad gas from an old container earlier this week and as a result it idles poorly. He says that cleaning the injectors and replacing the fuel filter should fix it, and that makes sense as long as he is telling the truth.

Timing belt was replaced at 50,000 miles as part of a major service. The car has been mechanically maintained with regularity. I understand that the timing belt system on the 2.5l is rather finicky. I plan on checking the condition and tension of the belt, but it shouldn't need replacing yet, should it?

The seller tells me that this is a widebody car. I'm not familiar with the different bodies of the car. Are widebodies relatively rare?

Anything I should specifically look for when I head up to Albany tonight? The car is rather inexpensive, so I do expect some maintenance to be necessary. Is touch-up paint available after I repair the rust?

I'm very much looking forward to being a 944 owner, and to contributing to this forum.

KlineS147

at 84,000 miles last done 50,000, i certainly wouldn't rule it out, can never be too careful with these interference motors. Was the 50,000 mile service last year or 10 years ago, that could also play a part.

Touch-up is availabe, how readily depends on the color, paintscratch.com, has all the colors, a bit on the expensive side, not terriable, and everyone i talk to on here says its spot on perfect.

Good luck tonight, nothings beats the feeling of driving up and driving home a new car, its a rather addicting feeling, esp with 944s, my guess is 2 years from now you'll be adding another one.

Welcome its a great place, with friendly people and awesome advice

Mark944na86

You may want to check prices before you buy. The condition you describe would generally make the car a parts car in today's market. Seriously.

If you are paying more than about $1000 (and personally, that might be a bit high considering the body damage, etc.) you are probably paying too much. (And even then, there is the old wisdom that "there is nothing as expensive as a cheap Porsche".)

Also, the timing belt is overdue (every 30K miles). Unless you are going to do the job yourself, you 'll need to factor the cost of a shop job -- not cheap, usually.

Good luck! (And if the car idles badly, I'd bet dollars to donuts that its not "bad gas". I mean, who woudn't put a new tank of gas in a car to sell it if that's all it took to get it to idle properly? Sheesh.)

krystar

typically if there's body rust on a 944, it's a sign to stay away. Battery tray rust is the allowed exception. but i guess it really depends on how bad it is.

If the car isn't running right, even if it is bad gas, that's another warning flag. Why would he put in old gas if he's daily driving it....wouldn't he just go fill up at the gas station?

check amount of remaining clutch or you might be in for a 20hour / $2000 clutch replacement job.
http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/clutch-03.htm

look for signs of oil leak in front on side and on rear above the header.

Mark944na86

Actually, just run away from this one. Hang out here for a week or so, get some tips and advice, and go out with some confidence of getting a good one. This sounds like it could be an expensive lesson in what should be avoided.

volvoguy

My understanding is that the bad gas clogged up the injectors so that dry gas wouldn't solve it. The seller put in gas from a can because he had pulled the insurance and didnt want to drive it to the gas station. For what it's worth, I know what bad gas did to the carburetor on my lawn tractor.

Why is rust such a problem? I just welded in new floorpans on my Volvo due to a whole lot more than a spot of surface rust. Does it mean more on a Porsche than on another make?

I do all my own work, and I'm looking for a project. If the motor ends up being problematic I might start work on a Chevy V8 swap.

944CS

that's the least desirable, least valuable color combination of these cars. I can already tell what condition it's in just by your description. If it's priced over $1500 I wouldn't buy it, even if it has fuchs wheels

lovemyp-car

rust on a 944 is significant because it means the car has had major body work or has been stripped to bare steel at some point...the 944 body was galvanized, and if it's rusting something's happened in its past...and you will in fact want to run away from it.

Mark944na86

The body panels are galvanised from the factory, and shouldn't rust unless something has happened (accident damage, bad respray, etc.)

You seem determined to buy this thing. Oh well. You were told.

lovemyp-car

also...is it a late 85 (85.5 with the oval dash) or is it an early car? that plays into the whole transaction, if it's an early car it's worth even less because of a less powerful motor, and the early cars are harder to work on in my opinion (i've worked on these cars quite a bit). When it comes to electrical stuff, the late 944 is much easier to diagnose and work on.

Van

First of all, there is no "widebody" 944... in essence, a 944 is a widebody 924.

These cars were galvanized from the factory - if the galvanization is intact, they will not rust. A car with rust usually has hidden damage that compromised the galvanization.

For a car that has rust, an iffy history and a non-running engine, I hope you're not paying more than $500 for it.

Van

Doh! I'm a slow typer.

lovemyp-car

hehe...yup i win!

944CS

technically they do make widebody kits for these cars, but the 944 already is a "widebody" 924....with many other changes

lovemyp-car

speaking of the widebody designation on this car...it's possible there is a widebody kit installed on the car, but it sounds like not considering there are dents in the steel and rust. If there was a steel widebody installed that would be one thing, and might bring a bit more money, but i have a feeling the seller is trying to get water out of a rock