josephm

Car has dash cracks.

MAGK944

I still say na folk are cheap when it comes to buying a car. They buy a cheap example and then, thanks to us on Rennlist, find out they need to spend a bunch more money to just bring it up to scratch. The car either gets sold on, parted or loved and maintained. The last option usually costs them a lot more than if they bought a decent example in the first place. You see it every day on here-am I wrong?

Arominus

There is some truth to this, but that said, its all about what you can find. A lot of automotive newbies don't really look into the cost of maintaining the car before they buy it, but that is pretty much par for any older sports or luxury car. Doesn't matter if its a Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, ect, ect. You can find that example in pretty much every forum on the web.

If your NA had been in colorado I would be driving your car instead. I wanted to buy EJzero's 89 but he decided to keep it as he realized that he wouldn't get another nice 89 again. He backed away before he regretted selling the car. Smart man. There were no other 944 coupes with records around for sale at the time except for the car i bought. Now i'm going full bore into option #3 and when its done it will be in the shape i would expect a 7k S to be in. For some strange reason there were 4 S2 cabs for sale around me though, and cheap ($5,500 to $8,000) but i don't really like the cabs.

mclaudio

Indeed, there aren't a lot of good ones left.

I recently had an offer in the $30s, but didn't take it. I'm racing it at Rennsport Reunion instead.

stogie25

Those of us that have made ours exactly what you want don't sell them easily after all the time, blood, tears and money. Most of us did not buy them in the condition they are now, we made them that way. That leaves you two basic choices, to convince one of us to sell a car that is not really for sale (bring your wallet), or to join us and restore/restomod your own. If you are worried about a cracked dash then pull the dash after you buy it and have it releathered. I did. Not as big of a deal as one would imagine.

Buy the best you can find, and fix her up. You will get out of it what you put into it. There is a lot of help here (consider it a support group). It is a very rewarding project once you are over the hump. There will be a lot of long frustrating days. Some days you will wonder if it is worth it. You will then find a twisty road or autocross course and remember why you are doing it, and continue the project.

Good luck.

Paulyy

i'll tell you now if somone sees someone buy a 944 for 4k then someone else will want one for 4 k and it goes on, value goes down. and people treat them like ****.

in australia asking price for a 944 na is 10k a good one can go for 15k and thats usually why they stay in good cond because you've bought a decent 944 and paid better money for it and you would want to maintain it. the value stays

techartisan

For the last year youve been trying to understand the mystery of cracking dashes.....For ****s Sake.....these cars are OLD. Older than many rennlisters who love them. Plastic degrades over time. Its just a fact of life. It really isnt that hard to have a dash recovered. It isnt that hard to reupholster seats.



This thread.....


944 Pricing guide thread 4-10-2011, 12:33 AM

For those w/nice 944's Thread 04-03-2011, 12:01 PM
What do you guys think? It's in classifieds section Thread 11-13-2010, 11:28 AM
87 - '88 924S owners please Thread 10-03-2010, 08:43 PM
You know what I hate worse than seeing 20+ year old car that needs some cosmetic work.....ALL THE CRACKHEAD lookieloos that want to test drive every Porsche they see on CL....with no intention of ever really buying. If you want 100% perfect condition...buy a NEW car....in 20 years all its plastic will be embrittled and cracking....and you can pick up the bitching where you left off.

TexasRider

They are out there. You just have to look a while, and work a while, and take a check.

Somebody could hand me a check for my 1986 951 and get in the car and take a few laps around the United States without any worries and without any substaintial risk of any problems.

It would have to be a LARGE check though !

wanta944

Thanks, but it's not a 951. Just a plain ol 2.7 n/a.

M758

Good cars are getting harder to find. Most are turning to junk due to age and wear. That is pretty typical for older cars. Some are still out there in great shape, but don't expect to find them easily. When they do there is a good chance they will have a premium on them. You could get lucky and find a perfect car for cheap price. Every year more and more cars get abused. Heck I had 84 944 that was near perfect, but despite being garaged it entire life and a show car for nearly al that time the dash began to crack. Not much I could do to stop it sadly.

If you want a perfect 944 there are two options. Wait till you fine the right car and be willing to pay the money or buy car you can restore to perfect. Otherwise you will need to settle for less than perfect and just deal with it.

Indy Rev

There are 26 or so perfectly good N/A's in M758's sig, lol

The good cars are out there, you just need to be patient. I found my 91' S2 1.5 years before I bought it and just waited for the owner to be serious about selling it. He was finally ready and I handed him an estimate of the cost and repairs I felt it needed to be a daily driver ( t/b belts, cam pads, brake pads, ect.) and handed him an envelope with cash and walked away a new owner of an S2.

I can tell you I paid under 5k

The paint is an 8.5, the dash is a 10 the seats are a 10 and the mechanics are a 10 ... today

User 52121

The dash in my car was toast when I bought it.

Some Craigslist hunting and $200 later I had a dash in MUCH better shape - only two teeeeny tiny cracks in it, right at the defroster vents. Took the dash over to a local interior specialist (Color Wonders in Buffalo Grove, IL) and he repaired them, cost me $50. Can't tell they were ever there... dash looks perfect. So for $250 and a few hours in the garage I had a crack free dash.

Conversely you can go with a restored dash from these guys: http://928leather.com/ and have a dash that looks nicer than factory.

As everyone else has said... these cars are old. It's going to be hard to find a car with a crack-free dash... even if the car has been wonderfully maintained. My buddy had an E30 BMW (they also have dash issues) with a perfect dash in it. Left it outside one night in the late fall where the temps dropped below freezing... and found a big split in the dash the following morning. The condition of the dash on a 25+ year old car really isn't very indicative of a car's maintenance history.

M758

33 cars actually... Looks like you miss counted. . Still these are the race cars and nearly all were in some state of junk before we turned in them in to race cars. Some look really good when you are far away and they drive by a speed. Get up close and you can really see what is going on. Even so nearly all are in top mechanical shape with lots of fresh motors and such.

I discourge all 944 spec guys from taking a nice 944 and racing it. There are far too many junk cars out there we can race instead. Plus why pay a premium for a nice interior when it will get junked anyway.

St3mpy2

The reason people like seeing old cars is because people know they require work to stay running. Seeing as you don't want to do the work, I suggest you buy something new.

MAGK944

Problem is people are too cheap, especially in the na market. I have been trying to sell a stock, well maintained, perfect bodywork seats and dash, no issues, not guards red 89 car for three years. It's also a garage kept FL car and a perfect example of a 944. Worth every penny of the $6500 asking price. Yet, the best offer received was $4800. Just cheap, go buy a Kia and I'll enjoy the 944 for another year.

I think that is the problem with finding a nice clean car. I don't need the cash, I don't need to sell. I have the money to care and maintain my cars. Guys here who have clean, well maintained cars won't sell them cheap so the ones that sell for sub $5000 need work. Dash, seats, interior, maintenance, etc. That mindset is a cheap way to get into a 944, then save a portion of you paycheck each month to fix the issues and you might have a good example in a few years and a few $000's later.

My 86na is a well maintained car and my daily driver for the last 10 years. Rebuilt head, rod bearings, belts, clutch, torque tube, maxhp chip, cat delete and all new koni shocks (coilovers) all round, all in the last 15k miles. The dash has cracks, the drivers seat bolster is worn, the paint has dings and the interior is tired. But, it is very reliable, runs and drives like new, probably better. If I was selling it would be a cheap car, probably $4k. You could make it a great car, interior, seats, dash, paint if you spend another $4k.

My 89na is stock. Body, interior, dash, seats are all 10. Belts, shocks and clutch changed 5k ago. All maintenance done, always used Brad Penn or Redline oils. This car runs and drives perfectly and has zero issues. I don't have to sell it, but I have another na that I like to drive, a 951 and a 996 so this one is sort of redundant, rarely used. No way am I going to let it go for "market" value. It's a $6k car in any market.

So my point, those clean nice cars are out there and unless you are really lucky to find one where the owner suddenly needs the cash, you will pay a premium. But IMO that premium will save you a bunch of time and money in the future. GL finding one.