TexasRider

FWIW my 1986 951 has the original and uncracked dash in it. The original Guards Red paint is on the car. It has a few rock dinks here and there but overall it looks good. And the original leather interior and carpets etc. They all look excellent. The drivers seat is due for a small bolster repair now though. There are others out there.

BTW when it was appraised by the insurance company a few months ago he asked if it was all original and I said yes. They nodded approvingly. When he asked about the paint I responded it was original. He was thinking that was worth a $3,000 bump up. He commented that a $5,000 paint job generally "loses" about $3,000 in appraised value. Yikes.

The car was delivered in October of 1985 !

Of course its a Turbo .

techartisan

but not before you Private message me:
Seriously? On what planet do you think ANYONE gives a ****?
Again as I said before....EVEN if you owned 2 porsches....something I didnt question but now do.....it doesnt buy you any respect....you are just as likely to know jack about them as you are to be an expert....save the tired lines for someone who cares.

Just to make it perfectly clear....Ill spell it out for you....real slowly so you are more likely to understand....
1. I dont give a ****
2. I dont care
3. your still a dip**** crying about minor flaws in 20+ year old cars in 75-80% of your 28 posts over the last 12 months since joining.
4. I find it very amusing that you private message me data on "your" 968 cab that you "used" to have....and it just happens to be one listed for sale online right now GO GET REUNITED. Hope the dask is cracked to **** by now
5. Id like to apologize to any crackheads I offended by likening this dip**** to you...I was out of line.

Butters944

If you "don't give a ****", don't bother posting a reply to him on this thread. Maybe we all need to grow up a little bit.

Arominus

I was thinking about things today... and man, we are lucky as hell in a lot of ways. The cars are cheap to get and here 25 years later the parts are easy to get, if not cheap. You can fire up the PET and get some part numbers and order away. If only the resto for other cars was so easy. I've got a 1958 Plymouth project that i've been working on for a while and it SUCKS to get parts for it compared to my 944. We are lucky, Porsche still cares enough about our cars to keep the parts supply decent for us to keep driving them and b: there are enough of us willing to pay to keep them going. There is an aftermarket for the cars, once again not always cheap, but available. Enjoy your cars while the parts are out there, in 10 to 15 years things won't be so easy. The VW merger will likely end up with parts contracts/licensing for the cars dying off and the supply of cars/parts will be a lot more used up. They will never be any cheaper or easier to restore than they are now.

Arominus

Reinforced? don't you mean replaced? Pad failure is usually what wipes out the 16v head, so long as the pads/tensioner are replaced on a decent schedule you should be ok (at least that was my understanding). How would you reinforce it?

wanta944

So you know what the lesson is through all of this junk?

For those of us that do have presentable n/a's - keep them. Make sure they stay as nice as they are now, so they aren't all rotted out in another 20 years.

M758

Ok going back to the original post...

Hmmm just about every 87-91 looks like crap? Well I am not shocked, but I can understand the concern. Joe wants a nice perfect car. These are getting to be quite rare. Most for sale will tend to be junky and I'd bet most of the owner thought there were great. The sad fact is that most 944/951/968 have falled into cheap owners hands. This means unlike the 911, alot of 944 owners have not been able to baby their cars all their life. So many are beat to hell and we all need to realize that.

Look there are few nice cars here on rennlist, but there are alot that are pretty junky. The current owners try to make them nice, but alot don't have the money to really restore them nicely. The rare few that do mostly have turbo's or 968's. Now I am NOT try put down those you that love your less than perfect cars, but that is the reality.

Look I have muliple 944s over the years and only one has been near perfect. It was a 84 944 that was treated very nicely by the original owner, show car, etc. I maintained it well for a number years, but it is hard expensive work keeping it nice. I eventually sold it back to the original owner as I was in a tough spot. The car was sitting and getting old just sitting or I could drive it and have it get old that way. In the end there was no value in nice 84 944 so it was frustraing. I was no longer into show cars so I sold it back to the original owner. During that time I have had my 88 Turbo S and it has always been a nice driver. Not show quality, but quite presentable and will look darn good in photos taken with right lighting and angles. Still it could use paint and repair/replaced dash for cracks. So even this car would not meet the OP's vision of the car he wants. Still it is one of the nicer ones around. My other 944's have all been junk to one degree or another. Fine since I need parts cars to support my race car.

Look these cars are getting old and gems out there are getting harder to find. It can be frustrating looking for a really nice well preserved 944. Most of us here settle for something less than perfect. I did backin 97 when I got my turbo S. Still I accept it for what it is and have hopes to one day have the cash to fully restore it to is original glory. Heck I have been saying that for 8 years and still nothing.....

There two good things about all the junker 944's running around. 1) more cheap parts/donors for racing like 944 spec 2) the one that do survive will be worth more one day because they are rare. Even if they are not worth more in dollars they will be more special, because seeing one in great condition will be a rare sight.

BTW.... plastic dash covers? Yuck... they are like toupees... They look worse that few cracks... IMHO..

joes

I have several 944s that are in different stages of being brought back from the dead, I just like 944s. Just remember the 356, who would of thought that a fair example would be worth $30,000. The 914s are starting to go up in value as well. This debate will change in another 20 years.

Tedro951

I can get you a 1 owner, 37,000 mile 951 for less than a used kia. If you're looking for a pristine car for $3500, it will be a challenge.

jderimig

I have a good 944. 84, 1 owner (me). About 50K miles. Perfect factory paint still. 1 crack in dash (lets call that a feature from now on). Put about $2K in parts recently to get it roadworth again after a long sit. Expect it needs another $300 (clutch hydraulics, fuel sender etc).

Little dings and scrapes mostly by my kids running toys and stuff in to it (I don't care anymore)

Its a blast to drive at legal speeds. I'm keeping it, for a long time.

--john

sj340

I sold my 1987 944 n/a this year.To give you an example of what a "perfect" 944 goes for,I sold mine with 50,000 miles for $8800.It only took 1 week on autotrader to get that.I was asking $9500.
There was NO dash cracks either.It also had extensive and up to date service records.There are people that are looking for perfect and will pay a decent amount for it.(I still lost money,though)

TexasRider

Yeah Joe has it right.

One aggravating thing about the 944 series is that it seems the lowest price cars try to set the market. Or maybe that is what more of the buyers and other owners of other models believe. If a 944 sells for $5000 then it seems they are all somehow tied to that price.

But not so the 911 for instance. Some of those 911's are ragged and need a lot of work but because one sold for $10,000 somewhere does not dictate that they ALL go to that level. The 1994 Pearl Turbo Carrera that I want never falls in price. Ever. Nor do you hardly ever see one for sale. But it wil be high when you do and it will sell too.

After I completely finish the 951 the next thing on my list is either a Spec Racing 944 , or a street car that will hold most or all of its value or even appreciate. Not that I forsee selling the 951. Never say never.

Shawn Stanford

My '87 951 is pretty much as perfect as I could ever ask. About 65k on the clock, I bought it 2+ years ago with 52k. The car has been garaged its whole life: No cracks, the carpet is perfect (except where a couple holes were cut for the [now removed] roll cage), paint is excellent and original, the only work done was a rebuild on the power steering and the 60k service.

I paid $16k, and considering what a 911 or 928 of similar vintage and condition would cost, I was and am happy with that price.

Good cars are out there, but you have to be willing to pay the freight.

M758

Go racing... it make street driving even a nice turbo raher ho-hum. Driving my Turbo S on street is fun and all, but racing my 944 spec car is another level of fun.

St3mpy

Nothing wrong with chipped paint! That's what happens to cars that are actually driven. If you're worried about looks I suggest art, it'll hold its value better!