J Berk

This could end up costing the OP quite a lot of money unless he happens to be adept at wrenching on 944's.

I am a fairly good backyard mechanic although my past experience was mostly with chevy and Ford v8's in boats.

I made the mistake of doing what you suggest and buying my S2 without a PPI.

While I bought a car with great bones for a good price....I went in having no idea that to make a great car from those great bones would cost me about $12k beyond the asking price of the car.

I'll admit that some of this could have been done with non-OEM parts which probably would have cut that number to around $10k....but I did want to DE my car and wanted to make sure it was solid. Note that there are no mods to my car involved in the $12k....it was all misc stuff that was worn close to it's life expectancy and not picked up when I did a test drive and general once-over.

In retrospect a $500 PPI would have at least prepared me for what was to come.....or may have made me look a bit harder to find a near perfect S2 for $8k which seems to be the going rate for a nice example.

A PPI is well worth the $...and if you are a good negotiator you might even get the current owner to pick up 1/2 the cost...

AppleFanatic

Thanks for the encouragement butters You all give great advice.

I see what you mean odurandia, I've already caught myself daydreaming about things I could do to the car... Leather steering wheel and shift ****, new carpet, MP3 deck, new bumper, etc. etc.. I can see why so many people put money into the looks instead of the mechanics

I think I'm just going to have to make the drive to go look at the car, and see what I think about it. It could be a complete POS and drive horribly, who knows? It's tempting to wait around for a decent 944, but there aren't many around here, and even fewer in my price range:

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/pm...752430285.html
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/va...794071842.html
http://bellingham.craigslist.org/cto/2800488557.html

I'll definitely look for everything you guys noted (thanks scph- what should the oil pressure be like?) when I take it for a test drive. If the car feels smooth and I can get him down on the price a bit (I'm thinking $1500 at best, probably closer to $2000), then I think I'll get a ppi done and go from there. (My thoughts exactly J Berk -If they find more issues during the ppi, if they're not too bad I can get him down further )

ernie9468

[QUOTE=AppleFanatic;9208120]Thanks for the encouragement butters You all give great advice.

I see what you mean odurandia, I've already caught myself daydreaming about things I could do to the car... Leather steering wheel and shift ****, new carpet, MP3 deck, new bumper, etc. etc.. I can see why so many people put money into the looks instead of the mechanics

I think I'm just going to have to make the drive to go look at the car, and see what I think about it. It could be a complete POS and drive horribly, who knows? It's tempting to wait around for a decent 944, but there aren't many around here, and even fewer in my price range:



http://bellingham.craigslist.org/cto/2800488557.html

If you are serious about buying a 924S/944 I would take a look at that one.Remember It's a late car with engine rebuilt & only 10K miles on the TB which leave you another 25K miles to go before they have to be look at.Also the 132K miles is more like it for an 86 & will probably be the rigth mileage accumaleted since 86.If he has maintenance records for let say the last two years & the belts being done that would be a +.I know you got your mind set on a $1.5/2k figures but take the advices from an old hand here (40+of porsche ownership)don't throw your money down the drain on those early cars.The money would save doing so will double & triple trying to get them up to date faster that you can blink your eyes.So I say go look at the 86 try it out & if it's decent get a PPI .Before putting any money down take as much pics (ext/int/engine bay ect) as possible of it send them here,what you migth miss peoples here with a keen eyes with see it. Btw there is something funny about that that 924S front spoiler & it's not fit rigth.GL

AppleFanatic

Very good points. Unfortunately, that car is across the border from me If the price were to come down a bit it would probably be worth the import, but as it's looking, I'd rather buy one for $1500 and put $500 into it than pay +$3000, even if it is an excellent example.

Good advice- If I do go look at the 87 924s (maybe this week?), I'm definitely going to take a bunch of pics, and if anyone would be able to critique them for me that would be fantastic

odurandina

my car runs right at 45 psi with the 0w40/50 mix. and maybe like 46 psi running 15w50 in the summer.

that's like running after 15~20 min.

Mrmerlin

but as it's looking, I'd rather buy one for $1500 and put $500 into it than pay +$3000, even if it is an excellent example.

This has fail written all over it^^^^^.

Unless you have big toolbox and the wisdom to use the tools.

Oil leaks on the bottom of the engine can be very time consuming to repair , Balance shaft rear seals require either dropping the cross member and then motor mount bracket removal ,
OR dropping the whole engine out the bottom.

If you do that then consider replacing the clutch disc with the turbo disc its spring loaded in comparison to the rubber made version used in the 924S and 944, the rubber version will crumble and then separate .

The timing belts are another issue and you need the WSM to do them correctly.

Best idea is to find the nicest car you can drive it and see if it meets your expectations.

If so its better to pay more so you can drive it than to have a car in the garage on jackstands for 6 months waiting for parts.

There is no such thing as a cheap Porsche,
figure the less you pay the more you will spend to get a reliable driver.

AppleFanatic

Thanks odurandina, sounds good.

Well, I have a big toolbox?

All joking aside, you're very right. I'm going to be extremely careful with this car. Even if it's super-cheap, that's not why I should buy it. I'll only go for it if everything else checks out. The leaking front seal is going to take some time and effort to fix, but I'm willing to learn and do the work myself. Same goes for the timing belts.

If I decide to buy it, and something big (like the rear seal) comes up in the ppi, that's going to require the engine to be removed to fix it, then either the seller is going to have to drop his price significantly for me, or I'll just have to walk away.

thirdgenbird

i bought my car without a PPI and ended up paying too much for the car. that said, the experience was a bargain. after paying labor for my first repair i decided that it was time i learn how to be a weekend mechanic. prior to buying the car i only had experience doing basic maintenance. now, i am not afraid to replace a clutch, pull a head, or modify parts to my liking.

i set out to buy a car and in the end i purchased an education. (but i got the car too)




it should be noted that this was not, and has never been, my only car. do yourself a favor and take time making this commitment, get a PPI, and ask the board a lot of questions.

AppleFanatic

Good solid advice thirdgen. And that's one beautiful machine you have there-That thing is immaculate! That's what I can only hope to end up with.

Arominus

Don't let them scare you off, the unknowns in any car could keep you from buying it without a bottomless pocket book. You'll be ok as long as your willing to work on it and spend the money on things that actually need to be replaced. Every Porsche doesn't need to be a show car, and every little cracked clip or dash does not need to have megabucks thrown at it right away to keep a car from being a parts car.

I can't imagine how i would spend 12K on 924s or even an S2 unless i basicly said "screw it, rebuild everything"

maint

Might be easier to overspend in Vancouver, or worse, neglect to maintain the car. No wreckers for used parts, Not that many of these cars around so parts stores don't have much to fit and when I asked the lone dealer "what DO you have for this car?" he answered "Not much...No,.. actually...nothing. Too old"
Don't know if I would have one here as my only car. I ship everything to Blaine, Washington and go pick it up there. Had a horrible shock when I ordered a $70 part and by the time I had the part in my hands it was $170 because of extra shipping , tax and Brokerage fees. Found it was better to take the couple of hours to cross and recross the Border.

odurandina

if i lived in Canada i wouldn't buy a 944. i would buy a 968.


where i live, the 944s are gone from (Massachusetts). why ?

1. just for openers, they are challenged and expensive cars to maintain....

2. their electrical systems suck.

3. it rains and snows.

ernie9468

[QUOTE=odurandina;9215727]if i lived in Canada i wouldn't buy a 944. i would buy a 968.


Well as it is rigth now your chance of finding a decent 968 up here is about nil=0.In the last two month only two came up for sale ,a Cab in Montreal which isn't listed any more & last week a 93 ROW coupe in Alberta (check my updated CDN 968 market on ours RL forum) plus finding use parts for them up here can be translated in two words MISSION IMPOSSIBLE.

odurandina

now i understand why you don't actually drive your's

but pull the engine every 3 months to polish it after once turning it over.


now stop running that fat STP in the crankcase, and get a box of the 0w50.

ernie9468

Get back in your panty hose young buck,being jealous of my 968 won't get you nowhere,and like I said before I'll never run at sewing machine oil of yours in my motor & ruin it.Take care & slow down on the Pinola your getting out of hand.