Brian Wilson

Just wondering. How many of you all are able to keep your cars running for a good length of time. I love my car and all, but it does seem that a lot of people have completely random things break. Nothing really consistant. I guess that is good and bad.

So, how many of you actually keep it runnig all of the time ? (Perry excluded)

Renntag

My n/a 944 got me through the second half of college and all over the east coast including driving events and every auto-X I could find. During that time I replaced the brakes, transaxle(ouch), clutch master and slave, and the alternator. Is that unacceptable? It has NEVER left me stranded. Even when the trans failed...I limped it into a friends driveway. I swear by it still.

My 951 has taken me all over the east coast as well. I am in DC right now. I drove through the night from NY last night. Pennsylvania 2 weeks ago, Rochester 6 weeks ago. I have put brakes on it so far. Thats it.

I guess I am lucky? Nah.....just a freaking great car!!! All mechanical things need maintenance and TLC.

TP-944

In the eight years and 126,000 miles I've logged on my '86 NA, (bought it from my Dad with 42,000 on it), it's only left me stranded once. (Yes, that's a total of 168,000 miles for those of you that are math-impared.)

I drive it daily and besides routine maint. and normal repairs, (clutch, brakes, tires, etc.), no major problems yet....knock on wood!

I love these cars!

jim968

I drove my '88 na from 55K to 110K in six years of almost daily use (had an old Toyota 4x4 pickup as a second ride). _Never_ stranded me. Gave fair warning of all impending problems; long enough to get home at least, usually long enough to order parts & get 'em here. Never even a flat tire! I did have to tinker with the cheesy after-market alarm a few times to get it to start, but that's not Porsche's fault.

The 968 _would_ have stranded me, but the heater valve blew out in the garage at home overnight... the second weekend I had the car! AARRGGGH! I managed to epoxy it back together so I could drive it 'til the replacement got here (bad case of 'new'-car fever). Otherwise, no break-downs in ~18 months & 14K miles.

Of course, I also managed to drive two VW's ('83 GTI, '89 GLI) a total of ~175K miles with only one stranding, so maybe I'm just lucky.

(The battery in the '83 developed an internal short one night on the wrong side of the county.)

Jim... the month after the last dam' payment...

CR_944

1 month and 15 days since I bought my 86 N/A.
Changing crankshaft (here is where you cry)...
bought the car in aparent perfect condition, but guess I had bad luck.
Repairs are up to $1600.

Later.

adrial

6 months (wow...its been that long already...) since I bought my 951.
Only 4.5k miles because I was away for 6 weeks straight. Also I never drove the car in the rain when I first got it, that wore away about the same time it started getting cold.

Anyywaayyy....never stranded, no unexpected problems, just regular maintence.

regular maintenence so far:
tires (were dry rotted from lack of driving by PO)- $600 BFG T/D KDW
belts and alignment - $800 (ouch...never again)
sway bar bushings - $30 or somethin...
brake/clutch fluid - $60 or $70 incl. pressure bleeder.


About to recharge the AC, PO said it was working but in the excitement of buying the car thats the one thing I forgot to test.

Take care of em...and they shall reward yee.

Devildog2067

Be ready to take a hit on the A/C--R12 is running some insane price now, it cost me more than $200 to fill up my A/C. It doesn't leak, however, and works great.

My 944 has been with me 8 months. Belts, $500, steering rack, $150 plus 5 hours labor from me, everything else has been extra (sound system, dash cover, etc).

--
Semper Fi
Cpl SH Won
Wpns Co, 2nd Bn, 24th Marines

Perry 951

I feel so hurt I can't comment.

As far as the AC thing, it is easy to convert to R134a. Order a new AC drier, then head to Pep Boys or Autozone. They have kits to convert it, with pretty good instructions. You need to remove the compressor and drain the oil, then replace with the correct R134a ester oil (it says on the can.) Charge her up and be cool.

adrial

Sorry guys, forgot to mention it's already been converted to R134A.

The kit that I bought to charge it up did come with a full can of ester oil. Should I put that entire thing in there after I pull the vacumn? It's a can that I connect to the low pressure side...
Or should I get one of those cans thats part R134A part ester oil?

I already ghetto rigged something to pull a vacumn on the system.

*Michael.*

10 months and 12k miles and I have had no problems. Just regular maint. Nothing has broken on the car. I do drive the heck out of it and have fun but I always stay on top of the maint.

I think if you take care of a 944 that it will be a very reliable car. Even the turbo's seem to be a really solid car in stock form. I am sure that they become more problematic when you start boosting more but that is expected. (i can't wait to get a turbo)

Es3L

every 2 weeks, my car will be running perfect, and somthing liek the starter, or maybe alternator belt tentioner, or the good ole grounds, or a tire will explode...somthing dumb happens. i got good luck...woohoo...sarcasm

Hans

No you are not (or it must be having a favour for German Engineering... )
These guys did not cut corners when designing the "animal" and the surplus stress / safety margin / ..(whatever you want to call over-engineering) is such that the mean time between failure of the machine is more than average.
Do not count my 951, its a garage queen, but my daily driver (VW passat at this point, large row of VW beetles, golfs / Sciricco's and all models Audi 80 since '83(not the A4, too expensive)does 50K miles/year with only regular maintenance done by myself (so at irregular intervals) Oil changes and spark plugs only when I feel like it (oce per year or so). Cars ususlly replaced when at 120K miles, hardly any failure, got stranded once only with an cylinder head problem on the first Audi. This car was converted to multi-fuel (LPG and petrol), valve seats were not suitable for the higher combustion temperature and I did neglect the valve ajustment for too long so dont blame Audi.
All later Audi's had valve seats for unleaded fuel and ran fine with with my "total-loss maintenance scheme".

PS all Audi's with exception of the '83 are still in use (by others), still with low maintenance efford.
PPS, these cars were for road use, driven fast but not raced, not abused, never ran at red-line.
Take Care

Thaddeus

8 months of ownership, 7000 miles traveled, 2 noteworthy events:

PS rack replaced
Cam tower gasket replaced

But the second was caused by improper work by the PO, so...

My 15 year old Porsche is more reliable than my 1999 Windstar.

Thaddeus

pete944

I bought my 85.5 in November of 1998 and it has never had a major problem. The only time it came close was a few blocks from home the pin that connects the shift lever to the shift rod broke and i couldn't change gears. Luckily it was in 3rd and it got me home. I bought a new lever at the dealer and now there is zero slop in the shifter. The only other thing is I have a power steering leak that is getting really bad, but it's going to have to wait until spring for a repair. (The 944 stays in the garage for the winter anyway)I wouldn't hesitate to have a 944 as a daily driver as long as you keep up on the preventative maintenance.

Pete

Tabor

I have only been stranded twice in 20,000 miles. One time when my clutch slave cylinder went, and the other time the bolts attaching my left axle to the transmission backed out.

The clutch slave was in my driveway (so everything was okay), but the bolts came out while I was away from home. Thankfully my girlfriend brought me my tools and I just re-torqued them.