pat944

I've been a frequent visitor to the rennlist site for a while and though I don't yet own a porsche of any sort I have been looking around at the cars available and am, hopefully, finger crossed, going to start very seriously looking at a buy in the next 6 months or so. What I would like to know is the suggestions of all you guys here on what year model would be best for me to look at as first porsche, I know that no matter what it needs ot have good maintainence and such, but am wondering of the pro's and cons of the different year models, particularly the before and after 1985 1/2. The main areas I would like to know about are reliability and maintenance of the different years, I know some of the years had a tendency to have the oil cooler seals go and stuff like that.

The pro's and con's I have for the before and after 1985 1/2's are:

Before 1985

• Appears more available where I am
• Is much cheaper then after 85 1/2
• My old man doesn't like the idea of getting an older car when you can get a newer one
• The ventilation abilities of the older dash leave a little to be desired (especially when you live in a hot place like Australia.)

After 1985

• Dearer and not as available as pre 85 1/2
• has the new dash
• has aluminium a-arms

If you guys could give me your views on the different year models it would be a great help in my lookings.

Chris_924s

Hi Pat!
actually.. the stamped steel a-arms have replaceable ball joints- the aluminum's- really need to replace the whole shooting match.- really depends on what you want the vehicle for.

Congrats on your decision- Have your Dad look at Rennlist for a while, it should be enough to convince him that if you have a will to fix things, willing to learn, availibility to tools, online availablity of parts and some hard earned cash- most of the info to completely rebuild the sucker is right here at good ol' Rennlist.

early vs late is always a debate, but parts availability locally should be a determining factor. I love BOTH dashes..

(Besides I love seeing pics of right hand drive Porsches!!)

Devia

I have an '83 944 N/A, used to have an '85 N/A. All I really miss is the power steering and the roof tilting up on a motor. Everthing else is okay, new dash has good points, bad points.

I say whatever floats your boat! My car was destined for parts, rescued it! Black/black was hard for me to find in a budget I could afford, had to wait several months.

- Julie

Dave951M

Between the two, I like the early one. It is lighter, ball joints are wayy cheaper and easier to replace. The downside is that I like the interior from the later one better. Having driven both, I like the ergonomics on the later car, but the earlier one feels better. Either way, make sure you know what you are getting into. Many prospective owners have bought and not known about the dreaded timing belt issue and other little surprises like cost of labor for the t belt or clutch job. If you can read a manual and aren't afraid of getting your hands dirty, these cars aren't terribly expensive. If you don't, look forward to $1k+ for timing belt and rollers, over $1.5k for clutch.

It comes down to which car do you like best. Drive both, then drive a 951, then decide whether or not to wait for a while.