+1 to this.

I'll put it this way, I'd still be hesitant to drive my 84 on a longer road trip, even though it's my daily driver, and I've spent a lot of time and effort into making sure it's reliable over the past 8 months. The issue isn't that the cars are necessarily likely to break. It's that when stuff does, you basically have to order parts online 99 times out of 100, and that takes time to get them to you.

When you're on the road, or have a specific timeline to stick to, a couple days to source parts can be a real problem. When you're generally in the vicinity of home, a tow, some parts, and couple days to source them just isn't that big of a deal.

 

These guys are hitting it about right on the head. I'm thinking the $10k figure is a 951 however, 5k is the magic number for a NA. (currently) That's DIY.... and getting it to about 95% mechanical, and 80% ish body/interior. Stock. I'd say 10k+ plus for a NA if you don't DIY however....

Honestly IMHO, the mechanical is the easy part. Time, work, and price wise. If you're one of the lucky one who finds themselves handy at that, and interior work/body work, then you'll be super lucky. If you have to source that stuff, it makes mechanical seem like a Sunday walk in the park.

On this car I'm going to try it all myself. Personally I've never had the patience for body work, and when I get pissed at interior pieces I have a tendency to break them. You should have seen what happened to the cover for my heater clips when my heat was broken, it was 15 F out, and I couldn't see the third screw in the dark trying to get to them.....

However, I'm really, really trying to take my time and do this right.

 

Sounds like a classic example of it's $6k away from being a $3k car. However, for $300 and if the car is decent you could flip it and make some money.

 

Generally a bad idea but some people are luckier than other.

 

Buy it, part it out, at the same time learning what it takes to assemble/disassemble a 944 and make some money for a better 944.

 

I guess he's done. He never got past 2 posts.

 

+1 for buying it and taking time to assess its needs. You can always just re-sell.....maybe for more money. Or if it in anyway needs more than you are willing or able to give, you part it out and/or take off many parts that you may be able to use for the "next one" that comes along. Then, sell/scrap the remains.
You can't really lose on a $300 Porsche. Just be mindful of any ADDITIONAL money you put into it.

 

Then pass; you've got to be one or the other, or some mixture of the two to take on a project like that. Wait a couple of years until you're out of school and gainfully employed, then buy one that someone else fixed; nine times out of ten that's always the cheaper way to go.

 

More like 10/10.

I bought mine for 1k. I'm going to have at least 4k in it to just to have it mechanically​ sound. Then there is still interior, body work, and paint. I could easily have 7-8k in it. And that's doing it all myself!

Course I have the automatic, and I have to replace two parts that cost as much or more than the car cost me. But thanks to Mike here on rennlist, and a gift of a pressure plate and some associated parts, the really, really insane one I'm getting around. Just cost me a used clutch.

I wasn't counting that in my 4k.

 

OP was a year ago. Guessing dad talked some sense into him or he followed Scott's excellent advice

$300 944 in a CA field, and nobody notified Lart?

 

Time is what I found on a limited Budget, Time to find the "Deals" for me it was always swap meets, About 6 years of Hershey and Stoddard back in the day, In the meantime i bought a Nice 44 and drove it, sold that, got another one... 9 years after i took my first one apart, had all the swap meet parts in the barn and engine on a stand, 3 months of thrashing putting it together, painting ect and the car was done! Fortunately the value of the car has gone up in value and i will get my money out of it and then some..

 

I bought mine for $400 back in January and it's now a daily driver while I keep the miles low on my CLS550. I'm into the car a total of $1100 including the purchase price. The clutch pedal was stuck to the floor but it turned out to be 2 brake lines I had to replace for like $22. A lot of the $1100 was cosmetic. New steering wheel, shifter, plastidip. Check out the 1st episode and last episode to see the progress. It will give you an idea of what you're in for


almost last

 

Some people look at these models and see crap. I look at them and see beauty. My first '87 924S was $1700 about 12 years ago and I spent all my free time working on it,driving it,washing it,thinking about it,shopping for parts and reading forums on it. I'm on my second '24S and I feel the same way. It's a 30 y/o car and a classic and it will need attention. Part of the fun of ownership is working on it. If I had listened to the nay sayers I'd be driving a mini van. Hopefully he joined the Porsche ownership club and has spent the past year working on and learning about his 944. He joined a forum to ask a question so there was some passion there at the time. I think we need to encourage people to keep these cars alive and running not just because of the legacy but if you're like me, I get a big smile on my face when I see one going down the road.

 

JR: What year CLS do you have? I love those cars!

 

good points!