Boogalou

I found a 944 at a local car dealer that looks pretty nice. It has 56500 miles on it and the dealer is asking just over $11 grand for it. I was with the family (grandson was crabby) so only was able to ask a few questions but will get more info. Paint is somewhat faded on the front, dash is cracked and has a protective cover on it, and the passenger side power window switch needs to be replaced. Everything else works and looks like normal wear to me for a 24 year old car. The engine bay in particular is very clean. I'll see if I can some info on the prior owner and service records.

The one thing that concerns me is the fact that it's a 1983 and not the most desirable of the 944's because of the interior. I'm also a little concerned because I am 6'6" and I understand the 83 944 doesn't have a tilt steering wheel. Is there anything else I should know about the car (reliability) and can the interior be modified to fit my frame better?

I'll try to get some pics later if that will help.

V2Rocket

I'm 6'5", and the seat is perfectly comfortable in the rearmost position. It's actually got more legroom than my Q45 or my van.

As for 11k...too much. If it's in very good running condition, offer maybe 8k. The interior is an easy fix...

RM512

11k,!!! Excuse me, but

jharding

Where are you located? $11K for a 1983 944 is way too high. Unless you are in HI or overseas somewhere, walk away from that one. There are plenty of early 944s around at less than half the dealer price. No matter what you pay for a 944 figure on another $1000 - $2000 for maintenance. Some things that will need immediate attention are the timing and balance shaft belts, water pump, rollers, seals. If the car has power steering (83 is the only model year with manual steering) figure on a rebuilt rack and new hoses. Unless the AC was recently serviced count on it not working. The AC hoses are quite expensive.

william_b_noble

I just bought an 86 944 NA for $3000, paint, etc is good - you would be paying a LOT for a pretty well worn car - keep looking.

tifosiman

The later (85.5 onward) cars are better for tall people than early (82-85) cars. The early cars had very little clearance between the steering wheel and seat. This was a source of complaints from many owners and one of the parameters that they wanted changed with the re-design of the interior for the later cars.

I'll echo the others here. $11K is wayyy too high for that car.

whitesox23

im picking up my 83 944 today and im 6'2" and i have enough room....barely lol

slider172

Either that dealer is smoking Crack, or he thinks you are!

RennenFlamme

I just test drove my neighbor's early 80's 944 in somewhat worse condition than a 55k mile example has (that one seems awesome, the only things wrong are cosmetic due to age, dashboard, fade..) but I would have only offered 1,500.

Just over 11k should get you a reasonably well maintained and mid mileage 951, as an example.

Tom R.

a few months ago i paid less than 11k for a 1988 944 turbo with a stack of receipts from 88 forward, and receipts totalling 20k in the last 10k miles.

11k for a 944 is insane!! that car is worth 4k max. if it had 56k miles, new belts (interference motor), a new clutch and was a time warp car it would be worth all of 7k.

i may be selling the 944S2 i bought two months ago (transfer to snow belt and it is my daily driver). it has 67k miles and has a stack of service records from new, all original paint, no dash cracks, and most important, the 208hp 16valve motor coupled with the turbos bigger brakes and beefier suspension - from the factory.

Boogalou

Thanks for the info everyone. I found out that the dealer had service records going back for the last 30,000 or so, and that the timing belt and water pump had been recently changed. Everything works on the car but I agree after doing some research, it's to much money for a 1983.