1988 944s or 89 turbo???
04-03-2002, 01:32 AM
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1988 944s or 89 turbo???
Hey guys at first i'll confess i'm new to this 944 thing but i have been a long time porsche fan. I'm currently looking to buy my first 944, and found the only one for sale in my area, it's a 1988 944s with all the bells and whistles and it used to be a show car. The previous owner(the car show guy) has maintained the car meticulusly and there's not a spot on it. I do love the 16 valve idea but i have heard that the hydrolic chain tensoner to the second cam has had some ocasonal problems and caused the timing to go out and then have the valves hit the pistons(as i am sure you all already know). The car I really wanted was the 89 turbo but I had started to have my doughts about them after I herd about over heating problems and with the repair and unreliability of the turbo cars. I was wondering if i should go for the 944s or wait for my choice pick of the turbo. I would like to do performance mods to the car after i buy it and was also wondering if you can add a turbo to the 944s? Ohh and last thing the 944s i'm looking at is $9300, is this a good price(From my resarch it is a little high) Thanks for the help guys!!! <img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" />
04-03-2002, 12:39 PM
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brooks:
Well, first off, I think $9300 is a little steep for a 1988 944S. (I have an '89 S2 that I paid less for!) Granted, the car sounds to be in mint condition, but even then, the value of an excellent cond. 1988 944S is $7813.00 (Excellence magazine, April 2002 issue: 944 values).
Regarding the cam chain thingy: you don't mention
how many miles the car you're looking at has, but if it's around 100k miles, it's due for replacement. Figure to spend about $1000.00 for it, if you take it to a mechanic to do. (I just got mine done: it broke apart in the mechanic's hands as he was taking it out!
) Of course there are other mechanical things to look for, but the cam chain thingy is one of the biggest things to look for.
If the owner won't come down to the $7500.00 range, you may want to continue your search. (Check out some S2's if you get a chance...)
-Zoltan.
Well, first off, I think $9300 is a little steep for a 1988 944S. (I have an '89 S2 that I paid less for!) Granted, the car sounds to be in mint condition, but even then, the value of an excellent cond. 1988 944S is $7813.00 (Excellence magazine, April 2002 issue: 944 values).
Regarding the cam chain thingy: you don't mention
how many miles the car you're looking at has, but if it's around 100k miles, it's due for replacement. Figure to spend about $1000.00 for it, if you take it to a mechanic to do. (I just got mine done: it broke apart in the mechanic's hands as he was taking it out!
) Of course there are other mechanical things to look for, but the cam chain thingy is one of the biggest things to look for.If the owner won't come down to the $7500.00 range, you may want to continue your search. (Check out some S2's if you get a chance...)
-Zoltan.
04-03-2002, 01:52 PM
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[quote]Originally posted by Z-man:
<strong>brooks:
Regarding the cam chain thingy: you don't mention
how many miles the car you're looking at has, but if it's around 100k miles, it's due for replacement. Figure to spend about $1000.00 for it, if you take it to a mechanic to do.</strong><hr></blockquote>The cam chain tensioner can be purchased for roughly $250 and it's one hour of labor for any home mechanic to install. If you paid $1000 you must have had a lot of other work done at the same time... or you got severely ripped off.
<strong>brooks:
Regarding the cam chain thingy: you don't mention
how many miles the car you're looking at has, but if it's around 100k miles, it's due for replacement. Figure to spend about $1000.00 for it, if you take it to a mechanic to do.</strong><hr></blockquote>The cam chain tensioner can be purchased for roughly $250 and it's one hour of labor for any home mechanic to install. If you paid $1000 you must have had a lot of other work done at the same time... or you got severely ripped off.
04-03-2002, 02:55 PM
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[quote]Originally posted by Tom Pultz:
<strong>The cam chain tensioner can be purchased for roughly $250 and it's one hour of labor for any home mechanic to install. If you paid $1000 you must have had a lot of other work done at the same time... or you got severely ripped off.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Tom,
Yes: I had tons more work done. I was responding quickly and didn't get my facts right. I did get all gaskets replaced, wires, dist. cap...etc, among other things. I think the $1000k was for some other part of the job. The Cam chain thingy work was probably closer to $500 or so. The unit itself cost under $200 for me: mechanic felt sorry for me, I suppose!
Sorry for the misquote on the price.
-Z.
<strong>The cam chain tensioner can be purchased for roughly $250 and it's one hour of labor for any home mechanic to install. If you paid $1000 you must have had a lot of other work done at the same time... or you got severely ripped off.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Tom,
Yes: I had tons more work done. I was responding quickly and didn't get my facts right. I did get all gaskets replaced, wires, dist. cap...etc, among other things. I think the $1000k was for some other part of the job. The Cam chain thingy work was probably closer to $500 or so. The unit itself cost under $200 for me: mechanic felt sorry for me, I suppose!
Sorry for the misquote on the price.
-Z.
04-03-2002, 05:36 PM
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From what I have heard, the 944 Turbo’s are some of the more reliable Turbo charged cars out there. I was real apprehensive about the Turbo models as well, especially with the problems my brother had with his Plymouth Laser Turbo, but from being on this list for awhile I think that my fears were somewhat unfounded.
Don’t get me wrong – I really like my S2 but I will always wonder if I would have been happier with an 89 Turbo. The bigger brakes, stiffer suspension, LSD tranny and extra horses of the 89 Turbo are real appealing and upgrading a car to those specs is not cheap.
As has been mentioned already, the S is a nice car but you can get a decent S2 for about that price. A good 89 Turbo will probably run you more since there are fewer of them and they are fairly sought after.
If you are going to mod the car, an 86-88 car may be a better choice since you will not have to pay the premium for a good 88 Turbo “S” or an 89 Turbo. People get a lot of power out of the Turbos, but it is real hard to get big power jumps out of the 16 Valvers. If you have deep pockets, there are Supercharger kits available for the S2.
Don’t get me wrong – I really like my S2 but I will always wonder if I would have been happier with an 89 Turbo. The bigger brakes, stiffer suspension, LSD tranny and extra horses of the 89 Turbo are real appealing and upgrading a car to those specs is not cheap.
As has been mentioned already, the S is a nice car but you can get a decent S2 for about that price. A good 89 Turbo will probably run you more since there are fewer of them and they are fairly sought after.
If you are going to mod the car, an 86-88 car may be a better choice since you will not have to pay the premium for a good 88 Turbo “S” or an 89 Turbo. People get a lot of power out of the Turbos, but it is real hard to get big power jumps out of the 16 Valvers. If you have deep pockets, there are Supercharger kits available for the S2.
04-03-2002, 08:08 PM
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I think the turbo 16V is arguably one of the best performance motors ever made. For street or track, massive ammounts of smooth torque, tons of top end hp.
Carrillo Rods(low comp)------------ $2000
Good turbo + IC ------------------- $2000
Custom exhaust + intake ----------- $1000
Custom Chip + fabrication work ---- $1000
Look on 996 TT owners face when a S2 blows his doors off ------------------------- Priceless.
Carrillo Rods(low comp)------------ $2000
Good turbo + IC ------------------- $2000
Custom exhaust + intake ----------- $1000
Custom Chip + fabrication work ---- $1000
Look on 996 TT owners face when a S2 blows his doors off ------------------------- Priceless.
04-04-2002, 02:06 AM
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Thanks for the help guys,
The car has 126000 KM on it and it also has the 030 sport suspention on it (is this a rare thing or is this car no to special to have it??). As i said before it was a show car and the previous owner owned a shop and he has said he worked on turbo's the most that is why he picked this car, this is also another reason why i'm still doughtfull about the reliability on eairly turbos(i also beleave that the eairly turbo's had more problems and most of them had been fixed for the 88 turbo s and the 89 turbo, i have heard most of them over heat??)this is why i would only get a 88 turbo s or an 89. I forgot to tell you that this is a canadian car, remember their are only 188 1988 944s's in canada the number on the car is 155of188, would this also be a cause for the higher price?? i havent cheaked out the service records yet but from what the car looks like they should be up tp par, another thing this guy was so meticuluse with this car that he took the engine out and literaly cleaned it with a toothbrush, the thing looks like it's right from the show room other then a few minor dings on the body and it doesn't have the origanal sterio. I have been reading up on the 89 turbo or in that fact 944 turbo's in general and it looks like it would most likly be a wast of money to buy this car and put a turbo in it, it would be much more effective just to buy a turbo with all the beefed up parts on it and put a 16 valve head on. Also if this car is the one i decide on would it be better to leave it all origanal to try to keep the money value on it higher or would aftermarket parts not affect the resale value to much??? for if i do decide on this car i will most likley try to sell it in a while and make some money on the car(if i can get this guy down on a price
)and get the 89 i would like. Also when they shipped that car from B.C(from the car show guy)to the current owner (a rather repritable used car salesman, it of course sits in the showroom)the car was sumhow left in first gear and from the rocking back and forth from shipping it it broke a collar or some piece in the transmiton and it is currently getting fixed,anyone think i will have problems with it later??? anyway i go back to give the car a full lookover and test drive on tuesday. Again thats for the answers that i could get no where else!! <img src="graemlins/bigok.gif" border="0" alt="[thumbsup]" />
The car has 126000 KM on it and it also has the 030 sport suspention on it (is this a rare thing or is this car no to special to have it??). As i said before it was a show car and the previous owner owned a shop and he has said he worked on turbo's the most that is why he picked this car, this is also another reason why i'm still doughtfull about the reliability on eairly turbos(i also beleave that the eairly turbo's had more problems and most of them had been fixed for the 88 turbo s and the 89 turbo, i have heard most of them over heat??)this is why i would only get a 88 turbo s or an 89. I forgot to tell you that this is a canadian car, remember their are only 188 1988 944s's in canada the number on the car is 155of188, would this also be a cause for the higher price?? i havent cheaked out the service records yet but from what the car looks like they should be up tp par, another thing this guy was so meticuluse with this car that he took the engine out and literaly cleaned it with a toothbrush, the thing looks like it's right from the show room other then a few minor dings on the body and it doesn't have the origanal sterio. I have been reading up on the 89 turbo or in that fact 944 turbo's in general and it looks like it would most likly be a wast of money to buy this car and put a turbo in it, it would be much more effective just to buy a turbo with all the beefed up parts on it and put a 16 valve head on. Also if this car is the one i decide on would it be better to leave it all origanal to try to keep the money value on it higher or would aftermarket parts not affect the resale value to much??? for if i do decide on this car i will most likley try to sell it in a while and make some money on the car(if i can get this guy down on a price
)and get the 89 i would like. Also when they shipped that car from B.C(from the car show guy)to the current owner (a rather repritable used car salesman, it of course sits in the showroom)the car was sumhow left in first gear and from the rocking back and forth from shipping it it broke a collar or some piece in the transmiton and it is currently getting fixed,anyone think i will have problems with it later??? anyway i go back to give the car a full lookover and test drive on tuesday. Again thats for the answers that i could get no where else!! <img src="graemlins/bigok.gif" border="0" alt="[thumbsup]" />
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04-04-2002, 09:12 AM
#8
If the original post was $CDN, the price is much more reasonable. You pose an interesting problem that you will have to ultimately answer yourself. If you pay extra for pristine condition and low miles, you lose that if you don't maintain that condition or if you drive the car much, especially if you plan to go to driving events. Still you are looking at a rare car in the 944S. I have an 87 944S. I like it. I'm not sure that I would consider it a great deal better than an 8-valve 944 of the same year (If I were in the market, it would depend on the individual cars).
As far as the turbos go, the 88 Turbo S and the 89 Turbo are rarer and offer more than the stock turbos. If you intend to keep them stock, they would be a better choice. If you think you will do much tinkering, y9ou will probably be replacing the special parts anyhow, so it's perhaps cheaper to start with a regular turbo in the first place. Left alone, the turbos were pretty reliable and most of the issues there may be should have been sorted out by now. (Check the service history.) Good luck in your hunt.
As far as the turbos go, the 88 Turbo S and the 89 Turbo are rarer and offer more than the stock turbos. If you intend to keep them stock, they would be a better choice. If you think you will do much tinkering, y9ou will probably be replacing the special parts anyhow, so it's perhaps cheaper to start with a regular turbo in the first place. Left alone, the turbos were pretty reliable and most of the issues there may be should have been sorted out by now. (Check the service history.) Good luck in your hunt.
04-04-2002, 03:01 PM
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well the canadian price for the car is $15000, i had at first converted it for you guys. Am i wrong that the 88 turbo s and the 89 turbo have a beefed up block on them compaired to the eirlier model turbo's? And dose anyone know the exact differences between the 88 turbo and the 88 turbo s and 89 turbo??
