sebastian944

Hi i'm new to the forum. Great site! I have a question, i'm seriously thinking of buying my first Porsche 944 Turbo. It's a 1987 with 116k. It's a canadian car and i live in the GTA. The balance shaft and timing belt were done 5k ago. I've looked at the car and drove it but i'm very hesitiant about buying a 944 that needs major work. The car all around looks flawless, but it does require a few things for safety. Front struts, tires and rotors in front and new hood struts (hood doesn't hold up) Also the A/C doesn't work. I've noticed too that on start up there is a bit of steam or tiny bit of smoke that comes up from the intake header manifold/cam area but it quickly stops after only a minute of idleing. The car was stored and driven very infrequently. He is firm on 12,000k. Any thoughts as to what the small bit of smoke is at start? and any advice you can give me?
Thanks
Sebastian

MM951

What color is the smoke and what does it smell like? If it burns off in one minute I'd say its a fairly minor leak and depending on where its coming from a very easy fix.

Struts, tires, rotors are no big deal.. might as well get what you want and know that they are going to last you a long time. Hood shocks are cheap (~15$ us / each) and take literally 30 seconds each to replace.

Either way, get a PPI and use that to negotiate the price down.

fbgh2o

Sebastian,

I will be in Toronto tomorrow and Tuesday. PM me perhaps, if it is close by I can take a look with you and point out anything that is wrong with it.

BTW $12K is way too high for a 116K car. I bought one in the US and brought it back to Canada for less than that same mileage (transportation, duty and taxes included). If you have a shop do the work that you are looking at close to $2K (parts included). Does the owner have all the records?

I strongly suggest that you get it inspected. There is a lot of old rubber under the hood and the small leak can easily lead to (while your in there) repairs that add up quick.

sebastian944

The little smoke i saw was clear/white and it was gone pretty quickly. I didn't smell anything. The seller agreed to take it to a shop for another pre-safety this thursday.

sebastian944

The car is actually in London, Ontario. I've made 2 hr drive to look at it. The owner has all the records complete with manual and it has been appraised at $18500 (i saw the paperwork). Its black on black and i must say the car looks like it just came out of the factory. It also has 17 inch Turbo Cup wheels i'm not sure 12k is really high for the market here, i've looked at two other 944 turbos. One was at a dealer that works on porsches which the entire powertrain pulled out with new transmission, clutch, belts, engine mounts and a dressed up engine for $13000 plus tax. It has koni adjs suspension too. This dealer also will be safetying it and completed other minor repairs for no extra money which is 1) powersunroof gears 2) All new tires (Toyo Proxies) 3) new brakes 4) front valance paint job 5) one fog light 6) 4 way flasher switch/button. But the car has 200k on the body and the interior has 2 or 3 dash cracks and is pretty worn.

Another Turbo i found was a US car, with 130 miles. Mechnically sound, new brakes, needs nothing but has a dash crack and the interior is marginally decent but not great. Paint job is not very great. has some major scratches. Asking $10500.

If you can have a look at it that would be good London might be a little far though

SD Porsche Fan

With all the up-to-date maintenance, fully functioning accessories and good dash that is a heck of a deal IMHO! This is the one to buy! That and white 951s rock!

sebastian944

I've sent you email, this seems like a pretty good deal !

fbgh2o

Sebastian,

My is appraised for insurance at $17,500 so same ball park (here in Ottawa). I have the Cup wheels, factory Konis, sport seats, very clean full leather interior and all records.

Canadian prices seem to be a bit higher than in the US, but I would be careful of a $12K car with known problems (and who knows how many unknown ones). If it has not been driven a lot, there will be other items for sure. Count on spending $2K to $5K in your first year of ownership. It just costs that much...

And Damiza's deal sound fabulous.

PM me if you want to talk about new Porsche ownership. (not sure if you can see in the picture, but I have managed to accummulate 2 in the past two years)