74goldtarga

it could actually be either 1K per year or 25K, depending on your luck. If you are pretty lucky the 3-4K Porsche 944 + maintenance will work out. If you are unlucky and stupid enough to throw money at the 944 (I'm exaggerating here) it could keep costing you until you get to that 25K - many of us have a multiple of 25K in our 10K cars but that is another thread. If you do it just hope you are lucky, otherwise you will own a parts car. In any case I say go for it. Life is too short to drive boring machinery.

odurandina

$25 k is the back end of the bell curve for getting into the seriously sorted category, but like he says, the numbers go even higher.... one rule of thumb for a first owner might be like: buy a good one for $7~10 k but then have about another $3~5 K outside of the purchase.... like, 3 thousand dollars for the $10 K car, and 5 thousand dollars for the $7 k car.

ehall

agree 100%! Buy a honda.

Wald944

Where is that other thread?
I bought my 1st with the strategy of spending half on the car and half in repairs. Drove it home 400 miles...put it on jacks all summer.
If I had the brains, would have gone with another deal.
Too late, already dumped double the purchase price! I do love it though.

ninefiveone

+1 This is realistic advice.

Don't make decisions based on what you want to happen (I bought a <$4K 951, put in $1K in quick maintenance and it lasted 10 years like that! And it gave me a handjob!).

Make decisions on what is most likely to happen (I bought a <$4K 951! But it needs snow tires because I live in Pittsburg. Where it snows. A lot. So that cost $500. Of course I did the waterpump and timing belts for $1K. Then I found out the turbo had a ridiculous amount of play so I found a used one for $500. Then it needed new ref sensors. Then it needed $2K in clutch work. So it sat for 2 years because I had to spend more money on a car that actually ran. And after all that it slept with my wife while I was at work!)

URG8RB8

Buy a Honda, sleep well, and save your money til you have enough for a decent 951. Especially if you are not a good wrench.

67King

Pfft. Look up "Special Tool" and see if you think post count has anything to do with reliable representation.

Seems you aren't interested in hearing what you really need to hear. So maybe I can tell you something you'll accept as somewhat of a compromise.

Buy a $2000 Ford. Crown Vic, Ranger, Focus, whatever. A $2000 import will have higher maintenance costs because it'll have more miles and parts are more expensive.

Take the other $2000 and buy a 944 NA that is in fair shape. Get it from a southern or western state, NOT PA. Learn how to work on it, and about their little idiosyncracies. Then in a few years you can look to trade up.

Tedro951

It comes down to risk. You may get a great 951 that will suit your needs for a year or so with minimal maintenance. You may also need jackstands within a week of purchase.

Many of us are intolerant of leaky cam housings, shot shocks/struts, AC inoperative, power steering leaks, header cracks, busted foglights, oil leaks, dead paint, sunroof quirks, warped rotors, intermittent full heat, aging timing/BS belts that are "almost" ready for replacement, and the occasional electrical issue (senders, mostly).

If a potential 951 owner can live with most or all of these, I would consider the car reliable. If you enjoy a machine that operates as designed (or better), I'd follow King's (and others) advice.

Good luck with whatever you decide, and keep us posted on your decision.

elliottw

Thanks everyone for the advice. Maybe I forgot to mention that my previous "daily driver" has been a Ducati SuperBike which my friends would say was in my kitchen more than on the road. I'm no stranger to a wrench, no stranger to finicky european engineering, but all this advice is very well taken.

I've seen some single owner bmw's (rear wheel drive/manual) in the late 90s early 2000s being sold by dealers with warranties. I'm going to look into those as apposed to getting something american.

One thing I've really appreciated about owning a ducati is the community. I get that since here in Rennlist. I do not get that since in vwvortex or bimmerfest which are just a bunch of guys talking about drag racing and lowering their cars.

I think a great idea might actually be what 67King has suggested. I've I got a ranger or some 4x4 for under 2k then I could find a decent starter NA as well.

txhokie4life

That's what I am advocating -- have a reliable backup -- and the stress of owning a 944/951 drops considerably.

Take it from someone that owns a Boxster, 928, 951 for the street -- and
rarely are 2 reliably running at the same time. Not to mention 924S/944/911
track cars -- I have a wrench or thinking about a wrench 24/7.

Mike

PorscheDoc

You can luck out and pick up any one of those and have a great car. But the odds are against you. I have seen a lot of people buried financially by cheap 944's and bmw's. If I had to pick out of only those three, I'd take the e36, you are probably going to have better luck there, the motors are very solid, as are the manual transmissions. You'll likely have to go through the entire cooling system, but once that is done, your chances of stranding you are reduced. If it were me though, I'd find an escort, cavalier, or something like that to get you from point a to point b for now, then save up for a german toy as a 2nd car, so when it is broken, you'll have something to drive.

elliottw

Thanks guys, that makes a lot of sense. I hate american cars, but there have got to be some trucks that are reliable right? And then I could tow my poor 944 right?

Any suggestions on cheap trucks?

And yeah, I've been watching the e36s a lot.

pontifex4

No one has mentioned this yet, maybe because it's sacrilege, but: you have a short commute. Do you actually need a car to do it? Could you take public transit if your car were out of commission for an extended period? Or in a snow storm?

As a lot of people have alluded to, cheap 944-series cars aren't ideal if they're your only car. I've had a couple of really good ones, and even they have had to be out of commission for a week or so here and there. But they are cool cars, and I enjoy working on them.

elliottw

I would, but strangely by bus it's a 45 minute commute. Walking it's 25 minutes, biking is 6 minutes. I would keep biking but my leg is pretty messed up and not healing.

I also just need to go other places. I've started my own business and just the meetings all over town and such are getting to me.

CyCloNe!

^ sounds like my commute... I work on my 951 a lot and my job is roughly 5 miles away so when I have the car on stands I just leave a good 30-40min early and walk. Honestly follow your heart, I personally feel if you get a non turbo car with 3-4k it would be a decent starting point and serve you well. Just save a good 500-1k for maintenance from the start and you should be fine. Just do a basic tune up (cap, rotor, wires, plugs, fuel filter, coil) and do timing belts and water pump. With those items done you should be fine for a while as long as the previous owner didn't leave it setting long or hacked the up wiring. Look for maintenance records that a clutch has been done, since it's costly and time consuming, decent tires, and belts in decent shape thats a good start.

What state do you live in? Jw