JDM3

Wow,

Glad I found this board. I have been a BMW guy owning several with the most recent 2 being an e46 325i and a e36 M3. I have always wanted a Porsche, and after looking around a bit I have discovered that I can purchase a 944 Turbo and still have some $$ for a few upgrades. I can't afford a 993 or 996 right now. I'm looking to buy an '86-'89 Turbo (my 1st turbo car) to be used mostly for street/daily driving in good weather, no track in the forseeable future. Can I get a good condition car for $10,000? How much money would it take to upgrade a normal Turbo to an "S" in terms of performace, braking and suspension? Any input from you guys would be great! Thanks.

JD

Matt Sheppard

Yes, well you've come to the right place.

As for finding a clean 951 (944 Turbo), $10K is a good target price. You will find some as low as $4K to a high of $20K for a super well-kept or fully sorted 951S.

As far as upgrading a 951 to S spec., you will spend less just purchasing an S for all the real-life bennifits the S has over the reg. 951 (turbo, brakes, susp, stereo) unless you plan on going beyond that in the forseable future. If you buy a car w/ mods already done, be sure they were done right and were well chosen or you might have to replace some of that stuff soon to make it work properly, pass inspection or not cause drivability issues. It's pretty easy and cheap to get 270 RWHP, beyond that takes some $$$. The topic has been discussed before and all this info can be had by searching the archives under "search" at the upper right of your page.

Good luck and welcome!

Brian McCoy

Well, as the saying goes you either pay now, or you pay later ~ and it's especially true when it comes to these cars. You can certainly find $6k cars but often times they'll require $4k in immediate attention (you'll start hearing this chanting soon... get a PPI, get a PPI, etc..) Or you can buy a well cared for car for about $10k (86 most likely, there were more importated than all other years combined). Getting a car with a good known history is a big plus, low milage isn't necessarily a plus. You should be able to shop arround a little and find a car with some of the mods you'd like done and get the car for similar prices, if even a little less, than a stock car.

As for upgrading ~ there are a few different changes and I'm not sure what it would cost. I think that all depends on the car you buy. If it already has an LSD, or the MO30 package ~ you'd certainly need to buy the bigger brakes and there's some engine performance issues aswell. I think that most people just go for the MO30 update (swaybars), better shocks & springs, then head onto the engine performance.

These cars are dogs off the line, but once that boost kicks in you seem to forget all about it (till the next time you're starting from a dead stop). If I had it to do all over again, I think I would have gone with an S2 and the 3l engine for basic around town driving.

streckfu's

Yes you an get a good condition car for $10k. If you plan to modify the car, I recommend staying away from the '88S and '89 models. They are rare and demand a premium. If you bought a nice 86-88, you could have enough money left to add the mods necessary to exceed the 'S' spec performance.

The two most important things prior buying one of these cars are making sure it has a documented maint history and you have a PPI (Pre Purchase Inspection) performed buy someone very familiar with Porsches.

You should verify when the belts, water pump, clutch, hoses, etc. have been changed. Having to fix that stuff will add up in a hurry.

Two months after buying my 951, I had to put $3k into it.

You'll find that this is a great car with a lot of potential.

Ski

Welcome to the board! The above post have already offered some great advice.

There are a couple of nice cars in the rennlist classifieds at the moment. There was also a very well sorted 86, slate grey with burgandy interior(9.75) recently posted here. Search a few pages back, "86 turbo for sale".

Again, the 88 S models and the 89 models seem to hold their value better in stock trim. So if you choose to modify it, get an 86, 87, or 88 non-S as already advised.

One other thing; I've noticed that the clean 100k cars have most/if not all of their maintenance up to date, where as some 85-96k cars usually need belts and the always A/C recharge. If it needs an A/C "recharge", get the owner to charge it to see if works. It it doesn't then get it checked before buying. A/C can easily run a grand to fix.

Good luck on your search.

JDM3

I'm impressed! Thank you all for the quick and informative responses. Not like a lot of the BMW boards I've haunted for a while Keep them coming!

Just thought of something.....what would you guys think the annual maintenance costs would talley on a 944 Turbo? Thanks again for the welcome!

JDM3

There are a couple of nice cars in the rennlist classifieds at the moment. There was also a very well sorted 86, slate grey with burgandy interior(9.75) recently posted here. Search a few pages back, "86 turbo for sale".

Ski,

This the car you're telling me about?

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...Turbo+for+sale

JD

Jake951

It varies all over the place from almost nothing to several thousand per year. It depends upon the condition of the car, what needs fixing, how much you drive it, what kind of driving you do, and whether you do you own work or have an outside shop do it.

Replacing the clutch is a major job that many of us, myself included, have had to do at least once. Figure ~$2k for a shop to do it. Other common maintenance areas are water pumps (common), engine mounts, leaking gaskets (remember these are old cars), timing belt replacement (I do mine every 30k), and the usual routine stuff. Many of the cars here are running well over 100k miles (some closer to 200k) without major engine work/rebuilding, except maybe those that are heavily modified.

streckfu's

I averag about $2k per year. It's my daily driver so I've had to replace the belts twice, water pump twice, motor mounts, front end seal, etc.

But like John wrote, It varies from car to car. Make sure you can afford to have a few thousand available in case something comes up. I once was changing my belts only to find out that the bearing s on the water pump were bad and the car needed a front end reseal. Doubled the work.

I don't what to scare you away but it could happen. Personally, I don't regret buying the 951 and can't see myself driving anything else.

Ski

Yes that is the car. Check out the interior pics he post later, cleanest burgandy I've ever seen.

Annual maintenance,,hmm,,mine is a weekend/nice day driver. I have spent several thousand at once, getting many things repaired and averting disaster at the same time. If you decide on rod bearings, rear main seal, with a lightened flywheel, go ahead and do a clutch too if yours is old because over 3/4 of the items that cost labor are already off. I probably spend 600/yr now.

You can probably count on 1200-2000 every 4 years with belts, rollers, seals, water pump if needed; just depends on how you drive, your maintenance and how much you learn to do yourself. Your first repair that you do will pretty much pay for a set of factory manuals that you can buy.

Orjan

I'm a fresh 951S owner myself, but without any further knowledge of BMW M3's, I would assume that they could be very similar in maintenance cost?
Rennlist has by far the most responsive and helpful people in regards to whatever question I've had about my 951S (thanks guys! ... and gals? )

I'm not really contributing anything that's not already said, but I agree totally on the concept of buying 86-88 Turbo if you want to mod it.
I didn't know this when I bought my Turbo S silver rose, but I am very happy with the stock car as it is (and the huntley racing chips that was already installed when I bought it ).

The 951S is an awesome car to drive. After a testdrive yesterday, I think I have got my teammate very very interested in getting one of these for himself

Ørjan

DFASTEST951

It gets addicting. Be careful. I would imagine most of the replies here are correct. A few thousand dollars put away should about do it. It's worth it.

Dave951M

Welcome to the dirty little secret of the Porsche world!

87uk944t

I agree with dfastest951 it does get addictive, 6 months ago i had, had my 87 944 turbo for 2 years and barely spent a penny on it, then i came across a lindsey boost enhancer on a british web site, i bought one of them and that was it i was hooked, u can see from my sig how hooked i am and i have a new turbo, guru racing chips and a strut brace heading my way and there is a gorgeous set of 18" porsche split rims that i have seen up for sale that i dont think i can restrain myself from buying!!!

Peckster

True words. Many sellers say this, but don't believe them. If the ac was in good condition, they'd charge it up to prove the point.

You want to find a car with a perfectionist owner who can afford to keep things in top shape.