Any Porsche guys out there? 944 advice

[ebox86]

So my friend is a big Subaru guy but he's always had a soft spot for Porsche's. He is soon considering pulling the trigger on a 1986 944 in very good condition. Has anyone had any experience with these? Are they reliable? Im not on any porsche forums or I would ask them, but i figure there has to be some of you guys who are Bmw and Porsche guys.

Any info/tips/links would be greatly appreciated! (and yes i have already told him he should get an e30 lol)

[jakeb]

My wife drives one for a summer daily. The engine management is very much like an e30. It really hasn't had any issues at all. The fuel pump/dme relay got a little weird last week other than that it has been solid.

It's not very fast but it does look good doing it and my wife REALLY likes it.

Her's is an automatic so I expect a 5 speed would feel a little faster. We bought her's for $1600 with a bad trans and the car is just about mint.

[nomansland92]

I've always really liked them. Mine was a 85.5 n/a. It handled amazing and was pretty quick, defelenlty faster then my e30 but that's not saying much. You need to do the timing belt every 30k on those and the transmissions are kinda weak. My only problem I had was the fact that you just can't do anything to one to make them fast besides a ls1 swap. If you get a 944 turbo (951) then it's a whole other story. They can put down a lot of power for only a few grand.

I strongly suggest checking out 9446online forum, I'm a member there. There's a lot of good members and info.

[ebox86]

Wow thanks guys this is great help. I'm very comfortable with the fix-ability and reliability of the e30 and m20/g260 so im glad there are some parallels between the two cars.

Nomansland92 i love your sig, you have a beautiful example of a 944.

I am checking out 944online.com, the layout of the forum kinda sucks but the content seems helpful and useful like r3v and some of the other bmw forums.

Here is the first car he is considering, its in great condition, both inside and out, really sounds solid too, and he really likes the color. http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/4574112617.html

Here is the other one he is considering, which i found for him and its a 944 turbo http://kpr.craigslist.org/cto/4559858204.html

I think the turbo one would be better as it would not only have more potential for power but also be a great project and would have potential for raising its value as all the other 944 turbo's i've seen go for consistently $6-10k

[Exodus_2pt0]

If you spend $2500 on a 951, expect to spend 5k just to get it to acceptable condition.


Also if you don't have access to a lift, I would pass. A buddy of mine purchased one and it needed some things, the biggest being a clutch, even with a lift it was a giant pain in the ass.

[QUKBMER]

My boss has 2... 86 and 87 944 turbo's. He wont sell them lol. He also has 2 89 928s4 's also. Main thing is timing belt and fuel pumps on these cars....just like e30's lol.

[graveshaker]

I had one, greatest handling car ever owned. I sold the car because I did not feel comfortable doing some of the maintenance that would eventually need done. I do all my own work on my cars but the 944 was very intimidating. Google clutch replacement procedure and also google hippo oil seal. Oil leaks are very common and difficult to repair. Torsion adjustment for ride height is a very complex procedure if you ever want to go lower. Look these normally small procedures up for a 944, you may or may not like what you see.

[ebox86]

wow really nice car graves,

my friend is now considering a little bit better taken care of 951, i never heard back from the guy who was selling his for 2500 after I asked for more pics lol

This is the one he's looking at now, it looks to be in decent shape, 6k:

http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/cto/4577934515.html