Thinking of buying a porsche 944, good idea or bad?
Answers:
If you do buy one make sure it is a good one. Running costs aren't as horrendous as on some sports cars but it still won't be cheap and almost all spares will only be availible through Porsche. Only buy a car with a Full and comprehensive service history and try to get one that hasn't had a dozen or more owners.
As for reliabillity, well as long as it is well maintained it should be ok. Why do you think there are so many high milers out there? because they are well engineered in the first place and built to last. Do not expect to run one on beer money though. Just because you can buy one for a few grand doesn't mean it will cost the same to run as a second hand Mondeo.
Ideally a car like this is best suited to being a weekend toy where annual milage is low. This way the running costs are minimised and if it does let you down it's not too much of a problem.
Find a Porsche forum on the internet or contact an owners club first. That way you can speek to a few owners and get an idea of how much it's going to cost to run and they will point you in the direction of where to buy a decent, well looked afer example.
Edit: just read some of the other responses.
'Poor mans Porsche'?? well it won't appeal to snobs if that's what you mean. It doesn't make it a bad car though. Shat?! At the time it was considered to be a better drivers car than the 911.
Reliabillity is not non existant?! That comment is pure drivel. Reliabillity is affected by poor maintenance and buying an abused car. It is not the kind of car that Bob at your local back street garage can work on. Yes it is over engineered but that's part of the rreason why there are so many examples with over 200,000 miles on the clock still going strong.
Insurance won't be that expensive. Get a classic policy with a limited milage and you could be paying less than £200 a year. If you are 17 and plan to do 12,000 miles a year though it could be a bit pricey but no more than any other sports car.
The Turbo is not crap at all although the S2 is supposed to be a better car. The 944S is actually supposed to be the one to avoid.
The S2 and the turbo are the two where the performance lives up to the Porsche name.
As for people will think your a ******. Who cares. That says more about them than it does about you. Besides, most people won't think anything anyway and those that do (Micheal S) will be the kind of idiots that no one cares about anyway.
As I said before. make sure you can afford to run it, buy the best one you can find/afford and then enjoy it.
Bad idea. Not very reliable cars.
OMG..Run..NOOOOOOOOO! Just to put a timing belt on one
of those overengineered piles of poo is a nightmare and expensive. The reliability is virtualy nonexistent.. unless yours
will be the exception. Try calling the local parts Store for any
part for it.. after the counter guys get up off the floor from lalughing so hard and wipping the tears from their eyes. YOU
wan't what hahahahaha.. sorry we could maybe order that for you..
Bad idea (poor mans Porsche) its not just that, the added fact of running cost for a relatively shat car
I cannot say "please dont do it " enough times ,,as with all older sports cars they might seem cheap to buy,,,but believe me ,the parts and the labour ,are just as expensive ,as it were brand new ,,anyone can buy a secondhand porche ,,very few can afford to keep it on the road pleeeeeeeze ,,,,dont even think about it
The problem is not if you can afford to buy one but can you afford the upkeep.
My partner is buying a brand new one in the New Year, not sure what model though. I told him to look at older models as the thought of spending that much on a car horrified me. However, all the older models had such high mileage and were not very nice at all and would have been high in repairs. I think the odd used decent ones that do come up go very quickly. I would start saving for a newer model, I have now been converted!
When it breaks down be ready to spend a small fortune on parts, and wait for a long time to get them.
Repairs could be expensive, as will insurance and other maintenance costs. Frankly, it's probably a bad idea.
I just drove a Porsche Boxter 2004. The interior looked like it had been made in 1984.
A Porsche might be fun to drive but at that age it will be very dated, very old, and will have been thrashed to death by various owners before. I'd wait until I could afford something a lot newer and certified.
Very ££$$ on parts. Dont touch a Turbo , or a softtop.both crap..A nice 944S is a great car.. and still can cut it with all the high tech stuff on the road today. Oh and make sure its Manual..( Autos are very ££$$ to repair ). The only good Auto Porsche is a 928S . but that another story..
Good luck mate.. Hope this helps..
I'd say bad. Practical considerations aside, an unfortunate side effect of owning a Porsche will be for a large proportion of people to automatically assume you are a w*nk*er. There are more expensive and more ludicrous cars you could get but none seem to attract the same sort of 'instant w*nk*r' reaction that Porches do. This particularly applies if you are male and tending towards middle age in which case your new car will be seen as a clear attempt to compensate for your declining vigour, virility and advancing years.
I will need to be a VERY well cared for and low mileage model to be worth considering.. Make sure that it has full Porsche service history.to buy a car of this type is always a gamble but if you find a good one it will keep a huge beam across your face every time you drive it.
The only cheap older sports car you'd dare buy would have to be Japanese. Mazda RX-7 possibly, but those Wankel engines are not understood by many mechanics if you have a problem. Best bet is a Toyota Supra, Nissan 200/280/300, Mitsubishi Starion. They're all fairly cheap now, will perform better than the 944, be cheaper in every aspect, and will keep going.
Honestly, it depends on what you want to do with it.
First, if you find one to buy - have it checked out totally. It seems when Porsche came out with the 944 - a whole new "Porsche" person was born, and they just didn't understand about maintenance. Many of them were "rigged" to keep on going, and not necessarily by anyone who knew how to properly service them.
Second, without a thorough going over - it may not be reliable as a daily driver.
If you are looking for a track car - then this is wonderful. You might consider putting a 968 engine in it - a new brain chip -- and have fun.
If you do find one - see if it is the original owner and if all records were kept. Ask who has been servicing the car - is it a reliable mechanic that specializes in German cars? That would be a starting point.
Good luck - and don't forget, once you own a Porsche -- join your local Porsche Club of American -- 52,000 strong and growing. it's not just the cars.it's the people.
If you find you have questions beyond this one - you may want to check out the www.rennlist.org forum. All Porsche talk - all the time.
End of commercial :-)
Bah haha, are you willing to sell your soul?? No, really read some of my recently posted questions and it will give you a lot of insight.
My 944 has owned my life since I bought it!! It's a love hate relationship. One of the answers posted on my question was "why would you want such an unreliable money pit." or something close to that. I read this and laughed cause its true, why would I want it? BUT I DO. My husband doesn't understand this cause he's never driven it (he can't drive manual). I love to drive that thing, nothing can compare. Try taking anyother car at over 40mph on a roundabout, nothing has such a nice turn radius and handling.
My point is tho, I love it, but I honestly wish I did not buy it. It's like getting attached to a bad relationship. Just today my friend asked ".if you we're getting paid $27/hr, what the hell did you do with all that money??" I thought for a minute "yeah where did that go." then I remembered, "oh yeah my car." I have over doubled the amount spent on repairs then the original cost. If you have access to a shop and can do repairs yourself then sure get it. It has an engine that never ends, mine is still purring while all around it everything else falls to pieces. It accelerates awesome, few things are so delightful as kicking the trash off the line of some wannabe fast & furious rice-rocket! Insurance is surprising good priced (at least mine always has been). BUT you will give basically every penny you make to keep it happy.
I don't recommend it. I love it BUT LIKE I SAID
Are you willing to sell your soul?
I have owned a 944S for ten years with no major problems but it is only driven occaisionally. If you cant work on it yourself I wouldn't recommend it as they are expensive to fix,parts are hard to get,lack of qualified mechanics (who dosent charge $100 an hour labor rate) and insurance is high
I am a boxster owner and I personally don't like the design of the 944. Note that you will encounter less technical problems with a Porsche than with any other car,
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