On Mar 20, 1:21=A0am, Clodius <drewwhat...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> I'm in the market for a new car, after my old one was totaled (not my
> fault), and I'm seriously considering one of two 944's available
> locally. I'min Texas, so winter wear isn't really a concern for local
cars=
..
However, I suspect you're going to want a car with running AC :-)
> What I'm wondering is the reliability and costs inherent in these cars.
For a 22-25 year old car, they are very reliable.... provided that the
required maintenance is done, including things you don't do on newer
cars, such as cleaning grounds, replacing vacuum lines, etc.
> One of them is an 83 944, with 55K miles, and what I've read
> about it claims that it has full repair papers.
It's a 5-digit odometer on the '83-85.2 cars. So, does it have 55k
miles or 455k miles? I'd check that paperwork closely, and make sure
there is maintenance records with corresponding dates and mileage.
Although condition/maintenance is a bigger issue than mileage with
these cars (some guys are at 350k miles with the original engine,
clutch and tranny!), I'd be wary anytime someone misrepresented
something about the car.
> The other I'm looking at is an 86 with 90K, and no other great info
beside=
s pics. Price is
> between 5 and 6 thousand on both.
Price seems high to me for both, unless that '83 really has all that
do***entation (eg, timing belt changed every 3 years and only 6,000
more miles on the odometer each belt change). Clutch is the other big
expensive thing. And if you are ever wanting new wheels, go with an
'87 and up; they have a different offset with a wider range of
available wheels. I'll point you to rennlist.com, pelican and paragon
(oh yeah, Clark's garage) as other places for research.
> I'm not very mechanically inclined, but willing to learn, and I don't
> have a ton of money.
Much as I love the 944, I wouldn't recommend it as someone's primary
car unless they have flexibility (eg, an understanding boss, someone
who can loan a car/give a ride for a week or two, etc)
For $5k-6k, you can get a much newer car which will have fewer
surprises. If you really want the 944 - and who doesn't ;-) wait and
find one for about $3,500~$4k and keep the rest as reserve.
> but from what I've seen
> in all these ****sche forums I'm just a bit concerned that I'll
> purchase it, and then a month later, even with detailed repairs, this
> or that will blow and I'll be stuck with a $1500 repair bill that I
can't =
pay.
Tnen you know about the im****ance of the PPI - pre-purchase
inspection. You need to find someoone who is _really_ familiar with
the cars who can identify potential trouble spots on the car you are
considering purchasing.
I was lucky, purchased an '86 about 3 years ago for $4,200 (second
chance offer on eBay). Turned out the previous owner just installed a
new clutch (paperwork) 10k miles before! Total maintenance to date,
excluding oil and filters:
Let's see, $20 or so for tools, $20 for synthetic transmission fluid,
$30 or so for new headlignts.
Oh, and i bought the full kit for belt tensioning from Arnnworx.com,
roughly another $250 for those tools. I expect to do the belts this
year, more for peace of mind than anything else (mileage/age of belts
unknown, but I looked at them last year and they look very new)
> Sorry if this comes off as overly pessemistic and cautious,
Better safe than sorry. I'd recommend budgeting at least $100 a month
in a separate "944 parts" fund for maintenance and repairs. It's
really a very reliable car, if maintained, but when something does go,
it can be expensive. If you make it 3 or 4 years without needing a
big repair, you've got enough saved for another 944!
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