Hi, I'm almost 19yr old and i'm a big fan of euro/german cars. My first car was a black 1992 BMW 318is, I've put a lot of money on it: Chip, K&N cone filter, 17" rims, corner lights, magnaflow muffler and more... now she's dead... the floor was rotten and rusted from A to Z because of the winter, and believe it or not, the upper part of the right rear trailing arm had completely tear the floor... and the left side was near to come hehe...

Now i'm in a 1994 protege... what a shame uh ? but i bought it as a winter car and a daily driver (on rainy days...) so i'm about to buy a new "real" car and i'm really interested by the Porsche 944. The question is, what would be the most reliable choice between a N/A 1985+ 944 or 944S or a 1986 or 1987 944 turbo ? I don't have a lot of money but all the money a get goes on my car. I will put the car in my garage all winter long and i'll take my protege for the winter. I won't make the same mistake twice.

thanks !!!

 

Philip,

Okay I think for your budget and skill level go with a 1986+ 944. You will get the most fun for the buck out of them. The 944S are a bit of a rare car, and the turbos can lead you down a money path faster than you may want. So get a nice 1987 944 say for about $4000.00 and enjoy it. Make sure it has had a new timing belt and water pump job done in the last 10,000 miles (can cost $1500) and change the tranny fluid to Swepco 201... Enjoy it

Brian
Editor
9 The Online Porsche Magaizne
http://www.9magazine.com

 

ok thanks !!! I have the choice between a 1986 944 for $5000 (maybe less), 1987 944 $6000 (maybe less) and a 1986 944S $7000 (maybe less) the others are between 1984 and 1987 and they are more than $8000, ( I live in Canada so the prices may be higher... )

 

The 944 turbo givesa driving experiencethe N/A cars really do not deliver, but a turbo will definitelyspendtime with the hood up. Trust me. Best advice (if it is not too late) is to see if you can find an S or S2 which will give similar performance without the 951 headaches. The multivalve engine of the S2 is a very nice piece of engineering, but it's even more rarethan the S. The N/A engine of the 968 comes close to the performance of the turbo, but that car generally costs a lot more.