im in college and have always wanted to have a porsche or good handling car. i live in the mountains of north carolina and its always been about having fun driving the roads rather than going fast. i've recently sold my car and have about 10k to spend. i found an 83 porsche 944 locally that had been traded into the dealership. its a little local dealership you know those with about 30 cars on the lot that sell this and that. the car is for sale for $3988 and i thought it seemed like a pretty reasonable price. the odometer reads 70k but because its been traded in they don't have any maintanence records nor am i able to talk to the previous owner or know how well they maintained it. the carfax report only goes back until 1992 when it had 52k miles and thats all i know about it.

i took pictures of the car today and really just want some opinions on what i should do and look for before purchasing the car. i would like to take it to a good porsche mechanic but the only option for that around here would be a porsche dealership. so any advice and information on what to look for would be much appreciated.
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With no records I would be cautious about the car. You would instantly want to do the belts and water pump. If you are in college I'm assuming that you have a pretty fixed or limited income. A 25 year old Porsche will need attention and it can be expensive. If you have your heart set on a 944 and have 10K to spend you could find a really nice one that has records and speak with the former owner(s) and get a detailed history. This way you'll know what you're getting into.
Hope this helps...

 

Run away from a 944 until you are out of college.

 

thanks for the replys, i kind of knew that would be the answer i just didn't really want to hear it. they're cool cars but putting a couple thousand a year into something other than a car at this stage of my life is probably a little more important.

 

My advice is to get something like a honda accord to get you through college, then once you get a good paying job and can afford a 2nd car as a toy (note I said toy, meaning, if it has to, it can sit for extended periods of time), then buy a used Porsche.