Got a nice Copenhagen.. needs a few things

[turbokev]

This is my 3rd 944.. Started looking a month ago and saw a bunch of junk. It's getting harder to find a clean one up here in New England, but I stumbled across this one at a Kia dealership of all places.

Previous title (and carfax) shows it's a one owner with 101,200 miles. No accidents or issues but it was repainted at some point. Nice paint job..certainly not a Maaco job.

Car is pretty nice but the steering wheel is worn, the dash has the typical cracks, the shifter leather is worn, and the drivers door handle needs a plastic insert (if I can even find that seperately) Everything else works and is in good shape.

I'm trying to track down the original owner to talk about service history..the car was obviously cared for but I'd like to know the last time the timing belt was done, clutch etc..

Here's some pictures of the new ride.. nice to be back in one after 4 years

[944 boy]

wow, thats shiny! yay for lame dealerships that just want to move used cars! You can get a full early door handle fairly cheap. Steering wheels are more expensive but available. Dashes are hard to find but solutions are around. Good luck and good find!

[jkrustchinsky]

AWESOME!! Love the 2-tone interior. Its hard to find a nice early car. I love the early interior but most cars are trashed, great find

[ColoradoSteve]

She's a beauty, nice cookie cutters too. Mind telling us what you paid for it?

[Schumi]

Looks like incredible paint for an early car. Original or respray?

[turbokev]

It has been repainted at some point..had to be fairly recently as the paint is just gleaming.. It's a quality job that someone spent some time on. There's zero orange peel and no overspray at all. Whoever did it had to remove lenses, headlight covers, weather stripping etc as I can't find any indication of something being taped off.

The Kia dealer had the car for 6 months..they had taken it in trade on a new Jeep Commando at the Jeep dealer they own as well. They started at $6,900 but when I saw it the car was adverrtised at $5,995 as a 'weekend special'. After the test drive I thanked the sales guy and told him I was going to pass. He asked why and I told him the car was certainly not your typical used 944 but that is was very overpriced..especially since I would need to do something about the shift leather and sterring wheel. I told him the interior would need to be in superior condition to command that price. (I was actually very interested in the car but didn't want to show my cards if you know what I mean)

He asked what I thought a more reasonable price would be and I said $4800 would make me interested enough to stay and do a deal. He rolled his eyes and said they gave more than that in trade... but we sat down and he presented my offer to the owner. That guy (who I never met) came back with $5100 + $169 in fees.. I held firm and said "Listen, I am NOT paying $169 in fees for you to write a bill of sale..and as for the $5100, if I was comfortable with that amount I would have said it in the first place. I'll pay $4800 out the door, or I walk. No hard feelings at all, that's just the way it's going to be if you want to sell the car today."

He went back to the owner and this time came back with a smile and a "You got yourself a car". They actually did not waive the fees as it is pre printed on the purchase agreements so they lowered the price to $4600 + $169 and I paid a total of $4769 to drive it off the lot.


Considering the condition and how nicely it drives I was pleased with that end result.

My plans for the car include replacing the shift boot and steering wheel, repairing the door handle, replacing the fuel filter and tranaxle fluid (just to be on the safe said and know that they are done). While its parked for the winter I'll do the timing belt/water pump if I can't come up with the service records to show it doesn't need it yet.. and I'm going to look into getting some sport seats as these stock seats have no support in the twisties~

I'm going to order the shift leather today and research my options for the steering wheel..I'll make a seperate post on that.

[paper1122]

Very nice!

[rickharrison]

SARATOGA ROOF???!!!!

Wow...nice condish.

[turbokev]

Not a Saratoga top..

At some point an aftermarket tinted pop-up (and removable) sunroof was added.

[many944s]

D@mn nice find!
Be careful washing it, most aftermarket black paints will show every little scratch after it is washed!

-Nick

[rickharrison]

oh...darn.

[Slam]

Nice find. Instead of tracking down the PO about the T-belt, do it now and you'll know exactly when it was done last. And have a squirm underneath and measure the clutch. No PO is gonna tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.