84 944 project with 22k miles - worth it?

[black_falcon]

84 944 with 22k original miles per the owner who's had the car the past 15 years. Car has been off the road for ten years, but he claims it ran just fine when parked. Good body and paint. Beautiful sport seats with factory sunroof delete. Forgot to check the options sticker, but i'd bet it has LSD. Very clean interior minus 2-3 small dash cracks, except it smelled like grandma's basement; musty. No obvious signs of water damage however. One of the rims needed to be refinished. Engine was dirty, fluids looked ok. I'm looking for an early capsule car with super low miles. I've owned an 86 n/a for 8 years and know all about sorting them, so I know i'd be looking at a major service plus replacing almost everything rubber before attempting to start it. No service history and i'd need my mechanic to do the bigger ticket items. The owner seemed firm arond 4k. Here's some pics, what do you think??

[John_AZ]

If I understand, you will not be able to start it and will have to take his word it "ran just fine when parked".

You have the experience of 8 years ownership.

Tempting but with no service records---seems strange. Is he the owner for the last 10 years and earlier?

Carfax should give proof.

You want it----Buy it!

This is what I want--$4000
1987 Porsche 924S FOR SALE with lots of goodies

GL
John_AZ

[VII]

I'm a bit suspicious of it being 22k. I would bet it's actually 122k. Price is good if the mileage is actually 22k and not terribly crazy if 122k.

[carlege]

Tires last alot longer then 22k and those bolts have been removed enough times that the black has worn..... I call B.S.

[ernie9944]

Originally Posted by carlege

Tires last alot longer then 22k and those bolts have been removed enough times that the black has worn..... I call B.S.

+1 black_falcon want a solid piece of advice run from it & don't look back There is so much decent 924S/944/951 out there for sale rigth now that you don't have to put up with this crap the owner of that 944 is telling you.

[Gordon Rankin]

4K for an 84??? Seems to be on the high side regardless of appearance. And I don't think the 84 even had an available LSD.

[mistertate]

If you can get it to run and it's what you want I'd say it's a good deal. That dash looks super cherry and sunroof delete is a real bonus.
I'm not saying he isn't lying about the miles but decent early cars are hard to find. He might just be stupid. Either way there's probably more lies or stupidity where that came from. Look it over closely, are the front frame rails intact? Has it been painted? It only takes five minutes to check for an LSD.

[black_falcon]

Let's assume the 22k is incorrect and it's actually true miles unknown. What would be a fair price for a clean 84 that's been off the road and has potential unknowns... I would think 2k?

[John_AZ]

Let's assume the clutch is bad=Parts---clutch kit, machine work , extra stuff and +++ $800
Labor extra.
Let's assume the shocks are rotted=$400 and maybe new tires and alignment=$ 600 and up

If the engine has/had coolant leak in the head gasket and the coolant sat in the piston bores===get a new engine.

AC repair $400

New brake calipers
New waterpump and belts & rollers & seals

What my message is, you will invest $4K to $5000 just to get it to the emissions test.

Maybe a lot more.

A roller can go for $500 to $900

GL
John

[John_AZ]

WHAT!

You added "prior salvage" in the same Rennlist post.
Is this early 944 project worth the trouble? - Rennlist Discussion Forums

My numbers are dead on!

[ERAU944]

lol... internet advice... rofl

this is my take, and let me remind you this is coming from someone who's father purchased an '83 cocoon car that had 18,000 miles on it in 1998.

service records: nice, not really necessary if you're going into this as a true coccoon car anyway: you will be doing all the important stuff no matter what:

timing belt/water pump/rollers/seals: A MUST (of course you know not to start the car at all until this is done) this of course comes with a full coolant flush and oil change.
brake fluid: DEFINITELY FLUSH, preferrably with a pressure type bleeder so you don't mess up the seals on the master cylinder.
tires: duh
brake pads: not necessary, but might be nice. they are old and technology has come a fair distance in 27 years.

if you want a nice, low mileage car that will feel TIGHT and pull HARD, you can't go wrong with a cocoon car. my father's '83 has a tick over 40k on it now, and still pulls like a freight train. my '84 feels a bit more tired, and it ought to with 60k more miles, everything is a bit looser.

the problem with paying a premium for a car in nice shape that has low miles, is that everything needs to be done, regardless of now nice it LOOKS. factor that into your decision, and if you dont mind paying more, go for it!

also, definitely look at the options: LSD was definitely an option.

the car you're looking at has sport seats (i'll say this, the condition of the seats is a DEAD giveaway to what the real mileage is. 22k will show little to no wear on the bolsters. the seats in dad's car still look new), and the cheap wheels, much like my '84 factory sunroof delete. my sport seats were full leather though. my '84 also had the cheapo suspension, whereas my father's cocoon car had the 7/8" fuchs with the slightly upgraded suspension (rear sway, adjustable rear shocks).

it looks like a nice car, but you are looking to spend at least one large to get the car up to snuff and even turn the key. if it's worth the 5 grand to you to have a cocoon car, i'd go for it!

[Vicious]

I'd throw a offer of 2.5-3k. Given the condition of everything on the body I'd say 22k is probly right. Main items in view is the rubber parts which don't show much wear. Letm know the cost involved in getting it to run again to negotiate a price

[racer]

I think some other questions are: how did you find the car? has it been on the market awhile? Even with all your "logical" arguments about how much it *could* cost to get running, if the seller doesn't care about that, and only getting his price it won't really matter, will it. You can't go in there and tell him that since the car could need $4k in "shop" work, that it should be sold to you for $100.

[Tidybuoy]

I purchased my 1988 n/a with 17k miles on it. I bought it from the original owner and the car had been garaged 12 years. The car was dusty but overall in mint condition.

That being said, I got what I thought was a pretty good deal, but keeping a car parked for years has it's drawbacks. I had to get the timing/balance belts changed, all fluids changed, brakes flushed, trans flushed, tires, battery, hoses, and the list goes on, etc.. By the time I got everything corrected, the cost had added up substantially. It had the benefit of being in a dry garage so no rust on the wheels, interior was spotless with no cracks, and everything else looked new. T

I don't have any regrets but you should be aware, that the $4k purchase price will be much higher after you take care of everything.

If you like the car you are looking at and you don't mind the work - get it. 944's are a blast.


My car 17k miles the day I towed it home:

[mistertate]

Originally Posted by carlege

Tires last alot longer then 22k and those bolts have been removed enough times that the black has worn..... I call B.S.

The corrosion on the cookies is incongruous with the condition of the rest of the car. Someone probably sold some fuchs for quick cash. It's got sport seats, it probably had fuchs.
Tidybuoy, Racer and Erau944 seem to know what's going on.

"You can't go in there and tell him that since the car could need $4k in "shop" work, that it should be sold to you for $100."

You snooze you lose. Money talks, bs walks.
You can really tell the difference on low milers like that, so much less rattling going on. The guy went through the effort of jacking it up to keep the tires from flat-spotting although it's probably not good to leave suspension at full droop for 10 years...

[Tidybuoy]

One more thing; I had to drain the fuel tank and when I did that, I discovered that the fuel lines at the tank were cracked and had to be replaced. I also replaced the fuel lines at the engine (based on advice fron this board) even thought the front lines still looked good. I also replaced the fuel injector seals and vaccum lines.

My advice: if you like the car and the price is ok, get it. But, don't think a low mileage car is without maintenance. It's got the same maintenance issues as the higher mileage cars because all the rubber is still 25+ years old. The tires on my car looked perfect but shredded when the tire shop tried to remove them.

A photo of the engine @17k miles:

[krystar]

dooood car phone! hahahah

[Tidybuoy]

Originally Posted by krystar

dooood car phone! hahahah

Factory option....doesn't work unless you go back in time and find a pre-digital service. You should have heard Verison when I told them I wanted to hook it up...."you need to bring it inside so we can see it" ..... but it's built into the car...."whaaaat, I don't understand"

[John_AZ]

Originally Posted by krystar

dooood car phone! hahahah

OH, I thought you said "drool"

My '88 came with one. You would like the "retro" look.

John

[Tidybuoy]

The red car looks very clean. But, if you are trying to determine if the 22k is real, I would look under the hood very carefully and inspect all of the "replaceable" parts and make sure they are Porsche brand. This would include hose clamps, hoses, belts, the crimped on clamps for vaccuum lines, etc. At 22k, all of this would still be original. At 122k, some of this would have been replaced. Check the spare, it should be brand new and tools should be unused; although a lot can happen in 25+ years.

I doubt it's 22k or 122k as the speedo has 6 digits. It would be more likely that if the mileage is higher than 22k, the speedo has been replaced.

All that being said, the car looks really clean, hopefully, the one wheel will polish up. Do a carfax, that would show and reported accidents, ownership changes and mileage at these events.