Is their money to made on a 944 Turbo?

[car-reras]

Local car for sale. It is an 86 944 Turbo with 38,000 original miles, Guards Red/black, flawless inside and out, complete records, well owned and all maintenance done for $11,000.
I was all over it until I read up on these cars. They sound like a nightmare compared to a 911.
Also, doesn't seem to be a market for them what so ever, over $10K.
If your not a dIY'er, you will spend at least what you paid for it over and over again if you plan on actually using.
I have contact info if you want it, but I am still considering it, just because it is so amazingly flawless and unmolested.
Am I crazy???

[lamaker]

seems like a nice car but $11K might be the max value so it will not leave you much room to make a profit....the best you can do is look for an OK car, fix it up, and then flip it...

[trader220]

There could be some room for a flip in that car but Its going to take patience. There is not a huge market for those cars. They sure are fast and good handling cars. It could be a car you could buy and drive for a while with such low miles and might not cost you an arm and a leg to own. I would guess just due to age it would probably need to have the timing belt and the water pump looked at and changed. A good PPI is a must.

[aigel]

You are nuts indeed. Nobody will take that off your hands for a good profit.

George

[dienstuhr]

I would say buy it if you want it but forget a flip, it's at the very high end already.

Cheers

d.

[car-reras]

$7K just in receipts this year (2009) on clutch, timing belt, water pump etc.
Stack of records an inch thick beyond this last year, all the way back to new.
Who wants a car with only 38K miles and enough records for a car with 200K + miles?
....it is just sooo pretty though!

[aigel]

Problem is most everyone prefers a beater SC for 11k over a pristine 944 turbo.

I agree that it looks as pretty as it can for a 944!

George

[Eric 951]

Won't make any money on selling the turbo if you buy it at that price--BUT with all the prevenative maint. done and the low miles and great condition that car is in, you could buy it for 10K and have a blast spanking 911s all day long.

[mdu968]

If you can live with the red, buy it to drive/enjoy and sell it before it hits 50k miles. You should be able to drive this high performance Porsche very cheap recouping most of your dough. 951s and 968s make great daily drivers.

[geshaghi]

944's are so soft, in some cases you can't give them away. Turbos are complex and super-expensive to maintain. Methinks $11k is more than all the money, even for the low mileage.

[car-reras]

update: I let the seller know price seemed too high, even though at first I was so excited to buy it from him. I was thinking he was going to think I was high, telling him that, but instead, he came down to $9500. It really is a lovely car, looks, runs and even smells new still. Too bad they take so much $$$ to keep them going.

[racer]

The fact that the clutch is done ($2K) and belts/wp (maybe $1.5k) means the big items are done for another 30K miles (belts anyway). Most 944T's are chipped up and then blow up. A stock motor is pretty reliable. If you keep it stock it should be fine.

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by geshaghi

944's are so soft, in some cases you can't give them away. Turbos are complex and super-expensive to maintain. Methinks $11k is more than all the money, even for the low mileage.

Spoken like a true aircooled prick... Don't hate... Its only faster in a straight line and a corner than the old 911s....




You won't make a wad at $9500 but in that shape with those records it would make a great driver... If you've got the cash buy it and have some fun.... Thats a great car.... Warning.... the boost is addictive when it kicks....

[geshaghi]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Spoken like a true aircooled prick... Don't hate... Its only faster in a straight line and a corner than the old 911s....

Not sure who the hater is here, but I suspect that there are plenty of aircooled ****s who might take offense. If you weren't so insecure about your 944, perhaps you wouldn't have jumped to the conclusion that I was disparaging it. The question and comment relate to value and whether the asking price left room to make money. That they handle well and go fast isn't really a question. The reality is that no matter how nice the car, the majority of these have asking prices around $5k and sell for much less. 944's (turbos or not) that trade at the $10k+ mark are very rare. My brother bought a very nice, well maintained 944 Turbo last year with a stack of records going back to the original owner and 130,000 miles for less than $3000. The car was well advertised but had no takers for months until my brother came along. The car at issue here has significantly lower mileage, but I don't think a buyer will have an easy time recovering any meaningful premium s/he pays, and I still think even the reduced price of $9k doesn't leave room to make any money.

[Flatsixhead]

No real money to be made on this car.. but very nice indeed. 951's make most 911 owners nervous and insecure as their market value does not even equal the brake package on a GT2 but on a track it's a different story

[NineOhOne]

Originally Posted by geshaghi

If you weren't so insecure about your Dad's 944, perhaps you wouldn't have jumped to the conclusion that I was disparaging it. .

Fixed it for you. Cindy...err, I mean Sydney drives a Honda 250cc motorcycle.

Honda Enduro forums?

[nota]

limit to top value of a 86 944/951 is the later turboS value
even the nicest 86 will be worth less then a descent later 951S
and with the turbo S selling in the low 5 figure range at best
that kinda limits the normal 951 to the 4 figure price range

[porsche4life]

MY 944 that my blood sweat and tear paid for is a very nice car... I just get tired of you guys bashing on the 944s... They are great cars and that one is for sure worth 8-10k... I said there wasn't any money to be made at that range though....


I'm totally secure about my 944... It does what it does just fine... I don't expect anymore out of it...

[931GT]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Spoken like a true aircooled prick... Don't hate... Its only faster in a straight line and a corner than the old 911s....

Now whose really being the prick here??? He was simply speaking the truth about 944 values.

I personally couldn't see paying more than 7.5K for it and there still isn't any money to be made flipping it. It doesn't help that its red. Actually the whole concept of flipping 944s for a profit is pretty ridiculous, not exactly sought after. Great cars though.

[KarlCarrera]

I've known a few owners of 944's, turbo's and normally aspirated. A couple of examples. 1989 944S (friend) 51,000 original miles, almost no maintenance, but he had had no issues either. He wanted 8K. I figured it would cost at least 2K to bring all the stuff up to standard. No sale at that price.

Dad has owned 914's, a 924', a 86' 944 Turbo, an early 911 and SC's. Honestly the 944T and the SC's have been the least problematic with regular maintenance. His 944T still ran great at over 85.000 miles, when he sold it. He bought it at about 8K and sold it for about 8K three years later. (I know that wouldn't happen today). He did have the regular maintenance cost's on top of the purchase price (nothings free) but really enjoyed the car. It was very dependable.

Have a THROUGH PPI done. If he's got 7K in recent receipts, and records from new, it's not exactly an unknown. Everything electrically works? Interior is....? leaks, coolant flushes, tires, brakes, exhaust system, suspension, transmission shifts well?

I would think that 9K is the upper limit for this car, and the value will go down as the years and miles add up, but it would be a h**l of alot more fun than buying another vanilla import or domestic to use as a DD.

I have spent over 4K on my 'mint' original 88 Targa just doing the things that needed attention during the course of ownership in the last 3 years. As they say, they're all 20K cars. Would the 944T need more? Who knows?

If your trying to flip it and make money towards something else, forget it. If you want to enjoy a powerful, comfortable, balanced, boosted, fairly reliable Porsche and can negotiate an agreeable price. I'd say do it. Have the PPI done!

Personally I don't care for the wheels or the red. The wheels I can afford to change, the red I would have to learn to live with :>)

my .02

Karl
88 Targa