[41V]

how long did you look?
how did you find it? newspaper, internet, referral from somebody?
how many did you see before you decided on 'the one'? how long did it take to decide after seeing it?
what were your main considerations?
how much? were you able to bargain down?


for me, I was casually looking for about 1 year for a 944 as a weekend toy. My budget was about 5k. I wanted 85.5+, stock, relatively low miles, no dash cracks. I mostly looked through cars.com, yahoo classified and ebay. I found maybe 1 car per month that was interesting, but usually the car would be sold the next day after being advertised, or the time for me wasn't right so I had to pass.

I was about to give up searching thinking I would never find the right car at the right time. Then I checked yahoo and was totally suprised to see what poped up, 944 86, red/ lt grey, 1 owner, new paint, 94k, full maintenance... with a tiny 1'' x 1" photo. I went to see it the first day it was posted. Happened to be just 10 miles away. The previous month I had traveled to both Deleware and PA from NJ only to be disappointed. It was raining, not best conditions for a test drive, and I got lost finding the house and almost turned back to go home. but didn't. When I finally arrived, the car was parked outside a nice big house, from a distance looked mint. Up close, even better. Turned out the owner bought a boxter 6 mths earlier, wanted to trade in the 944 at the time but his 16 y.o. son wanted the car. The son later changed his mind for something brand new so the 944 became available. It took me a few days to finally make the commitment to buy. Luckily the owner held the car for me, he was in no rush, he said he had cash offers sight unseen. I gave him what he asked, 4500. No problems, the only issue was 4 drilled holes in the console from a car phone installed in 1986.

In a few days I had a Porsche in my garage. Thrilled, better than my dreams. I bought it April 2001, drove it maybe 1k in last 6 months, put about $500 in tune up and general replacement parts. I have a daily beater, so this is mostly garaged and taken out for joy rides. Just having it and seeing it in the garage or driveway makes it worthwhile. Best toy I've ever had. Turns heads everywhere, kids love it, wife hates it (all the better).

BOB
86 944