Well I passed on it. Took several attempts to even get time to see it with the guy (he kept cancelling.) It was in really rough shape. Exterior was BEAT. Front bumper was full of spiderwebs (cracked plastic), scratches everywhere, interior was pretty torn up. Lots of squeaks and rattles. Power steering barely worked too and made a ton of noise. Power wasn't very smooth - it would hesitate a little bit under WOT. Very subtle so tough to tell, could just be the clutch slipping once the power came on. Owner told me that it's normal for 944 clutches to engage really high in the travel. Maybe? (I can't recall past ones I've driven feeling like that) but this one literally didn't grab until I just about took my foot completely off the pedal.
21 years old or not - it's not what I was expecting for a car that only had 86k on the clock and was garage kept as claimed. It *did* have the full service history (I poked through the receipts he had... nice extensive list of stuff.) But the bulk of regular service receipts stopped at the 60k service - in 1999. So the last 8 years must've been pretty rough on the car.
Knowing it was rough, I was really thinking "no" (or just low-balling to see if he'd bite.) I stopped a block before returning the car to him to poke around a little and started reading through the receipts. It had a TON of stuff done in the past... everything I'd read about online that is common had been replaced. (cluch cylinder, water pump, exhaust header, etc.) so it seemed like, at least mechanically, the car was maintained, and just probably needed a clutch to at least drive/perform. After that all it'd need is a bit of cleaning in the interior, a freshening up of the suspension, some odds and ends (PS pump for starters) and eventually a respray. I figured it'd make a fun project, something to tinker with in the garage, and figured it'd be worth covering a PPI to see what else it needed (may not LOOK nice but if it's mechanically sound I can deal with it for a bit until I have the chance to clean it up.) But when I talked to him about it, he really didn't want to do it. Said he had 6 other folks coming out to look at it that day and really just wanted to sell it and not mess with having to take it in anywhere next week for a PPI. He asked me to make an offer on the car without a PPI... so I told him $4k. He said "no I want a lot more than that." Good thing because now that I really think about it, that car would've been a lot of work.
He said he'd call me at the end of the day if it didn't sell to one of the 6 other parties. I never heard from him. Guess it sold. Best of luck to the new owner... ultimately it really wasn't a project I was willing to tackle.
I think I'll continue searching and look for something a little cleaner. I originally wasn't looking for a 944 but after looking at the car yesterday (and all the reading I've done here) I think it's what I'm gonna try to dig up. I did find another local one that looks to be in a LOT better shape for a few bucks more than what this guy was asking. I know I'd feel a lot better spending a little more up front. I've got an email into him to see what the deal is. Stay tuned...
