Thanks for the replies folks.
Myself, I've had somewhere over 40 cars in the past 15 years, most European. We have 3 cars and a 2000 BMW sport bike currently. Many vehicles have weaknesses and maintenance issues that simply cannot be neglected. Surely there are plenty of 944Ss out there that are well loved and well maintained. The car in question seems to have been owned by the same person for 90% of its life. What has happened in its recent past, I don't know.
Right now, I'm looking for a car that will be a fun daily driver and the right size for my 60-mile a day commute. This route includes two trips through a canyon with over 25 significant twists and countless minor steering inputs. The handling characteristics of the 944 are more important to me than how it compares to a Honda from red-light to red-light.
I spent the first half of my driving life looking to go as fast as possible. This included 155+mph runs in my own cars and 170+ mph runs in a friend’s Lamborghini. I also had many a good mile in a close pal's RS America. I wish he still had that one.
I won't even go into the hours I've spent in F-16 Fighting Falcons.
These days I rarely ever do better than 20 over the posted and can be found at 10 over most of the time.
I'm not so worried about tensioners, balance shafts and belts. My cars can be scheduled for down time at regular intervals with no problem. Doing that kind of thing myself is no stretch either.
The norm for me is to buy from 1st or 2nd owners having all records so this car is already at a disadvantage. I'm the 2nd owner on all of my current cars and 1st on the bike. Such 944s are going to be few and far between though or at least not likely to turn up around here.
In the next few days I'll be stopping by the lot to take a closer look, go for a drive and ask some pointed questions. We'll see.
Thanks for all the advice. It's been a great help.