Quote:
Originally Posted by mkc1962
From what Ive viewed over the years it seems the 78-83 SC's seems to be the most sought after,reliable, easy to work on models.
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Factoring in price, that was true 5-10 years ago, before the 84-89 Carreras had fully depreciated.
But they all have bottomed out by now, so IMO the 84-89 Carrera is a better value.
The CIS on the SC isn't a bad system, as you know, but it does date back to the 60s in design, and the very early 70s in first use.
The Motronic system used on the 84-89 is very modern, and IMO a simpler and overall more reliable system. It's actually in the "sweet spot" for modernness. Easier to work on than the cars that came before it, and the ones that came after it (they got increasingly more complex, more electronics, more crowded engine compartment, etc.) If you can understand and work on KJet/CIS, then Motronic is a snap. Get a Bentley manual and a multimeter and you can diagnose anything (unlike the CIS system, which works on hydraulic pressure, Motronic is all electronic, using electric sensors, which are all easy to test with a multimeter).
For an 84-89, get the newest one you can afford. The 87-89 are the most desired because of their updated transmission (called the G50), and are usually priced accordingly, but if you look enough you can find G50 cars at great prices.
The 87-89 also has all of the updated the car received through the years.
The 86 is a bit of an "interim" car, it had a lot of the updates (like seats, larger dash vents and some other trim), but the old transmission.
The 84-85 are the "early" versions of the car. These are the lowest priced.
Good luck, these are great cars!