almost time for turbo.
 

I am awaiting my tax check so that i can pay off my daily driver 944 and start looking for a turbo. THe ones that i have looked at on auot trader and stuff are very over priced ..... I alomost fell over when i saw one with 170,000 miles on it for 9,000 bucks. What i am lookin for is a either black or red 944 turbo. that i dont have to work on. THa ti can drive the crap out of in the 5500 to 6500 price range with around 100,000 miles on it. What is the best way to start looking for a 944 turbo? I made a big mistake with my last porsche purchase becuase i jumped right in on the first car and didnt shop around. What can i expect to pay on a turbo with that mileage on it?? Can you guys give me some pointers?

Yep, made that mistake...
 

I did the same thing with my first 944, bought the first thing I saw...$4k car + $9k work = $4k car.

I think the advice you'll get from everyone is to drive as many cars as you can. For me, that meant driving 1-3 hours to see a car every other weekend for the entire summer. It really does pay off in the end (besides, it's a good excuse to drive the 944NA). If it takes you all summer, or all year, it'll still be time well spent and/or money saved.

The other thing I recommend is that if ANYTHING about the car makes you nervous, then don't buy it. Especially if you don't want to work on it. I drove a car that "probably needed a water pump". Turned out, it had needed it for two years, and was probably overheated repeatedly in that time. I drove a car that was actually scary through corners. I drove a car with rust. I didn't buy them. Clicking noise from the valves even after the car's warm? Walk away. Don't fall into the trap of buying a car and fixing the stuff that's broken (unless it's a project, of course!)...there will always be something that needs fixed, even on a car that looks perfect (sheared exhaust manifold stud, in my case).

FWIW, I think you'll have trouble finding a 100k mile turbo that needs nothing for less than $7k. Most of what I looked at was in the $10k+ range, but I was looking at lower mileage or turbo-S cars. Maybe in the 150k+ mile range? Of course, the market's different everywhere...


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88 944NA (Someone eles's problem now)
89 951 (Mmmm, boosty)

Re: Yep, made that mistake...
 

That will be your biggest issue. I paid $9 for mine with 98K on it...and I found a great deal!

Here is a possible one for you, the price is down to $5750 now.

! I'm really close that one.. I think I'll have to take a look at it.

At $6000 I think I might have to buy it.

Anyone want to buy a decent 944?

thanks for all the input.