Need Advice from Pelicans

[kramnalref]

I've been looking at a 1990 944 S2 Cab. PPI is this week. Over the last 2-3 days, I've found 2 911's that are available. I had a 2002 991 cab in the past and miss it. The 944 could be fun. review the following and feel free to offer your thoughts. Thanks
OK, the plot thickens. I've found a couple other P cars and now have a decision to make. Looking for other people's advice.

Option 1 - 1990 944 S2 cab. 88,000 miles. 4K miles in the last 7-8 years by second owner. Waiting for PPI this week, but seller has a timing belt kit and water pump to be installed, most likely by me. Haven't seen all the service records, but will see what the PPI reveals. Guards red/black interior. Price: $14,900

Option 2 - 2003 911 Cab with 80,000. 2 owner car. 2nd owner has put about 8000 miles on it in 2 years. New clutch and IMS/RMS 7000 miles ago, water pump, serpentine belt, AOS and window regulators also replaced. Has service records since 47,000 miles. Guards red/black interior. Price: $19000

Option 3 - 1999 911 Cab with 75,500 miles. 2 owner car. New clutch, plugs, coils, belts and filters change at 60,000 service. IMS looked at by mechanic when the clutch was replaced and appeared fine. Arena red/tan interior. Price: $15,000.

My gut says go with one of the 911's. Recent service is better documented. The 944 could be a lot of fun though, but could end up costing me an arm and a leg in the long run.

Any thoughts?

[gsmiller]

If it were me, I'd go for the newest (Option 2). You get the updates that happened in 2002 and the replaced water pump (although you didn't say how many miles are on it... a lot of people replace every 40k), AOS and IMS/RMS. My understanding is there isn't really a good way to "look at the IMS when the clutch is off and determine it's fine". I _think_ you need to pull the bearing to be sure, and at that point replace since you can't reuse once pulled. Of course for the $5k price difference you could have the pump and IMS done on the 1999, but I think the updates the 2003 has are worth it. It's too bad you don't have service records all the way to the beginning, but the last 30k miles worth is useful at least.

Good luck with your purchase!

[kramnalref]

Thanks for the input. I am leaning toward the 2003. The owner of the 1999 says he's checked the oil filter every change for signs of IMS shards as well. I have the 944 PPI tomorrow, so we'll see.

[tonythetarga]

There are no warnings for the IMS, they just go. The '03 is the better option now that the bearing has been changed. You get a 3.6 engine and you have some improvements on the head castings. they failed a lot in the 3.4 cars and there were many engine failures due to oil-coolant intermix. The double row bearing was pretty good but other things caused engine failures. The 02-04 single row bearings had a higher failure rate but the other improvements were significant. With the bearing done and service records, your choice is looking good. The S2's are fun cars but that price is too high I think. Especially when you can have a 911 for 4k more.

[baloo]

Get a 911 if you want a Porsche.

But if you want any kind of 1990 sports car, get a Mitsubishi VR4 or RX7 or any of the similar iconic performance sports cars from that same era that exceeded the 944.