P71 wrote:
Hello GRM'ers,
I found a 944 closer than New Hampshire (though I'm still in love with Carrera4's black 83 in the Classifieds). It's close enough to drive home, and is also an 83. It's a gunmetal color (which is my #1 choice) with a black interior, sunroof, and is on the 3rd owner. The current owner has documentation from the late 80's until 03-04 and the car hasn't received much in maintenance (or miles) since. It has 174K, is all stock, and is cheap. It sputters, the door handle doesn't work, and it has a leak from the battery tray to the passenger floor. It has also been lightly tapped on the left front and needs some fender work, a headlight, and probably a respray.
They are open to offers, but the sputtering and the leak scare me. It had the timing belt done at 140K and the clutch in 2002 around 150K. I imagine it will need a water pump, timing set, plugs/wires/rotor/cap, and tires at the bare minimum. Add in the bodywork and paint and that's a lot of money.
Advice? Anything else to look for?
Do you want a project car or a runner? I would only consider that a project car or parts car. I could be a base for a 944 spec race car project or a spare parts car. Not really sure I would consider it a "driver". Now you should expect ANY 944 you get to need a t-belt. It is just good insurance to get it done as when they break it is a real pain. What gets expensive is body work, paint and interior. If it is a race car project then those issues are not that important. If it is a street car well... frankly expect to pay $3000-$4000 for a nice street car that has a decient interior, decient body, and good running motor. Even this may need a t-belt.
Below these prices something else will be wrong. Now again if you want a project car fine. I have taken junk and built it back up so the car has potential. However it comes down to how much work do you want to put in.
BTW.. cheap for this sounds like sub $1000, but then expect at least $2000 into it to fix the major issues. This probably won't include a repaint or at most a cheap touch up.
Now you could get lucky and some guys do by getting a "junker" and they can resolve things for $500. However others get stuck thinking that their $1200 car is a bargan until they realize it will take $2000-2500 more just to make it into a solid driver status.
The sputtering could be any number of things. It could be an easy fix or signs of major issues. It is hard to say.
And NO Alfa's. The only reason I'm selling my beloved FB RX-7 for a Porsche is to join the local Porsche Club as they have been great people and Audra and I want to be more involved.
