Guide to buying a Porsche 944
You’ll have to do a lot of searching to find the words cheap and Porsche in the same paragraph or sentence! But when buying a Porsche 944 this can be the case with prices for a well-traveled model starting at $3000 and going up to $16,000 for a low mileage late model you could be driving a well equipped and powerful Porsche 944 for the price. from a junkyard. Ready 911!
As with the purchase of any vintage or classic vehicle, the usual advice applies to buy the best you can afford with your budget and remember to include ongoing running costs to maintain an aging classic, if modern. Be prepared to spend up to $3,000 a year on repairs; remember when buying a Porsche 944 these cars cost over $70,000 when new parts can be expensive.
The first model released was the 944 Lux and you should be able to find these with several of the original owner fitted optional extras due to the savings that come from not buying a 911. These included leather upholstery and air conditioning as well as alloy wheels. , power windows and mirrors, low-profile tires, and headlight washers that came standard on the Lux. The engine department had to work overtime on the Lux as it only came with a 164BHP unit and the Porsche 944 is a heavy car.
If you need speed, the Porsche 944 Turbo should fit the bill! Initial models were supplied with 225 BHP before evolving to 250 BHP as standard, making it the ideal car for speeding down the road in the 1980s, and still today. The Porsche 944S and S2 had a bit more growl and the late model Lux gained a bit on the later models with the addition of four valves per cylinder.
When shopping for a Porsche 944, check out the engine and suspension for a hard-drive car. Also look for crash damage, full service history, and worn interiors.
In short, buying a Porsche 944 was and is a cheap entry into Porsche ownership. Purist Porsche owners and fans will always claim that it’s not a proper Porsche due to its front mounted water cooled engine, rather it is rear wheel drive and the transmission is rear mounted and compared to the VW powered 924, It has a Porsche engine. It’s also worth noting that if track days are your passion, most of the 968CS’s suspension can be grafted onto the 944, making it a great car for handling the track!