1986 Porsche 944 Turbo review from North America

Crossover pipe cracked-- 3 different places on 3 different occasions. Welded, welded, and then replaced with a used part. Extremely labor intensive, would have been well into the thousands of dollars at a shop.

Wastegate pipe cracked- Welded.

Brakes all around. ($$$$)

Clutch slave cylinder hose failed on a long trip.

Vacuum leaks galore. (Hardware store, 50 USD to do the entire system, clamps and all).

Engine mounts replaced. ($200, and labor intensive)

Rearview mirror (interior) fell off. (Epoxy)

Original acrylic red paint oxidizes very quickly- required two buffs followed by heavy and frequent waxing. (Lots of labor and expensive carnuba).

Engine began to cut out under full throttle in 3rd gear and above. (Undiagnosed, may be grounding issue).

Replaced timing belts, rollers, and front engine seals. ($200, DIY)

Wastegate could use replacement.

I purchased this car, my 2nd 951 and 3rd 944, in well-preserved, one owner condition with some service records. Being that I am a college student and this is my hobby car (Saab 9000 CSE daily driver), I perform all of my own maintenance.

Here is what I'll say about 80's Porsche Turbo cars-- when they hit a certain age, they become extremely high maintainence. I cannot stress this enough. My car is beautiful; no dash cracks, perfect interior, clean engine, clean paint, no rust anywhere, I mean anywhere... including the bolts that hold the swaybar on. All this has not prevented what would have been work that would have most likely have totalled near what I paid for the car ($6000 USD) if I hadn't performed the work myself.

The car is seriously fast, I'll say that. I have owned a bunch of Saabs, BMW's, and Porsches, so when I hear people talking about how cars are high maintenance or expensive to repair I typically roll my eyes as it typically is an exaggeration, a stigma attached to euro cars. Well, here is the exception. The prices for parts on this car are OBSCENE. Seventy five dollars for a brake fluid reservoir? Over three hundred dollars to properly do the front brakes--and that is just for parts? Or the real kicker--a clutch, yes, a dry, single-plate type, costs in the $800 USD just for the kit. This is all not to mention that the car is rather difficult to work on...I've counted 7 times that I have removed the intake manifold in a three month period, whether it be to replace broken hardware, hoses, stop rattles, or fix the crossover pipe that has managed to crack three times in three different places.

They key things to look for when you buy one of these: look for the aftermarket STAINLESS headers (expensive, rare, but about the best investment you could make), replaced belts, oil seals, water pump, and clutch. Make sure all or most of the electronics work as well. I will say the belt issue is overblown--people who have failed belts must have really botched the job or have morbid luck. I am part of a 944 owners club in Milwaukee and of all our cars noone has ever snapped a belt. I tensioned by hand on all my cars and have never encountered the slightest issue. Some cars have been very well maintained by knowledgeable owners or have had substantial overhauls and will not give many issues--the problem is, these cars cost exponentially greater quantities of money. Is it worth it? Perhaps.

Pros? Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't love the car. People constantly approach me to ask about it, it is extremely fast, it handles very well, especially provided that it came with the sport suspension and LSD, and is very comfortable to boot. The performance potential is out of this world; an unnamed premier porsche tuner believes he can make any 951 350+ crank HP with a few hundred dollars in parts. Try that BMW.

Perhaps a year or two ago the car would have been more interesting, but as a broke college student the car is becoming a bear: an E36 M3 or even the simpler 944 S2 seems more appealing every day; the lust for speed is being trumped by the need for reliability.