1986 Porsche 944 Turbo from North America - Comments

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.

Is it the one you got that has had so many problems, or a lot of them? I see only you has said anything negative about it on the tittle page of your review. being that your in a 944 club, you could tell me what kinds of problems other owners have had. on average what will I have to do to keep up this car? (I'm about a to buy one, a completely junked out one as a fixer upper, but still need to be able to drive it to school/work, but with the reviews on how expensive they are to maintain I'm beginning to get skeptical, as I am a 17 year old high school student hoping to get a job soon or ill be stuck with no income to fix any problems that should arise) I'm am getting it for about $500 though so that might be worth it, what would you say.

These cars can be very expensive. I currently own an 86 951 and have invested about 30k into it in upgrades, but soon will be running in the high 300's close to 400's in rear wheel horse power and torque. they are phenomenal cars. my suggestion to you is to hold off and get one that is in good working order and possibly already has some major upgrades so you don't have to eat that cost as an owner.

This is your call, I'm only speaking as an owner of 2 years and a collage student at 22 and knowing the fact of having a small budget.

I would save and get a good reasonably low mileage 951 and save yourself a lot of money and headaches. been there trust me.

Like I said the car is sick tho!!! largely.

For good sites ebay sells a good number, but for used parts check out pelicanparts. com and lindseyracing. com 2 very good places to get used and performance parts (lindsey more for performance) good luck.

The best Porsche is the Porsche that you plan to keep for 15 years+. Let's face it next year model will always be better it like the Intel x86 processor. So why throw all that hard earned money just to keep up with the Jones?

My best and only advise is to stay with your one car, use the extra money to buy a very nice set of tools i.e. Snap on and a set of workshop manuals.

Learn how to work on these nice machines.

With the help of a retired Porsche mechanic from Germany I have learned how to change clutch, exhaust, brakes, rotors, fuel pump, A/C, dashboard meters, paint 911 wheels, and currently working on replacing head gasket.

I saved more than 15,000 over the past 8 years with over 250,000 miles on my 1986 Porsche 944 turbo.

You really appreciate your Porsche 100 times more when you know that you are the driver, the mechanic, and the caretaker.

<<The best Porsche is the Porsche that you plan to keep for 15 years+. Let's face it next year model will always be better it like the Intel x86 processor.>>

While I see your point as far as technology and such, recent auto reviews about the 911 have mentioned that the new models are "souless" even though they can do amazing things on the road. Your Porsche and 911s of yore had soul!

So newer isn't always better in my opinion.

I have an '86 951 turbo that cost me $9K 2 years ago, and has run me that in repairs and maintenance since. I also own an '04 Dodge SRT-4, with an identical 2.4L 4-cyl Turbo with a cat - delete & turbo upgrade. Both cars are about 300 HP and the Dodge has 30k kilometers vs the 300k kilometers on the Porsche.

The Porsche is a fun exotic ride with incredibly tall gears (over sized 17" rear wheels helps), which I refer to as an autobahn cruiser. It's also a bear to handle below 100 kph.

The Dodge is very nimble at lower speeds and will explode through the gears quickly compared to the Porsche. I would have to say that the Dodge is far better for a student as the Porsche is insane for parts (Check BIMMER Specialist, on-line). Put some decent wheels & tires on the dodge and you'll be very pleased. The only expense is the Mobile 1 Extended performance engine oil.

The Porsche consumes 17.5 l per 100 kms versus the 12.5 litres for the Dodge (Premium 94 octane) Big difference!