944 S2 - purchase £ vs future maintenance £

[Red Guards]

I am looking to buy a 944S2 which will be my first Porsche. I intend to keep the car for a number of years therefore I’m looking at the long game in purchase price vs. maintenance cost terms. Having read through the pitfalls of 944 S2 ownership, what to pay, running costs, etc, the advice seems to be buy the best you can afford. £6.5 to £7.5k appears to be the going rate to buy a ‘nice’ example, however this does not necessarily dictate the future repair bills. For example, a car might have been properly maintained but may require a new clutch in 10k miles which means £600. I have looked through the running cost data on PH and found examples of people parting with £1.5k per year to keep their ‘nice’ example (based on purchase price) on the road. Obviously a pre-purchase inspection can flag up any mechanical nasties which could develop giving you a good future maintenance forecast before handing over the cash.

Would I be better purchasing my car privately (with inspection) or paying slightly more through an independent specialist (e.g. Hartech, Northway) and buy a fully sorted example with full history, new clutch, brakes, timing belts, good body work, interior etc. There do not appear to be many good examples around although according to the Porsche magazines, in theory you can pick up a good £6k S2 by trawling through the classifieds. In contrast, I have read of PH contributors having difficulties finding decent £6k to £7k cars.

This is not an easy equilibrium to balance and I would appreciate some advice. To me, it makes sense to pay more (£7.5k - £8.5k) for a late high spec S2, keep it properly serviced for £500ish a year (as all the big bills have been taken care of) and own an immaculate depreciation proof Porsche....


>>> Edited by Red Guards on Tuesday 8th March 12:22

[randlemarcus]

I think you are on the right track with the "best you can afford" scenario, but...
1) Set aside a slice of budget for sh1t happens.
2) £500 sounds reasonable if you only drive it to and from the service.
3) Regardless of purchase price now, this is a Porsche. A precision machine designed to be driven. If you want an investment, buy bonds. If you want an incredible way to enjoy money, with an off-chance you might get some of it back, go for it. You WILL enjoy it.
4) I prefer to think of it as spending the same amount of money over a 4 year period as a 2nd hand repmobile, only instead of spending 12k now, and watching the depreciation dribble away, you are spending 7/8 now, with downpayments for continued pleasure.

hth,

Marcus
89 944 Turbo (250)

[AJLintern]

I paid £6.5k for mine 2.5 year ago, but still had to pay for a few standard things. Belts and chain/tensioner, had to have the handbrake mechanism replaced, which I probably could have got done cheaper elsewhere. I have only had to pay servicing costs lately though (touch wood!)
I'd say you should budget around £1k per year at least for maintanance - unless you can do the work yourself, which would save quite a bit!

[tony.t]

My S2 cost me £8K in service/repairs in 5 yrs 40k ish miles and it had 29k miles/OPC history when I bought it.

[nonegreen]

Oh well here goes

I ran 2 944 S2s over 4 years

I did 160k in them

the cars were sacrificial as far as I was concerned ie the purchase price was immaterial. I spent just over 1k on each at opc immedialtely after I bought them. There seem to be 3 issues with the cars. Clutch drive it stop start in traffic and if it statrs to be jerky the clutch is on its way. Cam belt read the service manual. service interval is huge provided belt is checked. Timing chains are a problem at about 130k cos sprockets wear so new cams and shims and chains needed at about 2500 ish so beware.

[AJLintern]

nonegreen said:

Timing chains are a problem at about 130k cos sprockets wear so new cams and shims and chains needed at about 2500 ish so beware.

This should be checked at 80-90k miles - at the very least the tensioner slipper and chain will need replacing. Should cost about £250-300. The cam wear issue isn't as bad as on the 968 which has variable valve timing.

[danww]

My current car is a 944 S2 I bought for 6K about 18 months ago. It has FSH, and I've had just about everything done, including full service every 12 months, Club Sport steering wheel, suspension alignment, cosmetic tidying of paintwork, interior trim and so on. This has meant bills of well over 1K a year, however, a lot was for things you wouldn't do again (CS steering wheel at £300, for example).

I'm pretty sure you could run one comfortably for 1K a year.

Moreover, its for sale to make way for a 911, so PM me if you want more details.

[softinthehead]

sounds like youve done most of your homework so now its time to start driving. Be picky in the ones you see, very picky in the ones you choose to get inspected. for cars like this I dont think it matters much whether its private or dealer. there may be an argument that for places like hartech which go over the car with a toothcomb and offer a maintenence plan then an inspection is not needed, but for most cars, dealer or private, its worth £150-200 or so for an inspection. I would echo the sentiments thus far expressed re maintenence budget - £500 per annum is optimistic. S2s eat rear tyres at £75-150 a pop and a belts service will be £300-400. a few niggly bits and bobs and youre easily over budget. If I had to set a figure I'd say £750-1000 a year for safety and put any leftovers away in case the cams go...
remember ultimately that you are paying a price for running this car. what you get for your money is as much fun as you can have without being horizontal

[Buster44]

Remember even if you pick a sorted car, the youngest S2 is now over 13 years old and it is likely that at each service there will be some additional bits & bobs that need attending to. For example, I know that at the next service I will need to sort out the weeping driveshaft seals.

Best to budget at least £1000 per annum in maintenance - if you don't spend it on servicing, you probably will on upgrades!

Don't let this put you off however, I am still amazed at how versatile the 944 is - more than adequate performance, built like a tank and hatch back practicality. How many sports cars can accomodate a mountain bike?

[diver944]

Definitley get the best you can afford, and look at the better condition cars. Dont restrict yourself to a later car because a K reg will be just the same as an F

I would only pay top whack for a car that can demonstrate it has had recent clutch, shocks, brakes, belts, camchain. If a car has all of these, no rust, good interior and EVERYTHING works then thats the one to buy for 7-8k

I've had mine for over 6 years and 60k miles and it has averaged out at £1k a year (I'm still waiting for the clutch to go but it must be soon)

[danww]

diver944 said:

Definitley get the best you can afford, and look at the better condition cars.

I would echo that and also add there is some absolute rubbish out there. I remember looking at one where the seats had been painted!

Just don't bother with the cheap ones, they'll be cheap for a reason.

[hilux]

"Timing chains are a problem at about 130k cos sprockets wear so new cams and shims and chains needed at about 2500 ish so beware"

Is this true or is it that some cars start to manifest this problem at that time.

Incidentally I`m looking at `Silver Rose` spec turbos and have found that the only decent ones out there are circa 10K

I`m possibly looking at one in Bristol this weekend, any experts down that way want to help me out with their expertise?

[diver944]

Yes it can be true. Get the chain replaced and checked every 48k miles or 4 years just like the belts.

You are right about a lot of crap cars out there. People will tell you that you can pick them up for under £5k and this is true, and there will be a reason. Unfortunately there are also dogs advertised at over £10k because some people just look at other ads and think 'coo mine is the same age and mileage as that' and then they advertise their dung heap at £10k also.

A genuinely good Turbo will be circa £10k for a reason and should stick out like a sore thumb from the rest

[cuneus]

Echo all of the above. The list mebers on Titanic contributed to a buying guide on my website:

http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/prod/dialspace/town/pipexdsl/s/asco96/944t/titanicguide.htm

www.944turbo.org.uk (covers the S2 as well)

Is it the red turbo in Bristol ?

[944Tman]

Having run a 944S2 for 20 months and done 38,000 miles in it, with teh only costs being servcing, a few minor things and a steering arm, my conclusion was that at teh end of the day you pay for your pleasures. And remember these were £35k cars when new so yes, costs to mainatin will be higher but quality is built in.
I gave up a 100 mile a day round trip in teh Mondeo diesel with free petrol for a pittance and £50 a week on gas - but it was worth it !
These are very well built cars, well sorted as the last of teh line ( excluding the 'S3' aka 968) but parts are pricey unless you source them from breakers where many good parts can be found. Prices have firmed by £2000 or so for good cars in teh last 2 years as people have cottoned onto them.

Turbos are differnet animals, well said that good cars are £10k plus but do buy teh best car you can afford, no matter what year - at this age its not how new the plate is that will impress others but the fact its a Porsche, and if this worries you, buy a cheap personalised plate. I have a 944 Turbo now, the same year as my S2 which I bought 6 years ago....

Also, it matters not where you buy teh car from but do get it inspected eg www.sportscarguides.com - trade will add margin for trade-in allowance, warranty ( most of which are a waste of money - better to spend the cash on the isnepction and save it for a rainy day) and profit, a private seller wont. I know a guy who bought a (relatively low cost) Ferrari from a dealer that had purchased it a few days before and added £3k - no dealer wants to make less than £1k on a car, net.

[sizzler]

Shocks maybe springs, cam chain and belts, rust cleared out from behind calipers front and rear, brake pads, new bushes everywhere, engin mounts, new ht leads, no rust, tyres, full wheel alignment, extensive services. a 944 s2 is a porsche and expensive to maintain. If you can't spend 3k to 4k (maybe 1k more) to get it running like new then buy a golf.

If you're not deterred then buy the best you can and get an inspection before buying so that you know how much you will have to do.

Once sorted you'll have the best drive 10k to 12k can buy.

It really is a fantastic car. Tight handling, responsive acceleration. I use mine every day in city and motorway. Country roads are lovely. Just don't overdo it to soon. Treat the power with respect.