Hi, I am stuck with a difficult situation here. I can buy an old Porsche 944 for roughly the same price as a CRX Si. Does anyone have experience with both these cars? I know the CRX is extremely reliable, but haven't heard much about the 944 in this regard. In fact many have told me to stay away from older porsches as repairs can be really expensive. CRX is generally very good in terms of longeivity and can usually take a beating. If not the Si, which other car comes closest in terms of precision, performance, and reliability?
What year 944, and what year CRX? Will this be your only car, and primary daily driver? Do you get a lot of snow where you are? If I were looking for a single car daily driver, I'd buy a '92 Si over an '83 944, but probably buy an '87 944 over an '87 Si (all other things being equal)
Dunno where you live, but rust is usually a problem in CRX's wheel wells. Some of the bolts and screws are cheap, soft metal and hard to remove. Porsche 944s can be very reliable _IF_ well maintained, which includes timing belts replaced every 30,000 miles and retensioned 1500 miles after replacement - many are running strong with the original engine and over 200,000 on the clock. OTOH, a well maintained Si is also a good car.
Depends on the car. If the 944 you're looking at is in the same price range of an Si of the same year, it probably wasn't taken care of and repairs can be expensive. My 944 is in good mechanical shape, so repairs are cheap. Here's the key - "repairs" are expensive, "maintenance" is relatively cheap.
If you're going to beat a car, buy the CRX.
They are two very different cars. Sounds like you'd be better off with the CRX Si, as there are many mechanics who can handle it. Expect to do a lot of your own research if you're going to buy a 944. How many of these people who told you to stay away from an older porsche actually _own_ one? Particularly a 944?
Dunno what you're looking for, but I sold my '87 CRX a year or two ago, and bought an '86 944 a few months ago.
Maybe you need to decide how you want to drive these cars. The Porsche 944 is an extremely reliable car but you need to find one that has been looked after. If you buy a piece of crap then you'll spend a lot of time wrenching on it. When it comes to cars newer is normally better and more reliable, so you need to decide. If you can get a 944 that's in the same condition as the CRX I wouldn't think twice. Now comes the question of insurance.
Hi, no I am not. I was seriously in a dilemma. On some car sales websites I saw CRX Si (2nd gen) for around 3k-4k (even with 180k+ miles on them). I have driven the CRX but not any porsche. I beat the crap out of my 1st gen CRX (1987) and it didn't die on me. I was seriously trying to kill the car so I could buy a new one -- didn't change the oil for 10k miles, power shifted, redlining it on almost every launch
-- but the car would just take it (it has 185k right now). I was reading on Porsches too and found that most 944s are within my budget, so I wanted an opinion on both cars. I live in california so rust etc. is not a problem. I also intend to use the car everyday too.
Drive a 944. You won't believe how solid and stable it feels compared to a CRX.
Interestingly, there's a discussion on rennlist right now:
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seems there are several 944s with near/over 300,000 miles on the clock. If you can swing it, keep the '87 CRX to beat on and buy the 944 to cruise and pamper. That way, you'll always have a backup when the other car is up for repairs. Oddly enough, the stock 944 gets decent gas mileage - I'm pulling about 30 mpg on my daily commute.
Do yourself a favor, if you're seriously interested in owning the Porsche, keep driving the CRX you have till' you have enough cash for a
944 S2. It's more refined and (imo) better looking than the 83', it'll have fewer miles and you'll have the option of buying a Cabriolet version if you can afford one and are inclined to own a cabrio.
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