Porsche

Well looked after ones are extremely reliable, but there are quite a lot of dodgy ones about so beware. A lot of the maintenance work is well in scope for DIY'ing if you know what you're doing. Potential problem is that most of the Porsche "specialists" are geared towards 911-type money but there are a few about that (a) know the 924/944/968 pretty well and (b) charge real-world prices.

Depending where you are in the country, there is a Porsche independant in Bolton (can't for the life of me remember the name) who does pre- purchase inspections, and also fixed price servicing, and I think you can see his service pricing on line. He also does quite a bit for the

How "cheap as chips" are we talking for the van? I'd avoid Escorts as there are much better vans for the money, and I'd only consider an Astra van if it was a Mk4, as prices are starting to get sensible now.

Peter

Thanks for your advice everybody :o) Looks like as long as I can figure out the best way to insure the Porsche and a van I'll be getting one in Jan/Feb :o) Got a quote for about £1000 from tesco so if I look at joining the owners club, etc I might get that down. Just got to figure out the cheapest way to insure the van too.

I'm excited woohoo LOL :o)

Cheers everybody :o)

Ben

Cheap as chips.....probably only a few hundered...maybe £300 or £400. It'll be parked outside bars and clubs and I want something that I'm not bothered if I come back to it and there's a few marks on it. I've never owned a van and don't know much about them so any advice is appreciated! :o)

Cheers

Ben

Hi Ben,

The 944 S & S2's (basically the 16 valve ones) tend to cost a bit more to maintain if you don't know the history as most owners never bothered changing timing chain between the cams, this can damage the teeth on the camshaft if one of the plastic sliders brakes, a refurb costs about £100 each cam and only one of the runners is available without buying a whole hydraulic tensionor.

Even if you buy a 16v one with service history I'd change the timing belt anyway as it doesn't usually cost much but will if it snaps (been there, done that and it had a full service history)

General servicing items aren't as bad as you'd think price wise if you shop around the prices are pretty much the same as any recent car.

The engines on the 16v Porsches are pretty much bomb proof and will run 300k if you keep on top of the servicing, a 944 Lux will be the cheapest option but performance wise they're pretty poor by today's standards (some diesels push out more power). Turbos are still the easiest to tap the most power from but will have higher bills if anything goes wrong.

I've owned both the 944S and the S2 and preferred the S2 over all - the power still out performs most current (sports) cars and the breaking system is a lot better. I wish you'd posted this a month ago as I've just sold my S2 for £2500 as I need to get rid of it for my new car arriving :(

If you're thinking of modifying the 944 though there's really only the turbo to get as there's not much you can do without spending a fortune for a super charger, super chips and filters don't really offer anything to the S or the S2, if you get a pre '92 S2 pretty much the only thing you can to have any effect is take the cat off.

If you still want one, when you look at them check the passenger footwell for water as some alarm fitters cut through the wiring grommet which leads to water leaking through onto the ECU (under the passenger foot carpet), check for water (or rust) in the boot spare wheel well and the area behind the drivers side wheel where the lights may have been out and not fitter correctly (may have been bumped), also check behind the seats for any evidence of leaks from the sun roof!

Dek

It's great to get first hand advice from an owner! Thanks!

Fingers crossed I should be able to find a nice car. I'm not looking to have the fastest car in the world and I'm not looking to do extensive modification. I think the 944 will be a perfect car :o) Think I'm going to be looking at S2s mostly.

Thanks again for all of your advice! It's REALLY appreciated. Now I know for things to look out for I stand a much better chance of getting a good car :o)

Ben :o)