Cars We Drive!

[Dino944]

I like that 944

85.5s got phone dial alloys, improved interior, I believe an improved suspension, and some had a separate oil cooler (some did some didn't). Guy who has it must be into Porsches as I can see another 944 in the background of 1 photo and a 928 in the background of another. Car has sport seats which are rare on 944s. Looks like its got a basic aftermarket exhaust, and I am not sure what the dial is to the side of the slot in front of the shifter. Looks like maybe part of a 968 interior piece/clock installed. At that price, I'm guessing it needs a lot of work.

 

[ridethecliche]

85.5s got phone dial alloys, improved interior, I believe an improved suspension, and some had a separate oil cooler (some did some didn't). Guy who has it must be into Porsches as I can see another 944 in the background of 1 photo and a 928 in the background of another. Car has sport seats which are rare on 944s. Looks like its got a basic aftermarket exhaust, and I am not sure what the dial is to the side of the slot in front of the shifter. Looks like maybe part of a 968 interior piece/clock installed. At that price, I'm guessing it needs a lot of work.

Yeah, I don't doubt it.

 

[Thrift Vader]

"At that price i'm guessing it needs a lot of work"

Right?

Like a clutch?? and the usual stuff. Nothing crazy.
Best to know what's wrong with a car, than "oh, it drives just fine", and it fails immediately.

It's a fair price for what it is. It Isn't worth much as lawn furniture, and in the scope of recent talking, a clutch is no big deal.

 

[Dino944]

"At that price i'm guessing it needs a lot of work"

Right?

Like a clutch?? and the usual stuff. Nothing crazy.
Best to know what's wrong with a car, than "oh, it drives just fine", and it fails immediately.

Sorry, but I missed anything stating that it only needs a clutch. If I missed that then great its not a big deal. However, on these cars, I'd say probably needs new fuel lines, which are a pain to change on these cars so at least another $1,000+, pluse new brake lines, maybe new pads and rotors depending on condition, and depending how long its been sitting etc all sorts of gaskets etc need changing...the transmission probably needs to be resealed $1200+, ...and who knows what else. A buddy of mine got a later model a 1990 944S2 in really nice shape 50,000 miles and it is having all of the above done (although his doesn't need a clutch or pads/rotors). He is well beyond $6K in repairs. No such thing as a cheap Porsche. I'm a big fan of Porsches and I had an 85.5 944 for many years. Great cars...but unless RTC really has the time and ability to do those jobs himself, it will end up beyond his budget or sitting in his yard waiting for repairs to happen.

 

[ridethecliche]

Sorry, but I missed anything stating that it only needs a clutch. If I missed that then great its not a big deal. However, on these cars, I'd say probably needs new fuel lines, which are a pain to change on these cars so at least another $1,000+, pluse new brake lines, maybe new pads and rotors depending on condition, and depending how long its been sitting etc all sorts of gaskets etc need changing...the transmission probably needs to be resealed $1200+, ...and who knows what else. A buddy of mine got a later model a 1990 944S2 in really nice shape 50,000 miles and it is having all of the above done (although his doesn't need a clutch or pads/rotors). He is well beyond $6K in repairs. No such thing as a cheap Porsche. I'm a big fan of Porsches and I had an 85.5 944 for many years. Great cars...but unless RTC really has the time and ability to do those jobs himself, it will end up beyond his budget or sitting in his yard waiting for repairs to happen.

I'm under the impression that if something 'only' needs a clutch, then the owner would fix it and sell it for what the car is actually worth instead of dumping it.

 

[sonick]

I browsed 944's after I sold my first Miata, but even though they're in the same price range to buy, it seems like repair and parts costs are much higher.

I had a BMW E30. It's fun-to-drive quotient doesn't hold a candle to the Miata. It handles well, but doesn't have that fun go-karty toss-ability that the MIata has.

 

[HRoi]

Couple more grand and you might be able to swing an e36 m3

 

[GreenFrog]

Driving my car is stressful. It doesn't like the summer heat -- for instance, my aux input will fail when the car is baking in the sun. It just won't come up as an input source and I'm stuck with radio. The telltale sign that my car is stressing is when the radio LCD is all foggy and dimmed out from the heat.

To add, I get super paranoid whenever I hear a weird sound or click or creak or what have you. Like, is it my VANOS about to go kaplunk? Is my subframe tearing with each aggressive shift and weight transfer?

The other day when I was stuck in stop and go traffic, my coolant gauge spiked to just below the red marker and I freaked the **** out. Promptly turned off the A/C and within 10 seconds, it coasted back down to the high noon position. Hasn't happened since, even with the a/c going.

My oil temp gauge sometimes passes the middle (210 degrees) position by a mm or two and inches back to the middle as I drive in regular traffic. Why does it creep past high noon when I'm not even spanking the car? Everything just freaks me out. I called my mechanic to talk about the oil temp and coolant gauge and he said to monitor it but to otherwise calm down.

Ugh. I think I need to get into a modern porsche so I don't have to worry so much about maintenance / reliability issues. But I don't want to pay 2014+ porsche prices. The e46 m3 is honestly the best value car I think you can get for the money in terms of sheer pleasure / enjoyment it gives.

tl;dr: don't get an older BMW rtc.

 

[Piobaire]

GF, here's an old trick: if your engine is getting really hot in stop and go traffic don't just turn off the A/C. Crank up the heat. It cools the engine very quickly.

 

[GreenFrog]

Yeah, that was the first thing I did: turn off the a/c, crank the heat to the highest setting, and then fans on full blast. I don't really think it was the a/c/ being on that caused the brief overheating doe tbh. Might be the coolant temp sensor on its way out.

Anyway, I only managed to sit in that heat with the windows down for 10 seconds before I said ******* and reverted back to the temp at its lowest setting but no a/c on. The aggravation of traffic and horrendously humid heat had me at a very low patience threshold for additional bullshit.

 

[Find Finn]

Just going to quote myself.

Seriously sell it. I had a similar experience years ago money pit, that ended up getting stolen creating even more hassle.

 

[horndog]



Driving my car is stressful. It doesn't like the summer heat -- for instance, my aux input will fail when the car is baking in the sun. It just won't come up as an input source and I'm stuck with radio. The telltale sign that my car is stressing is when the radio LCD is all foggy and dimmed out from the heat.

To add, I get super paranoid whenever I hear a weird sound or click or creak or what have you. Like, is it my VANOS about to go kaplunk? Is my subframe tearing with each aggressive shift and weight transfer?

The other day when I was stuck in stop and go traffic, my coolant gauge spiked to just below the red marker and I freaked the **** out. Promptly turned off the A/C and within 10 seconds, it coasted back down to the high noon position. Hasn't happened since, even with the a/c going.

My oil temp gauge sometimes passes the middle (210 degrees) position by a mm or two and inches back to the middle as I drive in regular traffic. Why does it creep past high noon when I'm not even spanking the car? Everything just freaks me out. I called my mechanic to talk about the oil temp and coolant gauge and he said to monitor it but to otherwise calm down.

Ugh. I think I need to get into a modern porsche so I don't have to worry so much about maintenance / reliability issues. But I don't want to pay 2014+ porsche prices. The e46 m3 is honestly the best value car I think you can get for the money in terms of sheer pleasure / enjoyment it gives.

tl;dr: don't get an older BMW rtc.

Have you never had the VANOS or subframe issues proactively mitigated? That'd be first on my list of things to do with your car. Otherwise, sounds like expected BMW niggles.

 

[zippyh]



Driving my car is stressful. It doesn't like the summer heat -- for instance, my aux input will fail when the car is baking in the sun. It just won't come up as an input source and I'm stuck with radio. The telltale sign that my car is stressing is when the radio LCD is all foggy and dimmed out from the heat.

To add, I get super paranoid whenever I hear a weird sound or click or creak or what have you. Like, is it my VANOS about to go kaplunk? Is my subframe tearing with each aggressive shift and weight transfer?

The other day when I was stuck in stop and go traffic, my coolant gauge spiked to just below the red marker and I freaked the **** out. Promptly turned off the A/C and within 10 seconds, it coasted back down to the high noon position. Hasn't happened since, even with the a/c going.

My oil temp gauge sometimes passes the middle (210 degrees) position by a mm or two and inches back to the middle as I drive in regular traffic. Why does it creep past high noon when I'm not even spanking the car? Everything just freaks me out. I called my mechanic to talk about the oil temp and coolant gauge and he said to monitor it but to otherwise calm down.

Ugh. I think I need to get into a modern porsche so I don't have to worry so much about maintenance / reliability issues. But I don't want to pay 2014+ porsche prices. The e46 m3 is honestly the best value car I think you can get for the money in terms of sheer pleasure / enjoyment it gives.

tl;dr: don't get an older BMW rtc.

You know BMW coolant gauges only actually display 3 temps: cold, not cold, and this is going to be expensive.
So if your car is running hotter than usual but still within "normal" range the needle will still be close to high noon.

Search the interwebs and you should be able to find an up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-B-A type code to display the actual temp on your trip computer.

 

[GreenFrog]



Have you never had the VANOS or subframe issues proactively mitigated? That'd be first on my list of things to do with your car. Otherwise, sounds like expected BMW niggles.

No, but I called my mechanic for a quote on getting those two things addressed. Based on hours of research on the forums, the subframe issues were "fixed" in 03+ models, and I have an 03.. but still. There definitely are people with 03s and above who've had their subframes fail.

VANOS just feels like a ticking time bomb so I definitely want to get that addressed.

Now this all said, I'm planning a job change within the next couple months to a city where I won't need a car. I may end up selling it if so and therefore I question whether I should invest several thousand on it at this point in time.

BUT I also love it so much that I may just keep it, too, and store it. It's hard to find a well-sorted coupe with manual and "low-ish" miles and not pay more than $20k.

 

[horndog]



Now this all said, I'm planning a job change within the next couple months to a city where I won't need a car.

BUT I also love it so much that I may just keep it, too, and store it. It's hard to find a well-sorted coupe with manual and "low-ish" miles and not pay more than $20k.

Keep it for the weekends where the scarcity of driving it will make it even more enjoyable.