I was tempted by this recently....
https://porsche924.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=92&t=35954&sid=06e733f39da32e180d5cef05ab4f82e0
That would probably be a good buy if you can live with the colours. My first 944 was the same combo.
The mileage on on these cars is less important than condition. The early cars click over to zero at 100000 and the late cars are easy to clock. So unless there's proof take claimed mileage with a pinch of salt.
They will get into the 200000's and beyond.
They're getting on for 40 years old, are reasonable on fuel and like being driven, so will have plenty of miles.
When I had the white one with the 3 litre 968 engine, it would do close to 40mpg to the Nurburg ring, happily run round the track all day, then drive back. That was 2009 so not a young car then.
The Turbo feels like it's got a hole in the tank and will empty the 80 litre tank alarming quickly.
I think the 2.5 and 2.7 were around 35 mpg on a run.
Have a look on www.porsche924.co.uk which has a good buyers guide and other info on all models.
I have an '85 924 which I bought when living in The Highlands. It's a lovely thing to drive and the handling makes up for any lack of BHP. Easy and relatively cheap to maintain. As a budget classic it's great but if I had the money I would go for an S2.
Thinking about I actually replaced the 924 heater fan which was a dashboard out jobby a lot of work involved and I wouldn’t want to pay for that.
They always failed, and what a bitch of a job. I had a "temporary" fix for that issue that ran for years.
The one I gave away had the engine self destruct due to the plastic timing chain guide deteriorating.
16v model? That was the myth that was perpetrated by the S2 owners that because they had a chain driven cam there was no maintenance vs the belt drive of the 8v heads, but the slipper pads would deteriorate over time and alot of S2 engines were trashed that way, probably more than the 8v heads where everyone knew about the 40k or so mile belt service interval.
Seem to remember the heater system was pretty complicated. But my turbo had A/C which was working, and there was a hose that fed air to the glove box, so you got nice A/C air in the glove box. Nice touch.
Wasn't so long ago 924 were £500 cars. I nearly bought one with MOT for £350 in 2008.
The 944 was equally unloved, you could score one for a grand.
So these cars were unloved and unmaintained. Porsche parts are £££££ but there are alternatives. Even the 968 sport I looked at was ~£6k and the 944s2 ~£5k (kicking myself).
924s is the value choice right now.
The 924 still looks good in my view. Looking at london sales adds most sellers say it's the ulez non compliance that's triggered the sale. It's a rolling 40 year exemption so I would get an early 80s one, quite an attractive proposition if tax, mot and ulez free.
To the 944s2 owner on here you could probably run it for free offering rides on here. I once did a wedding in a beetle cabrio.
Lol. Only an insane person would buy a 928 and throw money at it. Get a 996 over a 928.
This is a thread about buying a 1980s Porsche. Where does 'sanity' come into it? 😉
I had a bog standard 924 that I bought in 2017 for a massive £1400. It was very brown, very slow and very enjoyable.
It was very practical for a car like this - we were comfortable in it for a week driving around Europe with camping gear and two bikes. I used it as my bike car for a while. It was a great handling car but you'd never be able to light up the tyres. It was more of a "nice day out enjoying yourself" type of car.
As a classic, the 924 is cheap to buy, cheap to repair and reliable. The rear shocks went on mine so it made me seasick driving it - the repair was an hour and £35 for new shocks. Engine bits were cheap and plentiful because it's basically an Audi 80 engine (alarmingly attached to a mostly VW Beetle rear axle).
The 924S is much expensive to fix - the 2.5 engine, being a bespoke Porsche unit, has much more costly parts. It will be faster though, and more power and grunt would definitely work with the 924's handling. It'd be a lot of fun. And relatively affordable compared to 944s with the same engine (and parts, in the grand scheme of classics, aren't THAT expensive). Even since I had mine prices have gone up - the cheapest normal 924 I can find on Facebook is £4,000. A 944S you'd actually want to drive will be north of £10k.
Ooow turbo look wheels
Tbh only two cars I regret not buying was a 924 turbo, was offered it said no, slept on it but it was gone the next day 🙁 and a 1980s 911 cab said no to that as I was saving for an’ouse.
I actuallly saw someone’s diy 924GT that they’d turboed back in the day which was interesting.
The 924 was a vw lt van engine but I still think it was underrated back in the day.
I enjoyed them back in the day but still wouldn’t want one over a boxster or cayman at inflated prices and as an investment dunno I think it’s got to be the 944 turbo s 🙂
I would ignore all those saying get an old Boxster. I had a Boxster for 70,000 miles. It was great when a few years old but when it got to 8 years old it was costing me a lot of money on a monthly basis. A Boxster is nowhere near as cheap to run as a 924. Everything about it is more complicated, the engine is hidden etc,. A 924 would be a joy in comparison
16v model? That was the myth that was perpetrated by the S2 owners that because they had a chain driven cam there was no maintenance vs the belt drive of the 8v heads, but the slipper pads would deteriorate over time and alot of S2 engines were trashed that way, probably more than the 8v heads where everyone knew about the 40k or so mile belt service interval.
Yep slipper pads...he’s fixed it but it did require another head which also had problems so was quite a drawn out affair to remedy, I have a feeling that issue tends to make the 16v heads hens teeth.
It was the 2.7 16v s which they only did for a year but the the power delivery’s all wrong for the U.K. tbh
55 posts and no one has fallen out yet!
That's really great everybody, I didn't expect such a big response. Thank you. Some very interesting info here and some great pictures.
Having had a think I think I have developed a clearer picture of the way forward....
- The 928. Ah yes. My favourite. Until Bitcoin goes up more one of these is sadly out of my grasp. I tell you what if Porsche re-released this they'd be onto a winner. Such a beautiful car.
- More modern cars (Boxster/ Cayman) are to me nowhere near as appealing visually as the older ones. Like most modern cars they are all slowly morphing into a similar boring shape. I mean you'll not really notice a Boxster or a Cayman driving about. I realise it's all subjective but to me they just don't have the same appeal/ character as the older models. However if you want a car for performance of course it's a different story. The most important issue here though is the fact that neither the Boxster nor the Cayman have pop-up headlights.
- The 944 is a nicer looking car than the 924 hands down. Having said that, some of the 'sportier' 924s look great, and I could quite easily live with either!
- Value-wise you are paying a premium for the 944 now. The 924 is available at better prices. Stating the obvious here but putting it down for clarity of thought.
- Performance wise there doesn't appear to be much in it, if it's a 924s. Interesting also what a previous poster said about the ease of modifications on the standard 924, so I am not going to rule one of these out.
- If my budget was 20K instead of 10K then the 944 would probably be the one to pick. But it isn't. So the search for a good 924 starts...... One query here, as a non-car person I am not really qualified to inspect a car of this age. What does one do in such situations, apart from taking a 'mate who knows about cars'? Take it to a local garage for a once over? Hire a local mechanic?
Way to go Munrobiker. Love stuff like that.
Enjoyed following this on YouTube. An interesting project.
My '87 turbo on a PCGB 944 forum rolling road day at Silverstone. Think Jamesoz would have probably been there:
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Was completely standard when I got my hands on it. Wish I'd kept it that way. I ended up replacing the rare 16" Turbo Teledial wheels for the 996/Boxter ones and a KWv3 suspension, 928 GTS Big Brake kit, and a stage 2 turbo kit. Was a fair bit quicker, but looking back I think I'd have preferred to have kept it standard. Especially lament selling those 16" tele dials. I had no idea how rare they were and let them go way too cheap.
Bought it for £6500, ran it for about 6 years as a daily drive, sold it for £6500. Last time I looked it would cost me about £14k to buy one as good back, even more if standard. Oh well!
If I were to buy another, and had money to modify it, I'd definitely do an overland thing like that. The stock 924 would be an amazing 12 car rally car, or light off road cocking about car.
It was the 2.7 16v s which they only did for a year but the the power delivery’s all wrong for the U.K. tbh
There was never a 2.7 16v.
2.5 16v, was supposed to be a bit peaky.
2.7 8v, not much of an improvement from the 2.5, the cylinder head is often used to build 3litre turbos and 968 turbo replicas.
One query here, as a non-car person I am not really qualified to inspect a car of this age. What does one do in such situations, apart from taking a ‘mate who knows about cars’? Take it to a local garage for a once over? Hire a local mechanic?
Not sure who you could hire? Maybe book it in at an indie for an inspection. Depends where in the country you are?
They are just old cars so the same stuff applies to any old car.
Visit owners forums such as TIPEC or PCGB. Its free to sign up, you might even find a lead on one. If it's a bit dead, try Facebook, I know the 944 groups are pretty active I assume 924 groups are too, although there will be Americans.
Rust and paintwork cost a lot to put right. Take a magnet wrapped in something soft.
MOT history can be looked up on line, see if it's been dragged through the last few by the skin of its teeth.
They will all have fuel line and brake line advisories, unless it's been done. Pain in the arse job.
History is great for proving mileage but really nobody cares it had a full service in 1992. The last few years are most important. Don't be too afraid of owner maintenance, I'd rather see loads of euro car parts and Porsche receipts than a visit to a garage for the bare minimum every nown again.
overlanding - uk to cape town in a 944. looked like a laugh - the same guy took a corvette and a roller to vietnam..
when I had a 944 there was someone offering a fixed-price service-and-repair thing (i think after an inspection). If i were non-mechanically minded, that'd be the route I'd follow. Or just buy a really cheap one, accept it'll only make it through 1 further MOT and stick it on ebay for parts once you're done
There was never a 2.7 16v.
2.5 16v, was supposed to be a bit peaky.
Yep me being old and not remembering.
would ignore all those saying get an old Boxster. I had a Boxster for 70,000 miles. It was great when a few years old but when it got to 8 years old it was costing me a lot of money on a monthly basis. A Boxster is nowhere near as cheap to run as a 924.
That’s not comparing apples and apples tbh and if your not spannering it yourself that’s always likely to the case.
I did speak to my m8 who I gave the 944s to and his take on ownership of a 944 is pretty much same as mine and bear in mind his entry cost of ownership is from free other than a fuel pump and lifetime beers for me.(it also wasn’t a terribly bad example)
When it breaks its a week of the road figuring out the broken bit and how/what to replace,then a week or more trying to source a part,then time actually fixing part to car.Rinse and repeat.
His next big job is now the rear brake lines after 30 his are too far gone. It’s just come back from some welding around the back panel as even with the galvanised body there’s rust coming(known issues thou round hatch latches). So not unexpected.
His closing line was “if you like driving get a boxster/cayman but really just get Cayman(shows link to 10k immaculate black cayman), if you like tinkering buy a 944 as it‘ll probably spend more time on the drive broke’
He really loves the car thou (which is why I gave it to him tbh as I knew he’d appreciate it.)
We have been discussing a plan of action of just going thru it and replacing every time critical component,it’s not they are unreliable it’s just 30 years is old in car terms.
I don’t hate em just think it’s what it is and I quite like airbags in a sports car.
I’ve linked to m8’s Instagram he’ll like the likes 🙂
There’s pics of it in its various broken phases unfortunately he’s a roady sort of chap so there’s some g’roady pics there as well.
We have been discussing a plan of action of just going thru it and replacing every time critical component,it’s not they are unreliable it’s just 30 years is old in car terms.
Yep old cars, did the engine mounts on mine the other week. Drove it a bit, noticed some smoke, doing a 3point turn on the way to Pedalhounds. It’s now in bits again waiting for me to put a refurb better turbo in. Also all the other parts ‘whilst I’m in there’. Just paid Over 80 quid for some orings, 4 locking nuts, washers and studs from Porsche.
Normally I’d try and find alternatives but I don’t want to do the job twice if an oring fails.
What is impressive is most parts are available from Porsche and cheaper than other suppliers mostly.
944 looks a lot nicer
944 for me. I just love those arches!
But I would chase power and modify because I am an idiot. I would also be doing all my own maintenance.
I would suggest going in eyes wide open with regards to maintenance. They are old cars, will have a range of issues. A good independent garage is going to be invaluable if you are not doing your own work.
They are in that sweet spot of 80/90s cars that are modern enough to be useable/reliable (if in good condition and maintained), but simple enough to fix. Involving enough to drive, but modern enough road holding they are not suicidal. IF you come from esp/traction control cars it is going to require some respect.
In the spirit of recommending something take the 924.
But I would chase power and modify because I am an idiot. I would also be doing all my own maintenance.
That's fair enough but if you were to do that then do yourself a favour and ditch the 4-pot Porsche unit. Its a pain to modify and very costly and you'll struggle to get any significant power gains. Some have done it with extensive and expensive modifications but really you'd be much better off just doing an LS1 v8 conversion or even a decent more modern 4 cylinder turbo conversion with an engine form the VAG stable. Apparently the bell housing hole pattern has not changed in the VAG group ever so in theory you could take an engine out of a Golf GTi or something and bolt it straight in. Far better for overall power gains and performance improvements compared to trying to modify the existing 944 engine.
In the spirit of recommending something take the 924.
Do a bit of a 924gtr with a more modern engine and the nice wide body kit to give the stance of the 944.
