Best Daily Driver

[StormShadow]

OK, Im looking into the 944 as a daily driver/autoX tool. I want to be able to drive it around town or on a highway trip. But I love the 944, and it has been great with my friends for their autoX duty and now that they are trying to enter the 944 cup with SCCA...Any opinions or should I check out another model with better reliability and parts costs...or should I not even look to a Porsche for this kind of duty? Thanks for the opinions and input.

[Cbass]

I think you'll find the 944 is really the best choice for a daily driver, either that or a 924. The 924 has cheaper parts, most are Audi or VW sourced.

As a daily driver, you have to think about what you want from the car. The 944 is a sports car, first and foremost. It has excellent cargo capacity for a sports car, and it gets pretty good mileage, but it's still a sports car. If you want to be transporting five people at a time, it's not the right car for the job. If you want to get really good gas mileage, then there are better choices.

If you love sports cars though, and are willing to comprimise some utility in exchange for a lot of fun, the 944 is an excellent choice as a daily driver.

[StormShadow]

Thanks for the reply. Your last description fits me to a T. Im looking for a sporty, fun to corner car, that can get decent gas mileage. When you say expensive for parts, what kind of maintenance prices and common part replacement prices are we talking? Thanks for the info.

[Cbass]

For the regular wear and maintenance items, filters, ignition parts, belts etc the cost really isn't any higher than most German or Japanese cars.

The only really particular thing is the "front of engine" service, which has to be done every two years. It's the timing belt, waterpump, and a few other things. It costs a pretty penny, and is the big ticket item for running a 944.

I don't recall exactly how much it is, but I think it's around $1000 USD.
You should ask the owners in the 944 forum. Lots of 944 owners do their own front of engine service, reuse their old waterpump, and save a ton of money. The downside is, it takes a few hours, and you need a $600 special tool to tension the belt, apparently.

Other than that, the cars are quite reliable, and pretty cheap to run when compared to other sports cars of similar performance.

[StormShadow]

Thanks for the reply, I'll do some hunting around in the 944 section. Thanks for all your help.

[Cbass]

Originally Posted by StormShadow

Thanks for the reply, I'll do some hunting around in the 944 section. Thanks for all your help.

You're welcome

And besides, that's what I'm here for.

[83-944]

The downside is, it takes a few hours, and you need a $600 special tool to tension the belt, apparently.
Not quite so true anymore. Although yes the factory tensioning tool is about 600 new, 400 used. Now a days, there is another tool called the kricket KR1 tensioning tool. It's almost as precise as the p9201 tool, and only $10-20. Lots of people have sworn by them for over 6 years without a broken belt.

Hope it helps

[StormShadow]

Thanks for all the info. I will let you know what comes out of my hunts. What do you guys know about the reliability of the old VW air cooled Porsche's (I think they were 911 bodied if Ive got my stuff straight) as compared to a 944? Thanks for all the help.

[83-944]

"the old VW air cooled Porsche's (I think they were 911 bodied if Ive got my stuff straight)"

it's a 912. Kinda rare IMO. Parts are hard to come by. They rust so you'll want a Garage Queen.

944s are very particulr to maintenance, a lot less rare, galvanized, and cheap to buy. Find one with lots of maintenance records.

[StormShadow]

Alright, thanks for the clarification, much appreciated. Doing more research and checking, I think I might get an E30 BMW to play with. Not sure, but still looking, suggestions welcome.

[Cbass]

An E30 M3 is a great car to have, and has performance similar to that of a 944. Parts and service would cost about the same.

A large benefit of the M3 is that it has real back seats that you can fit adults into, which the 944 does not. If you're looking to modify the car for better performance, I would recommend going the 944 route, as the car is designed purely for performance, while the BMW is a practical coupe with performance upgrades.

A non M E30 is a whole different story, morety to drive than a Civic, but it won't give you the same grin as a Porsche will. They're a good deal cheaper, so you could purchase one and invest some money into the suspension and brakes, and have a really fun car. The problem is that unless you're willing to swap engines, you won't have much power, even from a 325.

Cheers, and good luck.

[StormShadow]

Thanks for the reply with the info. I have heard rumors about the 15K rule with the E30's and the maintanence costs on the Porsche. I will keep looking and doing my homework, I appreciate all the information and helpful posts. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the 4 or 5 threads I put up related to this stuff. Thanks again.