What are the expected maintenance costs?

[eohrnberger]

I'm considering buying a 1989 944 with 98K miles for a summer driver and SEM-PCA drivers education at the local road track. This will be the third car, so it'll be stored for the winter months, and only out in the summers. I know that there'll probably be a bit of a list to bring it up to road worthy status, as there is no maintenance history on this vehicle, other than what the most recent owner has put into it. I'm figuring about $1K for this. I also expect that there'll be some additional items to bring it into track worthy status. This information will be developed by a certified Porsche mechanic at a very reputable shop before I decide to purchase it.

What are the typical maintenance costs for such a vehicle on an annual basis? I figure that it'll almost be a daily driver during the summers, except when rain is forecast, but it'll be stored from Dec 1st to April 1st. Based on my current daily driver, I'd expect at most 1K miles / month.

[gkinder951]

If the clutch hasn't been replaced, they last about 90K miles. It would run about $1500 to have the clutch replaced by a decent mech. Thereason is the transmission is in the rear and you have to drop the rear end to do the replacement. It's an 8hour job for someone that knows what they are doing. The timing belt should be replaced every 30K or so (interference engines don't like broken timing belts $Ka-ching$). The timing belt replacement will cost about $250-$300. Doing it yourself is $30 and a weekend. The water pump is an issue, but if it's not leaking, it's okay (another $400 to replace). The maintenance costs are high, but luckily if you have a decent car that is well maintained the trouble is not one thing after another. Damned fine automobiles.

Getting the car track worthy can cost some $. Depends on how far you want to go though. I have about $30K in upgrades to mine and it's track worthy, just haven't got up the nerve to put it through that yet.

My maintenance costs for the last 2 944s (one N/A and one turbo) run about $1500 per year. That is scewed high due to my blowing an engine on the Turbo (about $7000).

I have had my share of bad luck, but I couldn't ask for a better car. 390 bhp daily driver and I put about 700 miles a month on it.

[eohrnberger]

Thanks for the prompt response.

The track usage would be infrequent (4 time a summer), but would tend to be pretty hard driving, I think. I'm under no illusions as to my driving skills, and I wouldn't want to over tax the car. I'm not considering any mods at this point in time. Perhaps later. But not right now. I'm not looking to build a racer, just a car that's fun to drive on the track and isn't lame on the track.

Seems that I should budget at least $2K - $2.5K to making it road worthy and have the appropriate preventative maintenance work performed to prevent bad things from happening.

How hard is it to replace the clutch? What sort of specialized tools are required? Would this be a job that too hard to do for a shade tree mech. like myself? How hard is it to properly tension the timing belts? What tools are required? Have you don't these things to your? How hard was it?

I used to do a lot of work in my beetle and my Sirocco, but those were VWs. I guess you could consider those cars maintenance friendly, and I'll wager that the Porsche won't be that much. Most of the maintenance work on the VWs you just needed a 13mm wrench and socket set, and I have those.

[gkinder951]

I have never done any of that on mine, too old, and too busy to work on my own cars anymore. Drive em', okay....work on em', nah.

I know there are plenty of guys that can give you more information on specific details of doing those things. Google searches for 944 repairs and maintenance tips and processes are usually the first place to start.

Sorry I couldn't help you more.

[83-944]

Clutch replacement: http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/clutch-01.htm

Budget about 1 weekend the first time you do the job. That link above tells you just about everything.

The belt change is also listed on that site. Judge for yourself what you think you can do. If you get lost, just ask.

http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-ma...ure-index3.htm

[eohrnberger]

What an Awesome site! Seems like there's just about everything in there!

Thanks! Way cool!

[83-944]

Glad your happy