K-Roll's 944 Lyfe: 5-Month Ownership Costs

"K-Roll-PorscheTamer" (k-roll390) 02/09/2015 at 16:50 • Filed to: 944 Lyfe

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944 ownership is freaking awesome(to me)! But here's a more logical and informative look into it, with a question someone asked me when I first brought her home: How expensive is it to maintain? Well, a more important question is, "How can a poor college student afford it"? Let's take a look at what I've done maintenance-wise in the past 5 months..

I'll divide this into sections to keep it organized. On to the first section which is more of a rule:

1. Buy the best 944 you can afford

Now, the costs of a 944 can vary based on the one you buy. Some can be in very good condition and need next to nothing to be ready to drive and enjoy; others, can be neglected and need a crap ton of work to just get to your house, or have an insufficient amount of undocumented maintenance that scares you enough to put a crap-ton of money into the car. Let it be known that a Turbo/Turbo S or S2 will naturally cost more than a regular N/A.

(Let me be clear, buying the best one you can afford, doesn't mean buy the cheapest turbo because it has the most power and is therefore the best.)

Any time anyone mentions the costs to run a 944, you'll hear certain words and terms constantly:

Timing Belts

Balance Shaft Belts

Rollers

Water Pump

Interference Engines

Valve Damage

Clutch

ect.

These parts are the most important parts of this car if you wish to keep it alive and happy. We all know the repercussions of neglecting maintenance of these cars, so preventative maintenance is the only way to go with this car. Fortunately In my case, I bought a peach of a car.

My $3000 '84 had it's preventative maintenance done just about right before I purchased it; this included the timing and balance shaft belts and rollers, the water pump, and a new clutch. All of this was done 5,000 miles before I purchased her. Knowing that all that work has been done is like the cleanest can of air freshener on a potential pile of shits ever.

Now, let's talk about parts and such.

2. Timing / Balance Shaft Belts

I've decided that in March/April, I'll be doing my belts and rollers again even though they've been done 6,000 miles ago. "Why?", you might be wondering, for the learning experience and for even more peace of mind. The rule with the belts is to replace every 30-45k miles or 3-4 years depending on how frequently the car is driven or how much it sits. The belts should be re-tensioned between 500-2000 miles after the initial change because they will stretch, and should be inspected until the next change, every 15,000 or so miles. At least 3-4 times.

Now, the cost for the parts to replace these parts isn't actually expensive as you think. It costs only $250 or so for a basic kit and doing it yourself in you garage with friends, parents, or a pack of beers.

3. Water Pump

The recommended service interval for a water pump is every other belt change or 60-90,000 miles. Yes, if you're lucky, you may get it to go further, but you MUST be diligent and inspect for any leaks or signs of potential failure.

There are quite a few options for water pumps for the 944, ranging from new to used to rebuilt. If you're going with the "rebuilt" option, go with a Zims rebuilt pump as they are reported to be the best on the market rebuilt. You'll have to send your current pump to be checked to see whether or not it can be rebuilt to receive a rebuilt pump though. Even so, the price of any water pump will be between $100-220 to replace yourself.

4. Clutch

This is any iffy one. The original clutches have rubber-centered discs rather than spring-centered; some say it was to reduce vibrations and noise, we'll never know but as science dictates, is it ages, rubber will become brittle and crack. You can either hope that it was replaced with a spring-centered clutch or just replace it anyways.

Expect it to run $1000 to do it yourself.

5. Motor Oil

This should be a no-brainer, change your engines oil and filter in regards to the service interval, which in this case, can be done at your leisure, but do it every 3-6,000 miles.

This car requires 5.8L of oil and that should cost anywhere from $30-60 , including the filter, o-rings and whatever else you may want to have so you don't make a mess, and depending on the quality of the oil and whether or not you decide to do it yourself.

6. Spark Plugs

I don't know the service interval, just treat them like you would a regular cars spark plugs? There are FOUR plugs and they can range from somewhere like $20-30 , and if you can't do this by yourself....I don't know.

!!! UNKNOWN HEADER TYPE (MULTI-LINE BREAK?) !!!

Labor . If you took the time to read this you may have noticed I've used some form of the phrase, " doing it yourself " quite a lot, and for good reason too. Why do you think you see so many 944s on the Craigslist or random auction sites and whatnot? Because in some cases but not all, the people that bought them did so as a means of owning a "cheap Porsche/poor man's Porsche" under the thought that it is an instantly bullet-proof sports tank to take on the streets of Monaco(not really Monaco, lets say San Francisco). Just like most European classic cars, they need preventative maintenance to be kept happy and alive, and what some don't realize is that truthfully, not all of the wear parts on these cars are as expensive as you think. What kills your wallet is if you take it to a shop and have them do the work. Shops in my area charge at least $85-120 an hour for work on not just P-cars, but any Euro car(Audi, BMW, ect.).

Here's a perfect example. Doing the belts on a 944 can go for roughly $1-2k with parts and labor included, taking a shop about 6-10 hours. Now, with this in mind, think about adding the water pump to that equation(if it isn't), a clutch job, some other things you might expect to replace and you can see where this is going.

It's not that you should avoid going to a shop for help or anything of the sort, just don't go for every single thing; the only thing I'd go for at the moment would be to do the clutch if I couldn't do it or have the time. If you have the money and no time(or don't want to make time) to work on these cars yourself then good for you, the shops will love your business and even more! If you don't have as much money as the former but more time(or is willing to take the time and learn) welcome to some awesome times!

Total 5-Month Costs

Well, aside from the clutch and water pump which was done before I purchased the car, I've either done or am currently doing everything else: The spark plugs, oil and replacement filter, I'm doing the timing and balance shaft belts in a month or so. So lets total that out:

Spark Plugs: $24

Motor Oil/Filter: $60

Timing/Balance Shaft Belts & Rollers: $250

Labor: Hours of experience, frustration and no sleep

Chinese takeout and hot cocoa: Priceless

*Total Costs: $334 ( roughly)

So it is a "cheap Porsche" if you do most of the work yourself. Now that almost all of my maintenance has been done, I'll be set for a good long while unless something electrical goes wrong for and many miles!

*knocking on wood*

Party-vi > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 02/09/2015 at 16:53

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Damn that's cheap! After I got my E46 (never ever never again), I dropped a couple grand into it for preventative maintenance and a software flash. Kudos!

Jobjoris > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 02/09/2015 at 16:54

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Real-life Porsche-owner info! Thanks for sharing. Any idea how much time a proper mechanic (not implying you're not!) would take to do all this?

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 02/09/2015 at 16:55

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Practiced workers-on-VWs will notice that unlike the timing tensioner on a Mk. 1 Golf, these tensioners are not butt-to-face with the inside of a fender and a motor mount. Hooray!

CammedCTSV > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 02/09/2015 at 16:56

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LS Swap?

Takuro Spirit > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 02/09/2015 at 16:59

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Damn, my Camry owes me more than that.

/Shouldaboughtaporsche

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Jobjoris 02/09/2015 at 17:01

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Oh I'm nowhere near a proper mechanic, but having a mechanic/shop do this work is more than I can afford; but they could probably do it much faster than me any day of the week or even if they have the flu. :p

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > CammedCTSV 02/09/2015 at 17:04

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Lol no. Sure you get a 400+ horsepower german sportscar(do we call it a supercar then?), but the value of the car will severely decrease lower than what it was before you bought it(not saying the car has much value now), you better hope that you do the job correctly as well. I just don't see it as worth the cost to tear apart the car and put it that far back together again.

Now a 944S2 swap would be more doable and cheaper.

Xyl0c41n3 > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 02/09/2015 at 17:09

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Oooh, thanks for sharing, K. Well written. ^_^

Jobjoris > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 02/09/2015 at 17:13

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Alright, but what time did it take you approximately?

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Xyl0c41n3 02/09/2015 at 17:14

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:)

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Jobjoris 02/09/2015 at 17:18

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Oh. It took me an hour to do the spark plugs(had some food breaks and interruptions alongthe way and it could have taken 30 minutes. The oil change could have taken me an hour, but it took three because I spilled oil on the garage floor and had to clean it up.

The belts are going to be done in the next month or so, but that should be a couple hours as well, since I'll have experienced help to guide me.

Stef Schrader > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 02/09/2015 at 17:33

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Mathias Rios > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 02/09/2015 at 17:33

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How many miles have you put on it in the 5 month period?

Chally72 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 02/09/2015 at 17:42

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Now add a turbo. And the resultant hours to take the additional plumbing off. Top it off with a slight balance shaft mylar seal leak, and you'll be begging for an old Golf

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Chally72 02/09/2015 at 17:44

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Seal leaks? Definitely sounds like a Do Not Want.
Thanks for further firming up my conviction that an older 924 is the front-engine Porsche to have.

Stef Schrader > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 02/09/2015 at 17:48

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Where on earth are you ordering parts? I've heard the going shop labor price for a clutch job is up near $900. DIY cost for parts only should be about half that.

Here's one clutch kit that's pretty popular, and it's around the usual going rate of $500ish for a full kit: http://www.google.com/shopping/produ…

I know some places list it for more expensive, and race clutches can go for $1200ish at some places, but for a DD, just a normal one is fine. (I love Paragon for 944 stuff, but their clutch kit prices are a tad crack-pipe.)

Relining a disc you already have, if you want to get really cheap, is $100, apparently: http://rennlist.com/forums/924-931…

The belt job price seems a bit pricier than I'm used to, too. I think—not counting parts—it goes for $300-400 for labor only, not including parts. The only thing I'd add there is that it's a good idea to do rollers when you do a belt job. If an old, crusty roller locks up, the whole mess can lock up with it, leading to a big stupid expensive failure. It's the rollers that make belt kits kind of pricey. Belts themselves are pretty cheap ($30ish, IIRC).

Stef Schrader > CammedCTSV 02/09/2015 at 17:49

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Overdone. I want to see an aircooled flat-six in the trunk like God intended.

Stef Schrader > Takuro Spirit 02/09/2015 at 17:50

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Should.

Have!

Chally72 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 02/09/2015 at 17:50

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As was mentioned in the article, they can be great cars and tons of fun, but FORGOD'SSAKEGETONETHATHASN'TBEENABUSED

For Sweden > Stef Schrader 02/09/2015 at 18:12

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Holy engineering nightmare

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Mathias Rios 02/09/2015 at 18:13

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About 1,500

Manuél Ferrari > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 02/09/2015 at 18:40

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What kind of Chinese take out did you get? Kung Pao Chicken?

It's a "Porch-uh" > CammedCTSV 02/09/2015 at 18:43

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Not worth it on a base model. For that you want all the goodies on a Turbo model (LSD, better gear ratios, bigger brakes). Better off finding a Turbo with a blown motor than starting with a base model.

Also, the transaxles aren't built to handle the torque, so either way, you have to get one rebuilt properly.

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Manuél Ferrari 02/09/2015 at 18:43

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I did get general Tso's but it is the most unhealthiest of the meats. I have to replace my favorite dish of 16 years. ;_;

Manuél Ferrari > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 02/09/2015 at 18:45

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Mmm General Tso's. That's the best tasting one. A lot of the places around me don't even have it so I have to go Kung Pao

It's a "Porch-uh" > Stef Schrader 02/09/2015 at 18:45

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1984.5+ cars have a spring tensioner. Makes life so much easier.

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > It's a "Porch-uh" 02/09/2015 at 20:42

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You mean 1987 and up.

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Stef Schrader 02/09/2015 at 20:46

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We're getting closer though. ;)

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Manuél Ferrari 02/09/2015 at 20:48

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It is! But I must eat slightly smarter with my Chinese food.

Manuél Ferrari > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 02/09/2015 at 20:51

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I hear ya!

I need to start eating better too cause it's starting to catch up with me. I eat wayyyy too many burgers and too much bacon

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Stef Schrader 02/09/2015 at 20:56

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I'm getting my parts from pelican parts as I always have. I haven't actually purchased a new clutch as mine is almost brand new. I figured $500 for the clutch and maybe some more for the labor.

What exactly is the difference between a standard and race clutch? And what does relining a disc do?

From what I've read, the labor should cost around $3-600 without the parts being added into the equation. Funny you mention the rollers, because I'm second guessing myself in whether or not I should replace them. Clark's garage says every other belt change, and mine were done not too long ago, but I'm unsure if the rollers were done even though they look clean and relatively new.

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Manuél Ferrari 02/09/2015 at 20:58

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YOU CAN NEVER EAT TOO MUCH BACON

Burgers tho, you can eat too many.

Manuél Ferrari > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 02/09/2015 at 21:03

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TRUE!

Cause bacon equals freedom and Murica

It's a "Porch-uh" > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 02/10/2015 at 11:51

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I had an '86 with one so I assumed it was a "late-model" deal. Had to look it up, and you're right.

I had three motors in that car, not even sure if they all had that or not. Just remember it for the last build before I sold it.

Jimmy Tango > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 02/11/2015 at 13:58

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I have admiration for car people doing the work themselves. I will share my real estate agent's story soon, but in short, he race cars for 30+ years (lately in spec Miata) and have done work himself on his car collection (not on his DD, which is a 2001 A6 MT that he claims "no joy to drive"), I think he has several air-cool VW and Porsches but I haven't check out any one of them yet.

I am trying to see his garage in the next couple month. Although he helps people buy/sell houses for a living, he is actually quite a private person. It took me several try to provoke his opinion on modern Porsches.

Anyway, keep on the good work and sharing with us on your 944 lyfe!