I've owned my 944 S2 for 21 years and have never been stuck or had a major problem. The problem is air owners who neglect their car and then pass them on to others and those cars create bullshit like this. always buy a good example that has proper service history.

Dear commenters, I made a follow up video where I fixed my electrical issue by re-soldering the DME relay. I'm telling you all this because few of you have actually watched that video and are giving me repeat advice about my engine cutting out issue. I'm glad you all want to give me helpful advice because it's what helped me fix the problem in the first place, but now that I have fixed the problem, well, it's fixed. Thank you for watching and commenting

Hi, I have a 944 (1982). It is so true. Do your maintenance. The 944 is simple but very good engineering. You will get all the spare parts for a reasonable price if you take your time. Some of them are for VW. If you are thinking of buying a classic Porsche for small money then go for this model. Don´t buy the 924. Especially the Turbo and Turbo S will go up in value. The first generation 944 until 1985 is more easy to maintain by yourself. Fixing the odometer wheel took me about 3 to 4 hours. So my car does kilometres again...! Best from Spain, Europe Andreas

When buying a vehicle that you're unfamiliar with, remember to hop on forums and save yourself the headache of unexpected instances. Replace routinely common parts to bulletproof your first experience so you don't sound like the oblivious people of KZfaq when it comes to getting behind the wheel or turning a wrench. Keep it going and I enjoyed the video.

I wouldn't say any less reliable than any 30 year old car.

This video should be titled "Is MY Porsche 944 reliable?"

I love your comparison with the government. Very apt.

I just picked one up, 1984, Oil pan has a small leak and the water pump froze up on day 2 of driving the car. I almost lost the engine, because the timing belt was burning up on the seized water pump pulley. I also had an oil leak at the cam tower, dripping oil onto the exhaust manifold causing a horrific odor. Now the headlights are not working correctly, they pop up but do not light. I fixed the pump timing belt and cam leak myself, cost about 300.00 in parts. I knew I was getting a car that was going to need a little TLC and I think it will be reliable after I get the gremlins sorted out. The enjoyment of the driving this car is well worth it ! That was a lot of negative, there is lots of positives to my car, rebuilt engine, shaved head, balance shafts are removed, later model DME with a chip, new clutch, brakes are good, transmission seems fine. I think these can be reliable with some TLC. I like your vids on the 944, keep them coming!

Really glad you made these 944 videos, cause I am looking at buying one soon. Im just assuming like any old car, it will initially need $1500-$2000/worth of maintenance in the first year or so.

Love the dry humor, bro. Keep it up.

one of the most low budget yet charmingly entertaining videos i've seen on facetube recently. Porsche on, dude.

My 944 was never meant to be my daily driver, but so far it has been more reliable and has outlived my 93 BMW (rear subframe separated from chassis), 92 mitsubishi truck (rusty frame failure) and my 2013 FRS (engine rod knock luckily under warranty). I used it as my daily driver for a year but had worked out most of the issues before that. I'm not saying it hasn't had its share of faults, but most have been minor and it's still going 30 years and 200k later. Any 30 year old car is going to be of questionable reliability. Now that I've said that it will surely fail catastrophically.

I had a new 83 944 and a '62 Pontiac Tempest LeMans Convertible, at the same time. Each had 4 cylinders, rear transaxle, and 50/50 weight distribution. Alas, the Pontiac was a 2 speed powerglide with a 2 barrel, but it made up for that with the unique curved driveshaft and missing driveshaft hump. Both were cool! The Porsche was definitely the driver!

Old cars are more unreliable because you will have component failures regardless of maintenance. They are cheap to run though if you can sort the problems yourself which is essential for owning a classic. Manufacturers do not guarantee a lifetime of trouble free motoring.

This was fantastic. Absolutely loved it, especially your government analogy and the last sentences about the breakdown being exciting at first.

Problem will be the DME/fuel pump RELAY

dude your sarcastic kind of style or whatever is hilarious as hell! i was wantin to buy one of these but now Im not sure lol good video buddy

I my opinion you your not a car guy until u are stopped on the side of the road in your baby.

i think you're hilarious and it all about the passion as i guess this ain't you're daily. I've subscribed for more....

You are one smart man, Robert! Thank you for the video.

Your neighbors think you're weird because they hear you having a conversation with yourself in the garage:) Love the channel. Thx

Welcome to the club of those who own(ed) ancient Porsches :) As I watched you with the car's brain in your hands, I was chuckling with a case of been there done that. Already knew it wasn't the problem when I saw you had it out. Most of the problems will be due to ancient decaying contacts in terms of bad grounds, old relays that often don't "relay" anymore ;-) , air leaks and missed maintenance items. Timing belt/water pump service is one of those. A/C gremlins are often connected to a faulty relay. You can fix them in most cases, just by opening them up and resoldering the connection to the magnetic coil. Fan relays are a common culprit. Aahhh... just watching your video and reliving the "fun" of maintaining my old 931 is bringing back ptsd. Lol. Just think how many more things you could learn from experiences if your 944 had a 1980s turbo set up thrown in as well :) Joking aside, the 944 isn't that complicated by today's standards and it can in fact be brought to the level of quite reasonably reliable.

great video. I love your sense of humor. Good job Sir. :)

i wouldn't buy a car i cant fix myself. I bought an e30 and people told me i was going to regret it, i enjoyed the car and fixed everything through youtube and beema forrums. I personally believe that taking your car to the dealer does more damage. I used to spend $80 dollars doing an oil change at a dealer until i got on ytube last week and costed me $22 i swear and took me 10 minutes. i want to buy a Porsche but idk how easy the repairs are? i careless how expensive the parts are. TRY FIXING YOUR OWN CAR DUDE, maybe it wont have all those ac problems. Not to be rude or anything.

Nice watch..i owned a 951 aka 944 Turbo.. the gremlins os which you speak afflicted my car. on day jam driving the care and the digital clock went, just about 2 most later when i was pricing a replacement, it come back never an issue again. what was a recurring issue was the finicky sunroof, every odd number day the roof decided not to open, when it did open, closing was not guaranteed or was it days that only end in "Y"??? Clutch replaced, window motor replaced, steering rack replaced, water pump replaced, glovebox hinge broken. most expensive, about the only thing I never complained replacing were tires. Still, I love and miss the car. Have a 928 S4 and right out of the box, after I purchasing it 27 yrs young, i did 2000 miles in 4 days without an issue. 80s Porsches love'em for all their faults 'cause they are true driver's cars.. Best of luck and happy time with your '44!!!

I bought a 1987 944s in 1993 with 55,000 miles on it and drove it for ten years, eventually putting about another 100,000 miles on it. Things that I replaced: stock waterpump with the turbo waterpump, as a precautionary measure when I was having the cam belt and some belt rollers replaced; exhaust side motor mount(due to heat deterioration), stock shift linkage with a short shifter kit; stock 15" phone dial wheels with the staggered 16" phone dials off of a 944 turbo; one of the moonroof lift motors. The car's AC never worked, as there were some bad seals in the AC line and I never bothered to fix it because I was living in San Diego. I did most of the work on the car myself, since I had a complete toolkit and had worked extensively on cars and motorcycles since I was a kid.

Dude you're frickin hilarious! I LOVE your mentality on cars too! I'm all about these older rides. But wanna hear something crazy? The 944 and the 88 Escort GT share the same maf sensor....crazy right!?!?? I bought the adapter plate and everything for the 944 when I couldn't find a cone filter adapter plate for my car and it bolted right up with zero issues. lol

Well said. My '83 is my daily driver and while it has not yet stranded me on the roadside (knock on wood) I know the potential is there. Your analogy to paying taxes is very apt. I make sure I'm not delinquent. Have had most of the same issues you describe (and more) in the four years I've owned it though many of those repairs qualify as routine maintenance on a thirty plus year old car. Currently the rear hatch glass has started to separate from the top of the frame (started happening the first time I closed the hatch after installing new gas spring cylinders), the tach has just started being intermittent and the engine has begun to idle rough when cold but smooths right out when warmed up. These are the joys (?) of owning a vintage sports car and I have owned many, of all different makes and nationalities. My Porsche is the most fun of any of them. I'm shopping for a 944 convertible so I will have even more fun in the future!

I always kept a spare relay and a homemade jumper in my 944.

I owned an 83 for 4 years and had to do the clutch and transmission twice among several other items. The labor involved was pricey! So I bought a boxster and drove 100k miles with practically no repairs. Now I’m driving a new boxster but I still admire 944s good luck out there

I was sort of born into BMWs. As far back as I remember, back in the 80s & 90s when we owned four at a time with different engines same habits they were nothing but trouble. From AC to water pump (had to be replaced every 60'000 Kms), power windows, & mirrors, engine buring oil every 130'000 Kms and slew of other tumurs. They were always looked after garage kept however I believe we were dealing with planned obsolescence. We thought all other car companies were like that till by accident we bought a Japenes SUV. Nothing ever broke or wear down to fix and I'm not exaggerating.

This video would be helpful if you actually told us HOW MUCH it cost you to get those things fixed. Just telling us it's "not cheap" isn't enough.

You are a good man! I like your thinking :)

I bought an '84 944 and discovered how fun to drive, but how much time to keep running. Over-heating, electrical oddities, exhaust, air-conditioning, and water-pump. Replaced most myself. Remember that "ground" wiring can be found in the trunk area, under the spare wheel, and CLEANED of corrosion. That was the key to keeping electrical working 100% right. After driving about 150,000 miles, 240K total on the speedometer, I sold it for about half of what I invested. Great fun for nearly 10 yrs! If you're considering a 944, be sure you can work on it yourself. It's worth it if you can.

If this was like a series it would be amazing

One other issues with the Porsche 944 is the fuel relay that goes bad, you can re-solder the terminal by opening the relay, you pull it out of the fuse box and pop the black casing off, from there you will see on the circuit board where the solder has separated and you just have to take a solder iron to it to re-solder. I would add a little more to ensure it doesn't happen again. I have fixed several of mine and friends in their 944s as well. I still love the 944 Turbo S and some day will have another one again or a 911.

...when AAA threatens to kick you off for too many tows, give me a buzz :) My 944 and 928 were extremely reliable, the 911 was a different story

i have had air bubbles in my fuel lines when swerving that will make it dye out.

I had the same thing happen with my '88 924S where it died suddenly. It was the ECU. I took it to my local TV repair shop and they opened it up and found three cracked solder joints. They repaired it for $35.00.

My 1986 Porsche 928 with 180K miles still has the stock ECUs, radiator, Starter, oil + air pump, and, catalytic converter. My timing belt is 14 years old but has 40k miles on it. The only time I needed a tow was for a fuel pump at 150k miles.

Love your dry-as-hell sense of humor!

I am from Europe, and there are lots of 944' s around. Actually looking to buy one and wanted to ask you for some advice on what to look for before buying. It will probably be a 944/ 2.5 and 163hp. I would much appreciate advices on usual rusty areas, common known faults etc. Thank you!

I had an '88 for a few years, it was 20 years old when I bought it just the 8 valve motor. Overall, nothing major mechanically went wrong. Mostly, it was cosmetic things, like a cracked dash. I put in a dash cover that looked factory, LED upgrade for the dim instrument cluster a few other odds and ends. It felt like it needed new motor mounts, never got that done, needed paint touched up too. One thing I found out about later was the clutch replacement, mine was fine but I don't know if it was original or not so glad I sold it when I did. Find out if it has the original clutch or if it's been replaced. The original was rubber and they all fail and it's a 2k job unless you DIY. In would be better to just get one that's had the clutch replaced already. I've owned several sports cars including two Toyota Supras, an '87 and '89 Turbo and a '92 300ZX Twin Turbo. I have to say my favorite was the '89 Supra, most reliable car and engine. It had decent power, unlike the 944. 160hp, you'll get smoked by any VTEC, in fact I did once. But the 944's look good, they have that classic appeal. I like the front bumper especially on black paint. The turbo model is ugly because they changed the front fascia and for turbo money you can get something newer and better. The other thing about these is they're only SOHC and 8 valve (2 valve/cylinder) unless you pay more for an S model. Porsche should have dropped the older 8 valve design and made them all S models but they kept them around, stupid. Toyota was already using a DOHC engine in the 5M GTE in the '82-86 12 valve and the 7M-GTE 24 Valve since '86. I wanted a 928, but they're pretty much all auto's and that would be no fun to drive. The 944, though it didn't have a lot of power, it felt quick and light and it cornered good. The 928's demand more money too. Yeah, a 944 can be a daily driver, I wouldn't want to rely on it though as an only car. Find one that's got documented history, especially that clutch.

The cuttting out is a classic DME relay problem just replace the relay in fusebox under the hood.

Nice video! The more i look up on this car the more i appreciate it. The Turbo version of this car was NEARLY as fast as a Ferrari testarossa! And you can now ~cheaply own then with 80ths hypercar performance and daily them! How many cars with this setup can do that. Even a BRZ/Fr-s isn't as cheap....

I had a 1986 porsche 944 cut off on me once while driving & had it towed home. When I popped the hood I discovered it had a loose ignition coil wire.

My 928S had similar issues. I would love to have a 944 or 928 with a Chevy 350 SB with carburetor.

HAVE THE SAME AND I'M VERY HAPPY

is there any way I could contact you? I have an 83 944 and am expiriencing the same exact problems (heats stuck on, odo doesn't work, etc.) and it's been in my garage since June last year.

I'm looking to buy a Porsche 944 for my first car. I like how it is a Porsche, it is classic, and looks sweet. How often does this car brake down? I'm looking for one that is only in decent care with under 110,000 miles on it. What should I look for when buying, and things wrong with car? What should be a fair price to purchase the car for? - Clint Crowther

Great car. Im on search for a 944 in Germany. Its a great casual Porsche for all day.

You may be related to Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec!

You know how much a motor for it cost the non turbo version because I'm looking for one

At least you guys have each other to rely on for tips and tricks....lonely being a 968 owner. I’m asking the same question about the 968. Let you know in a couple of years.

All German cars have faults but we still love them !

How much do you spend a year on this car? I'm looking to buy one of these for my first car.

Does your 944 lose oil pressure whenever you shift? Mine doesn't do it right away, but maybe about 10 minutes into driving it the oil qauge goes down when ever I go to shift.

The odometer reset button problem happens on Volvo 240s as well.

The gears on the Odometer / Tripometer are not hard to replace. They're also inexpensive. Think mine cost $32 total. It was one of the first projects I had to do on my 964.

Not sure if your question on the play in the shifter has been answered, but all 944's are like that. There's actually a video on KZfaq on how to fix that. Just use general titling when searching for it and I'm sure you'll find it.

Same thing would happen in my 1990 944S2, it was soooo annoying and I never figured out what caused it

The not starting up the first time sounds like the ignition switch the cutting off whenever sounds like DME relay and the ac issue I have no Idea besides the vacuum adjustment behind the glove box

If properly taken care of how many miles will these beauty's last.

So should I get this for my first car I have a person that has one that I might get from him

I have a 83 porsche 944 and I love it. my list of things. is huge. engine parts..body parts...dash parts...carpets forsure mine are horrible. right door Handle right mirror..list goes on and on but the waterpump seriously is not cheap. 400 for pump alone....about $800 for a waterpump timing belt kit for a car that I payed $700 for. after all the money this thing pulls out of me anyone who owns this car will tell you it's worth is. drives and handles like a dream sways too much but what ever it's so fast....and nvm the speed of the 944s2!!! awsome video brother. I will make the video of my work haha you will be surprised.

I had one I Labeled it as very expensive to own especially the clutch at 600.00 plus 400.00 labor to install. The car was fun to drive but a lot of repairs.I damn near restored mine and got t-boned by a pt cruiser. I received a excellent settlement and went full on american v8 power with a corvette and never looked back. Nothing against porsche the car was fun but that fun cost a lot of money. Now I own two corvettes now and would like to own a 911 one day.

I actually really miss mine. Of course you can have a lemon of any car, but at least you can work on the 944. Nothing makes me appreciate it more than owning a Boxster. The 944 is not as quick and not as agile (or terrifying), but you can get all the camping gear you need in it for a nice weekend getaway.

I tried to Daily a 78 924 a few years back. 11k$ in Fuel system work and tow's latter I had to give up. I loved it but its was Ramen noodle's every night. Then a Neighbor's girlfriend popped the clutch on her boyfriends Ram Monster truck and sealed her fate. Yeah. Good videos bro.

Try ignition spark control module. Make sure grounds are solid

Great car and video. Too bad for you that you were unfortunate to get one that was starting to fail from poor maintenance. I got a -83 once (with low mileage) that still runs great with almost exclusively original parts from the time it was made. No play in my shifter - we know how to drive sticks over here :) try using two fingers for a week, and let the gears sneak in there the way they want to go. It's not a workout you know. You're gonna keep wearing them out out unless you change your style.

Summery: Yes, they run and last forever. Only issue you would have is with small parts like clutch slave, starter solenoid, fuel pump, water pump. These cars have excellent engines. BUT: you have to have your timing belt checked and replaced at right time, and do the oil change. Also if your hard on the clutch you will need that replaced as well and they will cost you quite a bit. Prevention is better than cure for these car. Owner of 944, excellent car and love it more than any other I ever had, including ones that had lot more power.

Hey Aging, The 944 im picking up next week has the big play in the shifter you are talking about. Have you figured out the problem, or found a long term solution? If so could you help a brother out, or make a video for the repair?

Just got my first car a Porsche 944 and it needs A TON of work but I will get her up and running in a few years but she'll be a while if you would like pictures I would send you some

Back in 1988 I got a 4-year old second hand 944 and I sold the car in 2009. Inbetween all those years I had one problem when the infamous timing-belt was torn. Porsche wanted 8.000 DM to fix it, but some freelancer 944-specialist with his own garage eventually did all the work including the cylinder head for 3.000 DM. Other than this major incident the car drove like a tank with zero problems and other than checking/replacing the belt and some oilchanges it hardly got any service. My guess is that you simply bought a lemmon! The 944 is by far the most reliable Porsche out there and with minimal care these cars can reach 300.000 miles and more. 911 engines don't even last half as long and I am talking the air-cooled ones. If you buy a 996, chances are that the engine will blow up, before you get home. Overall the 944 is on a level on reliability that you don't get from modern cars anymore.

Buy the best car you can find. A cheap car is often the most expensive you will buy. My '88 had had $14,000 spent on it by the previous owner and is quite reliable. Learn to do your own work wherever possible. I've had mine six years and about 100,000 miles.

Have you ever thought of buying an aftermarket ECU that would actually run the engine with better performance?

Please note I had 944, 944s2, and a 968 they were not realiable even during warranty. But still loved them,

I have had a half dozen of these. One I had was sitting and had a bad ecu. I replaced it for 1500 and painted it. Also cv axles and new seats. The timing belt snapped afterwards. I commenced to buying a turbo model and putting 15k into a big turbo, wideband O2, computer upgrade, top end rebuild, widebody fender flares and wheels, suspension, then wrecked it. I sold one three years ago with 450hp from a 3.0 liter with a big turbo and the majority of a 20k dollar bonus. Ughhh I wasted soooo much on these things. Chasing horsepower.

I've got a 1990 944 S2 for 2 years now, and So far I've had to do the following: - Replace off side outer sill and front wing/fender bottom - Replace 1/2 off side inner sill & Waxoyl - Replace near side outer sill quarter panel/fender bottom & Waxoyl - Change near side fog light due to stone impact (expensive!) - Change oil, sparkplugs - Refurb wheels - Paint professionally detailed (Looks resprayed now). - Replace indicator/wiper levers as the old unit broke. The headlights would only come on as high beam, no dipped at all! - Replace gear shifter as the old one was shot. With the last one, I was lucky. Five years ago I bought a 1986 944 to restore, but it was fucked. Sills rotten and the engine blown. I've already made my money back + profit by salvaging parts off of it for mine, or selling them on ebay. The shifter knob and boot came from the 1986 model. Upcoming (September) - Belts, Rollers, Tensioners and waterpump as well as gaskets (expensive. I paid 500 euros for the parts alone. Labor will be another 4 to 500. - Cam chain and tensioner pad replace - Gearbox oil drain and replace - Heater cable fix - Inspection of suspension bushes and an overall look underneath. However, the car has never let me down. I have never been stranded, and it pulls like a train. The biggest hits for me financially so far have been sorting out rust, but it's a 25 year old car which has got less rust on it than alot of 10 year old cars I see these days. You can't really complain about that too much.

This ECU issue happened to me as well. Swapped out the ECU and it ran fine

Not sure how you have gone with the edu-cutting out issue. But for mine the same symptoms where the fuel DME relay, $20 eBay including delivery from the US to Australia had mine solved. found on the fuse box, little black box you unplug and replace. It is a common fault, so I was recommended to keep a spare one in the car at all times.

My 1987 was a nightmare. Literally spent more time not running than running. It cost well over $1000/ year in parts and maintenance to keep it going. That said, I did get it at 204,00 miles, so maybe it was just past its life span.

Question: "Is a Porsche 944 reliable?" Philosophical Answer: "Think of it as a government." Real Answer: "As reliable as a soap screwdriver."

Thank you Forest Gump!

What if you put 8k into repairs on a 2,500 944?

Holy shit, this guy deserves more subscribers

The 944 is my favorite all time car...best design other than the 64 Corvette. I'm not a mechanic though. I wonder if a 968 (newer) would be more reliable. Less of those were made though. Currently drive a VW Golf TDI 2015, red, manual. It's cool & fun to drive. Thanks for all problem explanations in videos. Still love to have one somehow. Nothing like the 944 has come about. What do you drive now? Are you in the midwest? Todd

love the 944 comeing after you comment twords the end

Did u check the fan clutch?

LOL just because you got a pile don't mean that others are not reliable Mine has been sitting outside in the weather in Redding Ca for about 5 years I tossed a battery, a few gallons of gas, and some fuel stabilizer it in and it started right up no issues at all. If you don't know the weather is like for Redding Ca it gets up to 115 degrees in the summer and it gets into the 30's in the winter. And as far as my car has always been running with no problems at all never did anything but normal maintenance to it.

You should've just gotten a third gen Honda Prelude! I daily drove one for 6 or 7 years and never once had any mechanical problems. Never once did it fail to start either.

I bought a replacement relay and an extra one from the local Porsche dealer parts department. They are cheap! About $20. So, I tossed the extra in the glove compartment in a Ziploc bag. Next time the relay starts taking too long to thermally reset, I'll just pop out the relay, get home on the stored spare, get another one for the Ziploc. These cars are relatively inexpensive to operate and maintain, if you're mechanically inclined. Mine is approaching 500k miles. CAUTION: These are not cars for beginners! This is a German sports car, originally designed in 1970s for VW by Porsche, A. G. as an entry level sports car (924), under $19k that would go 145 mph. VW decided to go with their in-house design (Golf series car - Scirocco) instead. Porsche was given license to make the at as their own by VW, which they did with almost all Porsche parts and only a few Audi parts, making it a real Porsche (944). Owning one is like owning a Cessna or Piper airplane. They have an annual maintenance inspection, that involves changing timing and balance shaft belts (they breakdown after 12 months of thermal operating cycles), changing belt rollers and water pump every two years, regardless of condition. As you probably know the water pump is driven by the back of the timing belt. So, you don't want to take any chances with that. I say RELIABLE, if you're somewhat mechanically capable.

Did your AC ever start working properly?

Did you buy it new or used?

The ECU is the last thing you would suspect, because there is literally 100 more likely things that would cause that.

my 924 has a lot of play in the shifter like that too

Also check fuel psi... Regulator and or filter

An American with a sense of humour that us Brits can appreciate!

The on and off engine behavior is - 98% of the time - a bad DME relay. They are cheap to buy online and it is advised that getting two is good insurance. That said, I've had just one fail and the reserve relay is still in its box in my glove compartment for over 10 years now. I have a 1989 944 S2 bought used at 48k in 1996. Never stuck on the road with the single exception of the DME relay. The engines are all (2.5, 2.7, 3.0 ... normally aspirated and turbo) very robust with reasonable routine light maintenance. Nice car w great handling and hatchback utility. The one big item to never overlook is replacing the rubber timing belt every 30-40k since this is a close tolerance (zero interfetence) engine and a slipped belt means a ruined engine. The engine hood and hatch struts are inadequate so replace them aftermarket (inexpensive and widely available online). Takes 5 minutes to replace both sides. You want the "bad boy" of the Porsche family? Try a 928 which is overengineered in all the worst ways. A terrific V8 compromised by too many unnecessary engineering vanities. Nightmare to work on and even more expensive to fix. Remember these cars fell in the transition from analog to full digital time period of the early 80s to early 90s so quirks and difficulties are to be expected. Personally, my S2 has been both fun and reliable for the 22 years I've owned it.

What year is your 944?