Re: scirocco: antidote to the 944

[Iain Mannix <mannix@privateI.com>]

At 4:47 AM -0500 11/14/97, admin wrote:
>These hands have never gripped any wheel 'cept that of a VW. I gotta
>confess tho' in my delirium for a couple of days last week I was seen
>skulking around a porsche 924S for sale at a dealer-it was just too
>painful to look at a MKII. Doing some research on the subject I came
>across Caleb's porsche lemon page- jeez what a quick fix for those
>foolish thoughts.

I read this Caleb character's page, and I'd not call it credible.  944s
have something of a bad reputation, but (for those that did not see), this
Caleb guy drove his 944 through a puddle - some 944s have an intake tube in
the wheelwell - the engine hydrolocked, he wanted Porsche to pay for it.
"It" being a 1983 model year car.  I don't own a 944, but even I know about
the intake tube.

Those watercooled porsches are the lamest excuse for a
>sportcar.

944 S2?  Ever ridden in one?  Oh my gosh acceleration, handles incredible.
Unreal car.  Heard the 944 Turbos are pretty schnitzen, too, and I'd guess
you could do some pretty neat & inexpensive things to a 924 Turbo.

 Read about some owner experiences- one of the most appalling
>litanies of car woes you'll ever read, and it'll deepen your appreciation
>for the scirocco. 944's blowing cylinder heads to bits for the mere
>offense of driving through  puddles.

Let's say that this puddle incident of Caleb's happened in 93.  That means
it _did'nt_ blow up for the ten years prior, and I am sure it encountered a
puddle somewhere down the line.  In this case, I'm tending to side with the
car, not Caleb - read Caleb's lemon pages, too, impressive collection of
disgruntled idiots.


 $1700 clutches, Total arrogance of
>porsche USA in acknowledging the most elementary design flaws. Owners
>describing their cars as "moneypit", or "evil piece of german crap" or
>"we must destroy our porsches before they destroy us."

You know what I think the problem is?  924s and 944s have gotten cheap
enough that people with less money can afford the car - like me, I could
probably get one if I really put my mind to it.  Problem is, when you buy a
P-car with 100k on it, if it has not been maintained, there are a LOT of
things that need doing, and they're NOT cheap - that's why you can pick up
a 944 for $3-4000.  It needs lots of things to bring it back to speed, JUST
LIKE A SCIROCCO.  Shocks, struts, motormounts(when 944 mounts go, they do
bad things), bushings, bearings, etc - thing is, VWs are cheap, because
they're econoboxes made for the masses(we're talking about Sciroccos and
944s, right?), Porsches are ungodly expensive because they say Porsche.
Right or wrong, _that's the way it is_, and those that buy and _can afford_
a 944(not just the purchase price, mind you - they're like dogs, you have
to get the rabies shot(license plate?), feed it(gas, oil and timing belts),
and bring it to the vet(maintain it).  Porsches and most other high end
German cars don't seem to sit well with the "replace it after it breaks"
philosophy.  If your 944 tears a fuel line because the motormount wore out,
Porsche is likely to tell you that you should have replaced the motormount
before it broke.  No kidding, right?  Well, they're _not_ kidding.
Porsches are designed to be maintained - fix before it breaks, and you
won't have too many problems with the cars.  The 924/944 owners I know have
had good luck, but they're all the types to pay a premium for a car from a
clubmember, knowing it has been taken care of.  One guy I know just
recently picked up a 924S for $8500 - huh?  Well, the guy selling it knew
what it was(the S, which is the 944 drivetrain in a 924 shell, plus the
good suspension), and had taken care of it.  The new owner of the car has
had no problems to speak of, and he's not just going to drive it into the
ground and whine when it breaks.

That page irritated me.  There are shitboxes at all price points - a
Scirocco that costs $500 is not expected to do the right thing, and a cheap
944 is not expected drive reliably without a little TLC.  Seems to me that
a LOT more young people see "Porsche" followed by a number they can afford,
buy it for the keychain, and take a bath, because they can't afford to keep
the car up.



I've never seen
>anything remotely like that for sciroccos or even VW's in general. Thank
>God the Wolfsburg boys know their ass from their elbow....

Ever read the newsgroup?  People complaining all the damned time about
their cars, especially the new ones....A3s and such.  And y'know what?  I
can remember a friend's father complaining bitterly about his 85 GTI when
it was new - some things never change, new cars have teething problems, old
cars need fixing.  We don't complain because VWs are easy to fix and cheap,
and once sorted, the VW will run a while.  Once sorted, a 944 will be
reliable, but these morons buying "renouned(as I said, morons)" quality
seem to think that the 944 should never break.  Read the one about an idle
stabilizer dying?  Sound familiar?  Heh.

I'll agree that they're not the most reliable vehicles on the planet, but I
think it has gotten blown out of proportion by a strange melding of two
mentalities in car ownership - the car which defines "Maintenance" is
within reach of those of us who break first, fix later.



Mannix(that said, I'll never buy one - too much like a Trans Am for my tastes)




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