I had the same year 911SC, 944, and 928S - all were 1983. During
the time I owned them, the 911 ran me about $1500 in maintenance and
repairs (I did most work myself, but I had a valve adjustment done and
Fischer Motorsports fixed a starting problem I had - I can't recall
the cause), the 944 about $1000 (I recall replacing the idle control
valve, the alternator, charging the AC and getting a new battery), and
the 928S about $1000 (a possible waste - I had the timing belt done
and the shop said the one inside was almost new and only needed
tensioning, but the previous owner had no records and hadn't had it
done, so I wanted to play it safe.)
    As I said before, the 944 makes a great first Porsche imo, but I
don't know the parts situation in SA for them. There were thousands of
them sold in the US, so used and new parts are plentiful here. The 928
was always relatively rare pretty much everywhere, so I'd expect parts
to be difficult for that. Aside from a bad fuel pump relay, I never
had a lick of trouble from mine.
    epbrown
--  
How can you know where I'm at if you haven't been where I been?
Can you see where I'm coming from? "How I Could Just Kill A Man" Cypress Hill

I have kept about 6 944s on the road for the last 20 plus years, and I
currently have a 993 - I think that qualifies me to answer.  I kept detailed
records of my 85.5 from new until I gave it to my brother.  I do all my own
work.  I can say unequivably that the 944 is much cheaper to keep in tip top
shape than the 993.

Normal maintanance - the 993 uses fancy oil and two oil filters, the 944
uses regular oil and a much cheaper oil filter
both use normal cheap plugs, but the 993 has 12 of them and it takes four
hours of intense work to get them in/out
brake pads - similar effort, more $$ for 993
Belts - 944 requires two belts be changed every 30K miles - more $$ than
993, which doesn't have equivalent belts
Clutch - haven't needed to change on 993, but it can't be harder than 944 -
but parts cost more - complete clutch set for 944 is under $600, labor is
about 12 hours

944 has a problem eating transmissions.  993 clogs up SAI ports- believe it
or not, replacement transmissions are much cheaper than pulling heads and
cleaning ports

plug wires - about $140 for 944, about $650 for 993

Tires - about $150 for 944, about $300 for 993 (each)

you get the idea.

in about 250K miles of driving my 944, the major expense was two
transmission replacements, the second due to an incompetent rebuild.  also
needed one water pump, one clutch, and brake pads, belts, etc.

I have to say that I'm liking the comments a lot. Doesn't look like you
guys have any major issues with the 944, except for the gearbox issue.

I'd like to know there is a specific time period in the 944's life where
it was a great car to buy or years which is better left alone. Like the
911 years between 1984 and say 1988 were good years. Or does the same
rule count when buying 944, buy the latest one I can afford?

Thanks again for such an informative newsgroup.