When you hear about recalls, it’s usually for cars that are still fairly new. Most recalls from the likes of auto giants such as Toyota or Ford don’t stretch back to models more than 10 years old. So when a really old car gets recalled, it’s kind of strange.
So when I saw the owner of a 1986 Porsche 944 S—a car that is nearly 40 years old—post on X (formerly Twitter) about receiving a letter from Porsche dated this month, following up about a recall, I had to know more.
It turns out that Porsche is just really good about making sure all of its recalled vehicles get the service they deserve, even if that car predates the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The Fateful Tweet
Nearly 40 years on and Porsche have sent out a recall for the 944.
Power steering wiring modifications required. pic.twitter.com/saUP30VZ5m
— infrasilver (@chris_pointon) November 14, 2025
While doom-scrolling on X last week, I came across a post from user @chris_pointon, who shared a photo of what looked to be a letter dated November 6, 2025 from Porsche UK notifying them about a recall for their 1986 Porsche 944 S. The recall was safety-related and had to do with some faulty wiring in the steering system. Here’s exactly what it said:
Porsche continously monitors its products on the market. For Porsche, one thing is paramount in additon to driving pleasure typical of the brand: your safety and that of your passengers. We are contacting you today for this reason.
What is the issue?
We have discovered that a section of electrical wiring, to the power steering pump, could overheat uneder certain operating conditions.
What are we going to do?
To eliminate the risk we will install additional electrical protection.
What should you do?
Please contact your preferred Porsche Centre to arrange an appointment for you to have this essential recall carried out on your Porsche.
The necessary work will be carried out free of charge.
Most of this stuff is standard recall letter talk. But seeing it in regard to an old 944 is still pretty funny. I did some digging to see just how long this recall has been outstanding, and, well, I’m not sure how the wiring survived this long. While there’s nothing available publicly on Porsche’s website or the UK’s recall site, I found this post on the Pelican Parts forum from 2013 talking about what sounds like the same recall, showing a document dated December 12, 1991.
So while I would’ve loved to hear Porsche is still collecting data on issues relating to a car it hasn’t built for 34 years, that’s not what’s happening here. Instead, it’s simply sending a letter to follow up on a car that, after all these decades, has yet to receive the recall work. Seeing this type of stuff, where manufacturers follow up on safety recalls years after the car leaves showrooms, isn’t uncommon for safety-related items.
The oldest instance I’ve personally come across is when I first registered my 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX that I bought in 2017. About a week after I put plates on the car, I started getting bright red letters in the mail with huge words expounding on the dangers of my Takata airbags, which still hadn’t been replaced (I never got them replaced, either, so I’m sure the guy I sold it to also got those letters). This case on the 944 is probably very similar, but here, it’s gone on for far longer.
Porsche Has Done This Before
Curious to find out whether this letter posted to X was legit, I reached out to Porsche UK to see if it’d give me a statement. A representative confirmed to me that yes, these letters get sent out from time to time—though it’s pretty rare:
This was a straightforward process where we sent letters to customers owning cars with outstanding workshop campaigns. The information is shared by the organisation in the UK responsible for maintaining the national vehicle registration database.It is part of our duty and commitment to customer care – it is unusual for a car of this age, but with changes of ownership and periods where the car might have been off the road or in storage, these circumstances can occur occasionally.
It’s Free Repair Work, So Why Not?
The only question I had left after this discovery was whether the owner of this 944 would actually take it to a Porsche dealer to get this issue addressed, once and for all. After all this time, it’s entirely possible they (or a previous owner) had the wiring problem fixed by a third party, or even fixed it themselves.
Yep it is, for my 1986 944S pic.twitter.com/UBvaGhEe4N
— infrasilver (@chris_pointon) November 15, 2025
Amazingly, though, Chris told me the wiring on his car is likely original, which means it hasn’t been touched by a mechanic or owner, and hasn’t yet gone bad. Instead of addressing the issue themselves, they’re smartly planning to get it into the dealer to take advantage of that sweet, sweet free labor.
“I’ve not had a chance to speak to Porsche Nottingham yet, but I am looking to book it in for the new year,” Chris told me over X. “The 944 is SORN at the moment, I would need to tax it to get it there.”
SORN is an acronym for Statutory Off Road Notification, which is just a status you have to declare for your car in the UK if you don’t plan to use it on public roads. It lets you avoid paying for taxes and insurance.
Personally, I’m excited to see how a Porsche dealership will go about addressing this issue. Something tells me the tech assigned to that job will have a great time.
Top graphic image: Porsche
Specifically safety-related recalls for older vehicles probably aren’t that unusual – in 2021 I got one for my 17-year old Durango that was airbag related (a pity Stellantis couldn’t have recalled the whole thing, or just sent me a check for 17 years of suffering). But it’s nice to see Porsche continuing to follow up on something that isn’t specifically a core safety issue after all these years. I’ll keep an eye on the mailbox just in case, since the Sad Little Boxster has been old enough to drink for some time now.
A few days late & a few dollars short but came here when Stef Schrader posted the link on Bluesky regarding her own 944.
IIRC, around the time my oldest kid was born (so circa 1999-2000) VW issued a recall for the taillight lenses on Karmann Ghias; apparently there was an issue with the plastic used in the 1972-’74(?) taillights degrading over time so VW provided replacements made of better plastic. I remember it being reported in the news as the oldest recall made for a car so this recall for the 944 has that beat by a mile (or, rather, kilometer.)
Though it could be argued that if the ’72-’74 Karmann Ghia taillight recall is still in effect it does beat the 944 recall since the 944’s first model year was 1982.
I wish more companies would support their products and customers for this long.
That’s fun. I hope Porsche can fix those wheels, too (sorry, WheelPD never rests).
The US Element owners are STILL fighting with Honda to get them to recall the rear suspension / frame that the Canadian market got. So I can believe recalls can come so far after the end of a car’s life cycle.
If only GM would honor the hood latch recall on my ’92 Metro with a complimentary repair. I’m getting tired of replacing the bunjee cord every year.
I’m all for holding manufacturers accountable for flaws, even outside the advertised warranty, but at 40 years I’d say you’re on your own. The car could spontaneously split into two even parts on the highway and I’d still call it a maintenance issue or normal wear and corrosion.
I had a recall on an older car a few years ago. I thought the same thing. WRONG!!! Dealer grease monkeys are actual monkeys. They did more damage than they fixed. It wasn’t broke, but I thought I was being responsible. Should have done it myself and avoided the headache…
NEVER TRUST DEALERSHIPS!
I wonder if these unperformed maintenance recall issues show up in a carfax? Might get them done if the seller sees a big old recall for unperformed service.
Yeah, they show up in Carfax. I bought a ’91 Toyota Pickup in June and Carfax showed that the steering recall has not been done. I took it to the the stealership and they did the work. However, my steering box had a leak after that. I can’t say for sure it was caused by the stealership…
Back in 2022 I got 4 recalls sent to my from Cadillac, and my car is a 2004. New fuel pump, fuel feed ‘jumper pipe’ (whatever that is), front brake lines, and fixed ‘unintended ignition key rotation’ by adding some plastic spacer think to the column.. These were all from 2014&2015 so I was surprised that they took so long to get to me. Had the car since 2010 so not sure. It’s great that they still send these to people.
This article links back to the UK personalised number plate piece. D24 HRS?
Is his business open 24 hours? Is this about the Daytona 24 hours?
It might be a ‘personalised’ plate, in that he might have moved it from a different car, but ‘D24 HRS’ is a normal numberplate for 1986-87, so it could well be the one the car was sold with.
The D indicates the year, and the RS would be a car first registered in Aberdeen. (I think, the area code bit is quite complicated).
The airbags were replaced in my ‘01 V70 in 2024 without issue, and the drivers side seat belt assembly was replaced in my ‘04 Element in 2022 for $600 out of Hondas pockets.
Mandated recalls are basically forever. So if the automaker has your information, you will get notified. But if you buy a car used, not from a dealer for that brand, and never take it to a dealer, and/or never tell them you own it, they won’t know where the car is, and you won’t get notified in the US. As I said in my other post – we have a national recall database here, but we don’t have a national ownership database.
Amusingly, I got TWO new airbags for my ’04 V70. The original tan steering wheel, and the black one I had replaced it with (I thought the tan was ugly) were both under recall, and Volvo didn’t care that the tan one was no longer attached to a car. Or that I didn’t even have the VIN of the car the black one came from. I bought it used on eBay, and scarily, the seller just chucked it in a box, no padding, no hazardous materials sticker, and just shipped it UPS. Which is TOTALLY against UPS’ rules. I just wanted them to safely dispose of the tan one – I ended up selling it locally to a someone rebuilding a car.
We have an ’04 Element. What was the seat belt recall for?
I thinking back on it now it wasn’t actually a recall. When I took it in for the airbag recall, there was also a “SEATBELT” warning light on. Honda told me it was covered (it was within ten years, I think?) and it was something to do with the sensor, I can’t really recall directly but it was going to be a large bill, but totally covered.
I don’t think it’s funny, I think it’s damned impressive. Considering there aren’t any laws requiring the manufacturers provide replacement parts, the whole responsibility for any vehicle older than the average car on the road could arguably be laid entirely on the individual that owns it. That includes wiring that no one would be surprised to hear had simply disintegrated due to age and 40 years’ worth of summer heat.
Just a couple of hours ago I removed a broken fan from an HVAC condenser, the fan blade simply broke off. It’s a 25 year old AC, and the fan has been out in all kinds of weather the whole time. I’m frankly kind of impressed it held up this long, and there’s no way in hell I would ever consider dashing off an angry letter to Trane that their product isn’t lasting like it should – it’s lasting far longer. So Porsche stepping up to claim responsibility for wiring on a model that has been out of production for over 30 years is them stepping up to a higher level of accountability than any consumer has reason to hope for, let alone expect.
I thought the fan and other parts were contained in a big old metal box protector from the elements?
Some environments are harsher than others?
That environment being “outdoors.”
That big metal box has to let all the air and, by extension, the rain through. I hear you say “protect” and I suppose that in a different world we could design HVAC condenser housings that really did protect parts from the elements. But that is not the world we live in. The fan points straight up and gets rained, frozen, sunblasted and thousands upon thousands of hours of running vibration.
Except in this particular case, there are – I am pretty sure that mandated safety recalls are basically forever. THEY have to have enough parts to fix all the recalled cars eventually. Which is also one reason the automakers have put a TON of time and effort into assembly tracking such that that can they can have so incredibly specific recalls today. There have been recalls of a single car that records showed didn’t have the seatbelt bolts tightened properly. They can literally determine that the issue existed because a single torque gun wasn’t calibrated properly on a particular Tuesday for three hours, and just recall the cars that went down the line in that time frame. It’s really kind of amazing.
The really big recalls like the Takata airbag recall and the infamous VW ignition coil recall are INCREDIBLY expensive, especially when there is just no way to produce the parts quickly. Suppliers only are geared up to make only so many extra for spares. So the more narrow you can make the recall, the better off you are.
How does that work when the factory motto is “the line never stops!!”?
Around 2005, my 1975 Volvo 245DL fuel tank developed a crack around the drain plug. There was a recall on the fuel tank dated 1977. I contacted Volvo Cars North America. Their response was “If it’s been recalled we will perform the necessary repairs, regardless of age.” The NHTSA requirement is only for 10 years after the recall, but Volvo made it good anyhow.
The repairs took months. There were many more parts than the tank required for the recall. Most of the parts came from dusty corners of warehouses in the US, but some had to be shipped from Sweden.
The dealer service advisor showed me the final bill to Volvo. It was over $2400. I believe the car had cost around $5000 in 1975. I had purchased the car in 2004. For $45.00.
I’ve heard that if there’s enough customer demand for certain spares, Volvo will voluntarily make them again. There used to be something on their heritage site about it.
Volvo spun off the restoration parts business many years ago, but I believe they are still the driving force behind https://vp-autoparts.com/
Wow, it’s a lot better than it used to be years ago, almost makes me wish I had bought a 240 when I was looking for a project!
In the UK this makes perfect sense, because the UK maintains a national car ownership and registration database for the life of the car. And it’s public information. You can go in and see a bunch of details for any car, and exactly how many ’86 944s or whatever are still on the road, and they also track recall information for cars – just like the US does. Helps that the registration number generally stays with the car for life. But the US has no national database of ownership, just all the individual states which vary widely as to how accessible the information is.
For the curious – https://www.gov.uk/get-vehicle-information-from-dvla
This page is for individual cars, but I know there is a way to go in and see how many of a given car remain registered or declared SORN. It says that you have to write to them for owner information – “registered keeper” which is a delightful way to think about it, but I assume the automakers have ready access to keeper info for recall purposes.
Found a search for how many are left:
https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/
Looks like ~1000 licensed and ~2200 SORN’d base 944s. They even show new registration and past registration data going back to when they were new. Neat!
Fun sites to play with. I looked up the info for a random MG TC I found a picture of online. First registered Oct ’46, currently licensed.
Looking forward to hearing about all of the back-ordered recall parts from Fomoco in the coming years.
That’s impressive! Not just the notification, but that they presumably still have the part(s).
They’re German, of course they do. 15 years ago when my Mom still had my stepfather’s ’83 BMW 528e, I figured out that there was a recall for something to do with the fuel injection that had never been done (exact details escape me, but something to do with the cold start injector). Just for giggles, called up BMW about it. “Sure, we can get the parts in a couple days, when would you like to come in?” And they did it. Put the official little circle sticker thing on the doorjamb to show it had been done and everything.
Pretty sure that was Bosch K-Jetronic, so likely cold start valve or injector. I think there was some kind of update to the valve or the relay or something like that, but that’s one of those useless memory things that stick in my head for decades that I have never needed to use, so it might not be accurate. I actually hope it it’s wrong to spite my damn brain that won’t remember the names of people I went to school with for years or, more disturbingly, some people I’ve dated without at least some strain, yet details about a mechanical FI system no car I have owned had? Of course we need to hang onto that!
Relay is very much jogging my memory, I am pretty sure that was it – a different relay for that system.
Yeah, it’s weird what you remember and don’t. I am great with faces but TERRIBLE with names. Always grateful when I am at a client site where everybody has to wear an ID badge, LOL. Great at esoteric car trivia though. Don’t ask me what I had for dinner yesterday though. Or as I sit here filling out time sheet entries for work, what the heck I did last week. I hate it when I get behind on them. Luckily, it doesn’t matter THAT much as long as 40hrs of something is entered in, and I get the billable entries right. Those I remember.
I definitely can still list everyone I have dated, but it’s not a particularly long list.
My list isn’t that long either and I’ve never been a very casual kind of person, so I knew them at least a little (or at least what they wanted me to know/think). There’s one in particular that trips me up because she was The Interrogator in my head, so I have to put effort into remembering her real name, even though it’s the same as a fairly famous actress.
I read a study years ago that found that car people use the part of their brain that normal people use for facial recognition to recognize cars instead and, for some reason, it’s apparently an either-or situation as they said it’s common for car people to have trouble with faces. I largely disagree, though since, like you, I’m pretty good at faces (as long as I have an interaction beyond an introduction) and terrible at names. That typed, I remember people much better if I see them with their car. My sister long ago learned to mention that if she was talking about anyone other than an interesting woman.
“You remember Tom!”
“Nope.”
“Yes, you do. He used to drive a white RSX.”
“Oh, yeah—premature thinning hair, skinny, kind of short. Bit arrogant and it showed in his gait. He was going to school for photography, working on a picture book of waterfalls.”
“Yeah, that’s him. Anywaaaaayyyy….”
Really interesting about car people and faces. I’ve never heard that but it makes a lot of sense.
I’ve had just one one-night stand ever. Though it was a lot of fun, LOL. Dutch guy in Budapest. Shocked my friend I was staying with a bit when we disappeared together from a party… 🙂 Otherwise, yeah, I need to get to know them a good bit first, and more so the older I get.
Though how I lost my virginity is an amusing story I will over-share. I was a freshman in college, hadn’t quite admitted to myself which side my bread was buttered on yet, being the mid-80s. I was on dorm council with the absolute Amazon of a volleyball player named Lorissa (see, I can remember her name – and it’s her real name). One Friday night, my roommate was away, and she turns up at my dorm room door. “Do you want to ****?” Uh, sure?? And we proceeded to do the needful for the rest of the year, then parted ways amicably as I dropped out of school for a year then went back to a different one. And then figured out the whole boy-boy thing with a very cute French exchange student. Named Paul. 🙂
Also amusing – I had a girlfriend in high school. We never went past first base in two years before we went off to college on opposite coasts. We came out to each other as seniors in college over Christmas break. Explained a LOT, LOL! Her name was Sasha. Nice girl, I should try to track her down and see what’s she’s up to 35 years on. Probably married with Subaru in the PNW.
I am pretty happily single in middle age though – if it happens it happens, but I am not really looking. Too much effort involved.
I cannot remember my first time. I wasn’t drunk or anything because I don’t drink and I certainly remember her, but for the life of me, I cannot remember it.
I stopped looking for someone years ago after being SAd by some woman I thought I was rescuing from a trafficking situation (but was just on “lots” of drugs as she later told the paramedics) and I basically lost interest in physical contact, which worked out because I don’t know where all the interesting women I used to meet went, but I haven’t encountered one in years. I get that I’m an acquired taste (and if you can’t accept my other 2 heads, you can’t accept me at my best!), but I’ve turned away more women than I took on (TBF, more than a few of them were married or their BF wanted to watch/be involved and none of that is my thing) and everyone I had been meeting online was egocentric and uninteresting or cool IRL, but unavailable. Conversations were like trying to be a gameshow host interviewing a reluctant guest with no brief about them before hand. I dated one red flag factory for a few months mostly because she actually talked! And talked, but she didn’t make me feel like a f’n standup comedian thrown into an unknown and unreceptive audience and expected not to bomb, so I liked the lack of pressure for a bit. Shortly after, I was attacked, so that’s likely it for me and I’m glad for it, to no longer be subject to this tyrannical biological quest for a mediocre experience (with one exception).
Yikes. You are reinforcing my belief that all women are crazy – it’s just a matter of how deeply the crazy is buried. Dudes are a lot simpler, if also often a bit shallow as a rule. But as the saying goes “the little head knows what it likes”. I like female hardware OK, but the software and I have never gotten on all that well so after the first time, meh. Now I am old, fat, and too cheap to be a sugar daddy for anybody. And it’s all good. 😉
That’s another area where I’m weird—my big head is the one that’s less discerning.
“OK, Johnson, what now? I see you showed up for work, but you’re not terribly enthused. She’s not bad!”
“Meh.”
“She’s smart, decent sense of humor, didn’t run any pathetic tests she saw on social media, wasn’t on her phone making giggling faces the whole time, actually has her shit together, like an adult job, no sign of substance use, and she’s not living in a filthy look-mom-my-first-apartment.”
“Is everything above that floor our settlement now?”
“I know where you’re going, but ones like her don’t grow on trees, besides she was crazy.”
“As our dear grandfather with 4 daughters and married over 50 years said, they’re all crazy. I figure she might as well be the kind that makes up for it.”
“OK, she’s got a pretty face, nice chest, legs.”
“Yeah, not bad, but I’m just not feeling that pull. Besides, you know I’m a hips-and-ass dick. Is such superficiality the best you can do?”
“Superficiality?! You’re a cave explorer! Most of your kind jump in anything they come across.”
“So I hear. A cave isn’t just a cave, I have standards.”
“How about she also doesn’t have a ‘fur baby’ that she has a questionably overly close relationship with?”
“Oof, yeah. That dog was cool, but I don’t want any canine assistance at work.”
“No.”
“Definitely not.”
[Mutual quiet stares] “Wanna make an excuse to blow off work and go for a drive?”
“She’ll fire us.”
[Johnson shrugs]
[Brain sighs] “Yeah, forget it, let’s go for a drive.”
Oh my – Reminds me of convos I had w/ my former roommate in SF:
“I just met our hot new neighbor who lives on the 17th floor”
“Oh – tell me more”
“His name is Bruce, he’s single, and he drives the Audi 4000 Quattro. He invited me up later tonite”
“What does he do?”
“I’ll find out later tonite…”
I bought a 944 Turbo a few years ago, and went to the local dealer to try to get the key copied. Everyone looked at me like the common peasant that I am. You’ve seen that meme with the aristocrats looking down smuggly, right?
Same when I owned my ’87 924S. The dealers look at old Porsches that aren’t 911s like red-headed bastard children. Doesn’t keep them from putting the full “Porsche Tax” on the parts though. But at leas the do generally have the parts.
It ended up needing a new air-oil separator. That turned into a fiasco when they had to order from Germany, after a couple months they sent one for an NA. Then about a week later the right one magically appeared. Meanwhile my 944 was 0 driving for the summer.
I sold it shortly after.
My 924S was a debacle. Nice, low miles example I bought from a specialty dealer and paid a pretty penny for. Even paid to have the local indie shop nearby do a full PPI, which came back pretty clean. But by the time I drove it 350 miles home it was leaking all over the place. Turns out it must have sat in storage for a very, very, very long time. Then the head gasket AND the oil-water oil coolers both blew. And the rubber-centered clutch went, and I gave up on the thing. That car was NOT supposed to be a project, but it sure turned into one in a hurry. Shame, as it was lovely to drive. Sold it to one of my BMW club buddies and lost my shirt on it. Bought a brand-new 2013 Fiat Abarth instead and had a ball with it until like an idiot I sold it and ordered a Euro-delivered M235i that once I got home to the states I didn’t really love.
Automotive ADHD is a thing, right? I was just thinking today that the 3.5yrs since I bought my S212 Mercedes is the longest stretch I have gone without buying a car (for myself anyway) since I got my driver’s license. I averaged well more than a car a year for 40 years. I got my license 40 years ago this month, I think.
I had a similar experience at the local Benz dealer a few years back when I pulled up in my ‘88 W124 wagon (S124). Funny!
The Benz dealer LOVED my ’79 300TD. All the service guys came out to look at it, and a couple of mechanics too, whenever I rolled in for bits. And they almost always had what I needed in stock too. Shocking – this was only about 15 years ago, so it was an old car then. It was a low miles minter though.
I also had an ’88 S124 300TE. Fabulous car, if I found a minter I would probably buy it. Wish I had done that when I bought my current Mercedes wagon. In it’s time, a MUCH more impressive car than my S212 is today. Of course, that inflation adjusted they cost better than $90K back then vs. less than $70K for my ’14 despite the vast chasm in content has a lot to do with it. They were definitely not built to a price the way the modern ones are.
Great story. I sold the ‘88 to buy a replacement minivan when our old one was getting a transmission replaced that turned out to be on back order and have regretted selling her ever since. It was a salvage title due to a minor front bumper smack but when I bought it she came with service records dating back to new when it was sold by House of Imports in Buena Park.
Everything had been replaced including the rear suspension and transmission by a local shop. It was taken care of since the beginning proven by that 3 inch thick stack of invoices.
She was pretty sharp after replacing the front bumper and cover.
Miss that car.
Mine kind of had the same story as my S212 – owned by an old couple in Ft. Lauderdale (S212 was bought, serviced, and traded back in at Mercedes of West Palm Beach). Found it on Autotrader, flew down and drove it home to Maine. I kept it for a fair few years for me, then sold it to a friend of mine who kept it a long time.
I’d REALLY like to have another one. The S212 is fine, and a good car, but it’s just not the same. Feels like a Mercedes, but dumbed down a bit, if you know what I mean – less special.
My TE was just the opposite with at least 8 different owners since new. The original owner was an Orange County, CA councilman and leased it and from there it went to Denver to Indianapolis to Columbus, OH to Louisville, KY to Chicago and Florida and then to Knoxville. It was well loved and well owned!
Well, maybe if you had stayed at your post…
If you drive a Carrera GT on salty roads in winter, it should probably be taken from you.
Ferraris are for polishing, Porsches are for driving.
I’m just here to comment that the Porsche 944S was, and is, a truly lovely piece of automotive design.
When you buy/transfer title on a car in Washington state they now also give you a letter that states all the open recalls on the car that are outstanding. Wonder if their system would catch something this old too.
This reminds me, I should probably reach out to Pontiac Division, Motors Liquidation regarding the recall work on my Fiero that appears to have not been done
I’m sure you will get this same level of care and support
Ask them if they can look at my Saab!
Germans being fastidious about documentation can have its upside.
Porsche Cares.
Two years ago, I went to the local Toyota dealer to see if I could get a brand new replacement key for my 1991 pick up. I still had the little metal tag that came with the original keys with the key number. Any of the aftermarket keys I have purchased just weren’t as good. The good news was they could procure me a blank for $20. They then brought out a heavy device that looked like a giant typewriter from 1920. The bad news was, they told me anyone that knew how to punch a new key had either retired or died. When the key came in, they told me that that the guy who sweeps up the shop has been there forever and he knew how to use it.