I'd love your help to assess fair price on a car I'm considering purchasing. It's got an odd record! Here's the details.

1985 911 Carrera Coupe
ROW European car imported in '85 by Neal Rayburn
104k miles
Clean Texas title
Texas car for last 20yrs
Black exterior, tan interior
Good condition and well-cared for

BUT... I'm attaching pics of the Carfax report which indicates a minor accident in '93 followed by a declaration of salvage in OK two years later. Then it was rebranded with a clean title after that and eventually made it to TX where, again, it received a clean title.

The seller was unaware of any of this. He's had the car 7 years and never seen any sign of an accident or repair work on or under the car.

So, what do you think? If the car passed all inspections for rust and mechanical condition, how much does that salvage incident matter? Where would you guys place the fair price of this car?

Thanks for the help!!

 

The lack of front side markers on this car indicates the front fenders were changed out at some time perhaps indicating front end damage.

 

Yep. Someone over at Pelican forums noted that to me yesterday. Based on that data point, I decided to just pass on the car and keep looking. Too many unknowns and too much risk. I'm hoping to find an SC-to-993 manual coupe in my $35k price range that doesn't have an issue as serious as a salvage title!

 

Blake, Good luck with your hunt.

 

I'm generally not concerned with salvage titles, but that's because I don't think about selling my cars before they're used up. So even though it does not bother me, in a case like this, I'd factor in how much of a hit I'd take when selling the car with a washed salvage title. The price you pay should reflect that. But on the other hand, if the seller can sell to a less knowledgeable buyer, don't expect the price to come to a fair level.

Mechanically, at 26 years after the accident, if it has not presented any problems, it will not likely do that in the future.

Another thing I noticed in the pics - the 3rd brake light. My '85 Cabriolet does not have that, and I'm pretty sure that is how it is supposed to be (no 3rd light for the '85 US cab). I don't know about an '85 ROW imported coupe, but that's another thing to consider. It might mean the deck lid is not original either - and that could be from convenience in adding the tail. But that's more a curiosity than a concern.