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A client of mine is looking to sell his 1978 911SC targa in Grand Prix white. Paint & interior are in incredible shape.
Three owner car. It has 172k miles & had no mechanical issues. He has most of the maintenance records for it. However, the last time he drove it was in September of 2011!!
According to him. It drove great the day he parked it in his garage.
9+ years later. He hasn’t driven it since & wants to sell.
Asking $13k for it.
Two questions:
Is this a fair price?
What should I expect $$ to get her back into running condition?
If you don't want it I would buy it at that price. I'm new to the market and have not yet found the car for me. But from what I have seen, this price is not even close to fair to your client. And since he is your client you probably don't want to buy it from him at that price.
i have the exact car 78 SC targa, 270k km ( about the same as this one ) interior immaculate , outside in great shape.. I have it insured with Haggerty at 50K CAD ....
Ok without details this is an impossible ask. If the transmission grinds, and the engine is leaking oil from one of it's 5,000 seals and needs a rebuild, you are looking at an additional $15,000-$20,000 of work to get the drivetrain back into shape. You NEED to take this car to a porsche mechanic and ask them to evaluate the car as well as do a leakdown test, which will tell you the condition of both the rings, intake, and exhaust valves. Refreshing these engines is no small task, I am doing everything myself and I didn't even take the heads off and I am sure I have spent over $8,000 in the past few months on the trans and engine combined.
There an absolute 0% chance any of us can give a reasonable estimate knowing so little. Please find a local porsche mechanics and book an appointment to have this car gone over so you know what you are getting into. This can also save you money.
I purchased my car for less than $5k because I had an inspection done with estimates of what it would cost to bring back to life, and took that to the seller to counter his asking price. I wanted teh car but I did not want to wind up underwater on the price.
Ok without details this is an impossible ask. If the transmission grinds, and the engine is leaking oil from one of it's 5,000 seals and needs a rebuild, you are looking at an additional $15,000-$20,000 of work to get the drivetrain back into shape. You NEED to take this car to a porsche mechanic and ask them to evaluate the car as well as do a leakdown test, which will tell you the condition of both the rings, intake, and exhaust valves. Refreshing these engines is no small task, I am doing everything myself and I didn't even take the heads off and I am sure I have spent over $8,000 in the past few months on the trans and engine combined.
There an absolute 0% chance any of us can give a reasonable estimate knowing so little. Please find a local porsche mechanics and book an appointment to have this car gone over so you know what you are getting into. This can also save you money.
I purchased my car for less than $5k because I had an inspection done with estimates of what it would cost to bring back to life, and took that to the seller to counter his asking price. I wanted teh car but I did not want to wind up underwater on the price.
Great insight. I do plan to have it evaluated. I just want to avoid the exact situation you laid out. The car did have a chronic leak, which I wasn’t surprised about.
I trust my clients word on the mechanical shape of the car prior to storage. He does want to see it go to a good home, which is why he’s offering it at $13k.
Ultimately however, I would want to avoid the headache of any surprises.
Seems at a worst case scenario $20k repair.. cost will still be under value when she’s back up & running. I don’t see anything to lose, except time & patience.
Depends man. How's the interior? Weatherstripping? Paint? Suspension? Example: Weatherstripping is shot on targa. Want all new stuff? Over $1500. All this stuff ads up. If your rings are bad, you'll probably want to do new jugs and pistons at the same time. If you're doing that, you're definitely splitting the case. At which point you might need more machine work. A leak is just a leak but having a real wrench inspect it will tell you a lot.
Depends man. How's the interior? Weatherstripping? Paint? Suspension? Example: Weatherstripping is shot on targa. Want all new stuff? Over $1500. All this stuff ads up. If your rings are bad, you'll probably want to do new jugs and pistons at the same time. If you're doing that, you're definitely splitting the case. At which point you might need more machine work. A leak is just a leak but having a real wrench inspect it will tell you a lot.
Exterior paint & interior is in great shape. Garage kept it’s entire life.
Mechanically perfect the day he stopped driving it, but had a chronic leak. The weatherstripping & other imperfections wouldn’t be at the forefront of my repairs. I’ve only seen pictures of it so far. I’m going to get some better ones today & I’ll post them in the OP.
I would be primarily focused on getting the engine & chassis back into shape. Cosmetic stuff can always come later if needed. So it doesn’t have to be perfect per-say.
If you believe him that he parked it in 2011 when it was running just fine, I doubt it will take much at all. I'll offer $15k since I don't need another car. If I were looking for a car like this, 25-30k would still be very safe. Unlike many cheap cars discussed on here, from your description it does not sound at all like a "project," so I would not make it one.
BTW, I can wire the $$ later today. Just let me know.
EDIT - I see you're in NorCal. Forget the wire, I'll drive over there with two bags of cash. Let's keep this on the down low. Will be monitoring my PMs.
Everybody throwing out suggestions on how to spend your money, but I wouldn't offer squat until you laid eyes on the car and did a bit more research. If it's sounds too good to be true, well, you know the rest...
I agreed to purchase the car & I’ll be picking her up this weekend. I will start a new thread on the ‘soft’ restoration once I start it. Thanks to everyone who chimed in. See you on the next one...
12-03-2020, 07:43 PM
Price 1978 911SC targa
