summers3d

Hello, I'm in the market for my first 911 - I finally got the green light from my wonderful wife. I'm looking for a '87-'89 carrera coupe with both spoilers. I'm located in Sacramento, Ca but I'm willing to travel for the right car. I'm also trying to find a good shop in the area. I'm not in any hurry, but sooner is always better than later. I've been doing tons of research and reading over the past two years and it's been so hard to wait, but I want to find a good solid car. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
-David

earlyapex

Bless our wives!

I take my cars to Fast Lane Porsche Repair in Santa Cruz, but that's a long haul for you. I'll keep my eyes and ears open for any local cars. Have you hopped on the Sacto chapter of the PCA?

creaturecat

check the pelican site - some nice cars show up in the for sale section. Remember you usually get what you pay for - a nice car is well worth the premium paid.Spoilers can be added later on - otherwise you may narrow the search and miss out on a beautiful car. IMHO the 87 - 89 are overrated (or the previous years underrated). Some of the best deals can be had on ROW cars - they are better cars (if not butchered to federalize) and are priced lower.Drive as many as you can to get a feel for the cars.Good luck and enjoy the search!

fasteddie99

I got my 87 in Sacto just before Christmas. Was just looking at the classifieds in the Sac Bee and found exactly what I wanted. As for a PPI: go to Frank's Automotive, 5220 Folsom Blvd. They specialize in older 911s. Good luck. When you get one, join the PCA. The Sac region is a great club...

summers3d

Thanks for the responses. I really need to get out and start driving some. I haven't driven a 911 for about 12 years and that was only brief, but I've always wanted one. I was wondering what kind of Porsche community there is in Sacramento - I haven't seen many older 911's on the road around here. fasteddie99, I'm sure I saw that '87 in the paper too, but it was before I was ready for my own. Not too many pop up in the local paper. Is it reasonable to go drive cars that I may not be interested in just to get a better feel for what's right? Also, as creaturecat stated about ROW cars, are they considered grey market? I've heard these should be avoided. Thanks again for any help. This site is awesome!
-David

creaturecat

ROW is a grey market car in the US - stay away if you don't like your cars with more horsepower,lighter weight (usually) , lower stance , transmission cooler , sexier bumpers and better headlights - and lower price. The problem can arise when the car was federalized - some cars were butchered.I don't know about the smog test situation.Where I am - in Canada - the ROW(in original form - not even a cat)) passes smog with flying colours

earlyapex

Resources for Porsche listings aside from from Rennlist:

Pelican Parts (pelicanparts.com)
Porsche Market Letter (PMletter.com)
Panorama (PCA.org)
Craigslist (craigslist.org)

Good hunting. You may want to drive various models and decide if what you have read matches how the different models feel.

TonyG

ROW cars with respect to Carreras blow away the US crippled version Carrera.

And... they aren't worth less. They are worth more here in Los Angeles.

The conversion is fairly trivial. The cars are lighter, have substantially more power, and have all the cool euro goodies.

I just picked up a '84 Euro Coup. 231Hp, factory sunroof delete (rare) with the correct H5 headlights rather than the joke US headlights.

The conversion was really trivial (which I could outline quite easily).

This would be the basis for a perfect track car for sure.

Now I just have to decide to either keep this car or sell my SC.

TonyG

DaGoomba

I live in Elk Grove and will be taking delivery of my first Porsche next week. I found one in Northridge, CA, a 1980 911SC, high miles 290,000 but with a lot of work done recently. I had a PPI done in Canoga Park and the wrench said it was a great ride. I have only seen pictures but can’t wait to actually sit behind the wheel. All my friends think I’m crazy to buy a car without seeing and driving it first but there just isn’t that many in this area. I have been looking for a long time. Good luck in your search. Maybe once you get yours you post here and we can cruise up to Tahoe for the day.

DaGoomba

TonyG

DaGoomba



The car has 290,000 miles. You will have to sell the car some day.

Unless the car is $3500-$5000, keep looking.

TonyG

Tango Foxtrot

This should help with your search..........

http://autos.recycler.com/
http://cars.allhere.com/
http://early911sregistry.org/class-cars.html
http://eurosportimports.com/
http://mcl.porschedealer.com
http://www.daveolimpiautomobiles.com/
http://porsche.eastimports.com/index.cfm?
http://wreckedexotics.chooseyourite...s/Porsche0.html
http://www.4porsche.com/
http://www.911pcc.com/sales.htm
http://www.911t.org/class/carsale/carsale.htm
http://www.aicauto.com
http://www.autoexchangeinc.com/
http://www.autofarm.co.uk/
http://www.autoforum.com/
http://www.auto-palace.com/.
http://www.autopalacellc.com/
http://www.autotrader.ca/
http://www.autotrader.com
http://www.autotrader.com/dealers/v...uropeanautohaus
http://www.autoweb.com/
http://www.autoweek.com/classifieds...odel=911&state=
http://www.avalanchemotors.com/
http://www.aventuramotors.com/
http://www.beechmontporsche.com/
http://www.bieriauto.com/
http://www.bigmombo.com/
http://www.bluegrassauto.com/porsche.html
http://www.born2bfas.com
http://www.buysell.com
http://www.cacars.com/
http://www.californiacars.com/
http://www.californiaclassics.com
http://www.carbuyer.com/
http://www.cars.com/
http://www.cars-on-line.com/porsche.html
http://www.carstoreofglenside.com/
http://www.chequeredflag.com/
http://www.cherner.com/classiccars/index.html
http://www.classicautosales.com/html/showroom.cfm
http://www.classicinvest.com/
http://www.corvettesaustin.com/?op=autos&y=porsche
http://www.craigslist.com
http://www.culliganautoplace.com/en_US/
http://www.daveolimpiautomobiles.com/
http://www.dealmotorcars.com/
http://www.dealsonwheels.com/
http://www.dennigcars.com/cars_for_sale.htm
http://www.dupontregistry.com/
http://www.early911s.com
http://www.e-bay.com
http://www.elcauto.com/inventory.htm
http://www.enthusiastcars.com/index_framev1.html
http://www.europeancollectables.com...tinventory.aspx
http://www.europeanlocators.com/
http://www.eurpoeancollectables.com
http://www.exceptionalmotorcars.com/
http://www.exoticcarworld.com/index.htm
http://www.foreigncoachworks.com/
http://www.forza.weblobby.com/
http://www.foxvalleymotorcars.com/
http://www.germanusedcars.com/porsche1.html
http://www.gtmotorsports.us/Cars%20For%20Sale.htm
http://www.gullwingmotorcars.com/
http://www.harrystoys.com/
http://www.hatchandsons.com/pages/sales
http://www.Hemmings.com
http://www.holtmotorsports.com/
http://www.kcimports.com/
http://www.luxcarnet.com/
http://www.managemycar.com/thumbnail.asp
http://www.mgmsl.com/vehicles.cfm
http://www.midwestperformancecars.com/
http://www.mikeauto.net/Default.htm
http://www.modexotics.com/
http://www.motorheadtrader.com/boar...ategory=Porsche
http://www.musiccitymotorsports.net/
http://www.naplesmotorsports.com/inventory.htm
http://www.nortnortham.com/
http://www.oregonpca.org/News/porsches_for_sale.htm
http://www.parcars.com/parall.htm
http://www.parkplaceltd.com/default.asp
http://www.PCA.org
http://www.pcasd.org/classifieds/cars.html
http://www.pmletter.com
http://www.porsche-classified.com/
http://www.prestigeimports.com/default.asp
http://www.raycoeuro.com/
https://rennlist.com/ads/
http://www.rgruppe.org/Resources/classifieds.html
http://www.rizzacars.com/index.asp
http://www.rmcarsonline.com/
http://www.rmeurosport.com/
http://www.roadfly.org/porsche/classifieds/cars/
http://www.road-scholars.net/
http://www.route30classics.com/
http://www.rpmsportscars.com/
http://www.rsamerica.net/map/index.htm
http://www.selectmotors.net/SPORTS.htm
http://www.sloancars.com/inventory6.htm
http://www.specialty-sales.com/
http://www.sportauto.cc/
http://www.sporthausinc.com/
http://www.teammotorsports.com/
http://www.thalist.com/
http://www.thecarexperience.com
http://www.tommackclassics.com/
http://www.tremotorsports.com/Home.htm
http://www.truspeedmotorcars.com/
http://www.urbangarage.com/
http://www.usedcarsatlanta.net/auction.html
http://www.usedporsche.net/
http://www.venturaclassics.com/
http://www.weissach.com/
http://www.westcoastautosport.com/docs/frameset.htm
http://www.willhoitenterprises.com/inventory.htm
http://www.Yahoo.com

fasteddie99

DaGoomba: I live in EG too. Let me know when you get your car so we can get together...

DaGoomba

Tony,

I know 290,000 is high mileage. Believe me I gave that a lot of thought. I asked the wrench if this was a good decision and he said he really checked the car out thoroughly and could not find anything wrong with it. On his test drive he said he got it up around 100 MPH and the car run great. The engine was overhauled 50,000 miles ago along with the transmission. The wrench said everything was tight. No oil leaks, no smoke. The car has just received a new custom paint job and the interior was completely replaced with black swayed seat inserts and red stitching on the seats and dash to match the outside red. The wrench said he has never seen a 1980 Porsche this nice and if I didn’t buy, he would. He could have just told me it was a bad decision and get the car for himself, but he was honest and told me what he really thought. There was nothing in this for him except my $100 for the PPI. He didn’t know the seller. Now, only time will tell if I made the right choice. I’m driving it back from LA next Friday.

Julia

A big Second on Frank's Automotive in Sacramento. Frank is the best!! I am the Social Director of the Sacramento Valley Region of PCA and we all love Frank and his son Nick. Great mechanics and great people. My "new" 1980 SC has 122,000 happy miles on him and he, too, is in great shape. Now if it would stop raining, I'd get out and drive him!

Peter Zimmermann

Hey guys, don't dismiss those 300,000 mile cars too quickly! I know of an '80 SC, an '81 SC, an '82SC and an '86 Carrera that passed 300K miles long ago, and all four are better than many 125 - 150K mile cars that I've driven. Professional maintenance and long-term ownership are key here... There is no chassis deterioration in the cars (3 Targas and 1 coupe), and we are beginning to wonder if the cars are really capable of doing a million miles. Two of the four cars have had the seats done (the other two are still OK), two of the cars had dash replacements, the other two are OK, they've all been repainted, three by the same high-quality body shop, the other looks good but not quite as nice. They've all had new shocks, the Targas have had the tops done, and all four have had total engine rebuilds. Fun to watch; if anybody out there has passed 300K miles we'd love to hear from you!
Pete