denver88carrera

All:

I'm out of garage space and don't think my wife will park in the driveway forever. I never thought I'd sell this car and am aware I won't get what it is worth, but I'm really curious what you all think is a fair price for my car.

Thank you in advance,

Kevin

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1988 911 Carrera
187,xxx miles
Located in north Florida

This car has a clean Florida title but it was hit before I purchased it in May 2000 and sold at insurance auction. A PPI, nearly eight years of use, and multiple subsequent mechanics have never turned up a problem related to the accident or evidence of any structural damage. The car did receive a full respray before I bought it and it still looks very good.

This car is one of the Ferry Porsche “signature” edition cars. This was a cosmetic only package, consisting of “diamond blue metallic” (or marine blue metallic depending on the source) paint, ruffled leather seats in blue metallic with Ferry Porsche embroidered signature headrests, color-matched wheels, and “silk velour” carpets in silver grey. This isn’t a collector car but the color combo gets constant compliments from the gas station to PCA events.

Factory Options:
C03 - California type car
153 - Engine parts belonging to a stipulated assembly for type 951 (I have no idea what this means, but I’m sure it’s cool. )
243 – Shorter gear shift lever
498 – w/o rear model designation
650 – Electric sunroof
980 – Ruffled leather interior

Aftermarket Changes:
The original owner knew what he was doing and set the car up well with Turbo-width 16” wheels (body colored like the original), turbo tie rod ends, and Bilstein shocks. He also added a stainless steel exhaust which I believe was made by B&B. It looks nice and will sound great to you and your friends though your spouse will consider it louder than necessary.

Known issues:
- The AC compressor is on its way out. It cooled this summer but was not strong and is spraying a bit of oil at the seal. The rest of the system is tight.
- The driver’s side seat bolster has been bugging me as it is worn. It has no cracks or tears but really should be redyed to look nice.
- The dashboard has developed a crack.

Maintenance:
I know this car has a lot of miles but it really hides them well. Nobody believes the car’s age or mileage when they see it and it has been a fantastically fun and trouble-free car since I purchased it almost 8 years ago. It recently received new tires, brake pads and rotors, and a new clutch master and slave cylinder. The engine has never been opened to my knowledge and does not show signs of needing it.

old man neri

Well, for one thing this is not the best time to be selling the car. Half of your market has other things on it's mind right now......like dealing with snow storms.

The only thing I think that will hurt you is the mileage and no engine rebuild. That's a lot of miles.....meaning uncertainty. It may run great now but what about 5K from now? You could also help yourself by mentioning bigger ticket maintenance items, such as when was the suspension and clutch was done.

That's all I can think of to help you, it is a great looking car though.

denver88carrera

Great avatar, and an excellent point about the season! I may very well wait until spring if I need to market the car nationally. A number of people locally have expressed interest in my car over the years and I really am just trying to get a feeling for what would be a fair price in case one of them is interested. I do not want to give anyone a raw deal but also don't need to give it away too far below market as waiting until spring is not an impossibility.

I have not needed to touch the clutch or suspension since I bought the car at 13x,xxx miles and both are seem very good now. The shocks are Bilstein's with their "lifetime" warranty for whatever that is worth.

Kevin

3.2SLANTNOSE

I agree, this is not the best time of year to sell a moderately high value auto. But, you never can tell, maybe some of those who have showed interest in it in the past would jump on it. You may want to do a little bit of fishing advertising to see if one of them are interested. It would not hurt, but don't just give it away to the first or second person, if you are getting low-ball numbers, just wait till it is almost springtime, then really try to sell then, when pretty weather comes and Christmas bills have gone away, or down, for someone to spend the $$$$ for the car. Good luck!!

Rick K

Regardless of the season, sounds like it has to go, so I'll take a crack...

Given the accident history and higher mileage - I wouldn't pay more than b/t 11-12K. You may get someone to pay a bit more b/c its a G50 or bc they're not as concerned about the questionable history as I would be (I'm always thinking about resale).

My logic - a low(er) mileage example of that car w/ no accident history (w/ the type of work done to it you mention) would go for 22-25K. If I were a buyer, I would assume a top-end rebuild is in my future, takes the price down 5-8K. The accident history (pending a PPI pass) would take it down another few thousand (plus, as mentioned above, not the best selling season).

If I were in your spot, I would throw it up for sale at 15K and see what happens. Other folks will chime in I'm sure - hope this helps.

MDL

Interesting... there is another Diamond Blue 1988 listed in Gainsville in the new Panorama for $24000.00.

I agree with the others comments on price, market and time of year...however you may luck out. It's a great looking car. Good Luck!

Dan.

denver88carrera

Good catch Dan, thanks. I finally stopped reading the classifieds this last issue (since I'm already one 911 too heavy and want to remain married) and missed that ad. Unless my car has another twin in town I know the guy selling that car. He is a really nice guy and I believe that car has about half as many miles as my car. I hope he gets every penny for it but I think that price may be a bit optimistic. Cosmetically I think the cars are pretty close (though his has a tail), but obviously the miles and history hurt mine.

Rick K, you think like I do and as a buyer I'd use your post as a script. As a seller I'd point out that the rebuild is far from a looming certainty given that the car's oil consumption is very low at perhaps 1 quart per 2000 miles when driven hard and that I know a guy in town with 100k more miles whom I do not believe has rebuilt his Carrera yet. Your asking price isn't that far from what I was thinking though.

Thank you for the help guys. If anyone else wants to weigh in I'm all ears.

Kevin

Mike Murphy

If you are patient, you should be able to get $12-$15k for this car. The right person will come along and want a diamond blue metallic coupe, but cannot afford the $24k of another. Sure, it might need a rebuild, but so could any number of 911s. If the PPI shows that the engine is in good shape, it could run to 274,000 miles like another 3.2 Carrera I have heard about.

Your market is limited by the mileage and the history, so when it comes to how much of a loss you're going to take, in my opinion, it all depends on how long you are willing to wait for the right buyer.

Marc Gelefsky

I thought about selling my 86 to free up some space, I just could not part with the thing!

This is a terrible time to sell as has been said (great time to buy!)
In the couple of weeks when thinking about selling mine I got a few lowball offers despite my car being a super clean 90K mile 3.2 that I have owned for 12 years.

Wait till the spring at least, rent a storage space if you have to.

Oh, and that is a really sharp looking Coupe!

Graufuchs

Trust me I KNOW......

diamondcarrera

The car that you have is a Limited edition 25 Jahre (year) and 250,000 911 built celebration car. Only 875 produced worldwide. Im in the UK where we only goy 50 of these (30 coupe - 10 Targa and 10 Cabriolet, Im unsure what the US breakdown and total figure was.) The car along with the cosmetic package Leather / Carpets / seats / colour + colour coded fuchs also comes with the much improved short shift (like the club sports). This is a rare car that is getting rarer. If you can keep it.......

denver88carrera

Diamondcarrera, it looks like you have a BEAUTIFUL (and much rarer) cabriolet version. Nice car! You are correct about the special edition. Perhaps I was selling the car short. I love the silver/blue color combination Porsche chose for this edition and the signature head rests get a lot of questions/compliments. I suppose that due to my car's mileage and history I was writing it off as any kind of "collectable" so I wasn't really expecting a premium for the unique status. I know the next owner will be a lucky guy though as I hate to be getting rid of this car.

To all who commented on the season, you are 100% correct. It's tough to fully discount that when it's 80 degrees here in Florida. Unless I find a local buyer I'm sure I'll hold onto this car until spring. I'm only in this predicament because I took advantage of the bad season when buying another 911.

Thank you all for the help!

old man neri

Just to note: To some buyers it may mean something that the car is a special edition limited something or rather. To a lot of others it won't mean anything. It will really depend on how long you want to hold out for. I know from my point of view I would not want to pay a penny more for a car that is a 'special edition' There is nothing different about the car other than the vin number and some badging. Same flat 6, same 4 wheels. So if you want to sell it as a special edition you may have to wait out longer. It is by no means impossible, you just may have have to wait longer. I am just trying to give you the point of view of a potential buyer.

I do wish you the best of luck.

diamondcarrera

Im afraid that on the point of colour and badging you are right - but these "special" edition cars were set up the same as CS models with their supension and short shifts - gear change. The edition that Ferry insisted on producing at a time when the 911 was set to be replaced by the 928 - a truly landmark car IMHO (and I have one!).
Cheers
and Merry Xmas everyone

MDL

If it really turns out to be a special addition and it looks as nice in person as it looks in the pictures you posted here you might try the Barrett Jackson Auction in West Palm Beach coming up in March 26th - 30th.