mdonline

I need some help sorting this one out.

After months of searching for a 87-89 Porsche, I finally found her. One owner car, all receipts in place, the car is pristine, 53k miles, garaged in a spotless air conditioned surround sound music (not kidding), three flat screen TVs, 7 car "house" (can't call it a garage cause it is nicer than my apartment). She has been hand washed all her life, looking brand new. Red with tan interior. Perfect concourse condition. The engine looks brand new. The other cars in the collection are the same way. This guy is a real car nut.

All stock, 100% original except for the after market slant nose done by the best Porsche shop in town. It went straight from the show room to the shop and had the slanted nose put on. Steel construction, not carbon fiber.

The car had a perfect compression test, leak down, and a complete tune up in 1993 with 46k miles on the odometer. So in the past 16 years, the owner only drove 7k miles.

I am really excited. What a find! The slant nose turned me off a bit.

He started the car. A lot of white smoke came out for about 5 seconds then all clear. Took it for a test drive. It was a dream. Clutch is smooth in all gears. The engine is really strong. No noise, no hesitation. I took it almost to red line with a slight press on the pedal. All gauges worked. A/C is blowing strong, but no cold air (expected). Shocks are tight. Brakes are good.

Asking price is $25k.

So here are my dilemma

1. Aftermarket slant nose. It is an excellent aftermarket nose. What do you think? Does that de-value the car?

2. Garage queen. The car was only driven 7k miles in last 16 years. How about that puff of white smoke. Is that normal for a car that has been sitting around for months or is there a problem with the headstuds or valves?

3. Is the price $25k reasonable?

Would love everyone's input before I spend money on a compression/leak down test. The owner is unbelievably wealthy and has the house to match. For some reasons he liked me and gave me a tour of his house. Let's just say the house is easily worth in th low 8 digits even in this market. He is a VP for a fortune 500 company. He checked out. No problem with credibility in my opinion. All records, receipts are in place. The car is clean.

Which leads me to the last dilemma:

4. Why would a wealthy guy like him bother to sell a $25k car personally???? I am not wealthy enough to understand rich people. May be someone can help me.

Thanks.

500

The miles are quite low, and if the car were original (i.e. not slant-nose) I don’t think $25K would be out-of-range if the car is truly pristine. I know some will point out you can get solid Carreras for low-teens.

As for the low mileage/garage queen thing – there are a lot of variables. How were those 7K miles put on? Lots of short drives and garage warm-ups (bad) or a relatively smaller number of proper drives evenly spaced out over the years (better)?

That said, the slant nose would kill it for me. First off, I find I just don’t like the style as much, and second, the fact that it was not done at the factory (no matter how good the shop was) must impact the value somewhat – trouble is, I don’t know how much. Does the car have turbo-look bodywork (i.e. flares etc) or is it a narrow body Carrera. I can’t think of ever having seen a slant nose done on a regular Carrera body.

If you are sort of wishy/washy on the looks, I would forget it. If the looks are OK then at least take a closer look and ultimately go for a PPI if you think it is the one. I would try and negotiate down a little because of the bodywork though.

abe

It is because he is selling the car on his own that he has wealth....why pay someone to do something he might actually enjoy doing it himself. Wealthy people are people too...this guy enjoys someone who likes his car and will be very happy to sell his car to someone who will appreciate the car. I'll bet this guy will accept less money if you stroke him right. That is, you complement his car tell him its worth what he is asking, you really love the car and his taste and what he has done to the car....but would he be willing to accept X $ instead. If you criticize the slant nose....you are criticizing him...and people like that don't need that. Trust me on this..don't try to negotiate price as if you were trying to out deal him...let him be the top dog, humble yourself, make him think you just love the car but wish you had a little more money to afford and then make a humble offer. You start a pissing contest...you loose.
Personally, I think 2-3k less...but I like the traditional look so I would not buy the car. If you can't live with the slant nose DONT BUY IT!
abe

cal44

If the slant nose (not factory) in this case, turns you off upon the first viewing, are you going to start loving it later? Lets just see how much you love it when you go to sell a non-factory slant nose.
Do not compromise as you will pay for it in the long run. There are cars out there, just take your time.

Abe is spot on

MUSSBERGER

Did somebody besides Porsche make a steel slant nose kit?

butzip

PICS?!?

+1 on the turbo body. I don't think I've ever seen a slant nose on a non-wide bodied 911. the slant nose needs to be a full package to look correct. If you love it, go for it but be mindful that when and if the time comes to sell it, it will not appeal to all. Just as it is questionable for you. The puff of smoke on start up is nothing to worry about, it's usually the result of short cycling the engine and then sitting for a while....

did I mention pics??

ricster

This car should be a wide body car to begin with but if its not with a slant nose..would look ugly! If it is a wide body..make sure it has the boxed rocker panels...looks much better like that. If all that checks out and a PPI checks out..25k isn't out of the realm. The nice thing is he is the proper owner...$$$$$ he can afford to have anything fixed...unlike some of these cars that fall into the hands of owners who keep things going on a shoe string budget. If you like it...then you buy it!

whalebird

I have a strong adversion to aftermarket slopenose cars. With proper funding the guy should be able to get a real slant. Even the best aftermarket kits were crummy and it takes a lot to have the rear flares vented. Does it have the rear fender vents? They do function and a proper conversion would have all the oil cooler stuff in the rear fenders. The headlight drives could be from anything and are usually a weak link in aftermarket kits. There seems to be a bunch of toyota celica headlight drives in these cars. Also, unless I missed it, Is the car a turbo? or just a 911 with a cobbled up body kit?
I feel your longing, and appreciate your enthusiasm, but this could be a disaster. I would suggest looking elsewhere at all of the beautiful un-hacked cars available.
25k can get you a nice 964, or even a modest 993 from a motivated seller. At that price you have options.
Good luck and enjoy the hunt. You don't want to look back with regret and I can assure you something about this deal will hurt you in the future regardless of how good the "bones" of the car is.

Ed Hughes

You're paying top dollar for a hermaphrodite, even if it was done right. 7K miles in 16 years MAY not be a good thing, as noted above. Cars need to move.

Marc Gelefsky

If you have ANY doubts, pass... there are some nice cars to be had out there.
Bottom line is, buy what you like!

Personally, I think an aftermarket conversions takes a huge amount of value from the car.

jwilson95

"You're paying top dollar for a hermaphrodite" = funny

Yet it makes complete sense to me if it is not a wide body.

+1 on all the above.

Pics would do it justice from the group.

g-50cab

My valve guides gave up the ghost at 56K

whalebird

If you havn't yet; pick up a fresh copy of "The used 911 Story" by Peter Zimmermann.
I suspect you would be unhappy in the long run with such a car.

g-50cab

My buddy bought a car like that - 28,000 miles - PRISTINE. He sold it 2 years later for what he bought it for. He never drove it because it was "perfect" I offered to DE it for him to clear the cob webs - but he wouldn't take me up on it.

mdonline

Thanks everyone. I do have a copy of Peter Zimmermann's. Sorry I don't have any pictures of it. I have decided to pass on the car. I can live with the slant nose but not at $25k, may be $18k. I didn't even bother making an offer.