whalebird

Isn't that an old Fittipaldi steering wheel?

2002M3Drew

That looks to be a pretty nice, original SC, which are becoming fewer and father between. Silver is always a popular Porsche color. If it checks out at the PPI, I would say that $12,500 is more than fair. These cars have been going up in price.

whalebird

Low ball of 11k. Market's pretty soft right now.

floete

Okay, here's my slapdash market analysis, just performed using eBay for the data, since eBay's the only place you can get actual selling prices. This in unscientific and could be wwway off base. Even so and nonethelesss:

Under completed listings, I found 35 911 SC cars. Of those, 19 were outliers and need not concern this analysis (i.e., they were special, like a Weissach coupe, or insanely low miles and the like). Of the remaining 16 cars, only TWO sold, one for 10k and one for 9.5k.

I don't know about you, but I find this kind of astounding.

The remaining cars either had reserves that no one broke through or had high Buy It Now prices. I mean, there were cars in which bidding only reached 6.2K in one case, 8.1K in another, 8.8k in another, 9.3k in another, 11.3k in another (woo woo!), 8.85k in another.

It seems to me those bidding figures are the amounts the cars would actually find buyers at, so those numbers are in my mind the going prices … if you want to sell your car today. At least according to this probably flawed analysis.

So, taking the maximum amounts bid, plus the two winning bids, adding them all together and dividing by the total number, we get a real-world, 'this is what these cars are worth right now and not a cent more' average price of … (wait for it, wait for it) $9000.

I mean, according to my analysis, if my guy put his car on eBay with a reserve price anywhere north of 10k, he would not get a single bid (as is the case with many of the cars on there).

Of course, I'm not taking into account this and that and various and sundry and so forth and so on; but we're talking big picture here. And, according to at least this big picture, this is a mighty bleak time for sellers. Or, more accurately, eBay sellers, but then again they are the only sellers we have $ numbers for.

Thoughts? Probably my logic is more full of holes than Swiss cheese but as of this second it's making sense. I reserve the right to change my mind at another second's notice.

(And if you wondered why many of the sellers on Pelican are continually having to lower their prices and bump their posts, maybe now you know. Or don't. I dunno. My brain is hurting ...)

rusnak

If you can get it for $9k then you basically stole it. Look at it this way, that give you a nice couple of $Ks for parts and upgrades.

WB, I have the Fittipaldi E-3 steering wheel. I Googled Fittipaldi steering wheel, and I think you could be right. That may be the E-3 with a very rare center horn pad. I have never even seen one until now.

floete

Well, I'm not saying I would dare offer him $9k. I'm just saying that, according to the eBay market, that's probably around what it's worth. Your mileage and reality may vary ...

floete

Just for the hell of it, after seeing it again yesterday, I put in a very low offer, based on the car and my analysis of the market (see above). But even if the owner took it, I'm not sure I wouldn't want to keep looking for a while longer. This hunting stuff is turning out to be surprisingly fun!

whalebird

Thrill of the chase is what it's all about. Some people take years to buy a Porsche.

LlBr

Dang Bolster wear!
You guys do know: put right foot in car, turn, put left hand on bolster, lower your rear end in seat without rubbing back of left hand with your left cheek.

Brett San Diego

I hope you left your phone number just in case. Minds change. You could get a call back in a few days, weeks, or months.

My wife and I went over to a guy's place to look at a bed advertised on Craig's list. When he opened his garage, there sat a 1967 911, whole but in rough shape and covered with boxes and other garage stuff. I was thinking R-Gruppe. I talked him up about it a bit. Asked about selling interest. No, no way he said. He had owned it since 1969 and was going to restore it and drive again. I got home and thought, "What the hell," and wrote him an email asking if he ever considered selling, to drop me a line even if 10 years from now. A couple months later, I get a call. He's thinking about selling. I had a good look at it but didn't make an offer. I really wasn't ready to buy then. No space, too many other things going on. I don't think he would have liked my offer anyway given his sentimental attachment to the car. I was actually hoping to hear from him in a couple of years rather than months.

Enjoy the hunt. Definitely has a fun factor about it.

Brett

Brett San Diego

I've never thought of ebay as a good market evaluation. I could be wrong. But, you're looking at sales with odd constraints of time and often distance. I figure most bidders haven't actually inspected the car in person or had a professional inspection done to truly determine condition and allow them to justifiably give their top dollar bid. I figure many bidders are not serious buyers, just low ballers trolling for the non-existent deal of the century. Reserve auctions seem to be a psychological turn off for real buyers. And very few cars actually sell. I always look at autotrader or cars.com and figure that the lower third to half of the asking price range (once you ditch the ones with no engines or weeds growing through the floorpans) is the reasonable market range for driven cars. Garage queens are different.

Of course, there is always the market update in Excellence magazine. I can't remember when the last one came out for 911SC's and Carreras, but it should be easy to find out.

Brett

floete

Thanks, Brett, for your thoughts. And, I like to makes offers via email largely because even if I get turned down, sellers do have a record and know where I am.

Outside of eBay, the price tag I see most often attached to driver-quality SCs is $12,500. I've seen that five to one over any other number. Given that there's wiggle room built into any initial figure, maybe the real avg selling price for SCs is $11,000, which would make a kind of sense, 2k over the eBay average.

Add another 9k to the 11k and you've got what all SCs cost, regardless of initial outlay. Or so I hear!

dave morris

Huh?

rusnak

I responded to an ad on Yahoo when I bought my 911. I took $3K off the asking price, paid the guy in cash, and never regretted it. You find the car that speaks to you, pay what you can mentally justify, and do the deal. Never look back, and never total up your receipts.

floete

Hey, Brett, you were right, minds do change, sort of. Anyway, he came back to me today with 10.5. I went back to him with 9.5. He came back with 10 even and that's where we stand.

A good PPI could cost me up to 500. Plane fare to VA, driving it home, etc.,, 300 - 400. Headliner and seat issue, up to 2k. Let's call it $3,000 just to get the thing and make it look presentable. Then again, I could just drive the hell out of it and forget the headliner and seat and be happy with my $10k SC!!!!

Maybe I'll just stick it at 9.5, give him my logic, and let nature take its course ....

(It's good not to be desperate!)