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Hi All. A number of months ago I sold my 997 with the intent of getting an air cooler. To make a long story short, I've decided that the SC and Carrera cars are more my style and price range. I've been looking around for some time and have a pricing question for those who are up to speed on the market. I've found a nice 83 SC coupe with a lot of desirable factory options, numbers matching, good condition, with around 140K miles on it. Top end rebuild done around 100K. Do you think that $ 33K-34K is reasonable for this car if a PPI checks out without any major issues? Thanks for any advice savvy owners and recent buyers might have.
Hi All. A number of months ago I sold my 997 with the intent of getting an air cooler. To make a long story short, I've decided that the SC and Carrera cars are more my style and price range. I've been looking around for some time and have a pricing question for those who are up to speed on the market. I've found a nice 83 SC coupe with a lot of desirable factory options, numbers matching, good condition, with around 140K miles on it. Top end rebuild done around 100K. Do you think that $ 33K-34K is reasonable for this car if a PPI checks out without any major issues? Thanks for any advice savvy owners and recent buyers might have.
Seems about right I have a 80 sc targa in a rare arrow blue color but mine does have 202,000 miles. I would sell it for 25k or there about.
What color is the car and is it original paint? What are the factory options, Lsd? Sports seats? $33k could be pretty good for a coupe, you see several highly imperfect cars being offered higher.
Thanks for the info guys. The car has mostly original paint (front end was resprayed), LSD, sports seats, sunroof, sports suspension, front and rear factory spoilers, full leather, and a few other minor options. Typical rock chips and road rash on front end, very little wear on interior with slight shrinkage on the dash. Seems like a decent buy for moderate mileage (140K miles) given that the top end was redone.
I think price is pretty steep for a high miler SC.
I don't know....that's low miles for a car 33 years old.
What makes it attractive to me is a verified top end...no stud/oil burning issues if done properly.
You can buy a 'lower mileage' car 60-70k garage queen that is stock unopened and have stud issues almost immediately.
That's what happened to the 930-10 motor I bought...beautiful garage queen with 67k....and 3 broken head studs...(I purchased it after rebuild).
What he spends up front will save him down the road.
I don't know....that's low miles for a car 33 years old.
What makes it attractive to me is a verified top end...no stud/oil burning issues if done properly.
You can buy a 'lower mileage' car 60-70k garage queen that is stock unopened and have stud issues almost immediately.
That's what happened to the 930-10 motor I bought...beautiful garage queen with 67k....and 3 broken head studs...(I purchased it after rebuild).
What he spends up front will save him down the road.
Yup……..that's part of my consideration. A top end rebuild will be 8-10K from what I understand. I also have a bead on a nice unmolested car for about $35K with only 80K miles on it………my fear here is that I would only have 20K miles to go before the top end needs to be done. Makes a higher mileage car with top end completed seem more appealing no?
Yup……..that's part of my consideration. A top end rebuild will be 8-10K from what I understand. I also have a bead on a nice unmolested car for about $35K with only 80K miles on it………my fear here is that I would only have 20K miles to go before the top end needs to be done. Makes a higher mileage car with top end completed seem more appealing no?
It would to me if I knew the ind/shop that did the work and could verify what was done.
The 80k car could be nice too but many low mileage cars were not often driven up to temperature (short drives) and the resulting moisture left behind is a primary contributor to degraded/broken head studs.
I'd want to know if all the studs were replaced in the rebuild and what replaced them (dilivar or steel).
Buy it and enjoy:
Just be smart about the purchase, mileage is in the eye of the beholder, Motor coming out this winter to tidy up and replace what I would consider wear parts.
Yup……..that's part of my consideration. A top end rebuild will be 8-10K from what I understand. I also have a bead on a nice unmolested car for about $35K with only 80K miles on it………my fear here is that I would only have 20K miles to go before the top end needs to be done. Makes a higher mileage car with top end completed seem more appealing no?
No, not necessarily. As a prior commentator said, 140,000 is not moderate mileage. An ’83 SC that had a “topside rebuild” 40,000 miles ago at 100,000 miles does not offer much reassurance to a buyer, unless that rebuild is highly documented as to what type of head studs were purchased and installed, and what other parts and work was done at the same time.
Were the head studs installed post-1984 Dilivars with a black expoy coating, a later generation 993 type (you can only hope), or cheap counterfeits. Were all twenty-four studs replaced?
Most fakes are ferrous and a magnet will stick them; which is not true with Dilivars. A step up is Raceware or one of the other after-market head studs, which are aircraft quality, but even more expensive [my 73,000 mile ‘78 SC has Raceware, as I did not want to have a broken stud(s) problem again]. Were the heads done, and new valve guides installed? Does the ’83 have 1984-89 cam chain oil-feed tensioners installed, does it have an after-market pop-off valve to protect the air box?
At the price point this 140,000 +/- mile car is at, all of these parts should have installed or R and R 'ed, and there should be well documented paper trail.
Frankly, a documented car with 80,000 miles -- without a topside rebuild, if it has the preferred options one desired, would be more attractive to me at $30,000 to 35,000, as one can control what type of parts will be used at a later time when the car needs a rebuild and head studs (which it will at some point). Also that car has 60,000 less miles on chassis and suspension items.
The OP did not mention whether or not the ‘83 SC has new tires on Fuchs, if the Fuchs are 15” or 16”, or if the wheels are cookie cutters, all of which influence the purchase price by a couple of thousand of dollars.
As a final point, while “sport shock absorbers” were a '78 to '83 option (M474) [usually Bilstein struts and gas shocks; Koni adjustables were/are after-market for the original Boge struts and shocks], I am not aware of any sport suspension “package” that was offered as an OEM option (struts, shocks, control arms, and sway bars) and no such option is indentified in the Red Book.
The PPI and what documentation exists on the 140,000 mile car in the $33,000 to $34,000 should prove interesting to say the least.
No, not necessarily. As a prior commentator said, 140,000 is not moderate mileage. An ’83 SC that had a “topside rebuild” 40,000 miles ago at 100,000 miles does not offer much reassurance to a buyer, unless that rebuild is highly documented as to what type of head studs were purchased and installed, and what other parts and work was done at the same time.
Were the head studs installed post-1984 Dilivars with a black expoy coating, a later generation 993 type (you can only hope), or cheap counterfeits. Were all twenty-four studs replaced?
Most fakes are ferrous and a magnet will stick them; which is not true with Dilivars. A step up is Raceware or one of the other after-market head studs, which are aircraft quality, but even more expensive [my 73,000 mile ‘78 SC has Raceware, as I did not want to have a broken stud(s) problem again]. Were the heads done, and new valve guides installed? Does the ’83 have 1984-89 cam chain oil-feed tensioners installed, does it have an after-market pop-off valve to protect the air box?
At the price point this 140,000 +/- mile car is at, all of these parts should have installed or R and R 'ed, and there should be well documented paper trail.
Frankly, a documented car with 80,000 miles -- without a topside rebuild, if it has the preferred options one desired, would be more attractive to me at $30,000 to 35,000, as one can control what type of parts will be used at a later time when the car needs a rebuild and head studs (which it will at some point). Also that car has 60,000 less miles on chassis and suspension items.
The OP did not mention whether or not the ‘83 SC has new tires on Fuchs, if the Fuchs are 15” or 16”, or if the wheels are cookie cutters, all of which influence the purchase price by a couple of thousand of dollars.
As a final point, while “sport shock absorbers” were a '78 to '83 option (M474) [usually Bilstein struts and gas shocks; Koni adjustables were/are after-market for the original Boge struts and shocks], I am not aware of any sport suspension “package” that was offered as an OEM option (struts, shocks, control arms, and sway bars) and no such option is indentified in the Red Book.
The PPI and what documentation exists on the 140,000 mile car in the $33,000 to $34,000 should prove interesting to say the least.
Thanks for the info and the perspective. I'm starting to think the same thing now..............a preference for the lower mileage car. The lower mileage car has fewer options but this is not a big deal for me. It also appears to be in much better cosmetic condition.......interior is near new and the dash is perfect. I'm going to find out more about the lower mileage car tomorrow. I might be writing one of those epic road trip reports if I buy one as I might fly out to get it and drive back home.
Oh, BTW you're correct on the sport suspension option........only sport shocks were the option listed on the COA.
12-24-2015, 06:05 PM
SC purchase advice needed
