Maothecat

Hi,

Any comments? Given the direct import to Florida from Germany, would this be seen as a grey market Porsche?

Thanks

John D.

Beautiful car from the pics, but yes - it would considered a grey market car... what determines that would be that it would have to have been altered upon importation to meet USA regulations (emissions, etc...)... Anyway, that's my understanding...

My best always,

John

Maothecat

Thanks. Is the price correct? Read many comments on the fact these cars have a much lower resale value.

John D.

I'll hope others give their input as well, but, from my end, the price appears on the high side for an imported 930? The reason I say that is my 1988 was just little higher and had gone through a full engine and tranny rebuild from a well known and respected shop. It is a US spec 930, rather than a grey market. I'm presuming that the price in the ad is USD and mileage is 60000 miles, rather then Km as stated in the ad? For that, I'd ask and want to know who did the USA conversion and who also did the recent engine work (and what was done exactly). Receipts would be worth their weight in gold

Hopefully someone else chimes in as well to add their view!

John

Maothecat

Thanks. Would a ppi from a Porsche dealer give peace of mind on the items you are mentioning?

speednme

A ppi is always a must whenever possible. One of the talked about drawbacks with a gray market car is verifying whether the miles are true or not(due to the speedo change when imported). In all honesty though even the USA cars have been known to have had speedo changes to lower their true miles. Gray market car values should not be any lower(or higher) in this day and age when compared to a US version. Condition, service records, receipts, options and a full ppi( up to and including a leakdown test, buy a reputable shop) should be the deciding factor on price.

speednme

Find a reputable Porsche shop in the area where the car is located and request a full ppi. Do searches on forums to research a shop and on the selling dealer. Rennlist is a great forum as well as Pelican Parts. May need to become a member on Rennlist to do a search though.

TT Surgeon

Agree w Rey, nuthin wrong with a GM car, some actually prefer them to the 'strangled' US versions.
Priced very fair.

Maothecat

Thanks all great advice!

idart930

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with grey market cars either but there’s some misnomers about them. For the ’76-79 930’s, most of those still surviving in the U.S. no longer have the thermal reactors/U.S. exhaust, are the same weight (a little bit lighter for U.S. ‘78/79’s) as ROW 930’s, have the same fuel heads, etc., etc., so the main difference is visual - the small rear bumpers on ROW cars (can be easily converted on a U.S. car if you really want them but why??), U.S. sugar scoop headlight bezels/headlights and yellow vs. red tail lights on U.S. cars. For ROW ’80-85 930’s, there’s no U.S. 930 to compare them to and they had some incremental changes through the years (1980 - dual exhaust and front oil cooler, 1981 - side-light markers & rear fog light, 1985 - brake calipers modified, etc. etc). The ’86-89 930's became a world car with catalyst so the main differences between ROW and U.S. cars were speedometers, language markings, sugar scoop bezels/headlights, red tail lights on U.S. cars, etc.

While it might not be a deal breaker, I personally like to know the history and true mileage of a car and while U.S. 930’s may have had their speedometers illegally tampered with, this is true for any classic car you may be looking at. Additionally, a ROW 930 imported to the U.S. will always have some post-factory mods that allowed it to meet U.S. DOT/emissions. Some were good DOT mods and some were bad so this is important when considering a grey market car.

pdqcarrera

PPI by grey market 930 knowledgeable tech would be a MUST! I've been through the Federalization of a RoW 911 & it's not always done correctly. Euro owned Pcars are (by inherent reputation) considered well worn vs typical stateside brethren. Of course a generalization, but worthy of a bit extra concern. & due diligence. FWIW -
I love mine & RoW is about the only way to find a light weight options deleted car as USA cars were pretty much only available fully loaded.

Ghosteh

Not only is there nothing wrong with ROW cars, they have some benefits, like a few extra hp, smaller bumpers, side marker lights, etc. And they seem to be a bit cheaper than U.S. cars, which is always nice.

I agree with what's been said about mechanical PPI being essential, and is the only true measure of determining if you're getting a solid, well-maintained car or one that's going to be a money-pit. But that applies to all 930s, not just the Euros.

Low miles are nice, but it should be a secondary concern to overall condition. I've seen some low-mileage cars that I'd pass in a heartbeat over some that had higher mileage but more comprehensive care & maintenance.

six gun

FWIW--

For what ever reason, gray market cars have always sold below that of their U.S. counterparts. As with any car, their are good and bad of each. I agree with
J. D. reciepts are worth their weight in gold. With these cars, pedigree is everything.

If you buy a gray marker car from the origional owner and he has the records of federalizatin that is one thing but as many of the cars imported the "black times" (1980-85) much has been lost as far as record keeping. I guess the question is ,with the amount of 86-89 cars out there, why would you not exhaust that inventory first?

Maothecat

If you could point me to a 86-89 turbo in the $30K range...with 60K KMs, would be great !

Porsche 930

I have to agree with six gun. Why not a US car? It's hard enough to discern whether the mileage is correct on an older car without adding speedo changes to the mix. There are people out there that make a living doctoring older examples. It always raises a flag when I see a 20-30K example with a re-paint. You need to know what you are looking at AND GET A SECOND OPINION by someone qualified. There are some great examples of Grey Market 930's out there but their past "black times" makes them something to be aware of. Emission exemptions and inspections exist in many states on 25 year old cars. Where the exemptions don't exist it's up to the owner to have a compliant vehicle.
Be vigilant my friend.