The 944 market is going up!
03-25-2004, 09:40 PM
#1
Burning Brakes
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The 944 market is going up!
Here's a car that was just posted on eBay. Nice car and all, but I recognize it: I bid on the car when I was shopping for a Guards Red '83 3 months ago. The seller (the mechanic mentioned) had a reserve of $5000 that I missed by about $500. I e-mailed the owner afterwards and he wasn't willing to come down in price, but a month later, he writes me saying he'll sell it for my top bid for $4500, but by then I already had my current 944. He re-posted it on eBay where it went for about that amount to (apparently) this guy's dad. In the month or so they've owned it, it's appreciated by almost two grand?
Emanuel
Emanuel
03-25-2004, 09:50 PM
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I would like to think this car would bring his price but when the auction ends he will have the same number of bids he has now
Last edited by Charlie; 03-26-2004 at 12:43 AM.
03-25-2004, 10:23 PM
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Burning Brakes
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I think the seasons have a lot to do with it. I tried to sell my 83 last fall, and I couldn't *give* it away. At one time in October, there were 84 (quantity, not year) 944s for sale in traderonline.com Ohio alone (where I live), and a 200-mile radius search from Columbus produced a similar number of cars under $5000. There were all these Porsches and nobody wanted them.
In the past few weeks, though, I have been in touch with someone who is trying to buy a 944, and all the ones he calls on are sold. And the asking prices are higher overall. This is typical every year for areas that have snow. NC is probably affected, I would imagine...?
As for the value of 944s going up, it will. The cars that will survive are the ones that land in the hands of conscientous owners, and these owners (like a lot of people here) will do things to improve the condition of their cars. At the same time, 944s are coming out of a point in all of their life cycles (because of age) where expensive/time consuming jobs are having to be done (for example, any car that still has its original rubber clutch is on borrowed time right now, and in a few years they will 'all' have spring discs, which will seemingly last forever). Neglected cars are driving the whole market down, and maintained cars over the next several years will bring it back up.
It seems that 18-20 years is getting to be the low point for values in European sports cars, maybe stretch that out to 25 years. They all go up eventually, some more than others. Look at the 914 - you couldn't *give* one of those away (in good condition) in the early 90s... ten years later good ones are several thousand dollars.
I am watching the value of my 77 esprit climb slowly. When I was looking for one, from 1997-99, you could buy running examples for $6-7k, and excellent, need-nothing cars were $10k. My insurance company would only value mine at $11k when I bought it in 1999 because that was the highest *asking* price they could find for an early (non-turbo) esprit. In the last year and a half, I have seen three early esprits in questionable condition sell for prices in the teens, including one at $15.5k. Low 5-digit prices are common now in early esprits.
In the early 80s, you could pick up a Dino 246 GT for a ridiculously low price compared to what they are now.....
308s are beginning to climb out of a low where you could buy a clean 30k mile car with a good history that just had the major service for $24k. Those are starting to creep up, too. The $14k 308 GT4s of a few years ago have climbed to $20k. Ten years from now, I wouldn't be surprised to see them for double that.
I am confident that 944 prices will go back up. They are excellent quality cars, and that is hurting them because there are so many neglected ones still on the road! Another thing that will drive their prices up is that a lot of todays high school students lust after them the way I lusted after a car (esprit) almost as old as me. In other words, the people who dreamed of owning one as a kid will, in a few years, have the money to buy one, and they will drive the demand up significantly...
Oh well, I'm rambling. . . . . long post for only my 7th one!
Cheers,
In the past few weeks, though, I have been in touch with someone who is trying to buy a 944, and all the ones he calls on are sold. And the asking prices are higher overall. This is typical every year for areas that have snow. NC is probably affected, I would imagine...?
As for the value of 944s going up, it will. The cars that will survive are the ones that land in the hands of conscientous owners, and these owners (like a lot of people here) will do things to improve the condition of their cars. At the same time, 944s are coming out of a point in all of their life cycles (because of age) where expensive/time consuming jobs are having to be done (for example, any car that still has its original rubber clutch is on borrowed time right now, and in a few years they will 'all' have spring discs, which will seemingly last forever). Neglected cars are driving the whole market down, and maintained cars over the next several years will bring it back up.
It seems that 18-20 years is getting to be the low point for values in European sports cars, maybe stretch that out to 25 years. They all go up eventually, some more than others. Look at the 914 - you couldn't *give* one of those away (in good condition) in the early 90s... ten years later good ones are several thousand dollars.
I am watching the value of my 77 esprit climb slowly. When I was looking for one, from 1997-99, you could buy running examples for $6-7k, and excellent, need-nothing cars were $10k. My insurance company would only value mine at $11k when I bought it in 1999 because that was the highest *asking* price they could find for an early (non-turbo) esprit. In the last year and a half, I have seen three early esprits in questionable condition sell for prices in the teens, including one at $15.5k. Low 5-digit prices are common now in early esprits.
In the early 80s, you could pick up a Dino 246 GT for a ridiculously low price compared to what they are now.....
308s are beginning to climb out of a low where you could buy a clean 30k mile car with a good history that just had the major service for $24k. Those are starting to creep up, too. The $14k 308 GT4s of a few years ago have climbed to $20k. Ten years from now, I wouldn't be surprised to see them for double that.
I am confident that 944 prices will go back up. They are excellent quality cars, and that is hurting them because there are so many neglected ones still on the road! Another thing that will drive their prices up is that a lot of todays high school students lust after them the way I lusted after a car (esprit) almost as old as me. In other words, the people who dreamed of owning one as a kid will, in a few years, have the money to buy one, and they will drive the demand up significantly...
Oh well, I'm rambling. . . . . long post for only my 7th one!
Cheers,
03-25-2004, 10:40 PM
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Selling on eBAY is a lot like fishing. You cast your product in the abyss known as eBAY. The fish might be biting this week, maybe not, you never know.
Being spring also has a bit to do with it.
Being spring also has a bit to do with it.
03-26-2004, 12:36 AM
#6
Burning Brakes
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Maybe, but I think 1) he started the auction too high. That always puts buyers off, in my experience. 2) Once you get over 5 grand, the market opens up for 944s, and you can get the newer 944 models or a ratty 951 for the same money. Heck, I had to have a Guards Red 1983 (to match my 911) and I still wouldn't go over $4500 at the time. Someone without that requirement could snag a much nicer 87-88 for that money...
Emanuel
Emanuel
