Picked up a new Pcar...
10-10-2007 | 09:53 PM
#18
Thread Starter
Three Wheelin'
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,461
Likes: 13
From: USA
I had been looking for a little less than two years and had a lot of frustration. There was one car (still for sale at AIC auto) that I really had my eye on. He wanted $49.5k for it, and I offered him $45k on three separate occasions and was turned down flatly (without even a counter). That about sent me over the edge. He acted like I was a bum with those offers, and here I was thinking $45k for a used car was a lot of money! As Jerad knows - right before this one came up, I had actually decided to go after a low mileage 951 and a low mileage 911SC and spend about the same money.
Then, out of nowhere this one came around. The guy was a nice PCA member from Charlotte, and the car earned rave reviews from the PPI (the mech said "it'll need new front pads in about 10k miles - so you might want to get on that sometime in the next decade" - HA). I flew up there, picked it up sight unseen, and did permanent damage to my facial muscles from smiling so much on the drive back to FL.
I wound up paying $37k for her. The one at AIC only had 24K on the odo, but as I said - I just couldn't justify more than $45 for the car. Besides, even if I'm only planning on putting 1k a year or so on it, paying that much out of the gate would have meant that I would be doing nothing but reducing the amount I could get for the car every time I took it out. I see A LOT of 50-70K mile 930s going for the low to mid 30s (bear in mind, this only applies to 4 Spd. U.S. 3,3 cars from the re-introduction in 86 through 88) and so I think I can really enjoy this car like I want and still not hurt myself too terribly bad if I decide to sell it at some point.
To be honest, the money thing was what really, really pissed me off about the 944s. I love the cars, and will own one again - but I thought I had an extremely nice example, and I still spent $10k on it in 3 years only to have it still be worth $4k (to the right person). That was frustrating. Granted, I know we're not in this for the money - but it's just something that got to me once I looked at my ownership with a critical eye.
Even in my (very) limited experience I can also tell you that they are pretty mx intensive. As my old mechanic (long live Bob Farmer!) used to say "the stock ones are breathing hard at 60k and the modified ones are already on one rebuild before then." I went for one a stock one at the lower mileage end of the spectrum so that I could get the most usage out of the car before I had to drop big $$$ for repair bills. I will say this, though - it is damn near impossible to find an unmodified low-mileage (less than 40K) one any more. I was getting worried there for a while because the only ones I could find were essentially museum cars with 7k miles in the $60-$70k range.
Micah
Then, out of nowhere this one came around. The guy was a nice PCA member from Charlotte, and the car earned rave reviews from the PPI (the mech said "it'll need new front pads in about 10k miles - so you might want to get on that sometime in the next decade" - HA). I flew up there, picked it up sight unseen, and did permanent damage to my facial muscles from smiling so much on the drive back to FL.
I wound up paying $37k for her. The one at AIC only had 24K on the odo, but as I said - I just couldn't justify more than $45 for the car. Besides, even if I'm only planning on putting 1k a year or so on it, paying that much out of the gate would have meant that I would be doing nothing but reducing the amount I could get for the car every time I took it out. I see A LOT of 50-70K mile 930s going for the low to mid 30s (bear in mind, this only applies to 4 Spd. U.S. 3,3 cars from the re-introduction in 86 through 88) and so I think I can really enjoy this car like I want and still not hurt myself too terribly bad if I decide to sell it at some point.
To be honest, the money thing was what really, really pissed me off about the 944s. I love the cars, and will own one again - but I thought I had an extremely nice example, and I still spent $10k on it in 3 years only to have it still be worth $4k (to the right person). That was frustrating. Granted, I know we're not in this for the money - but it's just something that got to me once I looked at my ownership with a critical eye.
Even in my (very) limited experience I can also tell you that they are pretty mx intensive. As my old mechanic (long live Bob Farmer!) used to say "the stock ones are breathing hard at 60k and the modified ones are already on one rebuild before then." I went for one a stock one at the lower mileage end of the spectrum so that I could get the most usage out of the car before I had to drop big $$$ for repair bills. I will say this, though - it is damn near impossible to find an unmodified low-mileage (less than 40K) one any more. I was getting worried there for a while because the only ones I could find were essentially museum cars with 7k miles in the $60-$70k range.
Micah
Last edited by Micah; 10-10-2007 at 10:27 PM.
10-10-2007 | 10:04 PM
#21
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 2,285
Likes: 0
From: Kansas City
My god, that is an absolutely stunning car. Easily the best example of a 930 I have seen. The black with the fuchs wheels really is an awesome look.
I may cry if you molest that car. It's...so...perfect!
I may cry if you molest that car. It's...so...perfect!
10-10-2007 | 10:33 PM
#25
Thread Starter
Three Wheelin'
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,461
Likes: 13
From: USA
Thanks for all of the kind words, guys. It's nice to see so many familiar names 
Glad to see you're still in the game, Tom! Your little one has really grown up from the avatars I remember a while back! I actually had question for you - was it Keith Martin's Sports Car Market that you did an article for a while ago? Stephen Magown and I were talking a few days ago, and he mentioned that mag - I thought you had done a great writeup detailing your thoughts about insurance a few years ago.
Jerad, you know you're always welcome to a drive!
Micah
Glad to see you're still in the game, Tom! Your little one has really grown up from the avatars I remember a while back! I actually had question for you - was it Keith Martin's Sports Car Market that you did an article for a while ago? Stephen Magown and I were talking a few days ago, and he mentioned that mag - I thought you had done a great writeup detailing your thoughts about insurance a few years ago. Jerad, you know you're always welcome to a drive!
Micah
Last edited by Micah; 10-11-2007 at 12:48 AM.
10-11-2007 | 12:45 AM
#30
Thread Starter
Three Wheelin'
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,461
Likes: 13
From: USA
Collin,
It's a little latch just above the door pocket; it's immediately below the handle that runs just forward of the circular **** (used to lock and unlock the doors) located on the door panel. These cars have some goofy interior design quirks that make the "hidden" odo trip button on the late-style 944 dashes look obvious!
One more for the road:
It's a little latch just above the door pocket; it's immediately below the handle that runs just forward of the circular **** (used to lock and unlock the doors) located on the door panel. These cars have some goofy interior design quirks that make the "hidden" odo trip button on the late-style 944 dashes look obvious!
One more for the road: