DLarsen

I am in the market for a 1989 Turbo and came across a low mileage (56,223) one in Baltic Blue on Autotrader....Shelton, CT area. The description reads:

"Rare 1989 Turbo-S model. Only 56k original miles. Gem-mint and Rare. 2nd owner car. All Receipts since new. All original. Dealer maintained, garage-kept, and only Summer driven its whole entire lifetime since new. Rare Baltic Blue on Linen interior. I am the second owner. I had bought this car from the original owner a few years ago and only put a couple thousand miles on it. Selling it because I don't drive it enough to keep. Always garage-kept. Never seen snow. Only summer driven on nice sunny days. Cleanest interior I've ever seen. Toally spotless and immaculate, mint interior. Showroom quality rare original Baltic Blue Paint. Well-maintained. Have all receipts. Car servied its whole entire lifetime at the Porsche dealership. Recent 40k and 50k mile service check-ups performed at the dealer. New clutch, new timing belt, new water pump, new rotors, new Continental Sport Contact tires, new koni double-adjustable mo30 suspension. Recent compression and leakdown tests yielded perfect compression numbers and likewise optimal leakdown results with less than under 5% leakdown on the cylinders. Totally stock unmolested, never tracked. One small dent on the passenger-side above the rear wheel that is hardly noticable and the car also has a salvage title because the rear axle got bent and needed replacing and is now fixed. "

My concern is the last sentence mentions a salvage title for a "bent rear axle". I thought salvage titles where issued to vehicles where the damage to the vehicle represented a certain percentage of the vehicles total value. A bent CV axle is not that much to replace; although the amount of FORCE to bend a CV axle may of done other damage to the car (transmission, etc). What's your take on this??? Stay away?? Yesterday, I sent an email to the seller asking for more information; but no response yet.

I've owned a 1986 944 na since new and always think someday of replacing it (upgrade) with an 89 Turbo or 968.

VOoDOoGTX

i wanna know who the seller is. do you have a name?

harrisonrick

A bent rear axle does not compute for a salvage title. Unless it read " bent rear axle caused back end of car to swing out and hit a 1990 Buick Roadmaster, thus car was totaled and fixed again, title changed to salvage."

V2Rocket

contact the dealer he says its been serviced at and see if theyll give you a service history on the car.

or better yet, see if the dealer will do a PPI for you

Matt Sheppard

/my opinion/

Very nice color. He is asking 17K for it and that is not a viable price for a salvage title car, regardless how minor the slight.

There is a Stone Grey Met./ on linen Turbo S in San Fran. that has 100k, scrupulous maint., perfect paint and asking 11K - clean title and provenance from day 1.

And that interior, . . . meh, I've seen better.

Tom R.

i have mine advertised here and on autotrader for 15k and no salvage title with 51k miles.

car may have salvage title because it was stolen, interior gutted and axle bent. but a bent axle totalling a car when the rule of thumb is 70% for a total...

944Fest (aka Dan P)

IMHO- He's asking 2006 prices in a 2009 market. No matter how nice, that salvage title is always going to seriously hurt the value of the car. You story about expensive parts sounds nice, but I still call BS on totalling a 17K car for a 1k problem. No smart owner would let that happen to their car, and they have every reason to make up a goofy story like that to hide something else. I'm not saying that you should not buy it, I'm saying it is more like 13k, not 17k. Normal TS's are trading under 10gs. The seller certainly won't want to hear it, but it will be proven when the car doesn't sell. The color is certainly a positive, they are quite rare. I'd be curious what carfax has to say. Let us know what happens.

Tom R.

The problems with your logic are:
1. it was a one owner car, then it was owned by the insurance company, then by you.
2. it has the brand of salvage title, which makes it worth about 50% of the same car without the salvage title. There was a 43k mile M3 sedan advertised by me. the guy told me it has a rebuilt title, not a salvage title. you figure the difference because the owner of the body shop i use told me not go buy it even at 50% of what the same car without the salvage title would get.

I have the identical car for sale in a rare color as well. I hope you get your asking price, but if it were me, I wouldnt advertise the fact that you paid pennies on the dollar, then put less than 1,000 into it. Remember, it was a prospective purchaser that made the first post. Had i known he was asking about a lister's car I probably wouldnt have posted that i have the same car for less $ without the salvage title.

Tom R.

First off, nobody is badmouthing you or the car. the question asked was about the salvage title. You stated exactly what was done.

The reduction in value is not a number I came up with, but a number I got from talking to people in the business of buying used cars.

my sample of one was not a sample, but rather an example. lets not stray from the issue with facts.

I know a bmw is not a porsche, that's exactly why i am off to test drive one right now.

Lorax

I was looking at a 968 the other day with 50k miles and a salvage title - 8k. And the car was in great shape just like yours.

Dlarson: Personally having experience in the collision industry I am not afraid of salvage cars - IF its a good deal. They do not have the resale value.. when buying one a person has to take that into account.

Seems like a good car, but in that price range there are lots of cars just as nice without the salvage title. Some extremely nice cars have sold here lately very cheap... it is a buyers market.

Damiza: This is not your FS thread. A buyer was asking a question about a car and people are going to answer honestly.

CPR

Damzia,

What exactly happened to the car? What damage did the insurance company find that warranted a complete loss?

Not attacking you...just think it is a relevant question.

lovemyp-car

that's exactly what i want to know (once again not a personal attack), do you have any kind of write-up from the insurance company explaining why they decided to total it? So far you have come back swinging to everyone...time to settle down a little and start over with the cold hard facts, no emotions, no reputations, no cares...if it truly was a fluke in the insurance system and you thought it would be easier to roll with them than against them that's perfectly understandable and i personally wouldn't be afraid of a car like that if i saw hard data...so lets see it if you would be so kind!

Ethan

Tom R.

sounds like the M3 i mentioned earlier. it was rear ended, so the bumper, trunk lid, two quarters, and trunk floor were probably replaced. not a big deal since it was probably all behind the suspension, and probably didnt get the frame rails. the car was probably worth 15-20k when it was hit, so it took 8-14 to total it. include a rim and you see why it was totalled.

catch a 944 on the rear quarter, and there is a question of whether the frame is bent. i had it on my 90 S2. they replaced the quarter, didnt replace the tail panel so you know it wasnt hit hard but around the roof a real sharp eye may catch a little waviness.

in your case it was probably easier just getting a whole rear suspension assembly off a wreck and bolting it to the tranny, then fixing the quarter and finding an forged rim.

DLarsen

Damiza,

I would like to see this car in person. I work for Sikorsky in their Coatesville, PA facility and frequently visit their main plant in Stratford, CT. My next trip up, I will email you to see if its still available and arrange a meet.

Cole

Couple of things to consider on both sides of the coin for the OP.

-Sometimes insurance companies will salvage a car very quickly with any sort of undercarrage damage. They are afraid of it never being quite right and being a liability issue on them down the road. So cheaper to just write it off day one than risk the law suit. Which means it is entirely possible to have a nice car with a salvage title.

-On the flip side, many insurance companies will not do full converage insurance on a car with a salvage title. All you may be able to get is liability.

These are reasons why salvage title cars tend to sell at a discount. The buyer is taking on additional risk. Was the repair done correctly? Were all the parts that should have been replaced, replaced?

Do they now have a pricy car that they can't cover under their insurance? So when the uninsured drunk totals it and walks off you are at a total loss.

Some states drop the salvage title after "X" number of years though. So it may not matter when the title is transfered depending on where you live.

Just some food for thought.