Darwantae951

I enjoy my car, but I do not obsess over it. I drive it as it should be, and take care of it as best I can. I wash and wax it, vacuum it out, and fix paint chips, but it does not keep me from driving it whenever I have the opportunity. I drive my car for myself, too, every time I drive it, regardless of why.

whalebird

to stilleto- Original paint, albeit shabby, is way better than any respray. New paint is more often used as a repair. If you have all original paint - leave it alone. A proper respray is thousands of dollars. A discriminating buyer will look for original paint over a respray anyday for a DD. Original paint speaks volumes of truth about the condition of the car.

Luis de Prat

I think your car doesn't really apply here, as we're comparing with a bone stock 951 which will only get worse for wear with added miles, whereas you're getting an 'extreme makeover' 3.1L engine put in yours.

Look at it this way: it's easier and more trouble free to put miles on a cheap Honda than on a 951. Just do the math. I know I have.

Darwantae951

Am I getting a new engine? yes (sitting at my house on an engine stand at the moment). Is the current engine original? Yes, altho slightly modified. My car has been fairly stock for 5 years, with a MAF added just a little while ago so I feel my car fits into the "category". Altho others would argue that due to my modifications, my "reliability" should decrease, I have yet to be stranded anywhere for anything other than a flat tire, and the worst I've had to do is replace a wheel bearing and fix two oil leaks. I still have yet to experience this whole "high mileage/increased maintenance cost" phenomenon. So coming form personal experience, I disagree (and not only in reference to 951s, but in reference to every vehicle I have owned at or over 200k miles, which is every one).

I would be happy to refer sellers to him so he can move on with his plans tho. I'm passing his car on to some of my buddies to see if they are interested.

To the OP, I hope everything works out for you!

LiveFromNY

As a buyer, I look for original paint because it tells me a lot about the car and gives me some comfort that it hasn't been in a major accident. My concerns have nothing to do with the quality of the paint.

A good paint shop can not only meet but can often exceed the quality of factory paint. One of my biggest complaints on new cars is the quality of the paint. Very few do a truly exceptional job (looking at my garage - Aston Martin does incredible paint. Ferrari is terrible. Porsche is slightly above average.). There are certainly valid reasons to keep original paint but quality should not be a concern if you're using a good shop - and, yes, that means big $. Probably closer to $10k than you'd like to hear.

carlege

just my 2 cents but most normal people cant tell a good quality paint job from a poor quality. As long as its shiny they think its good. I see no reason to put a 8-10k job on a car that will be driven on a regular basis and not shown off. Waste of money. Paint on a car is much like anything else it wears down and needs to be (refurbished) or replaced.

LiveFromNY

Depends on your priorities, I guess. As for it "wearing down", if you take care of your paint, it can last a forever (or close to it). No reason for it to "wear down". You just need to be careful and know how to take care of it. I do agree that most people can't tell good paint from bad. But then again, most people don't know a Mitsubishi Eclipse from an Aston Martin and I ain't about to start driving an Eclipse just because most people don't know the difference!

macho_mango

I am inclined to agree with the comments about an original paint job. My car still has most of its original paint (with the exception of a rear panel) but when you put some cut polish to it, it still shines up really nice. I think that speaks volumes about the quality of the original paint job that came on the porsches.

Tom R.

OP, if you sell it for 8 what will you spend on the new car? If you are spending 8 you are not in a much better boat than you are in now.

If it was me, i would drive the 95 for a few months and try to save say 4k, then spend that 4k on a used domestic and kill that.

then you can fix any damage you think you did to the 951 by driving it a few months.

bulldog24

Back to my original conundrum, I hear everything you are saying but I still think I'll have to sell the 951 to get cash to buy something else. If I could save up several thousand real quick I would and just be real careful until then but with being out of work for a while, I've got a lot of other bills that have to be paid off before that could happen. I haven't had any issues with mine either other than a squeaky hatch and a thermo switch but I don't want to tempt fate and ruin my resale value by driving it hard.

carlege

put it on the market and see what you can get for it. Im sure most of us dont know your situation so.... if your forced to sell it then your forced to sell it. No bone about it. Good luck with the sale. ide ask 9 and settle for 8
Craigslist
Rennlist
Pelicanparts
local bulletinboard

try all of these

azbanks

I've run back and forth from Phoenix to LA and San Diego lots of times in my 86. That's about 5 hours each way. It's got 187,000 miles on it.

OTOH I just took it to Vegas and back and something bad happened as I pulled into my garage.

New cars break too.