Hello guys,

I have a friend who has offered to sell me his 1988 944 Turbo S. This is the Silver Rose model with the plaid burgundy interior. The car is all-original except for the addition of an Alpine CD player. It currently has 78,000 miles and is in really nice condition. The only known problem is a leak in the AC evaporator. Can you guys give me a pretty good estimate on what this particular car may be worth, and what I should pay?

Many thanks,
Brad
89 944NA

 

Hard to say as it depends on so much but a good starting range would probably be $8500 (needs some work, but nice) to $12500 (really nice, well maintained car with records. I know that's a big swing but that's really the diff. between nice and edgy! Good luck!

 

Never buy anything from a friend....

 

Gotta disagree on the price a bit. If the car is truly perfect (or near perfect) I'm thinking in the $16,000 range. But thats if it's REALLY nice.

 

I have seen 12.5k to 15k range for a nice one. I bought my 89 turbo in really bad condition and had to pay $6500. I also seen a salvaged one wrecked in the quarter panel sell for $8500 on ebay. Has anyone ever bought one for $8500 needing just a little work here?

 

Needing a 'little' work, I'd say $10-11k for an 88 951S.

 

Wow..such variety in the replies.. I guess us TS owners always think they are worth more. Here in Ohio, the market I've seen is very closely tied to mileage. 78 K is medium, so I'd say the car with the A/C issues sorted out is worth 15k, maybe 15.5k if all the belts etc. are done and the car is in the great shape you mentioned. The friend price of 14 or 14.5..(spend 500 on the a/c, if not 1k) is in the right ballpark. There is a difference between a good price for a seller and a good price for a buyer!

 

I would think the original Silver Rose cars are getting scarce enough to command a slight premium over a later-run 88 turbo S.

my 2c
Jon

 

While "Silberosa" is a bit special, it has a negative side.. That burgundy plaid interior is very prone to fading and wear, and the fabric is no longer available. It seems very few people appreciate the interior color scheme. I've seen a few Silberosa's with burgundy leather seats swapped in, the only real option to worn out fabric. If you want to argue it's rarity, that is OK but there were MORE Silver rose TS cars built in 88 than any other color.. wouldn't that make the non-silver rose more collectible??

 

It will be interesting to see how much the people who actually own one paid for their car. That is the only way to assess the real condition of the car advertised since many people advertise their cars to be in better condition than they really are. I almost never seen anything that only needs a little work for less than $10k and would buy another 5 if I can find ones like mine that needs lots of work for $6500. In stock form with a chip, this thing is very fast.

 

good point that there were more silver rose 88s than other color 88 turbo S's.
I was thinking of the plaid interior which I know is irreplaceable; therefore
a car with a still-decent interior is getting rare.
Anyway the value is probably somewhere between 8K and 20k

 

Taking one of the fastest cars of the day, and adding a red plaid cloth interior...what was Porsche thinking??

 

I like my white/grey plaid. Don't know about the burgundy plaid though, looks kinda funky.

 

Pricing is a tough nut to crack. In some ways - the car will cost you as much as you pay for it. Not to be pedantic but it's largley an issue to sort out between the two of you, and includes variables like...

- how much are YOU willing to spend for that car
- how much does HE want for it?
- how much work is required to make it drivable?
- how much work is required to make it perfect?
- how long will you own the car?
- are you buying to daily drive or preserve?
(The answer to this might make the collectibility point moot)
- Are you aware of the TCO of a 951? This can be non-trivial
- How much do you value the fiendship? If the TB goes the first Friday you put the car on the road - will you still go for a beer with him?
- what other cars are available RIGHT NOW that you want?

I looked at over a dozen 951's in the Toronto area (all around $15K CDN) before finding a sweet deal on my S2. It was half the price and most of the power. YES, it needs work and has high milage - but it's a daily driver for me - will never race and won't be with me for too long. So it suited both my needs and budget.

Best of luck and let us know how it turns out!

RK

 

Here's the numbers - reportedly 718 Turbo S produced in 1988 for NA.



so if you want rare, look for that Ocean Blue car / linen interior! I think it was on eBay last year with 100,000+ miles in the Detriot area