GOTA944

I see a trajectory for 951s. I remember when nice ones were 10k dammit

Tom R.

The problem with the high asking prices for a 944 are the alternatives. A few months ago I showed my wife some S2 ads. The asking prices were about as high as the mileage. She is not a car enthusiast, but has been with me almost twenty years so something rubbed off.

Without blinking she told me the asking price was stupid, and how much more would a Cayman with a quarter of the miles be? The answer is not much. My daily is a manual '08 128i. exterior dimensions are within an inch or so of the 944, it gets better mileage than a 944, and on the track it is quite a bit faster than the 944S my buddy and I track.

When I bought it last year it had 32k on the clock, and I paid significantly less than what people with S2s were asking.

951Dreams

While this is true from a simple "bang for the buck" perspective, the 44s are becoming classics. And they are getting nothing but more rare every passing day.

Look at the 356, the 912, 914, older 911s. You can buy 3 or 4 2003 911s for what 1 1981 911 is going for at auction these days! All these classics are simply rising (ok, the 911 is on a Apollo era rocket) day by day.

To be honest, a 951 is worth more to me because I fell in love with them as a kid. The 98*s came out when I was much older and wiser. If I had unlimited space and money, a 981 or 718 would be in my stable as well. And while I could have bought a 986 for what I paid for my 951, I like the styling of the 951 better. Now a 987, 981, or the 718s I'll admit I'm really starting to love. With the 981/718s the best of the bunch to me. For me, Porsche is really starting to nail it with the newer ones.

BUT.... I gotta have the back seats. A two seater just isn't in the cards for me at this point in life. Gotta be able to put kids in the back if push comes to shove. So performance wise and styling wise, the 951 just makes the most sense for me...

And I'm willing to pay accordingly.

Some day I plan on adding a 981 and a Cayenne to the stable. And if I ever win the lottery, some flavor of 911 would be nice, but the 951 got my money at this time, because it made the most sense for the most reasons. And cause... Well... 951!!!!!

GOTA944

Yeah, older 911s are ridiculous now. The only one still reasonable is the 996, provided the ims bearing issue has been remedied. My favorite has always been the 993, but those are crazy expensive now. The biggest things that drove value down on the 924,944,968, and 928 is the maintenance costs that many second hand buyers were not prepared for, which is why many changed hands so often so cheaply and drove values down. Plus, a lot of purists were not into them when they first came out because they were simply not 911s. Now people are starting to see how special these cars were. The Generation Xers and early Millenials are now fully integrated into careers and want to buy the cars in the posters they had on their walls as kids and can now afford to. The demand is there, so the good ones go for big money compared to a few years ago. The same thing happened to the classic muscle cars that now sell for six figures. The baby boomers got older, wanted to recapture their youth, and now that 70 Challenger that was 1000 bucks in 1982 is 100k. The next decade to hit is the 80s on the collector car market. You can already see it with low mileage fox body Mustangs and fbody Trans Ams and Camaros, Grand Wagoneers, DeLoreans, etc. and now rightfully, the front engine water cooled Porsches. I also hear you on buying a classic vs a newer, used car for the same money. I have a restored 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1. I could have bought a stripped down new Mustang GT for the money I paid for the Mach 1. The Mach 1 has a 351C V8 with 2 barrel carb and a whopping 250 hp, solid rear axle, power nothing, an 8 track player, and AC that kind of works. Plus, there is wood grain on the dash/door panels, a clock that doesn't work, so it is quite luxurious! It drives like an ox cart, smells like carbureted fuel, and is downright scary above 80. And you know what, it is cooler than a new Mustang GT to me. And yes, I too would rather drive a classic Porsche 928, 951 etc. over a used Cayman or Boxster, so I guess we can thank people with my mindset on why 951s are no longer cheap.

GOTA944

This is it

pfarah7

Always loved those! Very nice.

sugarwood

Glad you passed. Why would anyone want a 4 cyl. Automatic with high repair bills? There are billion other cars I'd rather have. Auto is truly a deal killer to drive a 4 cyl. under 3000 roms all day long. What is that 75HP? Might as well get a Yugo.

951Dreams

My very first car was a 68 Mustang! I love the Mach 1s!!!!!

I like your taste, and your thinking!!!!

Sven76

Funny, 944 are appreciating massively over here in Europe, being pulled by the ridiculous prices on historic 911 (means G model). A few years back, you would get a good condition 944 for around €8,000. Today, you get the same car for €12,000 and need to invest another €3-5,000 to get it to mint condition. Very few good cars around, I was looking for months are there is so much overpriced crap in the market... Good S/S2 are super rare and price above €20,000, same for 951 Turbos.

GOTA944

Yeah, I've been watching listings and found a 19k mile 85 944 literally down the street from me pretty much in mint condition, minus an accident (front impact) that shows up in CarFax from 15 years ago. I'd imagine it was not too bad given they were at their low point in value then. Does not say extent of damage but title is clear. I'm wondering what you guys think It's worth. It bid on eBay to 8700 before auction ended and is listed for 16k, but seller said he'd take a lot less due to discovering accident in its history. What you guys think?

sugarwood

So a 944 with low unicorn miles only got bid to $8700.
That tells you all you need to know about the 944 market.
You can get nice quality 944 easily for $4k.

DasSilberWedge

Yeah, it's definitely becoming interesting. With fairness to my last post, RM Auctions pulls some of the heaviest of heavy hitters so the price is obviously at or near the absolute top end of the scale.

951Dreams

Maybe around you, but here anything under 6k is just a "fair' car, maybe on the low end of good. And I've spent 3 years watching CL every day. I had to go to Alabama for my 951! That was 550 miles away, that's how far out I had put my net. I could find some NA cars at the top of the "good" level in Dallas/Huston area for about 8k. Only one 951 that ran and wasn't ratted out come up in my area in those 3 years. But after the first email I could never get them to respond, so I gave up and went to Alabama.

I've watched the price rise just the last few years. Just before I bought my 951 a 85.5 NA popped up local. He had done a lot of work, and it had a recent respray, but had some body pieces missing, and a ruff interior. I couldn't get him down past $4500. That's about par for the course here.

DasSilberWedge

^ +1, similar story up here

Boomer944T

Great looking Mach 1 GOTA944!

You make a lot of excellent points I can certainly relate to!

I always wanted a 911 and the posters I had in my bedroom growing up in 80/90's only fueled the desire!

Personally I'd highly recommend going with a 951 over a 944NA (just a night and day difference). I love Porsches, but would take a nice 2005+ Mustang GT for equal investment over a 944NA. They're a great bang for the buck, very fast, and very fun. I own a '05 Mustang and sold a '87 944NA w/18k miles red/black. Presently my family has a '88 951 w/37k silver/black. I'd consider it more fun to drive than the '05 Mustang. Back to classic Mustangs, I have a couple thousand hours of labor in a '65 Mustang factory GT convertible, love and hate it (insane money pit!).