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To me it's all about the return on investment. Will you get more than the additional 5k you put in to sell it next time? If the answer is no, reduce your expectations and sell it as is.
I think it's a good-looking daily driver and the final bid is close to what it should fetch as is.
I think searching the missing parts is fun, but I‘m German. Old tires aren‘t a problem, I would buy new ones from my preferred brand.
Rob‘s Pirelli P7 are a no go for me, safety first in a sports car.
Driver kaputt because of bad tires is the worst case.
To me it's all about the return on investment. Will you get more than the additional 5k you put in to sell it next time? If the answer is no, reduce your expectations and sell it as is.
I think it's a good-looking daily driver and the final bid is close to what it should fetch as is.
I was trying to say the same thing, but missed.
This is a Hagerty #3 car without a significant amount of work..at best. And I think you'll have to spend a lot more than the $8k that sits between where you got to, and where a median '3' car is at $40k.
But..I think you can do a lot for <$1k, to pull a few more coins out of the car.
Regardless of what you do to prepare a car, it takes at least two people to be interested in a car, to have a successful sale at any auction.
The path is clear...several wise people have commented above.
Pay attention to them.
Also make your "for sale listing" read much better. While it's fantastic that you were so honest, there's a lot of negativity there. Take care of as many of the negative details that you wrote about, if possible.
One of the challenges with BAT is the stock verbiage template was written with the input of a lot of lawyers- too many weasel words so they can cover their butts from liability- 'said to have' , 'reportedly', etc. I think BaT junkies have read enough of their auction descriptions and look past all the hedging to the comments section where the seller can explain the disclosures made in the writeup, but at first glance a lot of the writeups do the car no favors. You do have some ability to edit and review the writeup, but BaT is still the one drafting and posting it.
I keep waiting for BaT to put 'TMU' on an '89-95 digidash car. (unless of course there's a discrepancy on the CARFAX or somesuch)
Monitoring the comments section as a seller is a double edged sword- it's an opportunity to honestly represent the car ( and to add additional pertinent pics and videos during the week to keep bumping notices of the auction to people 'watching' the auction) but it's work to be responsive to bidders' questions. Plenty of RNM auctions where the seller isn't engaged very much.
Last edited by Rob Edwards; 10-28-2022 at 04:56 PM.
I think I read somewhere that a BaT re-list for a car that doesn’t meet reserve is only accepted as a no-reserve.
Between that and the market softening signals, you might see what you can negotiate with the high bidder.
Unless this car has two tires in the junkyard, between the bid of 32K from the high bidder, and the real value of a '91GT (certainly one of the every best of all the 928's), there's going to need to be some lengthy negotiations.
32K is GTA
+1 on Rob E and Greg B's comments. They are spot on.
I buy and sell Porsches as a hobby. Many times the cars I buy have lots of little items that need addressing, like rock chips, seat repair, wheel refurb, etc. Taking the time to address these issues adds value to the car and eliminates reasons for someone to pass on purchasing. Sometimes those little needs will cost you money to address, but you'll easily get the value back. But there comes a point where you may not want to invest more or it's an item you just don't want to address. That's OK, just realize you can't simply deduct the price of a fix from the price, you'll have to deduct 1.5X as the purchaser's time is worth money too. For example, if a set of tires cost $1000, you'll need to deduct $1500 because the buyer will need to take the time and effort to buy the tires. So any need not addressed will cost you more than just the cost of the fix.
Your car has several needs that hold it back.
~ PDR the 'dent' in your fender. That should be a very simple process for any PDR professional and shouldn't be very expensive ($100?). Eliminates the need for that negative pic in your gallery.
~ Clean up the paint chips. I use Dr Colorchip but not their method and I've bought a set of soft brushes from Hobby Lobby. The brush from Dr C is too stiff. I've found a system that works great for me. I'll fill the chip with just enough paint to fill the chip. It will leave a slight bump of new paint. Let it dry thoroughly. Then sand it and a small, small area (the diameter of a finger) around the bubble with 1500 sand paper. Use water when sanding. Take the bubble down to paint level. Then use rubbing compound on the area and expand to the size of a quarter. Then use swirl compound on an area the size of a 50 cent piece. Then polish and wax. The chip should be totally gone. Fix your chips and it will elim another negative pic.
~ Have the driver's seat bolsters dyed and have the rear passenger seat repaired. Locally, I go to a place called DR Vinyl. They charge <$100 for seat dying. Not sure what you'd be charged for the seat repair but maybe $150? So for $250 you've got a smart looking int and elim 2 more negative pics.
~ Wash your undercarriage. There were several pics that showed front control arms that were dirty. Take some time and clean everything up. Dirty is not purtty.
~ I would recommend the D90s. Make them look as good as possible as is with some elbow grease. Sell with the old tires (discounted appropriately from above) or get a set of 16s for it. As scarce as 16s are, no one will argue what brand you bought. Buying a set of tires will run $1K but eliminates a negative. Do you have the center caps?
~ While the color combo on your intake wouldn't be my 1st choice, I would leave it alone. It does tell me that you've had it off and it's been refurbished. That's a positive.
~ Present the rusted areas better. You don't want to do full panel repairs and full panel repaints, just spot repairs. Black is easy to blend. Be as minimalist as possible on these repairs. You might check around with your local dealers. There are repair companies that come around to dealers and do spot repairs for them. Try to find one and see what they recommend. It doesn't have to be perfect but it would certainly look better than something repaired and painted with a broom. More negative pics gone.
~ Polish that exterior so it pops. As they say in the car business, you polish in dollars into the sale price.
So these repairs won't cost you an arm and leg but will really clean up the presentation and eliminate a bunch of negative pics.
Presentation
Once your car is the best it can be, now you have to show it off. This is where many ads fail. Some say to photograph in the shade, some in the sun. I'm in the latter camp. And stage your car in an interesting place, not in an overflowing garage, etc. Your pics were let down by the shade, the pine needles, and clouds / jet stream. There were several pics where pine needles were reflecting on the door. I had to look twice to decide they were pine needle reflections and not scratches in the paint. And there's a hood pic that has a jet contrail across it that looks like a big scratch at first glance. The details are important, don't cut corners.
People say black is hard to present. It can be but doesn't have to be. I helped a friend sell his C4S a yr ago. Here are a couple of pics I used in my ad.
I always head over to the upscale neighborhood a mile from my house for my photo shoots. The car looks good because I spent 4 days polishing and detailing it. Black doesn't have to be hard to present.
This car sold for a huge number on BAT a few mo ago. Yes, it was ultra low mileage and a 5 spd but the presentation made it look like factory fresh. It needed all the normal 928 maint, so it was a car with needs. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...che-928-s4-80/
Most of my purchases are newer model Porsches, but 3 yrs ago I bought an S4 that had 1.5 feet in the grave. I did a lot of mechanical work (it didn't run when I bought it - LH prob), but I also spent a lot of time cleaning it up. Here are some before and after pics.
I did all the cleaning and polishing myself. After seeing the 'before' pics, ppl would ask me if I'd had it repainted. Nope, just a lot of work. It's not hard as long as you're careful. Once again, you polish in the dollars.
With some attention to the details and addressing the small issues, you can make a big impact on how your car looks. The little things are the difference between getting top dollar or losing a potential buyer. With all the mechanical work done to your car, there's no reason it shouldn't bring $45-50. But it has to be in very good condition for that price. Attend to the small needs and it will bring that price.
Last edited by husker boxster; 10-29-2022 at 02:15 AM.
call Roger he might have everything on this list,
and get a few AMP 2 pin connectors to replace the ones on the WB , fix that wrapped wire look.
Also order a new stainless Behr cap for the cooling bottle.
The car never had a stant cap from the factory?
Buy a set of 16 inch GT wheels and tires he might have a set as well.
Buy a good set of S4 Black Beru ignition wires
paint the letters on the intake black.
buy some touchup paint from colorite make it pretty
It's all been said above, 928's are undervalued compared to other cars, so given that reality and the condition of this car, I would suggest you call the top bidder.
The underside is a mess, the shocks look like it went off-roading in the rain. Between that and the corrosion (a big rare problem) I do not think the work required (a LOT) would be made back in another sale attempt.
I did all the cleaning and polishing myself. After seeing the 'before' pics, ppl would ask me if I'd had it repainted. Nope, just a lot of work. It's not hard as long as you're careful. Once again, you polish in the dollars.
With some attention to the details and addressing the small issues, you can make a big impact on how your car looks. The little things are the difference between getting top dollar or losing a potential buyer. With all the mechanical work done to your car, there's no reason it shouldn't bring $45-50. But it has to be in very good condition for that price. Attend to the small needs and it will bring that price.
IMHO, it would take 6 -hard- months, and more than the $32k to $45k delta, to make this car a solid condition 3 car...damned near a repaint to correct the corrosion, and a barrel of $ to replace rubber bits that may not survive removal and re-installation around that work.
At least $2k is needed under the car for rail work, if not more (My minimal and easy repairs here in CA will be that much at a shop that gives me a better than public labor rate), new drip rail mouldings and caps will be $400 before paint as well on top of the body and paint work.
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3. Good $48,500#3 vehicles drive and run well but are not used for daily transportation. The casual passerby will not find any visual flaws, but these vehicles might have some incorrect parts. #3 vehicles could possess some, but not all, of the issues of a #4 vehicle, but they will be balanced by other factors such as fresh paint or a new, correct interior.
Based on least Hagerty, 32k was a good deal for a #4(plus) car.
10-28-2022, 01:50 PM
(unless of course there's a discrepancy on the CARFAX or somesuch)
