Shawn Stanford

I have an '87 951 with 77k miles. Guards Red/Black. Amazing condition inside and out. Sports seats, minor track upgrades, runs like a top. I bought it in '09 with 52k on the clock. I'm ready to move on.

The prices I'm seeing for similar cars is up in the $16k to $20k range, but...

I would like to sell it without having to deal with a bunch of apes kicking the tires, farting into the seats, and beating up the car. I don't want to deal with a bunch of eBay 'sport bidders'. I'd like to sell it cleanly for a fair price and be done.

The place where I bought it originally, and who has maintained it throughout my ownership, has offered me $12k for it. While that seems very low, it also seems very convenient. I sign over the title, give them the keys, they hand me a check, and I go buy a Boxster.

But, I hate to leave a few thousand on the table if the effort of selling isn't as onerous as I think it is.

So: Opinions on pricing and how to market the car?

Thanks in advance.

numbskull

Your best bet might be an auction or maybe a trade for something else. How many buyers that contacted you actually showed up to see the vehicle?

V2Rocket

You might try BringATrailer...several RL folks have had good luck with nice condition cars there recently.
A friend sold his very-low-miles 928 for over $50k about 2 months ago.

aglaes

I put an ad here for my '87 (under 70k miles). Got one guy interested from out of state, he paid for a PPI and purchased the car for $13,900 (was asking $14,900). Took less than a month from the time I put up the ad. Maybe I was lucky, but I only dealt with this one guy.

I am the Walrus

Take the 12k in hand from your shop

Valkuri

Ask the shop for $13k, and take it.
Bird in the hand.

Or, spend hours and hours and hours and hours working on the very best way to squeeze out another thousand or two, rather than finding, buying and enjoying the Boxster you covet.

rlm328

The 951 is more fun then the Boxster

divil

I've seen a few WTB threads now and then. Usually they seem to be from the kind of buyers you would want. You might have to do a search to find them, but usually people post threads like that because they are looking for something better than you can typically find on ebay/CL etc - and it sounds like that's exactly what you have.

slownrusty

I searched for months on cars.com, eBay, Autotrader.com and Bring A Trailer and then recently bought my '87 with 71k on it for less than $12k from a dealer that had a listing on Autotrader. I missed out by a few hundered dollars on a few eBay auctions and also on a Turbo Rose on BaT before purchasing my car.

The car I bought is nice but it does have a few wants and needs as any 30 year old car would let alone a Porsche.

I think the best advice is Bring A Trailer those 951s are pulling in some healthy money, the best I've seen compared to other on line listings.

If everything works incl. the AC and all electrics (hatch and sunroof) and it is well photographed I bet you would bring in a solid $14k-$15k

As a reference this a great buy for less than $8500:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1988-Porsche...m=222344325484

Shawn Stanford

Thanks for the input, every one.

Yeah, this is kind of my thinking.

Even so: I've had the 951 for a few years. It's a blast to drive, but I don't drive it very much. I'm also moving to a weekend/track car, and I think the Boxster is a better choice.

I like this idea. I'll do some poking around. Thanks.

Auto_Werks 3.6

I'd probably be in the "bird in the hand group" I recently let a car go to a dealer and left a couple grand on the table... but it was easy.. Looking back, totally worth it.

Auto_Werks 3.6

By the way... say the clutch goes out before your sale, or one of the test drivers roaches it, there's $3k in one moment, and you still have to sell the car

ian

I would try Bring a Trailer, they constantly have 951s going for good money. If you take good pictures, document the car well (things like compression test and leak down) and then stay active on the listing for the one week it is active you can get a good retail price for the car.

The only caveat I would throw in there, make sure you get a reserve. I was going to list my 86 with them, but the reserve they were willing to offer was too far below where I was comfortable letting it go.

raleighBahn

Give BaT a swing as others have mentioned. It has real car people looking, and finding that demographic isn't easy otherwise.

Boxster - get 2009 MY forward or you'll worry about IMS in your sleep. The resale market for those has cratered and will never, ever come back. Even more important if you plan any track duty.

Shawn Stanford

If a car I'm looking at doesn't have the IMS done, I'll budget for it. Anyway, if I was going to lose sleep, I'd do it over the 928.