Just wondered what the effect of working on your own car has on the future re-sale value of older 911's (964's in particular)?

Also is there a difference in opinions between the UK and US on DIYing on these "high-end" sportscars (someone elses words)?

Lots of US guys drop and rebuild their engines whereas in the UK its virtually unheard of.

Is a home re-built engine any less desirable than a "specialist" re-build?

i have done a few odd jobs on the car (tools and experience permitting) including changing the dizzy belt, fitting lower valve seals, cleaning ISV, replacing motor mounts, oil and filter change...all of these have receipts for parts only and no dealer or specialist stamp in the book.

As these cars approach 20+ years of age is the service history still as important?

 

If you as the owner are paying someone to do all maintenance, any gain in resale would have been spent many many times over in shop labor. I think a stack of receipts and maintenance records is all a next owner could ask for.

Engines are a different topic than maintenance. If you have a 9M or other well known builder rebuild I could see that as a benefit over home built, but again it is the stack of receipts.

Service history is probably more important on a 20 year old car. A 964 that has not been maintained it might run when someone buys it then implode into money pit.

 

well, I guess it depends on what the buyer sees when he comes to your house and you tell him you rebuilt the engine. In my garage, he would see a Snap-On tool chest, two big workbenches, a spare Chevy transmission, a recently restored 1969 Chevele with a big LQ9 engine, a 1967 Camaro being worked on, and I could show him pics of the rebuild and receipts for all the parts. The 911 was the last of 5 rebuilds, and the second Porsche engine, and all were my personal cars over the last 44 years.

 

In the end this thread is only about prospective (future) buyers of your car.
(Figure the guys either DIY'ing, or paying for wrench time, are each satisfied with their respective outcomes, by definition.)

By popular perception, the paid wrench has it over the DIY'r as the former wouldn't be open for long if he did crap work, or gained a crap reputation. (The free market eventually weeds such fertilizer out.)
Whereas the DIY'r isn't bound to any reputation save that of that one car's eventual buyer -- so he may, or may not, give a crap.

Yes, yes... of course, there are exceptions. But what I'm talking about is the big picture, general buyers, recommended wrenches, the 'usual' DIY'r.

So... For the DIY'r it seems (for the money you've saved DIY'ing) is going to have to put in a little extra effort to gain (in the usual buyer's eyes) that perception of competence usually associated w/ a paid wrench: Clear record of work/date/mileage done, a competent work area, years & total of experience, etc.

(And having a newly 'moused' chevelle gleaming nearby never hurts!)

IMHO

 

I think most people aren't scared of a previous owner doing their own maintenance if the person seems competent. If the person says they do their own maintenance and yet they can't give me pretty detailed info about a car I start to get concerned though. Also as Steve said, you can tell a lot about a person by seeing his garage.

With that said though, if I was buying a car that had a rebuilt motor I would prefer it was done by a professional. Not to say there aren't owners who are more than capable. It would just like the peace of mind knowing someone qualified did the rebuild.

 

Sounds like we have done the same list of jobs Scamper. I put the car in for a full service every couple of years so that there are stamps in the book in case I ever sell it (Which is not particularly likely). I think most UK buyers would want to see these.

I don't think I would ever attempt my own rebuild though.

 

Steve - like you i am unlikely to sell my 964 unless something serious happens!!

There seems to be a difference in UK and US owners in that the US owners appear to do a lot more of the major work on their cars rebuild/clutches etc...

I have just had my clutch done by a specialist as the thought of spending 8 hours dropping and refitting the engine/box is beyond me...maybe in another 5 years of tinkering i might tackle an engine drop!

My sister-in-laws fiance has a 996 C4S and has only had the minimum service carried out on his car by an OPC and not the £4k of other jobs that need doing!! Whereas on my car all the little bits and pieces that need doing have been done or will be done over the next few months i.e. nsf Drop link (advisory from the MOT), engine struts, HE flexi hoses, etc etc

 

No impact with mine... not going anywhere... I get rid of the house and the fish before they take this car away from me... but that is just me...

 

You can always sleep in your car. But you can't drive your house!

 

I've done some work on my car - nothing major, but things like changing AFM, changing front brakes, driveshaft gaiter etc. But it still gets a service each year (or two if I decide I've not done enough miles).

I'd happily buy a car where the owner has done stuff like that. But I wouldn't buy one that had a home engine rebuild in the UK I don't think.

 

The other good thing about doing some jobs yourself is you can take time to clean everything down while you're at it e.g. When I did my first service I cleaned off all the old oil and gunk that was on the engine covers. At a garage service they would just take them off and put them back as they were. Now they're all shiny and the car is about a pound lighter

 

Because of all the bits you found left over when you'd put it back together?

 

Another concern of a DIY rebuild is if it goes kaboom after a few hundered miles you do not have anyone to answer for it.

Granted maybe a shop would tell you to **** up a rope too, but that shop would not be in business very long.

 

Dave...that's just evil!

 

There are competent shops, but from where I sit the market does not weed out the dishonest/incompetent ones. There always seems to be a fresh supply of suckers seeking the lowest price keeping them in business.

A DIY with the right skills and motiviation does the work just as well as professional. The DIY has more motivation to pick up the "while you are in there" cleaning and repairs, simply because the labor to go back in would still not bring a paycheck.

Garrett is one example of a DIY who can command a premium because he did the work. We can tell from his posts that he knows what is going on and does not cut corners. Remember Arjan? I would buy his car at better than even money over a shop-maintained car. Jerry/Boing717 is another DIY who does far more than a shop pro could afford to do "while he is in there". The better DIY owners know the car, and most are honest to a fault. That is far more than I can say for most used car sellers I have met.

A quick tour of the engine bay, wheel wells, and under belly tells volumes about the mechanic. The test drive is the clincher.

YMMV as always.