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I am the OP of this thread. I picked up the 993 in Stuttgart and owned it for 18 years with NO trouble. I am now in the process of buying back my 993 from the SA at the dealership that I deal with. If you read my posts you will recognize that I traded it on an impulse which I wished my wife would have rejected but the SA bought it from the dealership. He put fewer than 4000 miles on it in 4 years. I am going out tomorrow to drive it. He will not let me take it 100 miles for a reliable PPI. He did not treat it kindly on ownership as it sat outside. He expects to make a profit of a collector car. I expect to own my former every day driver. What would you do?
I understand where you are coming from, I really do. But I doubt it will ever feel like "your" car ever again because of the abuse of the hands of the SA. Furthermore, I would feel like I was being made to turn my head and cough, so to speak, for buying back less of a car than was sold to him. It's a tough spot, but I would pass.
At this point, I agree with you completely. I owned the 993 for 18 years after I picked it up in Stuttgart. It was PERFECT when I traded it in for the 2013 991 PDK. I am driving it tomorrow but I have already told the owner how disappointed how poorly it was treated after me. I will let you know
Hopefully it was just neglected rather than abused and a little TLC will bring it back to where you want it. There can be satisfaction in 'saving' the car and giving it a good life again. Good luck, hope it goes well! Share pics so we can see what it looks like.
I am the OP. As Tlaloc75 says, the 993 was neglected and not abused. The SA left it at the dealership uncovered.
So, I told the SA I would like to buy it back. Mike Ludes at Capital Eurocars in Tallahassee is a great guy. Last week, I took the 993 for a day and felt as if I was driving a long deceased family member. My day was disappointing for many reasons. Without going into details, it needs about $12-15K of mechanical and cosmetic work. The cosmetic work is not terribly necessary so I could have saved myself about $5k and the car would still be stunning. However, when I owned it I used to go into the garage and admire it after detailing and every night . There was never anything wrong mechanically.
Having described my angst, I have decided to abandon my desire to re-unite with a car that I owned for 18 years and loved that is now 22 years old. I am now too old to pay attention to its needs since I have a 2015 991 MT GTS. They are VERY different cars. Both have their high points which do not interfere with the other. I have great confidence the 993 will be sold to the expectations of the SA who bought it after me. The purchaser will be very pleased. He must expect to put in some $$ to get it close to show status. It is a smooth, fun, late 1900s Porsche that is without any major problems. It is the last air-cooled Porsche.
When I was in college I purchased a 68 912 for 800 bucks (15 years ago). Guards Red and was really I nice driver and looked great too. I sold it a few years later for 2000 to a father and son, thought I did really good. Then got a 79 SC for 6900 bucks from a guy having a baby. It was such a beautiful car inside and out and ran perfect. Sold it a few years later for 10K and again thought I did really good. I'm literally sick every time I think of those 2 damn cars and what they are worth not even 10 years later, ugh makes me sick. My wife knows the rule, these are the cars of which we do not speak of lol. I don't have any pics of the 912 but do of the 911. Currently own my dream car, a 996TT which I hope never to let go of:
So, as the OP, let me give you the bottom line to the story. I desperately wanted to buy the 993 back. I drove it and took it to mechanical and body folks who quoted me $12,000 do get it back to the same shape when I traded it. The owner (my SA on the purchase of my 2013 C2 991) rejected my offer. He made many cosmetic repairs to the car but not the most expensive. He put the car on Bringatrailer.com and sold it back to a person in Koln Germany. I would not bid as the buyer will find he has much work to do. There is nothing like buying a car face-to-face. I do not wish to denigrate the SA as he has been fair with me. I could recommend him for any who are in the market.
So, as the OP, let me give you the bottom line to the story. I desperately wanted to buy the 993 back. I drove it and took it to mechanical and body folks who quoted me $12,000 do get it back to the same shape when I traded it. The owner (my SA on the purchase of my 2013 C2 991) rejected my offer. He made many cosmetic repairs to the car but not the most expensive. He put the car on Bringatrailer.com and sold it back to a person in Koln Germany. I would not bid as the buyer will find he has much work to do. There is nothing like buying a car face-to-face. I do not wish to denigrate the SA as he has been fair with me. I could recommend him for any who are in the market.
I bought a a 997.2TT cab in ruby red. This was the first year PDK was available in the TT. Added an AWE exhaust, techart side skirts and front bumper cut out (GT3 look). It was my daily driver for 6 years. Put over 60k miles on it. It was amazing to drive in any season. Never had any problems with it.
I now own this 991.2 Targa 4S. Absolutely love it. Feels just as quick as the TT. I love the retro look of the Targa, and I prefer the open air feel of the Targa over the cab.