993chaz

What do you guys / gals think of this? How much do you think to repair it?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=10156

DrZ

Bent frame would be end of story for me. It would need total paint job once all the body work completed. Couldn't live with the red interior/top either.

viperbob

And it is a tiptronic, so even resale at some point would be diminished.

csertich

Man, I'm guessing over $20k in repairs. I'm assuming $7000+ for paint job. ? Rear fender and bumper. New front bumper whatever else you might find once removed. Possibly new hood.

I know folks who have taken on these projects. They were after quality work and paid for it. Lots of surprises. I don't think any of them saved a significant amount of money. Then there was the time, etc. I don't know if there was any frame damage in the repairs I mentioned.

But it is an interesting project to think about.

chuck

FlyYellow

i think even if you tried to get this done cheap you are looking at $6k. Now if you had a goal of a race car, this seems like a good deal (although few people dream of a cab race car). i would stay away. car is worth $10-12k in my opinion.

cheers,
boris

Carrera GT

Don't buy this thing! It's strictly a rolling box of parts and nothing more.

I think it's interesting to look at "down" cars and consider ways to get into more can than you can afford if you put in some work, but this car is an example of exactly what can go wrong if you try to save an appealing car from the grave.

In short, look at the photo evidence -- it contradicts the description (it's not just a frontal collision, there's multiple impacts and the car has been cleaned up cosmestically and mechanically to hide the full extent of the accident damage.) Look at dead 993's at a site like www.wreckedexotics.com and imagine the car as a heap on the side of the road.

For example, the rear section has been drilled and pulled out and beaten out (note the multiple, compound dents, bends and wrinkles) and the shot of the chassis (and the comment about "chassis pulled") all says someone bought it and thought they could make it a nice runner on a salvage title (worth maybe 50% of retail at that point) and realised they'd be upside down (spent more than it's worth) and now they're bailing.

Credit to the seller for showing useful photos, but this is strictly $10K in parts that happens to start and roll.

With 32646 miles (not the 2646 ... "gee, I guess that was a typo..." in the auction description) the suspension, engine and tip-toe tranny are both too old to be useful other than for parts.

The VIN is for a '95 C4 Cab. (Not the C2 as in the auction description)

http://www.edmunds.com/used/1995/por...um2.1.porsche*

Edmunds would rate this car from $35K to $45K and I've seen guys buy much younger cabs in 993's and 996's for that range of dollars.

Let's assume it's worth a generous $45K (it's not) and you can find someone to repair it for $10K (you won't) and you get it at auction for the present $7K (you shouldn't) you'd be running very close to maximum value on a car that is just not worth pissing on even if it was on fire...

Also, in terms of choice, the '95 cars had suspension issues and less power than '96 cars etc. If you're shopping for a down car, look at a low mileage '97 with healthy drive train and straight if not pretty body as a theft recovery missing trim for example. In the cost equation the car must have a clear title (not salvage, theft, lemon) and there are two things that cannot be fixed on most Porsches and stay inside the "saving money" envelope: the drive-train must be healthy and the chassis and 99% of the body must be straight. If you're doing _all_ the work yourself, you can save money, but if you're paying someone, money will pour into these bottomless pit cars, so forget it.

At the end of the day, with even a "nice" $5K paint job blended into the rest of the car with filler instead of metal repairs, this thing will never drive again like it should. You'll have something little better than a miscreant 80's car with a 993 body kit and 262hp engine probably turning well below 250hp and resale value of zero because you just can't find people to buy these things any more.

Cheers,

ps. Keep going, there are great 911's out there!

Chuck W.

I've got to agree with Carrera GT. There is much more to this car than is being told. I just finished "saving" a 1997 993 Cab. The only way to get into one of these projects is with your eyes wide open and knowledge of the cars damage. It is very easy to get in over your head and end up upside down (more money in the car than you could have bought one for.) I would also never buy a car with a salvage title unless I saw the car before the repairs and knew exactly what was done to it and who did it. With four kids I have 5 salvaged cars and 1 theft recovery. I saved quite a bit of money but and no resale value. The only way it works out if you keep the cars for several years.

ksimpson

Depends on several things. How much can you save by buying a damaged car? How much will it cost you to put right? Will you ever be truly happy with the result?

You also need to think about resale. A damaged Porsche is difficult to sell, particularly if you haven't a fully documented quality repair.

ON TIME

stay far away. run, don't walk away. to fix $27,000