dryadsdad

Hi all;

Obviously I'm new here and I'm also new to the world of Porsche. We recently had some financial good luck and have decided that part of what we want is a nice sports sort of car. Actually the prime mover in this is my wife but I'll speak as if it were me.

We considered an older British car, but were put off by the shoddy engineering, oil leaks and other miseries which come with the joys of such ownership. Since we wish to use this car for things like vacations and Sunday outings in the country, we need something which has good reliability. This won't be a daily driver. Based on the little I know, we narrowed our list to the BMW sporty series, Porsche boxter or 911 series and a Miata.

Today we saw a 993 for sale locally. It's a cab which gives it extra points in our book. My wife took it for a half hour drive and really was taken by all aspects of the car. I never considered her a 'car guy' but this vehicle really spoke to her in a way no other car or truck has, she said.

It has less than 40k miles in a 1995 year model. The condition is honestly showroom flawless. The owner has a history. It's been a Sunday driver garage queen since new and it shows. Like the original top has a perfect backlight. There isn't a stone chip on the car. It has a squeaky clean CarFax.

The 30k service was done by the most respected indie wrench in the area. All original papers come with it and a service record for at least the last 10k miles - maybe more. IMO, the only demerit is the color - white. I would have preferred a darker color. The interior is flawless in every aspect. I don't understand how the car could have made almost 40k w/o a stone chip. The owner says it is not a repaint. If it is, it must have cost $8k to do because it looks factory.

So are all is perfect, but he's asking what I consider a premium price of $31k I'd like the Group's response to the desirability of this vehicle, how much depreciation these are suffering, and any other comments. While I realize I'm being a bit rude jumping in here out of nowhere and asking for help from you experts, what else can I do?

My personal preference is to buy the 993 over the 996 due to number produced and it being some sort of peak of Porsche-ism due to it being the most sophisticated normally aspirated air cooled, but maybe my idea of its collector future value is all wrong.

So are there gotchas with this model and is this price silly stupid? Thanks for all responses.

Van1

Is it a Tip or a 6 speed?

niche

How cool that your wife is smitten by a 993. I don't blame her. My favorite 911. Sounds like a nice car and price not too off base. 95 is a great year. Take it to a good Porsche mechanic for Pre-purchase inspection before you decide anything. Out of the cars you mentioned, the 993 in my opinion has best chances of becoming collectable and most fun... again, only one 993-nut opinion.

dryadsdad

Sorry. It's a 6 speed.

loantaka

Jump on it! I've been looking for a month now for a 993 C4 (AWD) Cab, and the all the ones I've seen have been over $37k from private sellers.

dryadsdad

Well, I realized that I'm stepping into a den of fans here, but even so I figured that I could get some good info. I think my wife is pretty entranced with the 911 and I like the idea of a later one instead of the SC series early 80's I first considered.

The seller doesn't seem anxious to sell and so I expect he'll remain firm or fairly firm on that price. I don't wish to overspend, though. I looked at transactions at eBay. The only ones completed were for a good deal less than $31k, while most were incomplete at prices asking from about $29k to in the 40's for what consider comparable cars.

The advantage of this one is that it's local too. Even if I found one in, say, PA, for $3k less which seemed comparable, not being on site to inspect, drive and then there is the shipping so I guess I'd prefer local.

dryadsdad

Yeah, this is a C2, but I'm ok with that. I figure the C4 is worth a bit more and better in some conditions but it would also be a bit more in service, etc.

Chuck W.

For a first posting, that was well done. Welcome. Get a PPI (pre-purchase inspection) done on the car. It'll cost you between $300 and $800 depending on the shop and the depth of the inspection. But it could save you thousands. They can put a paint meter on the car and address your concern of whether the car was repainted or not. There should be a sticker on the interior of the front hood with the options that came on the car. Do a search and you can decipher what options the car has. You found a good place to learn all you need to know about 993s.

Regarding the color; I had a white cab. IMHO it was the best color. If I could have found a white turbo with black interior I would have been very happy.

I do miss it;

niche

This forum for sure is going to be pretty one-sided. That being said the 993 is a fantastic car. Take your time... if this is the one, great. If not, there will be others. It's not like the market is going straight up right now... in fact, you should be able to get a decent deal. Cabs are also a bit easier to get. Check the classifieds here as well. You never know when it's going to pop up... you have to be 100% comfortable in your decision.

dryadsdad

@Chuck - thanks for the welcome. If we do get any Porsche, I expect to be here a good deal. I personally am very skeptical that it's a repaint. I may not know Porsche, but I know repaint and this is truly equal to factory which means costing $8k at least. Why with a clean Carfax? What I don't get is how this can escape with NO paint chips at all. I mean, my 11 year old Toy truck has no parking lot damage, but it sure has a few highway chips.

@Niche - we're not in a rush, but then again, we did miss a really nice BMW. While my wife was test driving it, the owner sold it over the phone to a caller who bought it sight unseen during my wife's test drive. So she returned to say she'd buy it only to be told it was sold.

While there may be many around the world, I live in New Mexico. We don't have too many and finding one 100% pristine for sale locally is rare especially in a cab which really got my wife's motor running strong. I would have been more inclined to a coupe, but there is no doubt in my mind now that either she gets a cab or she'll not be as happy as she'd otherwise be. I also don't want a turbo as we don't need the power, she can't drive the power and there is the extra acquisition cost and maintenance.

So while before yesterday when we started speaking to the owner (after his eBay auction stalled at $26,100) we didn't have a clear focus on what we wanted, I think the long test drive today may have settled her on a 911 cab. Of those, I like the 993 due to the potential collector value and we both like the garage queen no after market options look of the car. Plus it's local meaning no disappointments when we get off the plane in Florida to find what was described as pristine is really a POS.

ggg1ggg

I went through the exact same thought process when I bought mine. It was local, I got a really good feeling from the previous owner, I got a PPI, and it had low miles. It was probably $2000-3000 more than I was hoping to spend, but who cares!

Unless you're looking to flip the car, that $2000-3000 is a small price to pay for not having to travel to find your car, and you're buying the car to enjoy it, not to make money off of it, right?

CorrdoBrit

I don't get why an owner would agree to sell a car over the phone when someone is out test driving it. Since your wife had made the trip to see it and had liked it enough to test drive it, the least he/she should have done was give her the first rite of refusal.
Probably better for you in the long run as you may end up with a 993 which IMO is far more desirable. But still, what a douche....

dryadsdad

Yes, we talked about it some more. My wife's preferred color by far is white so that's right. Her preferred interior is blue - another hit. It's a cab. It's local. We know of, if not knowing personally, the current owner PLUS we know where to find him.

I think I'll start my diligence Monday in contacting the shop where the work's been done and then casting about for a place to do the PPI. I'm inclined to use the shop where the work has been done for the PPI since it has a high rep, but it also seems that there may be some conflict of interest too. I'll decide after speaking to the car's current shop and then decide.

Curiously, my wife seems to have bonded with this 993 and 993's in general after one test drive. I suggested that if we're putting out $30k, she may as well check the 996 out to get a car almost 10 years newer. She looked at pix of the 996 finding it not nearly as attractive. She especially didn't like the interior / gauges of the new models compared to the 993.

dryadsdad

I had similar thoughts especially as while my wife was test driving, I was standing there when he got the call.

I figured it's his car and he can do with it what he wished. He owed us nothing, but I agree it was in bad taste.

The key here is that after the BMW test drive and the loss of the car, my wife didn't seem to mind. She shrugged it off. Meanwhile, she can't stop talking and thinking about the 993 after this test drive. To me, this sort of purchase is of the heart more than the mind.

When she got out of the BMW, she just walked toward where I was standing. When she got out of the 993, she walked toward me but kept glancing back at the car. To me, there is a world of difference in the passion factor going on here.

JimPA

If the current owner is as meticulous as you think, he has probably touched up the stone chips. The task isn't hard but it does require time and patience to build up the paint layer by layer, sand it level and then buff and polish. It's a rare car that's driven on the highway and doesn't get a few chips.