Chris V

Happy to be a PCAR owner again after a 15 year hiatus.

Here is how I ended up with this car:
Scanned the various ads for a couple years (ok, actually the last 10 years), went back and forth on 3.2 carrera (my prior PCAR was an 86 targa), 964, 993, even considered a 996tt and a 997.2 PDK - wow very fast and smooth. After excessive analysis paralysis, I decided air cooled was going to be it, something about that sweet exhaust note and the classic lines. I also decided the 993 was what I wanted and searched hard for a C2S but the prices for a nice example were just over my budget. I drove a 993 Targa and fell in love with the model. Found this car in Texas and the deal came together. Intercity brought me the car last week from Dallas. Just finished with Cali smog and registration this week. Some key steps to a successful purchase; 1) joined Rennlist as a user, 2) learned about 993 issues and what to watch out for, especially with the targa top, 3) got PPI from Mayo Performance in Dallas, another Rennlist recommendation - they gave me a very accurate description of the car's condition which allowed me to negotiate a better sale price. 4) hired Intercity and didn't worry one bit about the transport, excellent service. 5) and last but not least, just upgraded to two year Rennlist membership. Thanks for all the great info on this site and I hope to meet some rennlisters and see some of your nice cars in person.

So here it is:
1997 Targa, black on black, all stock except for tinted windows, 53k miles, 8-way power seats, motor sound, hifi, factory CD, security system, aluminum/carbon shifter & brake, 12/96 build. It's not perfect, has a few rock chips and scratches, but it runs fantastic and it makes me smile every time I look in the garage or go for a drive.

skicoach

Well done!! Enjoy and don't look back.

CarreraX

Nice car! Congratulations.

aarrow

Very envious. I wished I had found a nice Targa during my search.

mjsporsche

Congrats and wishing you many miles of smiles.

Post the details of your purchase in the sticky threat at the beginning of this forum to help all of us better understand "market values".

Enjoy.

Mark

JB 911

Is it a tip? I talked to a car last year in Plano (Dallas suburb) that had almost that exact car wonder if it was his. Although I think he had the stock exhaust and you like like you have some polished stainless lurking...

Anyway, awesome car and congrats. Now you can take a deserved break from the cars for sale pages!

And start spending time on the PARTS for sale and the technical pages too! So no free time slot opening up in your schedule

P-daddy

Your car looks great. Congrats!

e3photo

Very nice Targa. Always liked the look,especially with those wheels.


Emerald

Chris V

Thanks for all the support! It's a 6 speed and the PO wasn't much of a PCAR guy, he knew the original owner and thought it was a cool looking car so he bought it when the original owner mentioned he was selling it. So I'm the third owner, the PO only added 6k miles in the 5 years he owned it. And yes, my budget included parts/mods/maintenance money, thanks to rennlist suggestions. I'd say the most stressful issue was getting the car smogged even though there were no CEL issues, I wasn't up to speed on the I/M clearing caused by a disconnected battery. So I was a bit stunned when it failed the first smog check, but the local shop guy said the car ran clean and just needed a drive cycle. Back to rennlist to find out what the heck that meant. Fortunately, it only took one weekend and two drive cycles to make it all correct. I will also post to the market page.

Chris V

Oh, and during the search I made sure the garage was ready for the car. Cleaned out all the crap, had some nice cabinets installed to store all the car stuff, and found the racedeck floor on craigslist same exact size as may garage for $400 a 2 hour drive to pick it up and some scrubbing to clean it up.

Intercity Lines

Chris,

Thank you for the kind words, and thank you for your business we really appreciate it. We look forward to helping you with any future moves.

Thanks,
Jim
Intercity Lines
www.intercitylines.com

Dryfly57

Beautiful Targa and wheels!
Welcome to the fold....

ECS Tuning

Chris congrats on a awesome looking Targa and transaction, it sounded like everything went perfectly.

NEK

Targa love

Kika

Hit it right on the spot with that comment. Porsches, especially the 911 lineage was designed to be driven. The early cars, including all of the air cooled variants ENGAGED the driver in a way that only Porsche drivers can comprehend. It is difficult to put into words, but you summed it up perfectly with "it makes me smile every time I look in the garage or go for a drive"