1996 911 Turbo Purchase Help Request
 

I know the Rennlist community hates the “valuation” threads but here it goes anyways. I previously owned a 1992 964 C2 manual coupe and know the market pretty well. I had to let the 964 go when I was living in Telegraph Hill - San Francisco due to the terrible parking situation at my home. I’m now living down in Venice - Los Angeles. I’ve come across a 993 Turbo that I’d like to purchase but I’m trying to figure out the current market price. It's a one owner car who happened to pass away and the owners brother is selling it. It looks like it’s been well maintained when the owner was in good health, but when he wasn’t doing well it wasn’t driven much over the past two years and not serviced. I’ve researched previous sales on Rennlist with many going unsold since they’re asking too much. Then on Bring a Trailer I’ve seen auctions the range what quite surprising for ones with similar miles.

1996 Porsche 911 Turbo
- Original owner
- Believed to be original paint (Midnight Blue) with light gray leather interior, I will paint meter
- 60,499 miles- Only driven 2,000 miles since 2015 with no services, majority of miles in 2015-16
- From 2012-2015 and 6000 miles, yearly oil changes, the cutch master and slave cylinder replaced, lower cam cover replaced, new seals on chain housing, fixed left turbo oil leak, 60k service (oil change, spark plugs, fuel filter) totaling over $10,000
- There is no documentation prior to 2012 as the service work was done a Porsche dealer in Oakland that shut down.
- The paint looks to be in good condition but needs a good detail. The fender clear film is old and cracked, it looks to be a pain to replace too!

Ongoing Inspection - The car is at a shop getting an inspection and I’ve asked for additional items to be verified as noted below.
- None of smog motors are set, two faults are present, one for the secondary air system bank 1-3. The second fault is for the Turbo frequency valve.
- Drivers seat will not adjust forward/back or seat back
- Tires need to be replaced
- Oil change and brake flush needed
- Reverse lights don’t work, likely reverse light switch faulty
- Key hard to turn in ignition, worn steering lock unit and replacement needed
- Third brake light has some lights out, replacement needed
- Hood supports and wiper blades needs replacement- Struts/suspension showing its age
- I also noticed in the picture from the rear of the car there is an oil leak present, I’m having the shop verify for any oil leaks and also do a compression test. If the compression test comes back with concerns, then a leak down is needed.

I’d like to offer a fair price for the car considering the maintenance and TLC needed to bring it back to an acceptable condition. I’d really like to buy a 993 Turbo that I can drive worry free so likely the maintenance bill won’t be cheap. If I end up picking this car up, I’ll need some recommendations for reputable shops in the LA area.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...5056f95955.jpg

Rocker clear bra looks extremely old and needs to be replaced. Removing it without removing the paint will be quite the task
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...50c6ec21e.jpeg

I assume this is a leak from the driver side Turbo?!
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...f3a86bb51.jpeg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...031ac734bd.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...4fc500206b.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...3005f429a3.jpg

Based on what I paid for a red one last year, I would probably pay $125-130k for this one or maybe even 115-120k depending on what you find in the PPI. If you don't want it, I would be happy to buy it. I wanted a blue one instead of Red last year, but couldn't find one. Good luck.

Turbo prices have somewhat leveled off. Good clean examples seem to be between $130-150K. I paid much less then that back in December but I may have some big bills in the near future so it will all even out.

That looks like a good car and has lots of potential to clean up. Sadly, because turbo values have skyrocketed many are not driving them, so 2k miles a year is not bad. They are built like tanks. You might consider lowering the ride height from SUV to ROW. I think the values above are accurate for a cleaned up ready to roll car.

.

I'll likely buy the car with the understanding that it'll need a good amount of maintenance to get it back to where it should be. The inspection at the Porsche dealer resulted with no mechanical items to note or leaks... but in one of the pictures sent to me the left Turbo is obviously leaking. Hopefully its the oil line to the Turbo and nothing significant that'll result in the Turbos being rebuilt. What I'm afraid of is with the car not being driven for a few years, the first few hundred or thousand miles, it'll start springing leaks.

In regards to the ride height, I'd like to put some KW V1's or PSS10's on it, along with sway bars, bushings etc, that need to be replaced. Also with the tires being ancient, I'd put some Cup 2's on it : )

It is a lot more difficult to find a nice car than it is to have turbos rebuilt, and I would doubt they need it, but I am not an expert.

Budget 10% of purchase price to sort the car out. If that total number is acceptable to you then buy it. There aren't many of these cars and now are over 20yrs old. Solid cars once sorted and you will only need to replace parts that have timed out or worn out.

Like I learned while owning a 964, "Sorted and needs nothing" means vastly different from one person to another. I'm very meticulous and for me, it needs to be in like-new condition for me to be happy with it. I'm factoring $10-15k to work out some of the small issues, updating the suspension, and getting it fully maintained.

The AC condenser will probably need replacing or soon enough in the future. That is a $2-3K job. Add that to the list.

saw you might be interested in selling your tt? have been looking for a guards red tt for months with low milage for my summer car this season. should you decide your interested in having a discussion let me know

I'm likely going to purchase this Turbo, if there is oil backing into the Turbo making the car smoke, do you guys recommend not driving it back from the Bay Area to LA or just trailering it?

I would drive it! As far as I know, oil backing up into the turbo is an issue when the car sits and you will only notice it on startup with the initial smoke. Great color! Had a buddy with a similar one. Pic below.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c25f92d5_k.jpg

You can drain the oil out of the bottom of the turbo sump if you think that helps.

:thumbup: :thumbup:

Very easy to do for piece of mind without even jacking up the car unless it's super low. This will give you a good indication of how much oil has backed up into the Turbos too.

/\ JEllis - That Turbo is stunning on the BBS E88 wheels. I'm going to check out the car hopefully tomorrow night, luckily the owner is going to put on some Michelin Cup 2 tires so we can do a proper test drive. Anything to specifically look out for while on the test drive? After talking to people in the 993 community, I'll need to factor 10-20% of the purchase price to get the mechanicals sorted, which is fine. Once I get the car back in LA, I'd like to bring it to a shop to get the mechanicals sorted, I need to talk to each shop individually but does it come off wrong if I'm asking about shop rates? I know some shops charge a cheaper shop rate but then charge more hours per job. Once I get my eyes on the car, I'll know more about the specifics it needs then I can talk to each shop individually.

Recommended Air Cooled shops in LA (not in any order)
1. South Bay Porsche (Classic Certified) $175/hr shop rate
2. Callas Rennsport
3. Vision Motorsports
4. Rstrada
5. Sleepers Speed Shop
6. TLG Auto