How to sell a 997?
05-25-2018, 05:02 PM
#16
Instructor
I bought my car from a rennlister, but I must agree with the Bring A Trailer option if selling. Cars are bringing quite a bit there. There is something about the online auction environment that can make competitive bidders not want to lose...even if the car gets bid up beyond the norm. Doesn't happen all the time, but it happens a lot. There are people who will tell you "I want the car to go to a good home" and "I don't like flippers", but at the end of the day not many people refuse getting paid more.
05-25-2018, 10:58 PM
#18
Great question! I have a 997.2 Creme white C2S for sale in incredible condition, so I have a bit of experience.
1) don't bother listing it here unless you have extra time on your hands. My car has been up a week: I got 2 phone calls, one PM, and nobody was serious. The last car I listed here had zero interest (outside of "I can get a manual 997.2 on auction for $35k" idiots (sure, one owner, super clean, all records....get lost buddy). The same car sold in 10 days on consignment, netting me $1500 over what I was asking here, after the consigner's cut. One guy even sent me an "offer" of $6700 under asking price after the ad specifically said "no offers". I often see cars here for sale that one wonders why it is still for sale; they are well priced with a great service history, yet no interest. People that hang around this forum are often too knowledgeable for their own good, and expect a perfect car at wholesale or less. Nobody wants to pay a reasonable private party market price, and really good cars languish. I own a retail business and I see the same phenomenon; enthusiasts with money and not too much time on their hands pay retail and know what they want. The next tier of customers, people who also have friends in "the industry" and hang around industry events, suddenly know "somebody" and expect to get everything on pro-deal. This site has a lot of the latter, and therefore is a terrible place to sell a car.
2) try the PCA mart. My car went up there a bit over 48 hours ago. I have had 8 phone calls, 14 emails, and it the car is now sale pending. No haggling on price: just several interested parties who knew what they wanted, knew what they were looking at, and knew it was worth the asking price.
3) consign it. I have sold several cars this way. The dealer takes a cut of 5-7%; they sell it for market rate, and you don't have to hassle with the sales process or waste time. Each time, it has worked out for me. It has gotten to the point that I will not trade in a car: if it isn't something I can sell on my own, I just consign it. A trade-in will typically be around 20% less than listing price so getting 93-95% instead of 80% sounds like a much better deal! You need the right consignment place however; not just any shop will do. The good shops have a great customer base that is actively searching and they don't rely on random walk-ins. For 997 models, I recommend Freeman Motors (Nick Starapoli) in Portland and Dallas Motorsport (Carl Janin).
If you are reasonable in your asking price, you will do pretty well. Don't do the sky-high asking price up front, as buyers likely won't take you seriously.
1) don't bother listing it here unless you have extra time on your hands. My car has been up a week: I got 2 phone calls, one PM, and nobody was serious. The last car I listed here had zero interest (outside of "I can get a manual 997.2 on auction for $35k" idiots (sure, one owner, super clean, all records....get lost buddy). The same car sold in 10 days on consignment, netting me $1500 over what I was asking here, after the consigner's cut. One guy even sent me an "offer" of $6700 under asking price after the ad specifically said "no offers". I often see cars here for sale that one wonders why it is still for sale; they are well priced with a great service history, yet no interest. People that hang around this forum are often too knowledgeable for their own good, and expect a perfect car at wholesale or less. Nobody wants to pay a reasonable private party market price, and really good cars languish. I own a retail business and I see the same phenomenon; enthusiasts with money and not too much time on their hands pay retail and know what they want. The next tier of customers, people who also have friends in "the industry" and hang around industry events, suddenly know "somebody" and expect to get everything on pro-deal. This site has a lot of the latter, and therefore is a terrible place to sell a car.
2) try the PCA mart. My car went up there a bit over 48 hours ago. I have had 8 phone calls, 14 emails, and it the car is now sale pending. No haggling on price: just several interested parties who knew what they wanted, knew what they were looking at, and knew it was worth the asking price.
3) consign it. I have sold several cars this way. The dealer takes a cut of 5-7%; they sell it for market rate, and you don't have to hassle with the sales process or waste time. Each time, it has worked out for me. It has gotten to the point that I will not trade in a car: if it isn't something I can sell on my own, I just consign it. A trade-in will typically be around 20% less than listing price so getting 93-95% instead of 80% sounds like a much better deal! You need the right consignment place however; not just any shop will do. The good shops have a great customer base that is actively searching and they don't rely on random walk-ins. For 997 models, I recommend Freeman Motors (Nick Starapoli) in Portland and Dallas Motorsport (Carl Janin).
If you are reasonable in your asking price, you will do pretty well. Don't do the sky-high asking price up front, as buyers likely won't take you seriously.
05-26-2018, 01:34 AM
#20
Sure! Lots of times, a good store will have leads even before it lands. I had a friend who consigned a car at Dallas Motorsport, and it was sold the day it arrived; just a phone call was needed as a customer had been searching for a similar build. Enthusiast-networked dealers are often best for this. Most P-car dealers won't take consignments, as they want to make much more than 5-7% on a sale (which is also why they are typically the lowball dealers on trade: Carmax almost always pays more for a used 911). Plus, many P-car dealers are corporate and enthusiasts don't like dealing with them; an enthusiast build will often get more traction at a small shop that is tied into the local scene.
05-26-2018, 05:22 PM
#21
Burning Brakes
I have sold several cars to CarMax. Their prices are reasonable, especially if there isn't a big local market for your car. I am planning to take my C2S there in a few weeks.
05-26-2018, 05:34 PM
#22
Nordschleife Master
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I listed a .2 on gurus in Fedruary and had 2 full price offers and one that was $1k under ask within 2 days. Selling an unmolested, clean car fax 997.2 with reasonable miles to Carnac or even co-signing it sounds ludicrous to me. I sold another in December within 2 weeks with an ask about $5k over market. Unless something has drastically changed, a decent 997.2 should sell easily and quickly unless some wired ars color combination.
05-28-2018, 01:03 AM
#24
I listed a .2 on gurus in Fedruary and had 2 full price offers and one that was $1k under ask within 2 days. Selling an unmolested, clean car fax 997.2 with reasonable miles to Carnac or even co-signing it sounds ludicrous to me. I sold another in December within 2 weeks with an ask about $5k over market. Unless something has drastically changed, a decent 997.2 should sell easily and quickly unless some wired ars color combination.
05-28-2018, 01:34 AM
#25
Go to cargurus and put in your car details like you were trying to find its exact twin. You will come back with a ton of black, grey or silver cars. Then there will be a hand full of red, blue and maybe a white one. Just try to find other cars within a year of yours, approximate miles and PDK in coupe. If you live in the sticks, you might have to lower your price, if you live in a big market you might get to raise your price a few thousand. This will give you a ballpark value.
$55k is the price I would start off with.
$55k is the price I would start off with.
05-28-2018, 10:29 AM
#26
If you want to start out pretty safe and conservative, list it in the members only for sale section on here. Thats the area that you have to be a Rennlist member and pay $35 to belong to. You could then try to put it in the public for sale area on here. Bring a Trailer is great as well, a friend has bought 2 cars on there, both solid transactions. PCA.org classified is great as well along with your local chapter. Best of luck with the sale.
