MrSlacker

Found another Targa 4, but not an S with very high miles.. but price is actually attractive! Thinking to go check it out tomorrow:
http://www.wilkielexus.com/VehicleDe...-PA/2971796503

pfbz

Well damn.

Car was very clean inside, pretty clean outside, drove great, low miles, no squeeks or rattles... And rare as hens teeth.

But there were some signs of some pretty shoddy body & paint work on that drivers rear side. Bad masking and overspray. Can't tell if this was the original accident repair 33,000 miles ago or some really bad carmax reconditioning. Damn. Really liked the car. Accident damage is a semi deal-breaker, but accident damage poorly repaired is a complete deal breaker.

As a side note, the wheels had curb rash, not that uncommon, but Carmax's attempt to 'repair' them was really pathetic. It is crap like this that makes me take pause about buying a Porsche from them. I know some have gotten nice cars at good prices from them, but I've looked at several, and besides the general condition of the car, some of carmax's reconditioning and the general state they keep the cars on their lot in is a definite turn-off.

Looks like some monkey tried to fix up the wheels with a rattle can and just left overspray on the tires. Not that big of a deal to fix but really???

DC911S

I doubt many people would even notice that curb rash repair. Carmax does not do extensive detailing or reconditioning. Overspray and other things can be detailed out by a good shop. Better wheel repair and a good detail should run under 1K. Given that its a pretty rare car you are still ahead.

Doug H

I personally would still steer clear of Carmax for cars like a 911. The auction market is insane at the present. Decent, not good or great, cars are rolling through at dang near retail. Dealers are holding on tight to any decent trades as that is the only way they can presently make any front-end money. There is a reason why cars like a 911 ends up on the blocks or at a Carmax. I know of many high end brokers, smaller high end dealerships and larger dealer companies such as Sonic are having a heck of a time getting decent inventory and have been basically unable to get anything through auction. Auction prices are too high right now for anything decent so they will not let a decent trade drive over the Carmax or send a decent car to auction.

My wife and I also buy and flip (buy, slap a dealer tag on, drive it for 30 or 45 days while up for sale) interesting high end stuff we can pull from auction or wholesale market and we have been sitting on the side lines for a couple of months now.

Car Fax and Autocheck don't cut it anymore if you are serious about getting a decent car for yourself. I had friend pull a 2016 Mercedes for another friend and not only did the price suck, the clean car fax car showed up Monday with a replaced bumper and a fender that had been adjusted.

The number of clean car fax and autocheck cars rolling through auction these days with issues and ending up at crap high volume lots blows me away, but that is what you will likely get, a crap car, if you try to bottom feed to save a few $$$ and go for the cheapest thing advertised from low end or high volume places.

IMO, that silver car above is a joke and I would not touch it. Heck, I would be leery of it even if it was just going to be relegated to track car.

Doug H

The some haven't gotten nice cars could be a whole lot of people that simply don't have a clue what too look for. Many buying repainted and previously wrecked cars and drive them for years without having a clue until they take it to trade later on down the road.

If you are in Nashville, I would talk to Arde and steer clear of crap places. Awesome guy that deals in clean, good cars. He or Music City Motorcars and the Porsche dealership, but both have low used inventory options right now. Sonic, Porsche dealership here, has a large network to pull from though.

DC911S

Thats because you want to flip it and make money, compared to a person that does not. Sounds like a bit of reconditioning it would be fine for a driver, but not a flipper.

Doug H

??? I am not talking from a flipping perspective. I am talking ownership perspective after having owned well over 20 911s as personal vehicles registered to me, most of which used as daily drivers.

I flip very high end stuff that is very niche market and rarely touch a Porsche out of warranty unless it is a rarer or speciality item. Candidly, a car like that silver car would only be good for a flip to someone that is a bottom feeder or not real knowledgeable . . . Hence Car Max having it and trying get $45k for a wrecked car.

Getting auction cars like Porsches and BMWs out of warranty can cost you $$$ (as people tend to trade when crap is about to happen and those get sent off to auction) and arbitration can be PIA. I only focus on cars that will make a nice keeper for someone who is willing to pay $$$s for a great car that is a keeper.

MrSlacker

Called them today and someone already left a deposit on it.

Derek Zoolander

I bet it will be more than $3k. They quoted me like $3800 and up with 53k on my 2008.

Abe Froman

Do you go to Cars N Coffee? May have asked already. Sounds like you know your stuff - hopefully you can assist when the time comes for a 997.2

Doug H

We are somewhat new to Nashville. I have yet to go here and usually am tied up on Saturday mornings. My wife has been and goes periodically. She also just started as finance manager at Music City Motorcars and I believe they take a few Rolls, Bentleys or Aston Martins there occasionally. They just opened their new location and trying desperately to get used inventory including Porsches, but the auction market is way overpriced and the cars are generally not good right now. The worst it has been in years.

MrSlacker

Just to give you guys an idea whats going on with prices at wholesale auctions - they are insane! Add about $400 of auction fees to each of the price that I list to get "out the door" price. All cars are manual trans

06 C4S Cab 52K miles, $115 MSRP - $40,000
08 C4S Coupe 59K miles, $98 MSRP - $40,250
07 C4S Coupe 55K miles, $96K MSRP - $41,000 (this car was sold at different auction two weeks ago for $37,250 and then they brought it to more popular auction for a quick flip, really regretting not buying it for $37250)
07 C2S Coupe 36K miles $92K MSRP - $34,200 (rough condition)
06 C4S Coupe 42K miles $95K MSRP - $40,600
06 C4S Coupe 79K miles $95K MSRP - $33,900 (was bidding for this one, but just too many miles and had ugly grey interior)
07 Base Coupe 76K miles $N/A MSRP - $30,500

Wasserkühlung

agreed. 997 prices are insane. Very low inventory available is driving up prices

Doug H

Its not just 997s. Mercedes, Audi, BMWs and etc. Dealers are selling certified cars they received coming off lease or received on trade cheaper than crappy auction cars are being listed by used car lots that have no front end profit. It's a blood bath right now and everyone is just trying to weather it now through back end profit.

DC911S

There are plenty of used 991.1's to pick from!