Onami

I know some of you enjoyed my adventures with trying to buy the 993 in Florida, so i thought I'd start a thread on my current target.

This was actually the first cab that i tried to buy. Saw an ad on the PCA mart just before Christmas and reached out o the seller. He said that he was helping a friend sell his car because he was in his 80's and didn't want to bother with people coming to his place. He had the car at his house about an hour away from the owner's home. We spoke on the phone and then exchanged a few emails. I noticed that his email was from a business and when I searched it I found that it was a used car dealership. I asked him on the phone if he was a dealer and he said no. I mentioned his email and that the business was registered in CO. as a dealership and he admitted that he owned a dealership but said that he was just brokering this for a fee. Ok, first sign that he was scum.

He couldn't answer many of my questions so i asked to speak to the owner directly. Nice guy. We talked back and forth for a few days and came to an agreement on a price conditional on a favorable ppi and paint meter check. The local dealer would not paint meter the car, so i found a generous 993 Rennlister about an hour away and hired him to meter the car and give it a once over (he offered to do it for free, but i declined). I bought a cheap paint meter on Amazon US and had it sent to him. He went and saw the car, confirmed that it was 100% original paint and listened to it run in the broker's garage. He gave it a thumbs up, so I called the broker to tell him that all was good and that I would arrange for a PPI as agreed upon. He lost his Shi? Started yelling at me and saying that he would never sell a car to someone like me. WTF? I hung up an moved on. To this day I have no idea why he went nuts. All I can think of is that he thought that my friend's visit consituted a ppi? However, I was clear with the owner of the car that these were 2 separate events. I moved on (out US$300) and found the Florida car.

A few days ago, the seller emails: "Should you still be interested, please respond." At first I didn't even know who it was. I reached out and said that I was surprised to hear from him as I was told that he and the broker would never sell a car to someone like me. I asked that he please explain what transpired. He replied with a lengthy apology and said that the experience trying to sell the 993 through the broker was a "disaster". Part of me wanted to tell him to pound sand, but I could hear that "Don't cut your nose off, to spite your face" saying in my mind, so I decided to suck it up.

After he took the car back home, he had it fully serviced to the tune of US$3,500, so he sent me the invoice to see. We talked back and forth and he mentioned a number of times that he was open to a PPI. I checked in with my 993 buddy in the area again and it turns out that the two of them live 7.3 miles apart! So, once the roads dry, he is going to go pick the car up and bring it back to his house. He'll get it up on his lift and give it a good inspection. If all goes well...as we both suspect it will, I'll pull the trigger on this one. For the record, I have already gone over all of the info I need to import the car to Canada and the seller is OK with the process.

It's a 2 owner 1997 C2 Cab that the current owner bought when it was 9 months old. He owned 356's and Ferrari's as well, so this was always a toy for him and his wife to use on PCA drives. Arctic Silver on Classic Grey with a Grey roof. Manual with 29,000 miles, motorsound, 18 inch hollow spokes, power seat left, coloured wheel crests, Hi-Fi sound, CDR-210, carbon fiber shifter, dash and door panels, stainless steel door sills.

2 interesting things that I am still researching. This is exactly how the car was equipped when the current owner bought it in 1998. The gauge faces are silver aftermarket and the e-brake is aluminum only, but the option sticker calls for aluminum and carbon fiber???

Onami

uniquenamehere

I'm sure we can all relate to what a frustrating experience selling cars can be. Good luck on this one Mark, it's nicely spec'd! I've got a good deal of those options on mine. Except that carbon trim... if you ever want to get rid of that, I guess I'd take it off your hands

Onami

Thanks David. I love the options on this one. I can understand why people didn’t buy carbon fiber and hollow spoke wheels very often back then. Base price of the car (US $) was $73,000. The wheels were $3,229, dash and door cf almost $3,000 and the shifter, e-brake, metal door sills and floor Mats $1,372 (all considered exclusive options). Total was $81,709 with frt. This one is in much nicer condition than the blue one - doesn’t need paint correction or new stone guards and the seat bolsters show virtually no wear. Also, all records and properly serviced including the 30k mile service a few years ago. Just passed an inspection and got new engine and tranny oils. Brake and clutch flush. 4 new frunk/deck lid struts. Another plus on this one is that the paint is a little thicker which is good for future paint correction. Some panels on the blue car were 3.5 mils. The silver car min is 4.5.

Your car sounds nicely optioned…looking forward to seeing it in the Spring.

Matt Lane

Looking at the gauge faces, are you sure they are aftermarket?

My 993 was delivered with the silver gauges, e/brake, and shifter options as in the picture here. Not sure is they were sold as individual options or as a combo.

Nice looking, hoping it all works out

Onami

Thanks. Yes, I’m sure. Factory gauge faces have “VDO” printed in them at the bottom. Also, they have cut outs for the idiot lights. The idiot lights just shine through the aftermarket faces. I believe these ones are made by the OEM manufacturer based on my research. If I get the car, I’ll find a set of black faces and just keep them with the car.

Matt Lane

Good stuff. Yeah, when I bought my 993 I was actually disappointed to not have just regular black gauges.

I have to say the aluminum faces did grow on my though, and it 'works' in conjunction with the shifter and e-brake. They do feel 'quality' in a sense.

Cheers

Matt

Onami

I’ve decided to pass due to signs of winter driving underneath. The car was driven almost 18,000 miles during the first 9 months from new and went just 10,000 miles during the next 26 years. It appears to have been winter driven extensively during, at least, that first winter. For the price, I’ll wait for another southern car.

CamsPorsche

Other than the underside this car looked very very clean. To me, its becoming harder to find amazing condition 993s unless Arizona or California cars to be honest or anywhere that is a warmer climate. I'm seeing the same in NSX land as all these 90s cars are now 26-33 years old and becoming vintage really...

Onami

Agree Cam. All of my cars have been southern cars or cars not driven in the winter and the difference underneath is quite shocking. Don't get me wrong, the car is very, very nice. However, it's the same price as one without any winter driving issues and, price aside, I'd rather have one with no corrosion. If you check out 993s on BAT with underside pics, you can easily spot the southern beauties!

SToronto

Was this one of the ones you were looking at?

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...-cabriolet-68/

Onami

Yep...that is the one that I was concerned about removing the stone guards on. Looks like I was right! He tried and had to have both quarter panels repainted. He failed to mention in is ad that the Carrera emblem is crazy glued to the rear deck lid Nice of him to post the PPI that I paid for...

SToronto

I recognize one of the bidders names from here. Perhaps same @HelpMeHelpU

Onami

Yes, he bids on lots of 993's, but I think that he just owns one.

Bud Fox

I've met Doug in-person and he is a standup guy