500E

I'm looking at a great original 1986 951. Guards red, Black vinyl Sport seats. One owner, 40K miles, everything but radio and clock works. Full service history. It's in great condition.

I seem to recall they were $12-15K cars. Seller wants twice that!

Any help appreciated, I really don't know the market.

Thanks!

royalschwarz

There was an article in the August 2017 Excellence magazine concerning values. Here is a scan of the article: https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-...xcellence.html

With that said, prices of turbos have skyrocketed. I don't know who pays these prices but what was a $10K car 5 years ago is now a $20K car. If I had known then what I know now, I would have bought up all the $4-5K turbos I came across in the past 10 years and been selling them now. YMMV.

black944 turbo

To get a good idea of what a good 951 is going for these days, look at bring a trailer. They are bringing high teens for nice higher mileage examples. With that low of mileage, the low 20s seems about right.

mrgreenjeans

First alert:

I have NEVER seen a U.S. / Canadian / or North American 944 or 951 with vinyl seats ever. Vinyl Sport Seats ? Not too likely......

They may have been available in other markets, but Europeans tended to favor cloth and vinyl interiors.

Second,

'86 turbos seem to be the highest volume produced and are the 217 horsepower cars. As the cars declined in volume thru the years they also climbed steeply in retail dollars. Most likely the retail market pricing had a lot to do with those volume numbers.

The highest powered 951s are the '88.2 and '89/90 cars of which only about 150 were sold in that final year. By far the most potent and the most desired are these last M030 optioned 247 hp cars. They had it all and were easily the fastest Porsche in most circles. Only the 928 with the V8 was more potent on top end, but it was also nearly twice the price of the four cylinder water cooler. And it weighed a bunch more as well.
These are the cars that everyone wants and are driving the 951 market to where it is today. In '89, only around 1400 cars were sent to North America and ran around the high 40s, low 50s in 1989 dollars. They are short in supply today, high in demand, and some values have gone off the chart.
Formidable cars to own. They handle. Brake. Run hard down the open road. Nothing like them will ever be seen again from Porsche. I totally understand the desire. I have also turned down very high numbers for my low mile '89. When it's time to say goodbye, the car will be offered back to the friend I bought it from a half dozen years ago. But, no plans in the near future for that... I'm having too much fun with it.

BEST wishes with the pursuit of your turbo. They can be a high maint. car if the previous owner didn't care for it diligently. Pay the amount for the BEST car you can afford because it will take a good amount of funds to repair anything that's been neglected or abused. And you will end up with a still 'crappy' car lacking in many items bringing it to perfection, if you cheap out and buy any thing second rate. These are not the model to scrimp on when paying up front.

Buy the BEST and you will have no regrets

500E

My mistake. I should have been more precise.....the window sticker said "Leatherette & cloth Sport Seats". My intention was to point out it didn't have a leather interior.

MAGK944

black944 turbo

Agreed, and as for the 1986, they offer several unique items as well. I would not be so quick to criticize the 1986 models. I for one prefer my car and enjoy the fact that I am able to have Fuchs, no airbags, and a lighter over all car.

i would love an 1988s or an 1989, but don't see spending the extra money on one.

As for vinyl, they all came standard with vinyl backs and could have cloth or leather on the face.

Please double check prices on bring a trailer and you will see several ho hum and nice examples that have reached the mid teens with mileage similar to my car, that is around 120k.

odonnell

Damn. I'm feeling better about my 951 after reading these comments. $2500 with a mint 968 interior and an engine fire at 156k. Engine is out, first guy with $50k gets it

Shangsta

I used this graph from bat to gauge 951 prices when i bought mine. The nice thing is you can click on all the different points on the graph and see pictures and commentary on the cars. It is very useful in seeing what 951 buyers are looking for in cars.

​​​​​​https://bringatrailer.com/porsche/944-turbo/

thf944

Here's an '89 for sale in Colorado. Seems very nice and low mileage. Not cheap though!

https://cosprings.craigslist.org/ctd...408225155.html

screamin94Z

You recall correctly, but those days are gone. The P-car collector market has spoken and they want good clean 951's and are willing to pay well over $20k for them.

If you can afford it, buy it now! This is not a bubble, they will continue to rise. An '86 in guards red with Fuchs is the perfect combo.

aglaes

Seems like I sold my '87 (70k) a couple years too soon, or I should have just kept it. Got $13,900 for it a year and a half ago. Miss that little car.

jderimig

120K or so miles clean 951's are going for ~$10K in Ohio.

black944 turbo

Please send me a link to a clean 951 with proper maintenance and 120k for $10k. I would love to see them. I have not seen a really nice 951 for that kind of money in a while. You can buy a so so car with nice maintenance records for $10k, but not a super nice one, at least not in this area.

jderimig

I didn't say they were super nice or real nice but clean decent shape drivers are available for $10K here. Search craigslist Cleveland there will be a few.

Here's one in Bath (where Lebron James has a house) for $8900. Doesn't look to bad. About 45min from my house...

https://cleveland.craigslist.org/cto...401790220.html