What should I pay for this car? - Please talk me out of it

[khamul02]

This might not be the best place to ask this but I'm close to buying this thing and need a shot of outside opinion. I hope to eventually backdate it to a long hood in the next 2 years or so. (if I buy it)

This car is by no means a 9 our of 10 as it was advertised.

The good:
The engine and tranny are very nice.
The engine is freakishly dry. Just a touch of oil out of the sump plate which seems to be a gasket issue.
The headliner is perfect. the seats are 8 of 9
There is really only one "bad" rust spot. It's weird, My current car has more little surface rust spot underneath it that this car but my car has nothing remotely as sever as the jamb rust this car has.
Lower door jambs on both sides look great.
Has good AC
Has a real porsche turbo tail ( so I can sell it
$4000 of recent engine work.
Talked to the mechanic who did it, Said the engine is good to go (still need a leakdown test)
New suspension all around

The bad:
pass side door jamb must be replaced due to dime size rust hole at the top
Needs a passenger side front window trim piece.
Needs a new pass side knee pad (but it not too bad)
Needs new interior front carpet where heater footwell hoses are.
3 or 4 surface rust spots need dealing with
Has headers - no heat
both door seals need to be replaced
Needs a repaint (but would happen with any car I buy to backdate)
Damaged - engine lid (has to be replaced when backdated anyway)
damaged rear reflector (not needed for back date)
Hillbilly front valance mounts must be removed
Need new bumper shocks (not sure for backdate front bumper)
Need new ac switch (high speed not working)
ZERO documentation

Here are some pix of the car:

[khamul02]

[khamul02]

[khamul02]

[khamul02]

[emac]

I would walk away from it. Looks like it was in a flood, and with all the cracks she looks like it took a good hit.

[DRV2FST]

I can't help you with advise but you sure did a thorough inspection and documentation job.

[khamul02]

I should walk but it is super super cheap. I don't think it has been in a flood due to where carfax says it has lived. But it did take a hit to the front but I can see any structural damage other than that baseball size dent in the nose. The inside of the engin compartment and truck are straight as a board.

If you had to pay for it what would you pay?

[TARGAJACK]

Mine was about 1/100 of what I see, and I invested 10 to 12 K on it., and it's fer to be perfect yet,

[BZ911SC]

What is "super super cheap"? If the price is that good I say buy it, the problems you have identified are not that major. Seems to be more pluses than minuses.

[OldTee]

You said you wanted to back date it so why not try to find one without so many obvious problems. Car is worth $8-10 as I see it. Also it will never be a $24K car which sounds like your goal. (That means you put 24K in it, not what you can sell it for.) Read the last excellence magazine for some guidance. If you want a car to bum around it for a few years without major expense that you can sell for what you paid for, then this is a good candidate. But your stated goal seems at odds with his example. Loads of cars out there, keep looking. Thats my opinion.

[berettafan]

"$4k of recent engine work" doesn't really fly w/ 911s. you want the 'what' and 'who'.

[rvanderpyl]

There is no such thing as only one bad rust spot on a 911 (or any car for that matter). If it has rusted through in one spot, then there is rust hiding in others. When I started taking my car apart for it's rebuild I thought I had one thing to repair, a hole in the front tub which was the only visable damage. I ended up replacing both outer sills, one inner sill, the front pan, the entire front right side of the front tub, part of the left, the entire rear parcel shelf and one of the front suspension mount points. The only reason I can see for paint to crack that way is either there are so many layers and it is so thick it can no longer flex when the car does, or the car is flexing way more then it should because of rust. The point of backdating is supposed to be to take a better body (galvanized) to build an early looking car. If you are starting with a rust bucket already, you might as well buy the real thing

[khamul02]

berettafan: 4k in Mississippi for a top end job is pretty standard.

OldTee: I really don't want to backdate to perfection but I do want a driver that I can use for 10 years or so.

BZ911SC "super super cheap" is a few grand over the price of a running engine.

[Laneco]

This car has the potential to be a money pit. Yet I would still buy it based on this:

What is a good running 3.0 worth?
What is a good useable used transaxle worth - 915 I assume?
It has fuchs - what is their used value?
What is the used value of the seats?
What is the used value of the tail?

Add that up - if that is near to what you can get the car for then buy it. Those are the easy to remove and easy to sell items. There is nothing visibly wrong that prevents it from being a driver. So drive it. If you determine there are more problems than are cost effective to repair, then part it out.

By the way, I too a 99% sure this is a flood car. CARFAX will not reveal any items that are not reported by police or insurance companies. You could push the car into a lake, fish it out a month later and CARFAX would show "clean".

angela

[khamul02]

rvanderpyl
I've done a great deal of "rust discovery" and repair on my car. I got a good feel for where this stuff is on these cars. The weird thing about this car is that those rust spots are the only spot with rust on it. I thoroughly examined the car. All of the undercoating is original and not even cracked. Even where the pan meets the body, the fold or joint, is perfect. When you look at the underside and inner wheel wells you think there can't be any rust on this car. Even the jambs look perfect except those upper sections where on one side the undercoating is starting to come off and the other with the hole

[khamul02]

For my information why do you guys think flood car? I would like some info an being able to spot them.

[petrolblue83911]

the car has been re-painted correct?- if so, I would guess that you are finding rust spots at points where bodywork was done. the spot on the top door latch may have been the result of weakened metal/seams following the front end crash.

[berettafan]

gotcha; i missed that the $4k was for a top end!

[ngc414]

What is he asking for it? Seems like a nice car to me. Im no porsche expert, but have done my share of body & paint work and I dont see any rust issues that would concern me at all. If you dont want it let me know.