Barn Find - Need help pricing

[kevjandon]

Found a 1985 911 with 7000 original miles on it.

Car has been sitting for at least 10 years in a garage.

Has 3 or 4 storage nicks, nothing major. Inside is great and so is the outside.

Just needs a major cleaning all around.

All the clad parts look brand new.

All 4 tires are flat, no battery.

Didn't smell like there was any gas in the tank.

Its guards read with black interior. F/R spoilers. Aftermaket wheel and shifter with a clifford keypad alarm. Chrome Fuchs and Carrara decals in black on the sides.

No books, no tool kit, no records although this is being offerd by the original owner. I think the keys are missing too.

He does have a clear title though.

Looking for opinions on price and potenital bad new that could exist. I think he's asked some folks for what they think it's worth and I feel the price is way to high considering the skeletons that may exist.

What do you all think?

****UPDATE****
Went back today.

The Good.
This time he had the books (owners manual, clifford alarm book, bra cover install instructions, maint. book, etc..) along with recieipts. The book had been dealer stamped 3 times. Last one in 1988 at 6,xxx miles. The stamps matched the receipts that were present. The original window sticker was present too. Vin# match on window sticker, VIN plate, maint. book and title. Pulled the dipstick on the oil and it looked clean. Jacked the car up and it looked like it might have went off road sometime in the past. Both front tow hooks were bent and one or two dents in the floor pan. Nothing leaking from the bottom.

The bad.
Noticed a few more storage dents. Minor, but present. The title is the orignial title. There was a lein holder, but according to the original loan document that was in the pile, the loan was for $20.00. There is a signature that released the loan in 1988. The title is a california Pink title. The lisc. Plate # matches the number on the plate of the car. The plate has no registration stickers on it though. The guy who currently has possession signed the back in 2005. The original owner is stated as a Enterprise. There are four signatures under that Enterprise Name. Still no keys. Noticed the rims had porshce wheel locks too, again no keys to get them off.

Sort of a PPI
The local Porsche Shop owner went by to look at the car for himself. Not a full PPI but a good look. We talked and both agree on the issues that could be present. Nothing 4 to 10K wouldn't clear up. We both feel the big issue will be the title at the DMV. Upon looking we both think the mileage is accurate although some items suggest

The big issue.
The last signature on the title, never took the title to the DMV and had the title offically transferred. Additionally, there is no bill of sale from the transfer in 2005. Since the car has an out of state title, the DMV will want to do a VIN inspection in person too. Slightly challenging on a car that doesn't drive.

The Vin # is: WPOABO91XFS121948 for those that might be able to help with a title search.

[k9handler]

need pics and even then it's tough to guess...I would say no more than $8k - $10k but someone may pay more.

[Zeke]

No records or books and no tools, does this sound right? I think skepticism alone would reduce the price to 4 figures.

[Neilk]

Does the "owner" have a title for the car? Seems kind of odd to abandon such a car. Stolen?
Oops, reread the original post and saw that the original owner has title. I would try carfax first to make sure nothing fishy happened with the car.

Perhaps they bent some valves with a mis-shift and parked the car rather than repair it. I wouldn't pay more that 5k. Too many unknowns.

[rfuerst911sc]

PPI.........PPI........PPI....... before you make an offer.

[unimog406]

see above
especially with a car like this

[MattAlpha]

So all tires are flat, then I would assume that the Fuchs are most likely bent.

Aside from that I would expect to have the following maintenance completely immediately:

Fuel system flush
Brake system re-build (with a minimum of new pads, new soft lines and flush)
-If the system is dry then the M/C and calipers probably are trash too.
New battery
New tires
New wheels
New suspension bushings
Alignment
Corner Balance
Transmission fluid change
-potentially a re-build if its seized along with a clutch)
Engine tune-up
-potentially a complete re-build)

*You can get new OEM keys from the dealership using the car's VIN, they'll order them from Germany (takes a few weeks).

Would I do it, Yes if I could get the car for around $6-8k and I had the time to do the work myself.

-Matt

[the]

"It guards read with black interior. F/R spoilers. Aftermaket wheel and shifter with a clifford keypad alarm. Chrome Fuchs and Carrara decals in black on the sides.

No books, no tool kit, no records although this is being offerd by the original owner. I think the keys are missing too."

I'd be very suspicious about the mileage.

Original owner. Has driven the car 7000 miles in 23 years. Yet, has no books. No tool kit. No records at all.

And in those 7000 miles, he had carrera stripes put on it, changed out the wheel and shifter, had the wheels chromed. And even though he never used the car, he had an alarm put on it.

Just doesn't really add up.

That being said, if you can get it at a good price, take off all the aftermarket stuff and put it back to 100% bone stock, and the mileage can be passed off as legit, you could flip it for a good profit. Although most people paying top dollar for a 7,000 mile car are going to want to see books and records.

[M.D. Holloway]

if its too good to be true...

[Fidalgo911S]

There's a guy in the Marketplace forum discussing a 4K mile 911SC. Very fishy also. Maybe you two have the same sellers.

[IROC]

Originally Posted by MattAlpha

Engine tune-up
-potentially a complete re-build)

Yeah, a complete rebuild is a very real possibility. I looked at a car like this back around 1992 or so. It was an '83 SC that had about 20k miles on it, but had sat for about 7 years. I ended up passing on the car as it ran horribly and the price seemed a little high. It looked pristine, though.

Fast forward a few months and I was hanging out at a pcar mechanic's shop and I see that same car sitting in the corner with it's rear end up in the air. When I asked about it I found out that the engine was out for a total rebuild. It had something like 7 or 8 broken head studs (evidently as a result of corrosion from sitting so long). The brakes were completely shot along with alot of other problems.

These cars need to be driven on a regular basis. I have always been wary of anything will really low miles.

[kevjandon]

See update at top.

[hoosierdaddy]

The guy who currently has possession signed the back in 2005. The original owner is stated as a Enterprise.

So your not really looking at a one owner car . Seems to me the current owner should know more about the car . Buy it real cheap .

[Grady Clay]

kevjandon,

The difficulty here is economic. Eventually you may have 1.5X+ in a car worth 1.0. If it is truly 7K and you perform all the operations to eventually have a perfect running 10K SC, what is it worth? “Worth” has several meanings. It may be the enjoyment you have in the process. It may be your eventual enjoyment driving and owning. Low on the list is the financial aspect for resale (unlikely to make money in the short term) but is still important to consider.

There is good & bad and risks & rewards about this. If you approach the situation correctly (as it seams you are), you will be protected and may come out great with a very satisfying experience

I recommend you contract to buy the car at a price you are comfortable with. Just like a real estate “receipt & option” contract, you can define the conditions if the seller agrees. That allows you to do testing, PPI, title searching, etc. without fear that the seller will “sell it out from under you.” You should expect to pay a slight premium for this privilege. You should be prepared to walk away after some (significant?) expenditure.


Here is an important thread where we all discussed these issues:
the buying process
and came up with some outline. There are many threads that expanded these thoughts.

I am not an attorney and this is not legal advice.

Best,
Grady