Update to my 911 3.2 Purchase

[Starion1974]

So I have spent the past few days comparing 2 911's. The 1st one is an '86 with 33k original miles and the other is a '89 at a dealer. The '86 is in brand new condition and flawless, but lacks the g50 trans. When I drove the car, I struggled to find 3rd gear for the 1st few miles. I offered the owner $24k and he will not take a penny less than $27k. The second car that I looked at today is an '89 anniversary car with 58k on it for $27,000. The owner of the dlr was very upfront and told me that the hood and rear qtr have been repainted. The car drove great and shifted much easier than the '86.

I am in a quandary on which direction to go. I may just wait until another car comes along.

Any feedback.

[porschenut]

Sounds to me like both are overpriced, but if I had to take one I'd lean toward the '89.

[Zeke]

Way overpriced. Although anyone with a 33K mile car can afford to wait it out. There are some really anal guys that will spring for something like that. You just have to wait until the right person comes along.

The basic premise of all successful high priced sales.

Don't worry about the G 50. A 915 is a good tranny if the linkage is spot on.

[Nine17]

I don't think that either car is overpriced. Just buy the G50 and don't look back...

[efhughes3]

The 915 tranny is just fine, when it is right, and isn't hard to do. $25 worth of bushings and 30 minutes dialing in the rear coupler.

[Paul K]

Originally Posted by porschenut

Sounds to me like both are overpriced, but if I had to take one I'd lean toward the '89.

+1.

For reference; and remember, prices have gone down since this sale...

FS: '89 Silver anniversary coupe

Cheers,

Paul.

[Hugh R]

Originally Posted by efhughes3

The 915 tranny is just fine, when it is right, and isn't hard to do. $25 worth of bushings and 30 minutes dialing in the rear coupler.

+1 easy to do and makes a big, big difference. I think the 915 is about 20% of the cost of a G50, but never having driven a G50 I can't comment. A buddy of mine rebuilt his 915 and boy, you can slam that thing into any gear without balking or notching.

[1986911]

My 86 is basically like the one you are considering. I have every record from day one. I have all books\dealer stamped and manuals. It had 43k miles when I bought it last year. I have not had any issues with it at all. I put 300 flawless miles on it today. In my case older was better.

With 27k at stake consider having PPI's done on both and use the results to bargain down the price. Maybe it will discover a potential deal breaker. Pay specific attention to the leak down #'s for the 86. I have heard many a story of odometers being disconnected, yielding ultra low mileage cars.

I have not driven a g50 so I cannot help you there. I can say that my 915 with its new bushings shifts great.

Tough call.

[Mr.Puff]

I got my '84 Targa for $10k in 2007... a lot more miles though.

[rw229]

I've owned both 915 and g50 cars (two of each) and can honestly say the difference is minor provided the 915 is in good shape. That said, it seems that the reputation of the g50 holds some weight in the market, will probably continue to do so in the future and could be valuable from a resale perspective. BTW... they're both over priced in this market. IMHO 25k should buy you a damn nice car.

[Spede]

For that much coin, I'd consider a 993. But I think they're cheaper in Cali.

[Starion1974]

Here are both cars:

http://www.holtmotorsports.com/inventory/1989-Porsche-911-Carrera-3.2-Anniversary/120970

http://paul-miller.porschedealer.com/1986/Porsche/911/Parsippany/NJ/Red/red/492077/info.php

[89911]

A couple things I"m reading. You should stick to a G50, since it sounds like you want one. If not, you will always be thinking you should of got one. Other cars will come up that will seem like better deals, but it is a different model. 87-89 G50 911's, to me, are seperate 911's, like SC's and Carrera's. I would not be concerned about prior paintwork if done correctly. These are not show cars. My hood needs repainted from heavy track use, that doesn't mean there is anything wrong with it. I don't like the light colored interior on the 89 car. Just my opinion. It's going to be harder and harder to find perfect examples of these cars for the price (unless you go to sloan cars), so some flexibility may be needed. Keep looking in Panorama to start.

[Porsche_monkey]

You won't get a 'deal' at a places like that.

Look here on the used car classifieds, or your local PCA sector, or go to a dealer nd be prepared to pay a premium.

[Jascha]

That explains the price...

Holt sells premium p-cars at equally premium prices (I send byers his way nonetheless)

The Paul Miller p-cars was For Sale by owner's son (?) here and received a cold-welcome on the price at the time...

+1 on buying a 993 (I sold mine and regret it now) for the coins expanded...

In short, looks like you can't go wrong (money not being the object)

[gregwils]

I think some of your decision should be a function of your ownership interest. If you were going to modify and track them, I wouldn't consider either. If you want to keep them relatively low mileage and more original, the '89 anniversary w/G50 may be the better choice. The '86 will nose dive in price unless you keep it very low mileage. If you struggled with the shifting, the G50 may solve that issue, plus they are super durable boxes.

The light colored interior wouldn't be my favorite choice, but that wouldn't deter me from making the purchase. If you are asking for opinions, I would vote for the '89, and that comes from the owner of an '86.

PS - I don't think the '89 is a bad price, considering it is a anniversary edition and the last year of the 911. The only way that car would go much below say 25k would be if it was a very distressed sale. There may not be much short-term upside, but a nice car over the long term. However, at $27k, I would make sure it was perfect and the reason the reason for the paint is not body damage, particularly the rear quarter.

[plymouthcolt]

Why do you want to pay a high premium for low miles. Are you going to store the car and never drive it? If not you are just throwing your money away as the miles increase.

And why does the red car have phone dials?

[barndoor]

that Red car is UGLY.
nothing a set wheels,euro headlights and a lowering couldn't fix though.....

[efhughes3]

Originally Posted by 89911

You should stick to a G50, since it sounds like you want one. If not, you will always be thinking you should of got one.

I don't agree with that at all; it is a very subjective statement. He simply made the comment that the one car was hard to shift. That tells me it is screwed up. There is too much erroneous info floating around about the 915's being a "bad" gearbox, which they aren't. There are a lot of them (majority?) that need to have the quick and cheap renovation.

How many races did Porsche win with the lowly 915? How many 10's of thousands of these horrible gearboxes were produced before they came to their senses and realized what a mistake they'd made.

[wildcat077]

Personally i would go for the 89 Carrera just for the sake that it has all the upgrades...

I picked mine up a few months ago for $23,000 Canadian as i knew the previous owner
and it came with all the maintenance records from when the car was new !
He was asking 28 thousand last year and he finally decided to sell this year.
The car needed four shocks,the axle boots were torn and the A/C needed major servicing,all things that the local dealer was charging him over $6000.00 dollars to repair.
Did all the work myself,minus the A/C which i will never use anyways for less than 1000.

Remember it's a 20 year old car and they are rarely perfect at this stage !

As for the 86,you will need to purchase some original Fuchs wheels which will easily cost
you an extra $1500. dollars as phone dials don't suit 911's, i mean not at all ...
If you like either car,forget about the price and go for it,otherwise it will end up in someone else's driveway !