Thoughts on buying a 911 sight unseen... and living to tell about it. (way long)

[LeeH]

I've been "between Porsches" for almost three years. During that time my wife and I conceived and hatched a (usually) darling girl who's taken much of our time. With our daughter approaching two and the jolt of 9/11, my wife made captain at her job as an airline pilot. The time seemed right for this full time stay at home dad to buy himself a toy.

I've looked at many cars over the past couple of years. Cars described as "excellent" or "mint" (and priced accordingly) looked more like they needed a massive restoration. I even went as far as buying an "obviously well cared for" 911 on eBay from a dealer in TX. His moneyback guarantee gave me the confidence to place the winning bid. Thankfully there was a moneyback guarantee as the car was a rat.

I widened my search to any city where I had an acquaintance. A few days post Christmas I saw an AutoTrader ad in Chicago for an '84 911 Targa in excellent condition (of course) with 83K miles. Asking price: $14,500. The owner sounded like a Porsche guy speaking of 3000 mile oil changes with Mobil 1 and how he hated to give up his baby.

The owner sent lots of photos. Hmmm. Grand Prix white, color matched wheels, factory spoilers, and sport seats... all things I really like! My friend in Chicago agreed to take a look for me. The report came back very positive. A few scratches and chips were all that he reported.

$14K was wired and the car was taken to a terminal in Chicago for transport. Nearly two agonizing weeks later we got a call from a terminal here in Phoenix. Finally!

I didn't spend a lot of time going over the car at the terminal. It didn't really matter. It was mine. I'd take a close look when I got home. The trip home was uneventful. It looked, rode, drove, and smelled like the other two 911s I had owned. The short shift kit took a bit to get used to, but the few extra horses over my SC did not.

Almost a week later, I've washed, polished, waxed, cleaned, and detailed much of the car. I feel like I did a foolish thing and came out OK. The original paint is in very nice shape. The hood and fenders will probably benefit from a some wet sanding, but everyone who's seen it thinks it lookes like new. The all leather interior suffers from a little dash and rear deck warpage, and there's a 1 inch seam coming loose on the driver's seat side bolster. Otherwise it, too, is very nice. Underneath, the car shows signs that a few of the 83K miles were in Chicago winters. Nothing major, but just a little crustiness that my last car didn't have.

But that's OK too. My SC was almost too nice and when I wasn't looking it nearly became a garage queen. The light blue metallic paint was extremely difficult to touch up. Grand prix white on the otherhand... well let's just say the $2.99 bottle of Nissan Super White is a perfect match!

Would I recommend buying a 911 without looking at it or having it checked out? NO! Not unless you have a strong stomach and are willing to accept the consequences. I got lucky. Very lucky!

[bell]

wow....congrats
it looks nice, i have a very similar 85' minus the tail and lip spoiler.



bell
85'911 targa

[old_skul]

Very nice car, Lee! What a wonderful addition to your family.

[don911]

Lee,
Congrats on the car! I too bought my car sight unseen. I had been looking for a blue 87-89 carrera for about 3 years when I saw an add in autotrader online. I wanted an 87 or newer coupe...for under $20K. Not an easy task a couple of years ago. The car was in San Diego (I'm in Seattle) but it sounded exactly like what I was looking for. I talked to the guy a couple of times during the day and that afternoon, FedEx'd a cashiers check to him. I had to go on a business trip the following day so I couldn't arrange shipping for another week. Lucky for me he was honest and the car showed up exactly as described. It had 173K when I got it and I've put $20K trouble free miles on it so far...knock on wood. I got lucky as well.

Enjoy your new toy!

[True Brit]

Whoooaaahhh, buying "sight unseen" is something I did, too, and I would NOT recommend it to anyone. I still can't believe I did it myself. I landed on my feet, fortunately, and the car's a good one, a '73 2.4E which was advertised as "entirely rust-free" and "mechanically overhauled" was, in fact, entirely rust free (just a little on the headlamp bowl rim) but not really mechanically overhauled - it's since had Carrera timing chain tensioners and new shocks all round, and smokes for a couple of seconds on startup (but don't they all do that....?).

The REALLY scary bit I heard a year later....the import agent was allegedly being investigated for fraud - taking deposits from people for cars and not passing these deposits on to the sellers (again, allegedly, I say very carefully!). Disappeared owing about £200k. I did wonder why he had changed premises twice in the year....!

[Jadams1]

I recently purchased a very clean and well maintained 1980 911SC. The car was located in North Carolina and I live in Rhode Island. I found the car on e-bay was the highest bidder but did not meet the reserve. Prior to bidding I spoke to the seller and got the details on the car and additional pics. It was uneasy about bidding on a car that have not seen and driven. After the auction ended I called up the seller and made him an offer which he accepted. I honered the terms of sales on e-bay which was to mail a cashiers check for $1000 and deliver the balance in person withing 7 business days. It was a leap of faith!

When I finally arrived at his residence I couldn't belive how nice the car was. It was by far the cleanest and nicest 911SC I looked at and I picked it up for $10,500. The car spent most of it's life in Texas and was well maintained. The seller had the maintenance history for the last 14 years. I also lucked out but would not ever buy a car like that again.

[Rick Lee]

I bought a BMW sight unseen, over the phone and it was a great move. I got 232k miles out of the original clutch and have had no major repair issues. It's still my backup car. I knew the wrench who was selling it and he's as honest and knowledgeable as the day is long. Adding to the pressure, when I went to pick it up in NJ, I could not even test drive it before we transferred the title, as there was so much snow on the ground, he was too nervous about insurance problems (only in NJ). I'd do it again in a heartbeat -- but only from Steve Vicari in Frenchtown, NJ.

[joehahn]

I bought the first car I looked at! Taking the lady's word for it regarding mechanical condition, etc. I TOTALLY lucked out. She, in fact, WAS a widow who drove car a few hundred miles a year and was meticulous (read: clueless) about getting it taken care of, for example records indicate that she would bring it to the dealer for "bad reception on the radio" etc. It does pee pee in garage a little though. Speaking of...

LEE! Clean up your garage, there is too much clutter in there! Try to be more organized!

Joe 68L

[Doug Zielke]

Jadams1...another stunningly beautiful SC. And at a price that was nearly a theft!

World Domination is near!!