Sales Strategy -- How much, if any, to fix?
 

Looking for advice. How much, if any, to fix?

I am thinking of selling my '69 S to buy a newer Porsche, and I am wondering how much, if any, to fix it up in order to get the best return.

I've owned it for 12 years. It is original, numbers match, California car, 135K miles, white, targa, CD player, compression is near 100%, throttle bodies and MFI rebuilt and solid, runs great, no rust visible except the bottoms of the doors are rusted through. Very attractive car -- people always comment on its looks.

Here are the problems:

Doors are bad -- they would make a buyer concerned that other rust might be hiding. In fact, it's not uncommon for doors to be horrible and the rest of the car OK. Probably a $1,500 repair.

Windshield has a small star on passenger side.

Dash has a crack starting through the speaker holes.

Few oil leaks -- not life threatening, but messy. Quoted around $1,300 to fix by someone I trust.

Headliner needs replacing but top is not bad otherwise.

My analysis is that the target buyer would probably be one of the following. (1) A restorer, in which case all money spent now is wasted, right? Or, (2) A hobbyist looking for a T or E and deciding to overlook a few projects in order to step up to an S.

My goal is $10,000 net from the sale.

What projects would improve the return, in your opinion?

Sorry, but just can't resist this:D Suggestion is to run a pic of a near perfect car, advertise on Ebay...seems to be working for the guy trying to sell Jack's Jaguar!;) Frankly, $10K may be a bit much to hope for, a car in this condition...even a numbers maching S Targa.

Hey, do you have any pictures? It appears like your car is just a few grand from being a really nice car. Any engine work? Any rust except on the doors (near targa top, around rear window, etc)?

The Porsche Market Report from the April 1996 issue of Excellence lists 122 1969 911S Targas being imported to the U.S. which makes them pretty rare. The NADA price guide has $10,050 as the low retail value. If you want to net $10k advertise it as is for $12,500 and see what happens. You can then determine if there are any sticking points with the buyers and repair those areas. You just might get lucky and sell it as is.

Jeff
89 930

Thanks for the thoughts guys. The same things that have kept me for selling for the last 12 years will probably keep me from selling for another 12.

I know what the problems are on this car. I might fix a few. A few grand of misc restorations still leaves 6 grand for an RS rebuild. With my car (plus 10 grand) I'll end up with a rather fast car that has its problems fixed. I'm headed that direction rather than spending 20K on a some newer car and inheriting a whole bunch of new unknowns and restorations.

FWIW, no rust anywhere I can see. Pan is good. Battery area is good. No rust around windows. No rust visible anywhere except the doors.

One specialty Porsche body shop (Bodystyle in San Jose) a few years back told me that rust like on my car comes from the rubber on the tops of the doors shrinking and letting crud fall into the doors. The drain holes in the early doors are very small, so they would plug and water would fail to drain from the doors. So, it was a pretty common occurence to have rusty doors and pretty solid everywhere else.

I would say keep it fix it or not you know exactly what you have if you've owned it for twelve years. If you want to see it go to a good home, which I think every early 911S should, then fix some of the things IE) door rust. what about other rust on the car? As for oil leaks what is leaking? other cosmetic things like dash boards and alike are mickey mouse we know its not a concours car so they are character lines. Just have a look at the classified section of the early 911s regestery for indicative pricing. I would keep it personally but mine is new so I'm still in love.:D

Whether you fix the car up or not depends on who you want to sell it to. Someone looking for a project car to restore is not going to want to pay $10,000 for it - most restos go all the way, and the cost would easily double to get the car up to that level, and that's not even talking concourse level. They'd want to paint it properly, redo the wheels, interior, and likely the engine.

I also think it's a bit much for a "driver." For that much plus the work that you cited, someone looking for a weekend driver could get something without as exalted a history but that is nicer to be seen in. I'd think you could get $7000 for it with no problem, and it'd go to a good home. To get ten grand for it, I'd fix the problems with the car and keep it another year to enjoy the benefits. You could comfortably ask that for it if you still want to upgrade.

Just my opinion,
Emanuel