What is it worth?

[djnolan]

I was looking at a 86 944 N/A today with sport seats, 16" Fuchs, - a cosmetically perfect guards red car with 120k on the clock. No cracks or rips in the seats or dash, no dents and no fade to the paint. It does need a little mechanical work, front engine/belts/wp work for sure and very likely a clutch. What would you offer for it? What would it sell for with the engine and clutch work done?

[Chunkerz]

What are the compression/leak down numbers? What condition are the brakes/tires in? Any vital fluids replaced recently? In its current state without knowing more about the engine, brakes, etc I wouldn't pay more than $4000. Taking care of those things can cost up to $1500 if you do the work yourself. Possibly 2-3 times that if the engine needs a full rebuild. If it has excellent compression/leak down numbers and those things taken care of then I'd say it's a $4500-5000 car.

[djnolan]

Would it be wise to do a compression test w/o changing the belt first?

[mikepellegrini]

If it truly needs a clutch (and is non-drivable) I'd say that knocks the price down to maybe $1,000-2,000. Basically, it'd be a good looking parts car.

If it runs and drives okay and the PO just "thinks" for some reason, it needs a clutch, then like the others said, maybe $4,000-5,000 depending on what everything looks like.

Front engine service with a clutch job thrown in, and you're looking at maybe $3,000 or more in repairs to make it drivable (assuming you took it to a garage). Just parts by themselves would be close to $1,000.

I'd start with an offer of $1,000. If you could get it at that price and do the work yourself, you could possibly flip it and actually make some bucks. I'm always looking for deals like that...

[Chunkerz]

Do you know how many miles are on the current belts? Does the car come with any service history? If the belts were recently replaced then it would be ok. You can do a leak down test without changing the belts.

Looks can be deceiving. A clean car can have hidden demons that are just waiting to pounce on you.

[mikepellegrini]

Originally Posted by djnolan

Would it be wise to do a compression test w/o changing the belt first?

Depends how long it sat. If the belts are reasonably recent, I'd take a look at them and unless there's an obvious problem, you're probably okay.