Sell as Project Car or Driver?

[Jrboulder]

I have a 912E that I've owned for 5.5 years and I've been thinking about selling it. I bought it off the lot of a Porsche dismantler when I was 19.

It's a project car. The engine is freshly rebuilt with new cylinder heads and probably the freshest FI system on any 912E in the world, it's CoA matching numbers, GP white and black vinyl.

However, the engine needs some odds and ends taken care of, the suspension is pretty worn out, the seats should be recovered, the door panels need replacing, the tires are almost 6 years old, etc.

Generally, if I were to sell it as a driver it would get a front suspension rebuild, new battery, maybe new tires, new bilsteins all around, brakes gone through, doors keyed to the ignition, seats recovered, new door panels, finish up the engine project and get it smog tested.

I guess the main reasons I'd put the work in are (1) finish my damn project (2) see if I want to keep it once it's a driver (3) hopefully raise the sale price above the cost of the work+what I would have taken (4) hopefully give the car a better future and not just wind up as someone else's stalled project/parts car.

The obvious downside to doing all the work could be that the skinny side of 20s price I'd want would be too close to the bottom of the barrel 911s and I'd get no interest.

[SalParadise]

Save your time, and if you have a hankering to move on, move on. Sell it as-is. You may get more than you think the way it is. You always lose monetarily and especially time wise to get something "to the way you want it, only to sell to someone else." I always had the problem of fixing everything I ever had in the hopes I could recoup more money - but being my age now I look back and think about all the time I wasted - for nothing (maybe I learned something).

And just by looking at your list - you're looking at $5K to $6500 just in parts with you doing all the labor to do what you want to do.

[SalParadise]

By looking at your list:

1) Suspension - $1K to $1500 in parts
2) Tires - $500
3) Door Panels - $300
4) Seats (or recovered) $600-$900
5) Misc - $1000

So you'd be lucky to get in for parts to finish at under $5K plus hundreds of hours of work (depends). It's all how you value your time. You could get out of it for more than you think like I said above.

[Jrboulder]

Originally Posted by SalParadise

Save your time, and if you have a hankering to move on, move on. Sell it as-is. You may get more than you think the way it is. You always lose monetarily and especially time wise to get something "to the way you want it, only to sell to someone else." I always had the problem of fixing everything I ever had in the hopes I could recoup more money - but being my age now I look back and think about all the time I wasted - for nothing (maybe I learned something).

And just by looking at your list - you're looking at $5K to $6500 just in parts with you doing all the labor to do what you want to do.

Yes, good advise.

I'm a little gun shy about selling project Porsches, the last time I sold one I debated the same project vs driver thing and I took the "dump it as-is where-is" route. The buyer (flipper) was an absolute nut and the water pump blew on his way home. I even offered to buy it back from him but he spent well over a month making threats and harassing me and having his loser friends harass me pretending to be lawyers and stuff. It took multiple LE agencies a while to find him and I think they even arrested him.

[SalParadise]

There are a tremendous amount of looneys out there - but in this day and age, project aircooled Porsches are gems to a lot of people. It seems like your car would fit the bill for someone. You could weed out the clowns pretty easily - and make sure flippers like BHCC and the rest didn't hone in on you. You could probably sell it no problem on here. I wouldn't be gun shy - any a$$clown can and will find something wrong with a 40-year-old plus car. You'll find the right buyer.

[Jrboulder]

Originally Posted by SalParadise

By looking at your list:

1) Suspension - $1K to $1500 in parts
2) Tires - $500
3) Door Panels - $300
4) Seats (or recovered) $600-$900
5) Misc - $1000

So you'd be lucky to get in for parts to finish at under $5K plus hundreds of hours of work (depends). It's all how you value your time. You could get out of it for more than you think like I said above.

I estimated around 3k in parts and probably 80 hours spread out over maybe 8 weeks. I'd consider it finishing the broad strokes rather than every last thing. If it took the car from 14k to 20k that would be $37.50/hr for a hobby that usually costs me about $37.50/hr.

I already have stuff like the front seat covers, I'd sub out the labor on those. The steering has already been done with turbo tie rods. I'd do control arms, ball joints, sway bar bushings and struts.

[SalParadise]

Originally Posted by Jrboulder

I estimated around 3k in parts and probably 80 hours spread out over maybe 8 weeks. I'd consider it finishing the broad strokes rather than every last thing. If it took the car from 14k to 20k that would be $37.50/hr for a hobby that usually costs me about $37.50/hr.

I already have stuff like the front seat covers, I'd sub out the labor on those. The steering has already been done with turbo tie rods. I'd do control arms, ball joints, sway bar bushings and struts.

Depends if your heart is really in it then. If your heart isn't in it - there are better ways to make $6K.

[75 911s]

...you know when the blackjack dealer claps his hands to the camera before he leaves the table to show he's not stealing?

[Matt Monson]

Put it on eBay. It will go to Europe. The end.

[1979-930]

Well I think you should finish it and enjoy it for a while. You bought it at 19 and have five plus years into it. You’re burnt out because you’re not driving it.
Get it on the road and don’t worry about it being perfect. Just get it to driver condition and work on fine tuning the details over the winter months.
If you dump it I’ll bet you will be regretting not finishing it a few years later.


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[dwelle]

i agree with derrick. get it on the road, enjoy it for a bit, and go from there...

[SalParadise]

I agree with Matt...he'd be surprised in what he got - may be $20K nowadays for an Arizona dry 912E in that color. Probably would make very little more if all those hours were spent and all that money as well. There seems to be a strange buyers fetish out there for orphaned, lame, or otherwise broken aircooled Porsches that need work.

If you need the money and the time I would do the above. If you plan on traveling overseas and checking out the world I would do the above. If you see yourself sitting in Tempe, Arizona for the next couple years you could keep it and get 'er done.

I was your age sitting in the same place (Tempe, AZ) after I graduated ASU waiting to go up north (Sedona) for my first job. Was still working on cars but had a lot going on in my life in my mid-20s. Don't know if I had the time or money or inclination to work on an old 912.

With that said, if you want to be in the prime of your life working on old crap, then fix it. If not get on a plane at Sky Harbor and go and see some stuff.

[Jrboulder]

Originally Posted by SalParadise

There seems to be a strange buyers fetish out there for orphaned, lame, or otherwise broken aircooled Porsches that need work.

Haha yes, I was looking for the words to explain that phenomenon.

I guess there's really no harm in trying to sell it mostly as it is. I've seen a couple deals go down lately more in the 12k range for 912Es in similar situations.

I've mostly only worked on this car in two bursts of energy. First when I bought it and got it back on the road and second when I rebuilt the engine. It has been about 18 months since the rebuild and it's mostly just been sitting in the garage. At this point it's do something with it or get rid of it. I've probably spent 5 hours with it this year.

[pmax]

Post some feeler pics.

You'll never know. Some of those European types have a fetish for GP 912E's !

[Dueller]

I'll enable you. Big expense on suspension as you tell it are new Bilstein all around. I have a set of HD green with probably 5,000 miles I'll sell you dirt cheap with a money back guarantee they're good. Just to help a young guy out. Pulled from my Carrera when health reasons caused me to drop way too much money on a rally Vons set up.

[SalParadise]

Originally Posted by Dueller

I'll enable you. Big expense on suspension as you tell it are new Bilstein all around. I have a set of HD green with probably 5,000 miles I'll sell you dirt cheap with a money back guarantee they're good. Just to help a young guy out. Pulled from my Carrera when health reasons caused me to drop way too much money on a rally Vons set up.

Just when you thought it was safe to walk away.

Well, there you go. Time to quit playing games and get it up on jackstands and get it done. The suspension was your big expense.

[Jrboulder]

Originally Posted by Dueller

I'll enable you. Big expense on suspension as you tell it are new Bilstein all around. I have a set of HD green with probably 5,000 miles I'll sell you dirt cheap with a money back guarantee they're good. Just to help a young guy out. Pulled from my Carrera when health reasons caused me to drop way too much money on a rally Vons set up.

PM sent!

[Ralph3.]

Get it running and drive it.

[pmax]

Pic looks good. If it's all original, I would try selling the car now to someone who appreciates that.

Fix the worn out suspension, seats, 6 year old tires ? Why even bother unless you are really keen on driving it?

[Jrboulder]

Originally Posted by pmax

Pic looks good. If it's all original, I would try selling the car now to someone who appreciates that.

Fix the worn out suspension, seats, 6 year old tires ? Why even bother unless you are really keen on driving it?

The paint is $299 maaco.

The seats I started to recover and ripped the cover on the first seat back during assembly. So I've got 1 seat bottom done, 1 seat back that is not done and 3 covers in a box. The $200 or so I've been quoted to finish the job would definitely be good money spent.