Help with 87-89 targa valuation

[Jgbecket]

Looking for help understanding market for 87-89 targa. I’m looking for good condition with most service records available and preferably less than 75k miles. From what I see market is mid 40s but see a lot of listings for mid 50s. Been trying to get a handle on it. Any advice would be really appreciated.

[da Vinci Dan]

My opinion: Mid to upper 40’s with nicely restored or, better yet, original paint. Full records. History including top end work from a respected specialist adds a few more Gs

[da Vinci Dan]

This months issue of Panamera has a few. You would do well to purchase from an enuthuast private party there or on this board. Don’t bother with eBay unless private party and full history... which is very rare there. Many in the condition you are looking for trade hands personally I.e. never listed for sale. I recommend paying the premium for a sorted and well known car. You’ll save thousands in repairs down the road... rust, trans, top end... all get really expensive.

[Jgbecket]

Thanks for the thoughts. Re top end — assuming one hadn’t been done on a 75k or less car what would be your thoughts? Would a PPI pick something like that up?

[cellison]

if the 87-89 targa is a factory 491 turbo look, what sort of premium would/should there be? 50%?

[RandyMc]

Originally Posted by cellison

if the 87-89 targa is a factory 491 turbo look, what sort of premium would/should there be? 50%?

I just bought a M491 car, they are hard to value, see my post in the impact bubble starts to cool thread. Seemed like the investment grade i.e. total garage queen ones had asking prices of around 70-85K.

There is a guy in FL who advertises on this board who only deals in M491 and Turbo cars he is knowledgeable, but in the end did not have one I was interested in. If you search M491 on the cars for sale section they will pop up.

Dude is funny to talk to as well (a real character), he said he has 7m in Porsches in a warehouse, and I can tell you his concours detail work he has done to his cars is amazing. I am not a garage queen type, nor do I see cars as a wise investment vehicle, but if I was looking for a bone stock super clean low mile 491 I would consider buying from Mr. Florida.

Good luck with the hunt it is a fun one!

[da Vinci Dan]

Originally Posted by Jgbecket

Thanks for the thoughts. Re top end — assuming one hadn’t been done on a 75k or less car what would be your thoughts? Would a PPI pick something like that up?

If you have a reputable shop do a full PPI, they would normally pull the valve covers and check the head studs. Again, this is would be from a specialist who understands these cars. Additionally, they would recommend a leak down and/or a compression test even on a rebuilt engine. You can easily spend $20K on sorting an engine alone. So, a thorough work up is in order.

If the car you describe had 75K on it, and passed an engine inspection with excellent results for compression and leak down, and had no broken head studs, I would value it a few thousand less as there is a chance an engine rebuild or top end / clutch / trans issue is in the relatively newer future.

That is just me. One of the primary reasons I bought my current 911 is because after owning a few in the past, I became tired of the constant repairs until it was fully sorted. I am older now and have more money. So, I fiqured this time I would just spend the money up front for a mechanically fully restored car I could confidently use every weekend as a nice driver and fiddle with small things as needed. My car had a a recent engine rebuild and clutch, brakes, exhaust, interior bits, some suspension work ... the list goes on. Still I needed to fix the shifter mechanism after 1K miles, replace the speakers, hood shocks etc....

My recommendation is to spend the money up front for a sorted example and save the headaches for my teenage boys. A non sorted, poorly document 911 is a risk I am no longer willing to take. So it is worth much less to me and that i reflected in my offer.

[trader220]

In the past 18 months I've sold an 87 targa with 80k miles and an 88 with 72k miles. Both clean straight no stories cars with some records prior to me and all the records for all the work I did. Both sold below $44k. One guards red one cassis red. Both very nice no nonsense cars.

[wgwollet]

PM sent

[msort81]

Buy a car with a the rebuild done, and some attention paid to a suspension refresh. IMO thats more important than finding a sub 100k mile car.

[sugarwood]

Dealer listings are typically inflated.
If you want a deal, you need to buy private party.
Keep a 3-4 hour search radius.
Be prepared to move when a fairly priced car hits the market.

[dcourts1984]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

Dealer listings are typically inflated.
If you want a deal, you need to buy private party.
Keep a 3-4 hour search radius.
Be prepared to move when a fairly priced car hits the market.

that pretty much sums it up