Value of a '92 968 Coupe?

olstyn · 09-15-2007, 11:50 PM

Saw one for sale near me and I was curious what the value of it would be. I don't have complete info, but the basics are it's a '92 968 Coupe with fairly low miles for a 15 year old car (63,499 as of yesterday when I looked through the window - with any luck the owner has followed service guidelines and it'd have had the belts & water pump done about 3500 miles ago). It appears to have been used at least some of the time as a track car or for auto-x, because it's got racing seats and a harness bar. It's a really nice dark blue that looks almost black, but there's a fairly deep circular dent (1/2 or 3/4 inch deep, maybe 1.5 inches diameter) below the rear hatch and above the 968 logo, along with a couple of deep scratches (through the paint, I can see metal) near said dent. Almost looks like somebody backed a ball hitch into it. Nice looking wheels, could be Fikse FM/10, but I'm not sure - they're a very similar style to a lot of the Fikse wheels I've seen members post pictures of, but I can't be sure they're real Fikse with only a brief look. It also has some fairly substantial looking vented & cross drilled brakes, might be big reds, again, only got a brief look. Assuming it's at least the equivalent of M030 suspension and an LSD transmission (I'm guessing this because the seats, harnesses and big brakes at least somewhat imply that or some other, better suspension for track use), what would you guys put the value at? I don't think it would need a full repaint, probably just that dent pulled and the paint on and near it fixed/redone. The for sale tags in the windows say they want $12,500, and the phone # on those tags is the # of the repair shop it's parked in front of (Auto Edge in Mahtomedi, MN - twin cities suburb - they seem to specialize in Porsches), so I assume it's either an employee's car or is being sold on consignment or some such. If I were to move forward on it, I'd obviously get a PPI (probably get Carousel Porsche to do that, just because they're 'official' and not directly related to the place selling it). I like the color, I like the wheels, but the racing harnesses, at least the way I read the MN laws, are of questionable street legality, so that'd be a problem - I don't want to get zinged for that if I ever get pulled over or need assistance from a cop. Cost of dent repair and a one-panel respray is also a concern, as in MN, unpainted metal = rust, plus I like to take good care of my things, so it's a given that anything like that would have to be fixed anyway.

So, given that I'm not currently interested in track use, but that the upgraded suspension/wheels/brakes do appeal to me, is this one worth looking into further, or would most of you say pass and keep saving my money for something nicer? How much of a hassle is it to go back to stock seatbelts if that's necessary?

jjflash · jjflash's Garage

Too many "ifs" to say anything definitive, but $12,500 is not a bad price for a 63K-mile coupe. If it does have upgraded suspension goodies and LSD (pretty rare for 968's) I'd say get it checked out for anything major and if it's passes PPI, buy it. I *think* that LSD was only available as part of the "M030" package which is definitely worth some $$. Oh, and budget for the *possibility* of the dreaded ring & pinion repair.

olstyn · 04:45 PM

Yeah, I knew the first thing I'd see in a reply would be "need more info/less uncertainty of info in order to be accurate," but at least the knowledge that $12,500 is within a range that makes sense is helpful. Doing a search of the forum led me to the idea that if the R&P were going to fail, it would probably have happened quite a while ago - obviously still a possibility, but thankfully that sounds like a relatively minor risk at this point.

racer · 09-17-2007, 06:58 PM

The 968 coupes I've come across range from a low of about $9k for ratty ones to 17K for really nice "drivers". I missed an opportunity last year for a unique factory colored '94 with about 60K miles for $14,5 and it was very close to "concours" condition.

Removing a roll cage can reveal cuts in carpets and locations where the cage was welded/bolted to. It won't be as nice as one without a cage, obviously.

As with all the FEWC (Front Engine Water Coolers) a clear and up to date maintenance history is very important. If not documented, you could be looking at $2k out of pocket to do water pump, belts, VCam tensioner etc. 968s were also know to have pinion shaft problems - might want to check this has been addressed as well.

Body repairs are never cheap, especially if paint has been broken and bare metal can be seen. If you know anyone who does body work, I would encourage you to have them look at it as well. Any "dings" that cross surfaces are very hard to fix.

Rot 911 · 09-18-2007, 06:21 AM

This one on the Pelican Cars for Sale board seems like a better deal: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?t=366188

olstyn · 09-18-2007, 10:34 PM

Thanks for all the helpful advice, guys! You brought up some important points I was previously unaware of, and now I'll know what to ask about at least. I knew maintenance history was a big deal, but knowing some specific things to check on about definitely helps. The red car in NJ, while it looks very nice, is not really an option for me at this point due to its location.