964 Project; Worth it?

[Farintosh]

Hey all!

Still on my search to acquire my first porsche and once again looking to enlist the help of all you seasoned veterans.

Here's the car in question: 1989 Porsche 911 carrera 4 Coupe-REDUCED | cars & trucks | Sudbury | Kijiji

Talked to the seller and the car has never had any problems and can still be driven in current codition. There are a couple dents so they took the car apart to do a proper repaint but got side tracked with a 2002 project which is eating up funds.

I'm fortunate enough to have a shop (my dad restores old trucks) and feel like this could be a way to get a mechanically sound 964 with lower miles while learning the ins and outs of the car. The seller has all new body gaskets (?) and everything to put the car back together.

The seller says there's never been rust and everything is mint, all that would have to be done is dent repair, sanding, and repainting. The car is 9 hours away so I'm debating if it's worth the trip to look at the car; let alone to bring a trailer for it.

This is a car I plan on holding onto for years to come and working on it myself so resale value isn't a big deal. I'm in no rush to get a car but with prices slowly rising I feel this might be a good way to sidestep inflation while building the exact car I want.

I'm just curious to hear what the consensus on the difficulty of a project like this and if it's even worth it.

Thanks in advance!

Geoff

[HugoBear]

There is no possible way I would buy that car for even close to the $19K ask, even though you have access to a shop.
There are just way too many other cars out there that would be better-even in this market. This is just my opinion but that car will take a lot of money, not just time, to get right. The car like someone on the forum just bought from Pete Zimmerman for $22k is exponentially better.

[Farintosh]

Originally Posted by HugoBear

There is no possible way I would buy that car for even close to the $19K ask, even though you have access to a shop.
There are just way too many other cars out there that would be better-even in this market. This is just my opinion but that car will take a lot of money, not just time, to get right. The car like someone on the forum just bought from Pete Zimmerman for $22k is exponentially better.

Thanks for the quick reply! He's told me he's pretty flexible on the price; though it is awfully close to a nice 964.

A thing to consider though is I'm north of the border, and most nice 911's get snapped up pretty quick. There are more ads with people looking to buy a 964 than ones for sale.

Maybe I should start looking south of the border and eat the import taxes.

[HugoBear]

Good 911's that are priced reasonably are snapped up sometimes within minutes here.
You can still be patient though. It's a big investment. I have seen some pretty good ones in the classifieds in Canada. With the work needed, he would have to be very flexible on that price, in my opinion. Wait for others to chime in though as there are a lot of folks that know much more than I on this forum.

[Farintosh]

Originally Posted by HugoBear

Good 911's that are priced reasonably are snapped up sometimes within minutes here.
You can still be patient though. It's a big investment. I have seen some pretty good ones in the classifieds in Canada. With the work needed, he would have to be very flexible on that price, in my opinion. Wait for others to chime in though as there are a lot of folks that know much more than I on this forum.

I'm well aware! Call 9 minutes after one goes up and money will already be down.

What additional costs do you think would be required? I feel like it would be more time?

[HugoBear]

You for sure have a significant amount of time required on the body.
Although the owner claims that mechanically perfect, you really have no idea how good mechanically the car is and tough to tell from pictures how the interior really is.
Without knowing this and rolling the dice, things for Porsches can add up super super quickly.
If all the other stuff checks out, may be worth chasing. I just think you can do better, even in this crazy strong market.
Like I said, even though the mileage was very high on a G50 that Pete Zimmerman sold for $22k, I bet that car is a great car that will have very little issues for a long time. You can find some similar cars if you are patient.

[tholyoak]

Why not just buy this one for similar money?

1990 Porsche 911 Coupe | classic cars | Guelph | Kijiji

Todd

[HugoBear]

Yup, offer him 20k and be done with it….

[Farintosh]

I certainly tried. Can't get a hold of the seller, he actually lives 2 minutes away from me from the pictures. I've seen the car in person, paint looks rough but clean overall, just wish I could get a response.

I think I'll hold off for now and keep looking, with winter coming prices seem to drop.

Thanks for the input!