value of 87 930

[6e0ff]

I'm starting to think about selling my 930 in order to put a down payment on a house. Values seem to be all over the place right now, so I thought I would turn to the wisdom of the boards here to help me figure out an approximate value and that will in turn help me decide if I really do want to sell.

The car is a US Spec 87 930 in Diamond Blue Metallic with Maroon interior and white faced gauges. Mileage is currently at 135,000 but the car looks a lot better than you would expect for that mileage. There are some receipts (and I talked to the mechanic) for an partial engine rebuild roughly 8 to 10 years ago. Mechanically the car is good, but not perfect. The AC is all there and is hooked up, but doesn't blow cold. The turbo seals are leaking a bit of oil, so you get a bit of smoke on start-up if the car has been sitting.

Overall the car is pretty unmolested and I would call it a nice original driver. It has the euro exhaust on the car, but I have the correct exhaust in a box. It has chromed Fuchs in the correct size and the factory spacers, but they are not the wheels that came with the car when it was new. It does not have the original radio. There is wear and a small hole on the driver's seat in the usual places. The rest of the interior is nice. The paint is shiny, and in good shape generally, but there are some chips and a scratch or two. The toolkit is there as the air compressor. I have a pretty good stack of receipts, but there are time gaps in the pile. I have the original window sticker. I haven't bothered with the COA yet, but I suppose I could.

[aschen]

I dont know the value, but that color looks cool and unique and would say is a value adder.

[CountD]

There's a '89 930 Clown Car on eBay for $105K that is in another posting. Since yours:

1) Has the engine together
2) Has original paint
3) Is a more unique color than black
4) Has no stories
5) Looks 500% better than that eBay car...

I suspect it is worth $50K more than that Clown Car. Now that things are so insane, any valuation number you get on this site is like a translation of a foreign language - a shot in the dark.

[6e0ff]

Obviously the eBay clown car is over priced. Engine being out not withstanding, it is an 89 which at least at a certain point used to command a pretty big premium over the earlier 80s cars and it has 34k miles compared to 135k for my car.

I guess the trouble that I am having with pricing is knowing the honest condition of my car. I can go out and read the Hagerty pricing guide just like anyone else, but it is hard to know if my car is a condition 2 or condition 3 or what. Their descriptors are not very helpful or really indicative of what is what. According to them there should only be a small handful of condition 1 cars in the US, but that doesn't match what you are seeing in the market. Also I am uncertain how to weigh mileage in the whole equation. There is a perceived value in lower mileage cars being somehow better or more collectable, but it is hard to say if they are actually in better condition than other cars.

I know I could just put the car up on eBay and see what happens, but I'm not sure I want to deal with non-paying bidders and other shenanigans.

[PcarPhil]

Originally Posted by 6e0ff

I know I could just put the car up on eBay and see what happens, but I'm not sure I want to deal with non-paying bidders and other shenanigans.

Perhaps consider running an auction on Bring A Trailer instead?

Nice wheels BTW...

[TPorsche912]

I understand your concerns. When I sold my 930 two yrs ago in the Greater Salt Lake City area, population 2.5 mil., I only had 3 prospective buyers show up. I still think even in today's environment the buyers for these cars are quite finicky and aren't throwing vast amounts of cash just cause the car has a Turbo badge on the engine cover. They are still "widow makers" and you gotta know what you are getting into with these cars.

There is so much that goes into the value of a car and yours certainly has it's issues. Right now the prices on Ebay alone range from $40k to over $200k.
Speaking for myself, the feel of a car has much more to do with value than the overall condition of the car. There are plenty of cars with over 100k mileage that have led a much better life than ones with under 50k. I don't even car about the mileage until I've driven the car.
It's never been a plus to me that an engine has had a rebuild without full documentation, especially a 930. Who did it, what were their credentials, how much were they paid to do the job right, or how little to cut corners to the owners advantage. There are lots of these cars around that have been garage queens. Even though they can make great daily drivers, very few have been. That certainly adds to the difficulty of establishing a value if you look at the competition. It's easy to value the really good cars, not so easy the ones that have multiple issues.

I also understand your confusion using Haggerty's evaluation tools. "#2 cars could win a local or regional show." Does that mean at the local parking lot get together of 10 cars or the lawn at Pebble Beach? If I were to use the tool, I would certainly put your car at a condition 4. No offense, just my opinion.

Given your honest description, I would put your value around $35k, but I'm not in the market and could be totally up in the night. That is a price with a quick sale, since you mention that you don't want to deal with lots of goof balls. Thankfully when I sold mine I didn't have to put up with a bunch wanna be's that only wanted to go for a quick ride. The folks that showed up were serious buyers and had the cash to back them up.

Good luck if you decide to sell, but remember you'll have a house but may never have the opportunity to drive a 930 again with values continuing to rise. But, as my wife would tell me, "its really hard to sleep in a 930."

[Mehoff]

I think later year Carrera turbos are now becoming part of the unattainable bib/ask spread cars (911T's, 993 TT's and 996 GT3's)that have no hope of selling. People are probably searching "for sale" listings, picking the highest priced car similar to theirs and asking the same, not noticing these cars have been sitting for months.

I'd get a leakdown/compression test performed on your car and (assuming all is good) throw it out there for $70k or so.....it's a unique color so who knows; sure beats undervaluing it. That said, you will need to deal with the headache of grinders, "my wife said no" guys and the like in order to get top dollar.

[6e0ff]

With regard to the Hagerty stuff, I see things selling for #2 money that seem to me to be quite a bit less nice than that. I think my car is an honest #3 car in that it has a few things not perfect about it, but that I wouldn't hesitate to take it on cross country drive.

I spoke with the mechanic who did the work at some length as it was his personal car at the time. (I bought the car from the guy he sold it to.) He seemed to know his stuff and I'm comfortable with the quality of the work, but because it was his car it was not super well documented. It has been a few years though too. A compression and leak-down test would definitely be done before I went ahead with a sale.

Part of figuring out the rough value has been for me to calculate whether it is worth enough to try to get it fully sorted out in order maximize the sale price. It seems like it probably is.

[pmax]

This gr 930 sold at 49k Dec.
Is that low?

Porsche 911 Turbo Carrera Coupe 2 Door | eBay

[SilberUrS6]

That color combo is very unusual. It might be worth it to clean up those issues that you mention. Put the gauges back to stock, fix the seat, find a period radio - all pretty cheap, and the car would show better. The turbo seals and unchromed Fuchs could really set you back, and the payoff might not be there. I'd say you're cruising in the $90-110k region. And Haggerty condition? Sounds like a 3.5 to me. But the way they rate things, a car just off the assembly line is a 2.

[TPorsche912]

This just sold.

1978 Porsche 930