85 Carrera Coupe Value

[speeds5]

New to air cooled porsches but got the bug bad. I have a water cooled that needs company in the garage. Looking for a driver, not a concourse winner.

Car in question is an 85 coupe black. 125k miles. Top end rebuilt around 15k miles ago. Transmission was done 25k miles ago and it's smooth. Mechanically looks/sounds perfect to me. Drives very well. I know the seller and he's an honest guy.

Interior needs works. Seats are pretty worn and need to be upholstered. Dash is warped in some places.

Exterior is tired at best. Needs a couple of small rust spots addressed and a respray. Car was hit in the front years ago but no frame damage. Front fender and bumper were replaced.

Where would you value the car at? Thanks for helping with my decision.

[COLB]

How is the wiring and accessories? Does everything work?

The paint and interior work is probably ~7k.

I would shoot for mid-twenties.

What is he asking?

[speeds5]

From what i could tell everything worked (radio was missing). He's asking $24k. I thought for the amount of paint and interior work was a bit on the high side but not by much. I might make a near offer.

Thanks

Originally Posted by COLB

How is the wiring and accessories? Does everything work?

The paint and interior work is probably ~7k.

I would shoot for mid-twenties.

What is he asking?

[COLB]

Without seeing it in person, it is hard to tell how serious the body work & paint & interior work really are.

There is some downside in the accident history, too -- only a close inspection can tell if it was properly repaired -- check the panel fit and gaps; look at the welds in the frunk. Is there uneven wear on the tires? Has it been corner balanced since the accident? paperwork on the accident repair would be reassuring. If it was salvaged, that will be an issue.

Any rust on a galvanized car is something that should raise your eyebrows. Is it around the repaired areas? Is it surface rust bubbling up from poor paint preparation, etc? Is the paint something that can be fixed by sanding and respraying a couple of panels, or does it need a full respray?

Seat recovery is easy to price -- $1200-1700 depending on where you buy the covers. How bad is the rest? Are carpets serviceable, or worn/nasty/moldy? Door cards? Rear seats? Headliner? That stuff adds up.

Perfection should not be the standard for $24k -- which is a good price on a Carrera Coupe with recent engine and transmission rebuild (if properly done). And I'd rather buy a mechanically sorted car needed some cosmetics than vice versa -- you can't drive a pristine car with trashed motor!

$24k sounds like a decent price, pending the answers to the question above. At that price, consider that you have about $6k to play with to get things fixed and still be in a good position financially. You might even be able to spend $10-11k and not be too far underwater.