Price effect -- AC delete and rolled fenders

[shaunmbenson]

Hey guys

I'd love your opinion on the effect pulling the AC and rolling the fenders may have on the value of my 57,000 mile VG condition 1985 targa

It's a fabulous car with a bit of wear - not a show car - but not much. A top quality driver.

I will be tracking this car 4-5 weekends a year and was initally planning to get a rat rod for X amount of dollars when I lucked into this for the same money. I love targas so this isn't just a placeholder til I find a coupe although i do for see other Porsche's down the road .

If it were the rat rod I was planning on buying I'd have pulled the AC a year ago and rolled the fenders but finding a nicer car has made me a little hesitant

I didn't buy this as an investment but as a hobby and a joy and a passion

Thoughts?

[saxen]

Rolled fenders are a plus for nearly everyone if done correctly no lost value.

Ac is a deal breaker for some. This may limit you to a smaller group of buyers, but value would be around the same. The ac is a joke anyway. It just doesn't work well

[shaunmbenson]

Thanks Saxen
That makes sense -- no value change just less people who will buy without AC intact.

[Rick Brooklyn]

You could take out the AC but keep it to make it available to the next buyer. As a buyer I wouldn't mind that one bit. However I don't like rolled fenders, personally.

[Nachtfalter]

A/C is a joke in these cars on the best day, and rolled fenders are a must unless you think stock U.S. height looks good. Neither should effect the price one bit. If a guy used either to try to knock down your price, he really doesn't want your car.

[shaunmbenson]

Originally Posted by Rick Brooklyn

You could take out the AC but keep it to make it available to the next buyer. As a buyer I wouldn't mind that one bit. However I don't like rolled fenders, personally.

So would you pass on the car all other things good or buy it but use fenders to bargain?

[Rick Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by shaunmbenson

So would you pass on the car all other things good or buy it but use fenders to bargain?

I wouldn't pass on an otherwise very good car if I liked everything else about it, but I'd like it better if they weren't rolled. But that's just me...

[SilberUrS6]

Originally Posted by Nachtfalter

A/C is a joke in these cars on the best day, and rolled fenders are a must unless you think stock U.S. height looks good. Neither should effect the price one bit. If a guy used either to try to knock down your price, he really doesn't want your car.

Please.

I wanted a car with intact AC because even though the stock AC works poorly, it can provide a basis for excellent AC, if massaged properly. But you want every fitting and every fastener in place. And if the AC is at least functional, you might actually be able to use some of the parts.

Functional AC is a bonus, and will make for a larger audience, and therefore a higher price. While YOU might not care, plenty of folks do. And buyer's guide suggest that if someone wants AC, that they buy a car with intact, installed and functional AC. Absolutely it's a negotiation point. Rolled fenders, if done right, aren't noticeable.

[Nachtfalter]

What does "please" mean?

If you walked away from a 911 because of the A/C, you didn't want it very badly. If a guy brought it up to haggle the price I would pat him on the back and tell him to leave.

Head bolts, bottom end, clutch or tranny..... sure, but the A/C? No.

[Ronnie's.930]

I agree with Eric about the a/c; if I'm looking to spend big bucks on a street 911 (not a race/track car), I would only purchase one with the a/c components in place. The a/c would not necessarily need to be functioning (would be a bonus if it was, however), as I would modify it right after purchase, but if I read an add for one that said "a/c delete", I would be done reading at that point, or at the very least, would only consider purchasing the car if the seller was offering a significant, a/c delete price reduction (talking several thousand dollars), and the smuggler's box had not been butchered at the time of "a/c deleting", since I would then need to undertake a lot of expense and work to re-fit the components.

Also to echo what Eric mentioned, it would be a significant positive if the a/c was functioning, as that enables someone like him or me (someone who knows how to make 911 air conditioning work at a very high level) to more easily judge what current parts on the car are usable, and that could equal quite a bit of extra expense or savings after purchase.

[shaunmbenson]

Thanks Eric and Ronnie's
Good to hear the other perspective

[911SauCy]

My perspective.

I don't think rolled fenders or properly removed A/C would help or hinder a nice car, especially if all a/c components were provided intact and presentable. If someone wants a car with great A/C, they should buy a late model Toyota, not an aircooled 911. This was the first line of price beating everyone trying to buy my friend's very nice '83 SC had, "How cold is the air?" It's not cold, never was, now go annoy someone else.....

My car has rolled fenders and the A/C removed

[NYNick]

I don't think either affects value; I think the lack of A/C affects the market size, however, if you do a complete A/C ripout.
Leaving all the A/C bits in place, and just removing the compressor(and including it in the sale) etc will do nothing to affect value.

It takes a enthusiast like a Pelicanite to notice the fenders, and that's a small and very critical part of the market size.

[Ronnie's.930]

Originally Posted by 911SauCy

If someone wants a car with great A/C, they should buy a late model Toyota, not an aircooled 911.

Nonsense - it takes a couple of thousand dollars (more if you pay others to do the work) and some work and then you have an air cooled 911/930 with great a/c.

[911SauCy]

Originally Posted by Ronnie's.930

Nonsense - it takes a couple of thousand dollars (more if you pay others to do the work) and some work and then you have an air cooled 911/930 with great a/c.

I totally get that, a couple grand as a required investment, not something that's already in place as I stated. In my experience of people calling on a 32year old car asking how cold the air blows, knowing damn well it sucked from the factory, trying to beat down a price...it's laughable.

My unfiltered thoughts on AC in a sports car in general:

You're hot? Roll your window down and I'll drive faster. Don't like it? GTFO, it's my car

[COLB]

Originally Posted by 911SauCy

I totally get that, a couple grand as a required investment, not something that's already in place as I stated. In my experience of people calling on a 32year old car asking how cold the air blows, knowing damn well it sucked from the factory, trying to beat down a price...it's laughable.

My unfiltered thoughts on AC in a sports car in general:

You're hot? Roll your window down and I'll drive faster. Don't like it? GTFO, it's my car

Spoken like a man that lives in Connecticut.


No A/C is a serious issue in a lot of places where the average summer temperature is 95 rather than 82.

So the advice is regional. If the car is a beater, it doesn't matter much. The higher you go in the market, the more it matters.

You can pull the compressor and the rear condenser in 15 minutes, and cuts some weight that is easily reversible. Pull all the hoses, and it is a whole other level of difficulty reinstalling -- mainly because you can't figure out where the hoses route, and the brackets screw in -- and you are opening a bunch of screw holes into the sheet metal to increase the likelihood of corrosion.

If it is a full on track car, no issue. If it is a street car at all, or you think to return it to that state at some point, an a/c delete is a hit on value.

[belly dancer]

Originally Posted by 911SauCy

I totally get that, a couple grand as a required investment, not something that's already in place as I stated. In my experience of people calling on a 32year old car asking how cold the air blows, knowing damn well it sucked from the factory, trying to beat down a price...it's laughable.

My unfiltered thoughts on AC in a sports car in general:

You're hot? Roll your window down and I'll drive faster. Don't like it? GTFO, it's my car

Rock on SauCy,

Air cooled 911's are serious cars for serious owners.

[911SauCy]

Originally Posted by belly dancer

Rock on SauCy,

Air cooled 911's are serious cars for serious owners.

AMEN BROTHER!!



It's like the people who have convertibles and the top up with air on during the summer...go buy a PRIUS

COLB: FWIW, summers suck up here in CT, only place I've been where its worse is the deep south, out west is hot but hot, not Rain Forest like it was here this am.

[Ronnie's.930]

Originally Posted by belly dancer

Rock on SauCy,

Air cooled 911's are serious cars for serious owners.

I have an aircooled 911 Turbo that I've spent about 8 years modifying extensively (now north or 350hp) without a care in the world for the car's "market value", piling the mileage on, and building an a/c system for it that will hang icicles on your parts even in the burnass climate that I live in; is that "serious" enough for you?

[Ronnie's.930]

Originally Posted by 911SauCy

AMEN BROTHER!!



It's like the people who have convertibles and the top up with air on during the summer...go buy a PRIUS

Do you think that your a/c delete 911 is more hardcore than my modified 911 Turbo with super-cold a/c? Which of the two do you think would be an easier challenge for a PRIUS?!