993 Inventory - jump or blip?

[2ndTARGA]

Since March I've looked pretty much daily at 993 new listings on eBay and also took note of the total number of cars for sale. That number has hovered around 71-72 all Summer and never exceeded 75. This morning there are 86 active listings, 15 of which were posted since yesterday morning. The total listings on cars.com is also way up.

I don't know what to make of this. Could be seasonal (but most of the new listings are in the South and West.) Or did some recent "collectors" get margin calls on Friday? Time will tell if it's an anomaly or the start of some trend.

[Skwerl]

Everyone's trying to cash in while they can on the air-cooled frenzy.

If one isn't especially sensitive to price or overpaying by several grand, it really is a buyer's market and one can be pretty picky about which 993 they buy.

[Six Gun]

I also follow the 993 market and agree with your observations. I would ad that the increase you mention, comes from two elements that were not there six months ago

!.) The number of car with over 100K miles

2.) The number of 993 TT for sale. I have never seen the turbo market "churn" the
way it is now. People who bought their car for $125K now are try to sell for
$225K. Of course there are flippers, a lot of cars at dealers, are on consignment
not dealer inventory.

What does all this mean? I have no idea...

[NYNick]

It's also almost Fall. Seems to be a lot of cars popping up for sale, not just 993's.

[Matt Monson]

Where's Pml. Winter is coming. Bet he can get a deal.

[creaturecat]

They are planning on upgrading to a 964.

[2ndTARGA]

The number of 993 TT for sale. I have never seen the turbo market "churn" the
way it is now. People who bought their car for $125K now are try to sell for
$225K. Of course there are flippers, a lot of cars at dealers, are on consignment
not dealer inventory.

+2 on that. I was going to start another thread asking why such a huge % of 993's listed are TT's. ~33%, last I looked. Way out of whack with the build ratios. You may be right about the (now fading) perceived chance to make $100K. Or are they too expensive to maintain? Or were they most likely to have been purchased by non-enthusiasts who just wanted the top model at the time?

[Skwerl]

I think it's simply because TTs are where the money is. Everyone who bought one before 2013 could sell it now for a 100% profit or more (or at least, that's what they think), so they're trying to do just that. Regular 993s are up but not nearly as much, so there's less incentive.

Now that there are so many TTs available, though, new sellers are a little late to the party, I think.

[NYNick]

Everybody and their brother who owns a TT knows it's worth a fortune these days. My friend who owns a pristine single owner 96 was asking me if was time to sell it and go Ferrari.

Hard to argue with that logic.

[Matt Monson]

If you can afford Ferrari maintenance why not?

[Farrell]

^^ exactly, you have to service the damn Ferrari every 1000 miles and it costs a fortune. But if you can, why not?

[Skwerl]

I always liked the maxim, "If you can't afford two Ferraris, you can't afford one Ferrari."

Probably not 100% true but it gets the point across.

[NYNick]

This is his other car...unbelievable sound coming out of that Audi V8.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Spyker_C8_Aileron.jpg

He's a car dealer (American made of course), so it's not about the maintenance. But there's no way he's selling the 993 Turbo anyway.

[2ndTARGA]

Since this thread seems to be heading south (to Italy), I thought I'd take a look at the Ferrari listings on eBay. Makes the 993 situation seem pretty tame:

436 cars currently listed. 131 new listings since Saturday morning. I can't believe this is typical - could indeed be margin call related?

[Skwerl]

FerrariChat has a forum with some decent discussion threads about the collector car market/bubble:

Vintage Ferrari Market - FerrariChat.com

[Rick Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by 2ndTARGA

Since this thread seems to be heading south (to Italy), I thought I'd take a look at the Ferrari listings on eBay. Makes the 993 situation seem pretty tame:

436 cars currently listed. 131 new listings since Saturday morning. I can't believe this is typical - could indeed be margin call related?

I think a lot of the cars are churned via dealer to dealer transactions. I would guess that the number of unique cars having been listed for sale this year is a lot smaller than it looks.

[911IRL]

[QUOTE=

- could indeed be margin call related?[/QUOTE]

Interesting point. If the rout in equity markets continues or does not stabilise u could see the flippers trying to get out / unwind. They too will be nervous holding stock as everything else devalues!

Too many at once will make a buyer look at it and go hmmmmm

[Reddy Kilowatt]

Originally Posted by 2ndTARGA

Since this thread seems to be heading south (to Italy), I thought I'd take a look at the Ferrari listings on eBay. Makes the 993 situation seem pretty tame:

436 cars currently listed. 131 new listings since Saturday morning. I can't believe this is typical - could indeed be margin call related?

Do you have any evidence that this is atypical?

[2ndTARGA]

Interesting article. (I also posted this on the adjacent "The market" thread.)

Art Collectors Were Busy Looking for Liquidity During Market Rout - Bloomberg Business

Thoughts on any parallels with the high-end collector car market?

[KNS]

It's been said many times that once the buyers for these cars die out the market will start to come down. How long before 911s follow? I didn't read the whole fchat link but I found this interesting nugget which I lifted from there:

Things will probably be good for the near term for most post-war cars, but if you're holding a fleet of 1937 Cords, I can't see that market beating inflation. Simon Kidston reported it best when he quoted from a Pebble Beach senior judge "Q: What is the average age of a Pierce Arrow owner? A: Dead".


I think it will be a while for 993s.