Which one is the pristine one, if I may ask?

It was actually 4 places in 3 locations.

Best overall- Exotic Classics in Syosset LI
Best Porsche collections and coolest place( has Porsche Museum)-CCS Oyster Bay LI
Coolest car guys - nice non P- Car collection - Deluxe Car Storage and Sales New Hyde
Big assortment but questionable condition - Luxsport Motorcar @ Deluxe Car Storge

If I had to go to one place,,,,,CCS. If I wanted to buy a car.....Exotic Classics / CCS both worth a visit.

Exotic seems to carry the collectible.....CCS the good quality driver.

Just my opinion .....

Great feedback thanks!

Not looking to pick a fight or call any one out....
 

This market smells inflated to me. The offer side is way out of whack. Where are these cars trading? Being that there is no 'exchange" where we can achieve an efficient market...we are left with auctions and eBay prints. Anyone else have a mechanism for placing a fair value on the car?

For example...I think this car reflects the reality...the bid side..

Porsche 911 Sunroof Coupe | eBay

I also think Haggerty is a good level based on auction prices....they hold these cars at a 20-30% discount to where sellers are offering them.

I have read ads that say things like '911 are better than the stock market will prices rising at 20% a year or more' . Really!

One seller told me ...I looked at where the cars sold 6 months ago, where they sell today and draw a line through it.......projecting out 6 months....that's the price he wants TODAY.....

I think there is way more supply than demand and the driver cars are gonna sit....but what do I know....absolutely zip...just offering my perspective after looking around last few weeks.

Special cars, low production, unique, properly cared for....sure there is a premium to those. .....

Am I alone on this?

How's your buying experience going in Metro NY. Easy? Cheap? Plenty of good, documented, high quality choices? I doubt it. I live in this market too.

The proof is in the pudding. In this case, you're the pudding. Let us know how you do. But I doubt you'll get a good one cheap, especially shopping at dealers.

As far as the market softening? Nope, not yet!

That car may have sold for less money because it's not a very good car. If I were in the market for another one, I would even look at that one.

I think the market is cooling off somewhat and next year may not be a very strong year, either.

JR

One thing I'd strongly urge you to take into account is whether or not the engine in a car at this mileage has had at least a top end rebuild. If not, I'd plan on it. If you aren't a DIYer, I'd prepare yourself for a bill in the neighborhood of $10K - and possibly more depending on where you live (I'm sure labor rates in the NY area, like the SF Bay Area, are relatively high).

I hear people refer to these engines as 'bullet proof' and, IME, that is a fallacy. Yes, they're strong engines in many respects but they do have some weaknesses. I know many people who own air-cooled 911s and they have ALL needed top-end rebuilds at or around the 100K mile mark, and some have needed full rebuilds. I did a full rebuild on the engine in my '87 Carrera when it started to burn a quart of oil every 300 miles. I may have been able to skip doing the bottom end but I decided to do the full thing while I was in there.

The car you referred to had 130K miles on the clock and no mention of a rebuild. I'm going to guess it would need one in the not-too-distant future. IMO, that makes it effectively a $45K+ car.

Java, what negatives did you notice about that car?

What Nick said. Mostly mediocre lower tier 3/ upper tier 4 cars with some stories and many question marks.

Ultimately every opinion can be borne out : http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-cars-sale/559387-1974-porsche-911-targa.html ... if you can hold on long enough eventually you will be right. At the time $40k seemed shocking for a clean middie with no re build, but now it would probably have gone in the first week. Next year, or the year after, who knows maybe it will take a year again.

Your buddy needs to start reading as much as he can so he can make an informed decision. Personally I'd avoid both Ebay and dealers, but i think if you spent time reading here and were patient you could find a good car, at the right price.

Everything about that silver car screams stay away to me, the red painted evaporator protector alone should tell you that.

Exotic Classics - former home of our buddy LANCE YUDKIN, and the same place he takes all his pictures. That was where the salesman tried to convince me a Panasonic radio was factory on an SC, as well as angled aluminum threshold strips.

... The search function is your buddy's friend

Concours ? no, I don't think the rear fog and a 'period correct radio' as opposed to OEM, would work for the point collectors. But maybe it would look good displayed in a 'Concourse' in an Airport somewhere.

Great news Driver SC's are 30k+

Good comments all....we Have been having a good time looking at everything offered everywhere. If he cars are selling where they are being offered than that will be reflected in the Hagerty price matrix ...isn't that correct?

My feeling on motor rebuild is that if the car shows no need of a rebuild at the time of sale...it should get fair value. If the motor needed to be rebuilt and is rebuilt, then the car should get an edge, but not full value because what you are buying is a working representation of the car. So if a car trades at 30k with 140K miles...then a car with a rebuilt motor should not get 40K.

Don't assume we are not ( my buddy the cop) and me are not reading everything. ITs easier to ask advice and be open to advice from the knowledgeble membership here than to come off as an expert...which would be an exaggeration anyway.

Very nice cars have been listed here in the classifieds.....including Logan2z. Very nice car.

This one seemed be a fair price,,,,sold Dec 14

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-cars-sale/894347-fs-1983-911sc-coupe.html

That car was sold with the rear fog from the factory.

I don't want to pee on anyone's cornflakes, so I'll preface this by saying I'm maybe a little older, a little more conservative and a little more experienced than the average Porsche owner. What floats my boat might not float yours.

If I was going to buy a 911, I'd buy one with half that mileage. I'd buy one that is stock, or close to it.

It comes from a state I'd rather not buy a car in. Bad weather, bad roads, usually means a less than stellar underside.

The Ebay ad is poor. Not enough photos, not enough description. I'd assume the engine and gearbox haven't been rebuilt, otherwise he would have mentioned it. Not a good thing at 131k miles.

Look at the front valance. It's bent. Fog lights fit poorly. Why?

I'd bet the car's had some paint work. Be nice to know what, and why.

Everything the owner has changed on the car has lessened its value. Some of the things he changed are popular around here. They fall in two camps for me. Boy Racer, and Stupid.

Boy Racer mods:

Small steering wheel. Race cars have small steering wheels usually because they have not a lot of room in the cockpit. It's not because race drivers like tiny little wheels. Larger wheels give you more leverage, more precise steering and you can actually see the gauges, which is sometimes useful.

Pedals. Again, trying to make it look like a race car, except that's not what race cars look like, exactly. Got the aluminum piece over the pedal cluster, too. Left the upper carpet piece off so he could see his aluminum.

Shifter. See above.

Stupid mods:

Poorly painted (red!) bar in front of the front condensor. WTF?

Ruined a really nice set of wheels painting them black. Then accessorized them with non-matching caps.

Yanked the rear bumper guards off, which always looks like ass to me, and whoever did the work did it poorly.

Back-dated the heater the cheap way, then left the hose off the heat exchanger, so it's back-dated to no heat at all. As a bonus, the heat exchangers can now rust inside as well as outside.

Took off a perfectly good muffler and cat, installed a POS muffler which looks like crap on the car. Going to be expensive to fix that, if he didn't keep the original parts.

Lowered the car to well below a sensible ride height. Made the handling and ride worse, just so it looks "cool." I personally can't stand people that use the words correct and stance in a sentence. I want to slap them upside the head...

Then there's the crap stereo, the key fob without a fob, the peculiar ventilation control position and a bunch of other little things. Bottom line, I would not want to buy a car from that owner.

Nothing personal, no bad feelings intended.

JR

Nick - you hit the nail on the head...and that is really the essence to the thread; what is the market!

No two cars are the same. The supply is near unlimited and it its very difficult to know where the cars really clearing. I see a lot of car bumping along the classifieds with hopeful sellers stating " lots of interest, will sell quick, Showing to fellow Pelicans first, bum pity bump bump" stuff.

My advice to Andy the Cop....don't sweat it. Never chase the market. If you find a car that you love and it checks out...great. But in 25 years...an 07 -08 6 speed will be as much a classic as an 87 or 82. There is good value on the PORSCHE world....but you have to be flexible in your purchase mandate.

Hell....an 08 Carrera for 40K is pretty enticing! But that's for another thread.

The journey is fun no matter the outcome...

I don't think so. I ordered a new SC in 1983, the same year that car was built and sold, and a rear fog light was not on the option list for a US car.

Pretty nice car, though.

JR

How do you know this ? IIRC the rear for was a euro option only, and the switch is a pull turn as opposed to the pull switch that activates the US front fogs.

I may be wrong then.

Buying a good car > getting a good deal. You might fall into both but spend a little extra to get the right car. It will cost less in the long run guaranteed.