Whats a #3 1982-1983 911 SC Coupe worth these days

[David Borden]

Looking for a starting value of a 1982-1983 911 SC in good shape. Im asking for a friend. Ive been told its a sunroof coupe with 180k miles. Engine has been gone through but I haven't seen the documentation. Its not a show winner, but fairly well cared for from what Ive been told. Not sure how much documentation exists on the car.

I know its not much to go on, but looking for a realistic price range if someone wants to move the car but not wait a long time or deal with allot of people trying to sell it.

Any thoughts?

David

[NYNick]

Right, not a lot to go on. Low to mid 20's.

[nvr2mny]

Having both an '82 & '83 I would agree with Nick. Pretty tough w/o more info. We could be WAY off (to the high side) depending.......

[nixtfy]

I recently sold my 1981 sc with 160k for 30 k. Records for everything transmission, reseal, suspension, paintwork, but no engine work.
Mine was a Row car with no sunroof. Only need was that the seat leather was dry.

[David Borden]

Thanks for the feedback. Given a nice driver, US spec sun roof coupe in silver or gray with black interior. Give it a solid 3 rating using the Hagerty scale. The car is supposed to be stock and to run well although it has not been driven much for several years.

How much would the value change for a top end rebuild, vs a complete engine rebuild with about 20k miles on the engine work, assuming they have the documentation?

Most people are asking high 20's to mid 30's for these cars, but most are dealers and dont appear to be selling, and most do not have nearly 180k miles on them. Just dont have a feel for how that many miles affects the price.

Seems to me its a mid 20's car, maybe less depending on how clean it is and what kind of documentation exists.

Any other feedback welcome.

David

[techweenie]

I'd say you were on target with mid-$20s based on skimpy info.

There are a lot of Porsche guys who would consider 180K over the line, but I've found first-time Porsche shoppers may be less intimidated by the miles - especially if they come from Mercedes ownership...

Top end is worth a couple K, complete engine overhaul with records of head stud replacement would add $5-6K, IMO. Then you have trans condition, clutch, brakes; interior condition; real or fake Fuchs, tire condition... it all adds up (or down).

[David Borden]

Ok, I have some more info to share. First, here are some pics.










Couple more pics here: Zenfolio | Light Dance | New Gallery 9-Apr-17

Seeing the car in person, its all there. It was used as a daily for some time from what I understand, so has the normal stuff you would expect. chipping on the hood, some scratches and dings here and there.

I used a paint meter and it ranges from 100-300um depending on the panel, some near 100, some around 200 and others near 300um and differing side to side. guessing most of the car has been repainted or repaired at some point but have not measured many 911s to this point.

The tires are 8-10 years old so will need to be replaced. The car started right up with no issues and was smogged recently and was told that its never had an issue passing easily.

They said that the engine has been gone through, and supposedly the trans as well about 20k miles ago. With that said, they have been unable to find documentation to support that.

The car drives OK. It seems that the bushings are beat out or bad as the car does not have that tight 911s feel on the road when it hits lumps and bumps on the road. It clanks and bangs a bit. My 74 is much tighter from that perspective.

The steering column bushing almost seems missing... the steering wheel moves around nearly a good quarter of an inch radially... Ive not run across this. The owner stated they have the bushing and its super easy to replace?

The interior is fair. The door panels have a few scratches in the vinyl and a bit blotchy. You can see the clifford alarm keypad next to the key. Its no longer hooked up, but they had drilled about a .75" hole through the dash behind it to pass the wires. Not sure how hard it would be to patch that.

It has sport seats from a mid eighties car from what I have been told. The carpet is usable, but fair as well. Probably original.

Using the Hagerty condition guide, I would say its between a 3-4 but probably closer to 4.

With that said, the sellers are really nice folks and I think they cared for the car while the have owned it. The car appears to have no rust that I can see. It runs good, although it does feel a bit flat power wise. Its all there for sure, but it definitely needs some love.

I think a full set of suspension bushings, the steering bushing, new carpet and lots of TLC it would be a great driver.

The owner hit me at $29k and that seems way way optimistic considering the condition. (based on what I was told I though it was going to be closer to mid to low 20s so was caught of guard a bit)

Its tough to negotiate since everyone and their brother is asking what I consider ridiculous money for substandard cars.

I offered them 23k, which I thought was fairly generous considering the condition, miles and lack of documentation. Maybe to generous?

With the new information, what does the Pelican brain trust think? Id like to take the car home, but I definitely dont want to overpay for it either considering what it needs.

David

[jimgolden]

May be an 84? Carrera script on back trunk? 23 sounds like a pretty good deal to me, but I've only been lurking for 4 years!

[Catorce]

Very fair offer for a running car. I would not be chagrined to pay 23k or even 25K for that car. To the naysayers, please show me a car this complete that costs less than 20K. I doubt such a car even exists.

I just bought an 83SC for 12k in the exact condition this car was in - but NOT RUNNING. Needs to be re-ringed at a minimum, mileage 206K. Just like the car you are showing us, my car is all there, all the pieces are there and in good shape.

So I'd have paid 23K for a runner for sure.

[David Borden]

Jim,

Its an 83 SC for sure. Thats a tale from a Carrera they put on the car.

David

[pmax]

Originally Posted by David Borden

Looking for a starting value of a 1982-1983 911 SC in good shape. Im asking for a friend.

I'm confused.

Are you buying this yourself or asking for a friend.

Originally Posted by David Borden

The interior is fair. The door panels have a few scratches in the vinyl and a bit blotchy. You can see the clifford alarm keypad next to the key. Its no longer hooked up, but they had drilled about a .75" hole through the dash behind it to pass the wires. Not sure how hard it would be to patch that.

Interior looks like it's in good condition. The stuff you have mentioned are nits.

The owner hit me at $29k and that seems way way optimistic considering the condition.

I offered them 23k, which I thought was fairly generous considering the condition, miles and lack of documentation. Maybe to generous?

With the new information, what does the Pelican brain trust think? Id like to take the car home, but I definitely dont want to overpay for it either considering what it needs.

David

Value is somewhere between $23K and $29K.

[David Borden]

Originally Posted by pmax

I'm confused.

Are you buying this yourself or asking for a friend.

You're right... that is confusing. A friend let me know about the car(he was interested in it but the timing is bad so mentioned it to me) Not sure why I phrased it that way, must have been half asleep.

I have an interest in the SC. It was a SC that started my love for these cars and we've never owned one. Over 30 years ago, my dads business partner came to our house and he was driving a 911 SC. I think I was just out of high school at the time. I thought it was the coolest thing and kept asking him questions about it. He threw me the keys... I was dumbfounded and did what any punk would have done, grabbed em before he changed his mind and drove to every friends house I could to show them the car. No one was home... The friend that told me about this car was one of those guys I tried to show!

Interior looks like it's in good condition. The stuff you have mentioned are nits.

Are you suggesting everything I mentioned is a nit, or just the interior issues? Are they a nit at $23k, or $29k? Not trying to start an argument, trying to see where you are coming from. To me there are nits at 23k, but fairly significant issues at $29k. I may be way off base though.

It may be the lack of detail in the pictures, but I tried to describe the interior fairly. Its fairly worn. Its a lot of little stuff that adds up. From my observations, most people who buy these cars want them to be in really good shape cosmetically and mechanically or the cars value suffers.

The greatest concern for me, was how the car felt when driving it. It didnt have the tight solid feeling you get from these cars driving down the road. Not sure what it will take to cure that. I was thinking bushings on the front control arms and in the torque tube etc. Honestly though, just guessing that was the issue. My 74 is tighter feeling. Power feels about the same and its a stock 2.7 with CIS.

As mentioned before, it has good bones and can be brought back to a great driver otherwise I wouldn't be looking at it. Just trying to close in on a fair price for both parties.

Thanks to all who have provided feedback so far.

David

[christiandk]

Looks like a nice and honest car. I would not sell it for 23K. 29K seems fair. Anything below that and you should be happy.

[techweenie]

The achilles heel of the 3.0 engine is(are) the head studs. If it were me, and $23K wasn't closing the deal, I'd arrange a compression and leakdown test. A good result would bump the value by several thousand dollars.

You drove it but didn't mention clutch, brakes or shifting (especially the first 1-2 shift, cold) if all are smooth, even/drama-free, that's a big plus that should be reflected in the value.

Assume a/c doesn't work but windows and sunroof do.

[wgwollet]

I think $23,000 is a great deal, not to know about compression, is a risk, but I would risk it.
But most likely he does not need to sell it to you for $23,000, I think a lot of Porsche geek would pay the $29,000.
Why you ask? Because the coupes in the SC, Carrera, G50 world are getting that...few of these cars are under $30,000 anymore.
And if anybody finds them under $25,000 PM me please...ASAP

Usually flippers or PP regulars are low on price and the dealers on here are stupid price, this car falls in the middle of that.
Bill

[David Borden]

The achilles heel of the 3.0 engine is(are) the head studs. If it were me, and $23K wasn't closing the deal, I'd arrange a compression and leakdown test. A good result would bump the value by several thousand dollars.

You drove it but didn't mention clutch, brakes or shifting (especially the first 1-2 shift, cold) if all are smooth, even/drama-free, that's a big plus that should be reflected in the value.

Assume a/c doesn't work but windows and sunroof do.

Good advice, thank you! Im going to try and do a leak down and compression on the car.

The clutch was very high, engaged at the the very end of the stroke and seemed a little grabby but that may have been due to how high in the stroke it was. Guessing this is just an adjustment? Shifting seemed OK. I haven't driven allot of 915 cars so not 100% sure how they should feel when right. Nothing bad happened when shifting though.

The power sunroof worked as did the windows.

David