Selling a 1972 911T Targa after 25 happy years (rebuilt title)

[mattn]

I am considering selling my 1972 911T after 25 years. The wrinkle is that she is on a rebuilt title (Virginia). Sometime prior to my purchase apparently she was totaled, at least as far as the insurance company was concerned.

I'm not going down the "What's my car worth" trail here just thinking about how to go about selling her – trying the get a fair price and be transparent to potential buyers at the same time.

I have extensive paper records (25 years). My hard drive kicked the bucket a couple weeks ago and I lost all electronic records, which were also extensive – dates of oil changes, etc. I should be able to recreate some of them.

I (with help) did a stripped-down-to-nothing restoration in 2003 which included a wide body conversion and installation of a 3.2 engine with transmission from a 1986 911. Just a couple years ago (3? …time flies….I have records!) I redid the suspension with many upgrades. Have all the documentation of course.

One of my fears is she is worth more to me than anyone is willing to pay. But I keep thinking about something newer I can drive everyday in DC traffic.

What I am getting at is what’s the best way to appeal to informed potential buyers? What’s the best forum and how to present? My thought would be to use EBay. Obviously lots of pictures, lots of details. My paper file is about two inches tall. I used to keep a spreadsheet of everything….did I mention the hard drive crash?

Any advice is appreciated. I’m in the Northern Virginia area and a member of PCA if local folks have any advice.

Thanks,
Matt

Oh, and 17 inch wheels by Lindsey

[jferrante]

I would suggest Bring a Trailer - sold my viper on there and the comment section lets you connect with buyers over questions around title etc. you can negotiate a reserve with them..Ebay sucks...just my .02

[SalParadise]

Originally Posted by mattn

One of my fears is she is worth more to me than anyone is willing to pay. ]

This is the truth. Ask yourself what it's worth, find a number that is agreeable in your own mind, and take that number if someone offers it.

They key here on a labor of love is finding that very real number in your mind that will sell the car. $40k? $50k? $60K? $100k?

You need to find some baseline you are comfortable with, and I would put that out there because at this point we would all be just shooting in the dark. If you put a number out there you are comfortable with and we'll tell you if it's low or high.

[Matt Monson]

Just be honest about it. S title doesn't hurt as much as it used to. I bought an S title car last year. I would buy a car like yours and not give it a second thought. Condition as it is today is what matters most.

[mattn]

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely be putting a reserve. I suppose no harm done if it isn't met.

I checked out Bring a Trailer. I like the selection of cars. Whats the advantage over eBay? I just have more experience with eBay.

jferrante - you say "the comment section lets you connect with buyers over questions around title etc. you can negotiate a reserve with them". eBay has got Q&A between bidders and sellers. Reserve negotiation sounds interesting. Going to keep investigating.

Thanks again.
Matt

[techweenie]

In my experience the BaT reserve is going to be low. It will take some cojones to go ahead with a BaT auction if their reserve is 40% below what you need.

But the BaT buyer (and kibbitzer) community is robust, and your car will get plenty of attention there.

And Matt is right - salvage title loses meaning over the years. On a year old car it might be a 30% hit; on a 40 year old car, maybe 5%.

[LakeCleElum]

My guess, your Pelican PM inbox is already filling up.

It must be a hard decision to sell. I have a 73.5 Targa with 3.2 and can't bring myself to even think about selling. I've had it since 1990. Enjoy while you can.

BAT will keep your reserve lower than you want. Put your true reserve on an ebay listing, then sell after the listing expires and the whole world knows about it. Do a Pelican Ad also.