A classic 911 is a fantastic car to own and drive IF you have a good one. If you have a bad one, and there are plenty to choose from, it could be your worst nightmare come true! Sadly, a number of people when they realise their nightmare try to offload the source onto some other unsuspecting person in exchange for their hard-earned cash so what are the warning signs which should make you look elsewhere? This is only a brief guide and cannot cover everything so do more research before handing over any cash. Always ask questions and if you don't have the knowledge or confidence to evaluate a car properly yourself then get someone else who has to do it for you. Never be fooled by shiny paintwork or alloy wheels as these things can blind you to hidden horrors.
Firstly, let's be absolutely clear about one thing: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A CHEAP 911. If you think you've found one look again because it is much more likely that you are looking at a huge list of repair bills some of which could easily rival the cost of your 'cheap' 911! There is an old adage which says something like 'buy cheap, buy twice' and that is so true. A good 911 is worth money so why would anybody give you something worth say 20K for a fraction of that sum? Be suspicious of the old cliches involving divorces, demanding babies, house moves, leaving the country (with your money?) etc. as reasons for selling. Most serious owners would rather die than let go of their 911 so genuine reasons for sale will much more believable and much less urgent eg ''I've just bought a better one.'' If a seller actually said ''this car is in a mess, it's going to cost a fortune to fix and I can't afford it or be bothered anyway'' then you could pretty much accept that but you don't see that one very often, it's usually disguised with divorces and babies etc.Don't assume either that, for example, an early SC will cost less than one 5 years newer. It won't if it's a good one. Age is largely irrelevant except in the special case of the earlier classics which can cost as much as or more than new ones.
Probably the best place to start when sizing up a 911 is the documentation. Good classic 911s are owned by good owners and they tend to spend a lot of money and time keeping it that way so you should be EXPECTING to see a huge history file, preferably with the original service record dating back to day one. Genuine sellers will be very keen to show you their file which will contain evidence of serious care and will have big bills with it covering important things like the engine, gearbox, bodywork, heat exchangers, braking system, etc. etc. etc. You do not want to see a few bills for some alloy gizmos, a few tyres, a couple of petrol receipts, the latest ICE, and an air freshener. This is NOT full service history and is worth nothing and if the seller has nothing better to tell you about the car then you should leave it well alone. Don't accept just old MOT certificates and tax discs either as these are nothing more than evidence of the car being used on the public highway having satisfied basic road worthiness criteria. Beware the seller who tells you that the car has not needed anything doing to it because they are clearly telling about something called neglect and if YOU take the car on YOU will end up paying for it. If the paperwork isn't right or, worse still, missing then don't even consider the car because if you buy it then you will already have inherited a huge problem for when you come to sell the car again.
On the question of maintenance you will often see sellers proudly announcing how much has been spent on the car and if that is for the right things and the amount is consistent with good care over the car's life then that's fine and is in fact what you should be seeing, but how much is right? If you take a figure of 2K as being a conservative estimate per year to run a classic 911 and cover all of it's maintenance costs and servicing but not the boring stuff like fuel and insurance etc. then a 25 - 30 year old 911 should have receipts in tens of thousands of pounds (my own K series 'SC which is now 31 years old has had about 37K lavished on it so far) so when a seller of a 30 year old 911 announces ''bills for 15K''are they really telling you that little has been done to look after this car over it's lifetime?
The biggest area for concern, and one which is commonly glossed over in many ebay listings is the condition of the bodywork ie RUST. Some sellers would have you believe that the tiny spot of rust under the headlights and around the door-shuts etc. is nothing to worry about and wouldn't cost much to fix, however this IS something to worry about a lot and actually costs an arm and a leg to repair properly because if the value and integrity of the car are to be preserved then genuine, galvanised Porsche parts must be used and with one front wing currently costing around 600GBP you will begin to see that once labour costs and VAT are added this 'minor' repair is actually going to run into thousands. If you opt for the cheap and flimsy aftermarket panels you will end up doing it all again very soon anyway. This was my own car just before restoration. Doesn't look bad does it and similar to the sort of thing seen listed on ebay?................
Orignal From: Buying a GOOD used Classic Porsche 911 on eBay
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