993 Targa Valuation

[JamesMcB]

I have a manual silver with grey interior (black dash)1997 993 Targa with 35K miles on the clock. I bought the car from the first owner in 2002 then sold it to my friend then bought it back so its had three owners but four in the book. It has had no accidents or paint work in fact it has a thin plastic coating over the front bonnet, wings and door mirrors that was applied new and has protected it from stone chips. The car drives very well and all works as it should. It has a full service history from Porsche with the original owner then from a excellent independent. Its 36K service is due in 1k which I'm happy to have done before the sale. I'm selling it in order to purchase a GT3 or 964RS.

What do you estimate it would be worth?

 

[TRW40]

James
I have something similar but with higher mileage and was toying with the idea on what mine might be worth. I have downloaded a form from the PCGB website which you can complete and send off for a valuation. I am not sure whether the valuation is intended for sale or insurance purposes but this might be worth a try.
Tim

 

[TRW40]

On the subject of selling James, have you given any thought on how you can sell your car safely? I have heard of a situation where a banker's draft was not honoured (because the draft was stolen) once the buyer had disappeared with the car and the seller's insurer's refused to pay because the keys had been handed over willingly. It seems to me that it must be very difficult to strike a sensible balance between needs of the buyer and seller.

 

[nickgardner]

couple of years ago I sold a very similar example with similarly low mileage. At the time I was looking for 32K for it - in the end took 29 for it. mind you nowadays ones with low mileage are that much harder to find so Maurrice may be right that you could get 30K - make sure all the paperwork is in apple pie order and be prepared to wait for right buyer

 

[JamesMcB]

I will try selling it through the classifieds, clear funds only before the car goes and no one test drives the car as I had a almost nasty experience a few years ago! I'll get it sorted in terms of services and put it up for £30.5K and see what happens.

James

 

[MrHappy]

Hi James, the 993 Targa is nicely sought after.[] 911 Virgin have one for sale occasionally and it will sell within a day or two. I believe they might sell it on your behalf for a commission though you'd need to check this. As with all 993's they sell on condition so if you're confident of the condition there's no reason not to pitch it just above £30K. You may need to be patient but the buyers are definitely out there.

Good luck.

David.

 

[9000 rpm]

ORIGINAL: MoC2S

Bit early for the Targa market yet, James .. in summer I'd expect maybe £30K if it all stacks up .. [:-]

How much difference does mileage make to value?

I bought my own '97 993 Targa in November - silver/black, manual, 77K miles, OPC then recognised indie service history, although 6 previous owners - for 25K. Does 40K extra miles equate to a £4-5K price differential, or would my car have gone for more if it had sold in the Summer?

 

[38F3E1]

ORIGINAL: 9000 rpm

Does 40K extra miles equate to a £4-5K price differential ...

My guess is yes. Lower mileage is becoming harder to find by the year so the supply gets smaller but there are always some buyers who only want low milage.

 

[MrHappy]

I guess that in the end a car is ultimately only worth what someone will pay for it. Some buyers will factor in condition of tyres, discs/pads, tax etc and bid down if they're not up to scratch whereas others will overlook any deficiencies and pay the money simply because they've finally found the one that ticks the right boxes.

 

[TRW40]

In response to 9000 rpm, I have the same as you but with 85k miles on the clock and was reckoning that mine may be a little shy of £25k - I don't follow prices closely but I was expecting a differential of about £1k per £10k miles so that would make the price you paid and the price suggested for Jamesmcb's about right in my book. I would be surprised if the season made a significant difference to price but I suspect cars generally sell more quickly in the better weather.

 

[TRW40]

James
I think your approach to selling is very sensible but I can see that a buyer could be a little nervous when you are holding both his/her cash and the car. I am sure this and the reluctance to let the buyer have a test drive must put some buyers off but I guess there is no way round it - at some point there has to be a leap of faith on one side or the other. It seems to me that the introduction of a stakeholder who holds both the cash and the car on trust for both parties would make for a fairer system but perhaps this is just over the top. Some form of insurance policy to protect against fraud would be another possible way round it. I bought my car from a very cautious seller and so have some experience of this dilemma. Ultimately, I think the parties just have to make sure they are as confident about each other's integrity as they can be.
Tim

 

[JamesMcB]

In terms of mileage if you look a the pure maths then 40K miles for a £5K differnce equates to 13p per mile which is cheap as chips in terms of depreciation. 40K miles also on average equates to 3 and bit years of driving. On that basis I reclon £5K extra would sound good value.

As for holding the cash and the car, I have done this before with people meeting me at my business address (its a big place not a shed!). I always have my passport, driving licence as proof of ID and give a letter of receipt of funds. I know not letting the buyer drive the car seems a little harsh but I have purchased high end cars off a few people and they have always said before viewing that they were happy to drive the car themselves for a extensive drive but didn't want me doing the same, overall its fair enough and its one of the things against private deals.

James

 

[TRW40]

Interesting maths James - I follow your logic. The seller of my car would not let me drive when I bought mine and although you can get a pretty good idea of how things are, you cannot get a feel for the clutch, brakes and gears when you are not in the driving seat. I overcame this with an independent inspection which I think is a must for buyers anyway. To be fair, the seller did let me drive him to the bank in order to pay his money in!

 

[Guest]

Another route for receiving or paying the money is to go to the bank with the other person and get the bank to hand over a bankers draught to the purchaser, who then hands it straight to the seller. The bank draught is obviously genuine and cannot be stopped.
With regard to test driving, I bought a Targa in October of last year privately, and we did the deal at the Indepedent that performed the pre purchase inspection. Because I had zero knowledge of how the car should be, I relied on their ability and reputation, and the car is brilliant - way better than my already high expectations.

 

[TRW40]

Getting the draft straight from the Bank sounds like an excellent idea to me.

 

[Guest]

it really is a dilemma isn't it

last year I sold a car car privately to a guy who brought a bankers draft as requested, I then got nervous so drove him to my local branch and handed over the draft to the cashier, who then told me it could still not clear and could bounce in up to 6 months time. I was pretty wobbly by now so asked the buyer which branch he got the draft made at, I called them (we are still in my bank) but was not able to get a straight answer because I was not a customer and they couldn't give me details of someone else's account anyway.

The guy was probably thinking "what the f...?" but could understand it (sort of). I went outside, got some fresh air and decided the guy had willingly done everything I'd asked so decided he was OK so we did the deal and I sold the car (the draft did not bounce and we all lived happily ever after)

End of the day you have to make a judgment call, if it feels right go for it, if not walk away. You can choose who to sell your car to.

one last thought, if you can calmly count cash, get cash. (ask the buyer to follow you to the bank and get the bank to count it). If he's dodgy he should do a runner.

 

[TRW40]

This is what happened to me.... but I was the buyer. The seller took my bankers draft to the Bank and was told that they could not guarantee that it would clear. He thought he could pay to have it cleared but the Bank said not possible. Fortunately, he took the same stance as you - he trusted me - initially I was a little miffed at his hesitation, especially as we were members of the same profession, but as I am now contemplating selling myself, I have more sympathy for his position. Stewart's suggestion above that you get the bank to hand over the draft and then hand it straight back is a good one but problematic if the seller and buyer use different banks. I think you are right; cash is the alternative, but I can understand a buyer being reluctant to carry £25k of cash. As you suggest, ultimately you have to assess the risks and make the call. If in doubt, don't sell it - now that might be the excuse I need to keep mine.

 

[TRW40]

One more thought. Do you miss your car RIP993? I have this fear that if I sell mine I will miss it and want it back again. I then ask myself how difficult it would be to find one as good as the one just sold. I love the car but the reality is that my work and family commitments just don't allow me to drive it as often as I would like - I suppose I have become far too precious about it really. So on the one hand I think .... sell it and buy another when the kids have left home, and on the other, I think it is not really depreciating very quickly and so keep it for those few opportunities I have to enjoy it.

 

[Sundeep]

when I sold mine, I took a cheque, then waited the 5 days for it to clear......

everyone happy

 

[Guest]

Sundeep, you know that cheque may never clear? I trust this was a while ago and everything is cool.

What I've come to understand is the banks have us all totally stitched up []
They won't really take any responsibility for any of your money ever, only to make millions investing and making sure their customers have to swallow any of their mistakes/practices

A personal cheque really isn't worth the paper it's written on, even when it's gone through initial clearance it can still bounce up to 6 months later. The bank reserves the right to make a mistake as do the clearing houses. They can if they want to, recall any transaction. Unbelievable I know.

Cash or bankers draft only please for private sellers.

TRW40, you didn't buy an X5 off me last year did you?

What about electronic transfer? I think that can clear in 3 days. I bet it can still bounce later though