Damaged 993

[Guest]

A friend of mine has a wonderful 993 and he wants to sell it, and I am sorely tempted. But......

A few months ago he had a serious prang at a track day. Fortunately he walked away, but the car chassis bent out of shape. With the help of some insurance cash it was repaired at top dollar, and all seems to be good with the car. However, my friends love affair with it has ended so he wants to pass it on to a good home.

What's the assembled wisdom. On the one hand will it ever be the same and will it be the source of trouble and expense from here to eternity. On the other hand, if I went for this, in a sense the car might be completely sorted.

Should I do it? or move on? I don't want to rip the guy off but neither of us know what kind of discount a significant repair means. Thoughts please.

Mark

 

[zrcg1]

Was it written off by the insurance company? If so what category C or D?

I have had one repaired in the past and to be honest, if its repaired properly you shouldnt have any problems. If there was any skimping on the repair you could end up with a very expensive car. Was it rear/frontal or roof damage?

Discounts I have heard mooted on Cat D cars in the past are something in the region of 10-15-20% from undamaged. Of course, an "undamaged" car is classified as something that has not been recorded as written off, which is an even broader category.....

At least you know the recent history of this car and there are no surprises.

 

[RichardLW]

Its well worth doing if the price is right and, while you don't want to rip a mate off, significant damage, albeit repaired to a high standard, will have an effect on any future sale price. Depending on where you are based, why don't you get your mate to have the car looked at by an independent dealer and get a trade in price. Add a bit - say £500 to £1000 - and I would think you have a good idea of price.

It may be that the dealer won't value it at all. In that case, have a look at the classifieds on Pistonheads and others where damaged/repaired cars come up from time to time and try and get a feel the kind of drop in price these cars suffer. Some of them seem to about 25% or more off the private sale price.

How old is the car; what's the spec and what's the mileage; what was the damage and who repaired it? If you fancy it, and you are OK with getting it cheaply on the basis that it has had its problems and that it will always be a bit harder to sell on, then do it.

 

[harry]

You said you can get your hands on a 'sorted 993' (presumably = undamaged) then why bother with the damaged car which had a bent chassis? Not worth the outlay unless you are going to get it dirt cheap.

Harry

 

[968er]

As has been said above, if the repair has been carried out by a specialist you are ending up with a car that has a lot of new bits and if there have been any other latent faults they have also probably been sorted as well. There are a lot of cars out there that have not been listed but have had serious damage in the past and have been repaired on the cheap.

Personally, I would be happy to buy the car especially as you know the seller and he can take you to who carried out the repair. Value, I think it is usually about 10% less than what you would pay for an 'undamaged' car.

 

[Guest]

no not written off by insurance - although I got the sense it was a marginal call

 

[delta]

I've had a cat c damaged car now for 4 years a '96 varioram C2 and it had been repaired properly back in late '96 when it was less than 2 months old (whoops!) I don't have any problems with the car at all and as it's going to be a keeper then I looked at it as saving money (about 4k at the time). I'm also not that afraid to tinker with it regard speccing it to track days as the residual value is already affected, ( some people get a bit an&l with originality!) Just make sure its been repaired well! You pays your money and you make your choice!

 

[angry]

A creditable source has told me that due to the tub type chassis they have,they are very repairable...and that it becomes blatantly obvious when it cannot be repaired.
993s will keep their strength even after a complicated repair.
(source from Solus/afn main Porsche body shop for south of England)[]
Dan