Who says 944 prices are down

[sawood12]

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty

The quicker we work out a way of smoothing the ups and downs of our economy the better!

That's easy. The banks need to stop lending rediculous amounts of money to people, and the BofE needs to start raising interest rates to start to combat inflation - but hang on, they can't because too many people have borrowed too much money. Doh!! The whole economy is so out of whack with whatever established equilibriams there were keeping things in balance are now so far out of kilter. The only thing stopping us from going into total meltdown is that the employment rate is still high so people, by and large, can still afford their huge mortgages and there isn't a huge drain on the countries finances. If the employment rate starts to drop we will definately be in trouble. Hopefully the equilibriums will come back into some sort of balance before that happens. God i'm depressed now!!

 

[944psi]

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty

19,000 miles and a new camshaft?

No, it is poorly written but I understood it as "camshaft belt"

Guess so. Just re-read it and realise my reading error [8|]

I thought it may have been a case hardening issue that has been talked about in the past.

 

[Fen]

It isn't just the UK. Here in NZ we have one of the highest level of employment in the developed world, house prices are supposedly ridiculously high but are considerably lower than UK levels (though to be fair salaries are also to a lesser degree) and the economy is still under pressure. Fuel and food prices are driving inflation, the Reserve Bank hiked up rates to try to combat that and we're formally in recession now. Base rate here is 8.25% or something, which effectively means that repayments here are on a par with the UK for most people simply because of the level of interest, despite the cash price of the property being lower (and their income being lower to compound the problem).

Even back in autumn last year when we were getting ready to move we took a hit of close to 20% on our house (compared with the price it was "sold" at in July, a sale which then fell through) to move it on. That was calculated to get rid of it before the Christmas quiet period and avoid perhaps having to drop it still further in the Spring to let us move on with what we wanted to do. I'm very glad we took that decision as I don't think it would have been viable to come here leaving a house in the UK (even renting it out as it wasn't ideal for the rental market) and I'd not want to still be over there still with a visa in my passport needing to be activated in 6 months.

We should theoretically have been able to cash in here with the housing slowdown - lots of property we looked at simply hasn't sold for months and I guess those with a pressing need to sell are having to take low offers. However having just secured a place on Monday this week we have paid top price for it. A gamble? - I guess so, but we intend to "leave it in a box" which hopefully means we have 30-40 years to own it and are therefore not worried about its value in the immediate term. Why did we do it? Well exceptional places are still selling. The one we have bought has sold twice in the time we have been looking (family issues for the first buyer, so they had to sell it on again). We lost out in competition with the current owner in May and this time won out over another potential buyer. It was on the market for 6 days this time.

I imagine it's like NZ in the UK; some people are hurting. I'm fortunate enough to work in a an area where remuneration is high (exceptionally so for NZ in fact) and I don't really see it in my (limited) social circle and colleagues. There are also still some people with the means and the need to buy, but they (we I guess; I hope that doesn't come across badly) are being very choosy.

Old sports cars are only a slightly different fishy frying pan; nobody needs one, precious few will be looking to buy one as an only car at any time and still fewer in times like these, but there will still be some buyers and they will probably still pay a fair price to secure something exceptional, but they have all the time in the world to look and there is little hope of something common or average getting a good price.

 

[944Turbo]

Problem with house prices people were allowed to borrow too much, they were self certifying, usefull if you are self employed but others were allowed, Brokers greedy for commision, banks looking to loan as much as possible - pretty poor return on low interest rates. Governement fiddling with inflation rates by extracting important factors (house prices for one). Now the banks are worried and inflation is rising people are suffering IIRC they said on the radio 1% interest rise is 80 a month on 100,000 mortgage, not so easy to find if you were already stretched and your other outgoings are shooting up in price Fuel and Food. IMHO the governemnt needs to cut fuel tax significantly or we will be in big trouble. They won't cos they have screwed up the economy and are desperate for money, so we will have inflation, higher interest rates and lower house prices.
Some people will still be ok, there will still be purchasers of cars but the pool will dwindle and the number of sellers may increase.
Tony


Tony

 

[Neil Haughey]

I also don't feel any slowdown right now in my line of work despite the fact that Defense engineering has taken a battering in recent years. The good engineers just move on to something different, in my case I walked away from Sonar which is dead onto Avionics because our military are in need of helicopters etc. I still get calls every week from agents despite most of em knowing that I have had my contract renewed so IMLE there must be plenty of work out there.

I don't feel much sympathy for the financial sector, if the city has to cut 10 thousand jobs then tough it won't make much if any difference to the rest of us who have had to live in the real world for the last 10-20 yrs where every major town in the midlands/north/wales has seen a continual trickle of large engineering companies go to the wall and dump several thousand ppl on the dole.

The stuff about price drops, I have a friend that is trying to sell and has cut 20% but still no sale so 25 to 30% looks about right if one actually wants to shift a house.

Banks giving ppl 5+ times their salary is/was insanity. This sort of madness may need legislation to correct. Personally I feel our entire economic system is flawed, we need to get back to the days when ppl made money on dividends rather then stock speculation (it got so bad in recent years that ppl have made a fortune by putting a company into massive debt, the private equity sham which IMHO is the biggest scandal of the last decade but you don't hear much about it, I wonder why). Even now with a financial meltdown you can be sure that some ppl are making a killing.

 

[bigkeeko]

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty

people who want to know why the £9K car with glass-out respray and total mechanical restoration is better than the £3k car with "a bit of rust and water in the oil". [][]

The bottom line is human competition. Theres always someone who`ll say " I got mine for less" or "You paid well over the top for that", or "You can get them on ebay for half that AND in better nick". Really what they`re saying is `my judgement is better than yours`. Which is subjective.
I`m looking at buying an S2 and I`m very keen on one thats for sale from Specialist Cars of Malton

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/502989.htm

. Its expensive, granted, but for your extra cash you`ll get a car that really should be a cut above the rest. in as good a condition as you can really expect from an old car WITH a warranty and needing no work. The idea of handing over 4 or 5k in a private sale then see warning lights coming on or the temp gauge rising on the journey home fills me with horror.

 

[appletonn]

But if you can get it for £7500 and then look after it, you will almost certainly never lose any money on it in the future as the really nice cars will become rarer and rarer and the rougher cars are either scrapped as the cost of renovation is too high for people to stomach or restored by the likes of us bunch of nutters [] who can't bear to see nice old cars going to seed[8|]

Alternatively you could buy a s/h Astra for similar money and set fire to 10 crisp tenners every month in depreciation....[]

 

[Fen]

I haven't heard especially good things about that particular dealer. Garnet red is quite rare, which is the same story as yellow - to my eye for the same reason.

 

[bigkeeko]

ORIGINAL: Fen

I haven't heard especially good things about that particular dealer. Garnet red is quite rare, which is the same story as yellow - to my eye for the same reason.

I happen to like the colour thats the first thing I noticed. I saw an `89 911 in garnet red and it looked lovely. Your words about the dealer concern me though. I`ll be the first to admit, I`m pretty green when it comes to these cars. If you don`t want to say publically Fen, pm me, I`m more than grateful for any information.

 

[pauly]

ORIGINAL: Fen

I haven't heard especially good things about that particular dealer. Garnet red is quite rare, which is the same story as yellow - to my eye for the same reason.

I quite like the colour too, no accounting for taste is there. []

 

[appletonn]

The only negative thing I've heard about that dealer is that they are not the cheapest around.

 

[924nutter]

I paid £12,500 for my 27,000 mile turbo cab and was happy to do so. It was being offered for £17000 though. As the clutch is starting to slip in the 924T and Porsche germany can't supply main bearing for the rebuild until late August I have used the 944 for work every day this week, until I can get the wife's Citroen AXgt through the MOT. Due to the vagaries of the weather we have been waiting to get a new windscrenn fitted for over a month, but it was done yesterday. The 944 has taken everything I have thrown at it and hasn't missed a beat. Bloody hard work in traffic though due to the lag of the turbo. Always one gear lower than I would be in the 924.

 

[bigkeeko]

ORIGINAL: appletonn

The only negative thing I've heard about that dealer is that they are not the cheapest around.

To be honest, I did a fair bit of digging regarding Specialist cars of Malton and no one had a bad word to say about them. In saying that you`ll always get somebody thats never happy. I`ve recently spoke to one guy that swears by the quality of their cars. The general concenus is their cars are a wee bit expensive but first class.

 

[pauly]

ORIGINAL: bigkeeko

ORIGINAL: appletonn

The only negative thing I've heard about that dealer is that they are not the cheapest around.

To be honest, I did a fair bit of digging regarding Specialist cars of Malton and no one had a bad word to say about them. In saying that you`ll always get somebody thats never happy. I`ve recently spoke to one guy that swears by the quality of their cars. The general concenus is their cars are a wee bit expensive but first class.

If you specifically want an S2 that looks a nice car but I'd want an extended test drive and a good look at the history and underneath it. Personally I think the same year turbo offers much more but finding a good one isn't easy.

 

[Fen]

ORIGINAL: appletonn

...they are not the cheapest around.

I have no diirect experience hence so I'm reluctant to be too outspoken, but the above is obvious.

I've pretty much heard that the service and quallity of stock don't warrant the price asked. To be clear I haven't heard any horror stories as such, just that you might pay a premium price for an average product, and that buying the cheapest stuff they sell doesn't get you the same level of customer service as someone spending 5 times as much.

Clearly colour is a personal thing, but even if you do like it you need to know that it isn't popular because to some people it's a cross between nail varnish and lipstick and that means that you should pay less for it when you buy and expect to have more trouble selling it on when you're done with it as there are a lot of potential buyers who simply won't want it.

 

[pauly]

Looking on autotrader there seems at least a couple of S2s in the same condition for a couple of grand less.

 

[appletonn]

ORIGINAL: pauly

Looking on autotrader there seems at least a couple of S2s in the same condition for a couple of grand less.

...that perhaps need a couple of grand spending on them?[]

Allowing for dealer margins too....

 

[pauly]

ORIGINAL: appletonn

ORIGINAL: pauly

Looking on autotrader there seems at least a couple of S2s in the same condition for a couple of grand less.

...that perhaps need a couple of grand spending on them?[]

Allowing for dealer margins too....

One of those was also at a dealers, it's red though.[]

 

[bigkeeko]

I`m a great believer in `You get what you pay for` , but in saying that there comes a point where after that you get very little for your extra expenditure. I`ve looked at the 4-5k S2s and there will probably be some nice cars there but the majority will have issues. I recently viewed a £4995 S2 that was in `fresh original` condition from the trade.
Saggy , baggy and tired. I appreciate the "Its 17 years old" argument but I`ll let other people buy them. I`ll know when I`ve seen the right car as I`m in no rush. []

 

[pauly]

ORIGINAL: bigkeeko
I`ll know when I`ve seen the right car as I`m in no rush. []

That was my opinion but a year + later I still haven't bought one, I think you may have to compromise in some way, in hindsight there have probably been 3 cars in this time I could have bought, one that wasn't the right colour, another that had a lot of track action and the last that was £2k over budget, now I'd definately buy one of them.