price check of a '97 993 C2

[RC70SCoupe]

A friend of a friend is going to be selling his 1997 993 C2.

Its black on black, 37k miles, NEW Pirelli P Zeros, and fresh oil change.

He is second owner, out of Newport Beach, now in Scottsdale Az. Never abused, WELL maintained.

I have NO IDEA about these cars and the prices.

What is the going sales prices of C2's?

Thanks

[mjk911]

Cars with double the miles are going for high $20s - this is low miles and the right color, so $30-35 range, I think.

[LongRanger]

You didn't mention transmission or optional equipment, but, without seeing the car, let me just say that a non-'S' C2 Carrera is a VERY rare car.

By '97, Porsche was building mostly wide-body 'S' cars and charging accordingly. Any narrow-hipped C2 coupe would have been an odd-ball with low production numbers.

993s have a number of serious issues, one of the biggest being the secondary air injection --- an engine-out, heads-off, $2-3k repair. (Google this.) You didn't mention whether this car has had this work done, or not. Service history is VERY important on any 993, but, in my opinion, would be especially critical on this car. Here's why.

The narrow-body 993s are the end-of-the-line for the air-cooled 911s. And black-on-black is a trophy combination. This would be the kind of car a collector will search for so I would market it accordingly. Porsche built 993s as late as '98 (or later?), but these will be the big-hipped 'S' cars, which, in my opinion, are kinda gross. I believe these last narrow cars will be ones to have.

If the car is in good mechanical and cosmetic shape --- and has a 6-speed manual --- if it was my car, I would start with an asking price of at least $40k. If the car is spotless, and I mean pristine . . . even more.

Good luck.

[RC70SCoupe]

Guys,

Thanks for the opinions.

It is a 6 speed, all records from day one.

When I said I had no idea what the prices were, I had no idea the prices were soooo low.

I will disagree that I personally would rather have a S wide body vs. the narrow Carrera.

If its ONLY going to sell from the 30-40+K range, I may buy it.

[creator8]

I think the market for 993s is soft like everything else. Two years ago when the 993 was a hot commodity this car may have gone in the high 30s. I sold my low mile highly optioned 98 Targa for $42k back then. I think the owner would be lucky to get $30k for this car. Personally I'm actually not a fan of the 993. Its the heaviest, softest version of the air cooled cars and massively over complicated. There's a ton of pitfalls with them, and they seem to be worse when they aren't used regularly. My ex-AZ two owner 22k mile car leaked oil from almost every seal--they dry out without use. For $25k may be worth buying but otherwise...

[Chris Tallon]

I tend to agree with Steve on pricing. 993's are very soft. It is overly complex, and frankly does not count as the end of the 911 era due to the changed hood and lights, in my opinion. Many people think these cars are beautiful and appreciate them aesthetically for this reason.

I am a big fan of the 964, and believe these are the last, true air cooled 911's. These cars are extremely hard to find, especially the C2 Coupes in good to excellent condition. The 993's are much easier to source.

As for the leaks, yup, they do leak....but the 3.6 motors are pure poetry

[11heaven]

someone well known on here once said, "you never pay too much for a porsche, maybe just buy too early" (or something close to that)

i love this place because of the passion for the early cars. i can't believe you guys said a c2s is 'gross', but thanks for the vote of confidence on the tropy color combination. maybe i'll squeek through that concours someday with my 'gross' blk/blk, non-leaking, 29k mile 97 c2s!! (and fwiw, i do love narrow cars)

narrow or wide, i say buy the car because you can and you love it. by the time it's worth something that matters, it won't matter. you own it here today to drive it, hopefully hard. enjoy it and value-wise...come what may.

[Eminence Gris]

Odd, this sounds like the narrow body twin to the C2S posted on Pelican:

------------------
A friend of a friend is going to be selling a 1997 993 C2S, widebody.

Black on black, 37k miles, 6 speed, new Pirelli P Zero tires and fresh oil change.

He is second owner, purchased in Newport Beach Ca., car is now in Scottsdale.

WELL maintained, never abused

[Rick Cabell]

Last month I bought a one owner 1997 993 C2 with 77K on it. Black with tan interior,LSD and more. Love the car. No oil leaks, no check engine light. Pure car. The Vario ram car is the one to have. As stated above, there were very few 96,97 993 Coupes with a 6 speed and narrow body.

[leftcoast]

I was able to pull some numbers of actual sales for you. Since I'm a dealer I have access to the Manheim dealer site. There where 9 cabriolets showing and one targa. Here are the sales of the cabs:

DATE LOCATION PRICE MILEAGE COND COLOR TRANS
05/09/07 W PALM $37,500 37,309 Avg RED 6G 6
05/16/07 BAY CITI $17,750 125,299 Avg BLACK 6G S
10/26/07 MANHEIM $25,300 65,526 Avg GRAY 6G 6
12/06/07 RIVRSIDE $23,000 59,749 Avg BLACK 6G A
01/08/08 FAAO $30,500 60,322 Avg WHITE 6G M
01/24/08 NEVADA $24,000 80,332 Avg BLUE 6G 6
01/31/08 RIVRSIDE $27,500 72,356 Avg WHITE 6G T
07/03/08 RIVRSIDE $33,500 35,178 Avg BLACK 6G A
12/27/08 NASHVILL $16,500 45,484 Avg GREEN 6G A

This is the targa:

05/03/07 MANHEIM $36,100 50,193 Avg BLACK 6G 6

So at those miles, I think 40k is about right. (Of course as a dealer, I'd try and buy at a few grand less). Black/Black will always command a premium, that and the miles are a huge plus. Great car but do make sure the services were done and you may be well served to take to a dealer and do a PPI (pre-purchase inspection).
Best of Luck,
Donn Dabney
www.leftcoastclassics.com
All of California