A Used Porsche Purchase Journey.

James B Beavan III

When I bought my 981 Boxster S four years ago, like many Porsche owners I started thinking about what my second Porsche would be. For a long time I contemplated a 996 cabriolet or 928 S4 or GT. A V8 Porsche coupe seemed cool, but good ones have been getting pricey and I heard they were a bit costly to maintain. Eventually I decided whatever car I choose should be historic designation in Maryland. So in line with the 928 I started seriously considering the 968 with its powerful 3.0 4 cylinder engine and looks similar to the 928. The 968 is among the lowest volume sellers in Porsche history with just over 4400 cars imported to America during its four year availability (1992-1995), with a near 50/50 split between coupes and cabriolets. The 968 has the unique distinction of having been offered in more colors than probably any Porsche ever. In early August 2020 I found a car locally that seemed a good deal and worth checking out. So Aaron Miller and I went to take a look at a 90K mile 1992 968 cabriolet in Slate Gray Metallic, not a color I would normally consider, but it looks sharp on the 968. The owner wanted $11K which would be fair for its condition if I were to do all the required work it needed. The car drove well, but hadn’t been maintained in a decade, so I knew it needed about $6-8K of parts/labor to bring up to spec. I passed on buying the car, the owner took some new photos and relisted for $15K and by luck had two owners bid it up to $18K, which is easily #3 car money…for what was a #4/5 condition car. The other thing I decided was I no longer wanted a 968 cab because I didn’t want to deal with a manual top (many owners disconnect the power top due to cost of repair), lack of a back seat, I already have a convertible…and the sloped hatchback styling of the coupes just looks cool to me. Of course like all Porsche’s the coupe version of the 968 is a bit more expensive, so I had to rethink what I wanted to buy as I wanted to pay cash. Somehow I ended up looking into the 924 series cars and found two in particular I was interested in on eBay. There

A Used Porsche Purchase Journey. (cont’d)

was a guy in Florida selling a 1988 924S with 74K miles and a guy in Alabama selling a 1977 924. I bid and was the high bidder on the 1988 924S at $7K, so I contacted the seller to find out how close the final bid was. I was shocked when he said he was hoping for $14K, but had a $12K reserve, I wished him luck as I couldn’t see going over $8,500. The seller put up a new auction and this time I was the high bidder at $8,500, again no sale. At this point I was talking to the seller of the 1977 924, which was painted a nice Orange color and seemed like a solid car. In September we agreed on a price of $5,500 and that I would fly down and drive the car back once the car was inspected. First there was a hurricane that came through the Alabama area and then a problem with the car’s brake booster, which he was waiting on parts to repair. After a little over a month with nothing much going on with the purchase of this 95 horsepower car I was wondering if I would buy anything at all in 2020. I reached out to Aaron Miller again for his advice on the 1977 vs 1988 924S and it quickly became obvious why the guy in Florida wanted so much more money for his car. 1988 was the final year of 924S production and like the 1987 model it has the same 2.5L 4 cylinder engine found in the 944 only with 158 horsepower. The big difference being that at just under 2400lbs the 924S is about 200lbs lighter than a 944 base model. This particular 924S had all the major maintenance done with new suspension and brakes, the prior owner was a PCA guy who had set the car up for autocross for his son…who turned out to not be interested in it. I had kept in touch for two months with the Florida seller as he really wanted to sell the car, but as a BMW guy he wasn’t sure how to market it. So to help him out with his auction in October I bid once again, and again had the high bid at $7,901, only this time he had run a no reserve auction. So by eBay rules he should sell me the car at $7,901, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. Aaron had said the car was easily worth $10-11K, so I knew I had to be under that with cost of going to Tampa Bay and back. Eventually the seller and I agreed on a final price of $9,400, which was fair for both sides. With a deal now agreed upon, the task became how to complete the deal. I knew all along I would use Amtrak’s auto train to bring the car back. For $320 you can take your car from Orlando (Sanford FL) to Lorton VA or Lorton to Sanford if you prefer. However, with the car located in Tampa and the auto train leaving Orlando at 4 pm with the gates closing at 2:30 pm, it would require the right timing on the

A Used Porsche Purchase Journey. (cont’d)

flight and pickup of the car. Luckily I found a direct flight out of DCA on JetBlue for $160, which got me to Tampa with plenty of time. So that Saturday October 10th I arrived in Tampa, at 9:15 AM and called the seller for pickup, he arrived about 25-minutes later in a big black Tundra. With cash in hand we went to bank so he could verify the bills were legitimate and make the deposit. Then we proceeded North of Tampa to his house where the car was located. Pulling the car cover back revealed the Guards Red 924S I had seen in pictures all over the internet. I think this was my first time seeing a 924 in person, so the seller showed me some of the mechanics of the car and we went for a test drive. All seemed in order with the car and I had spoken to his mechanic a few days prior so there was no need for concern as everything matched what I was told. The car would probably be a #2 if not for the cracked dash and baseball sized area on the roof that should be resprayed. About 11 AM I started making my way on the 2 hour trip to Sanford in a car I’d never driven before and on roads that were new to me. I ended up stopping for gas and lunch about an hour later and almost lost track of time. I hurried along stopping at several of the tolls, then decided I couldn’t stop any more and would just pay the tolls by mail as I was very close to not making the train. Fortunately I only missed one exit though it didn’t cost me any time and I arrived about 2:22pm in the off the road train station…basically one of the last people to arrive. At exactly 4pm the train left the station as it began the 17 hour journey up the East Coast. Of course this being Covid-19 time we were required to wear masks everywhere, though fortunately once the train got moving nobody cared if you took the mask off at your seat because the train was quite empty. Since I didn’t upgrade to a sleeper unit, I just tried to recline the seat as much as possible, but still sleeping was tough and my neck was sore for a few days after the trip. Arriving in Lorton VA, I wasn’t sure how long it would take before my car was ready. Amtrak says it can take up to 2 hours with a full train, but there were only around 120 cars this day, so I was on the road within 20-minutes without having to purchase an upgrade. I drove my new 924S back to Laurel MD, picked up my wife and son and headed to his soccer game. On that Monday I went to Maryland Speedy Tag & Title and walked out with historic tags and registration 20-minutes later.

A Used Porsche Purchase Journey. (cont’d)

Sidebar; whenever you can skip the MVA for a place like MD Speedy Tag & Title you should do it, no appointment, no extra charge and friendly customer service. A week later my wife and I joined a small group of PCA members on a fun 200+ mile tour to West Virginia. The 924S was a blast on the mountain roads though some kid in a base Subaru Impreza said I should buy a real Porsche. A couple weeks later I was sweeper for Aniano’s group on the Fall Colors Tour #3 following a much faster 991.2 as shown on the cover of this issue. The 924S isn’t a fast car, but is quick enough with the 5-speed and handles as well as the Boxster S due to being lower to the ground and about 500lbs lighter. I’m sure the Bilstein sport shocks, 968 sway bars and low profile (50 vs 65 stock) tires also help a lot with the handling. For $10K delivered there’s not many more fun or reliable cars you could buy than a very well sorted manual 924S! The car had a carpet dash mat, but I don’t like the look and it wasn’t secured, so I removed that. I ordered a nice custom set of floor and rear deck mats for the car. I bought the mat set from Lloyd Mats and am very happy with the way the colors, stitching and logos turned out.