Purchase price vs. resale price, possibly shooting ourselves in the foot? Options

[jwalters]

I am sure I am going to get much banter, good, bad, and ugly for this post. But I just have to bring this up.

It is about all the talk I read about appropriate purchase prices of any teener.

It seems as though a great multitude of people are hell bent that a teener should never cost anybody more than maybe 2k.

Yet the parts for this car is easily on par with a full-on Porsche 911,928, etc. Particularly the engine--it is a vw unit developed ( in conjunction with Porsche??)--I could easily rebuild a flat six for the same if not much less than the cost of a higher power / reliable IV model.

We as a group are spending an absurd amount of time and greenbacks to get our cars to our personal level--yet the consensus I read is that after all this is done the cars are worth absolutely s*#t compared to the comparables. In my humble opinion this needs to stop, I see much foot shooting going on here. Do we as a group really want to invest all of the above and then by our own methods and verbalizations intentially keep the cars ...ahem..."CHEAP"?

Now do not get me wrong--I am all about "affordable" , but would rather see "affordable" vs. CHEAP and LESS than it could / should be.

I have an newer issue of "Excellance" and they are reporting the 914's are on the rise--We as a group have it within our power to change this trend for the worse if carefull thought is not applied to what is being said, sold, and bought.

I do not want to pump 10k into my car from rustoration, upgrades, only to only get maybe 2k for it if I was in the need.

I realize that right now I would be hard pressed to get what only I have in it, not to include my personal labor hours, which so far has exceeded 500 easily at a shop rate of $55.00 an hour---the OTHER Porsches do tho...............

I see too many nice cars for sale and people asking what they are worth and then saying that same nice car that is in good repair should only be " $900.00,,Tops" This is not going to cut it--we should be following the examples as set out in our newsstand advocate--"Excellance"

Just think about this for a moment before spouting off------I see much shooting of the feet in here--lets get smarter--and help the market adjust our beloved to the affordable level--not the out of reach level--We need parts that are of high quality, yet not priced exorbitantly--do you want to sell 10 at a 100.00, or 1000 at 50.00?? For every person that can afford a 10k type IV motor, there are possibly hundreds if not thousands who cannot. Just not dirt cheap to begin with an excellant example and then pour another thousands into it to make it our own and then get nothing for the fruits of our labor...........

It makes me sick to read about some poor schmo that bought a 2.5k rebuild cause that is what he could afford, and then have nothing but problems with it--then get berated about: " Told you so"..when the type 1 crowd can have 200+ hp for LESS THAN 3K----------I might just put a type 1 in mine and save 7k, or more--

Just as an example: For the time and money I am putting into my car--I could have easily purchased a late 70's-early 80's 911, rebuilt the motor, put good wheels and tires on it--and probably a minor interior / exterior upgrade--and easily sell it for more than I bought it / upgraded it for--------

I want to thank all of you that manufacture worthwhile products AND also price them accordingly---some others out there could possibly do some homework----We need to help the market as a whole with resale values----3000 members (almost) in a small community as the 914 is, is strong JEDI......yes, we are strong.........

If I have offended anybody I do not apologize--this is a forum for adult lively discussion--I would ask no less from anybody else. This post is NOT to any one person(s)--it is just a discussion.

But if things do not begin to change before I dump my talents and cash into this--I will go the 911 route


Point is: " I should not put 10k plus into my car and then expect to get for it what I am reading in here!, which is crap.........."

[Hi_Fi_Guy]

1. PERCEPTION: The days of the 914 being, "the poor mans porsche" are drawing to a close. With these cars being around thirty years old the supply of good cars is slowly disappearing. Repairing and maintaining these cars is becoming more expensive. The 914 will start to be seen as a premium classic car by more people over time.

2. PERFORMANCE: Historically the classic cars that retain their values are the cars that can continue to perform well enough to keep up with modern traffic. This is also why the biggest topics of discussion on this forum concern larger TYPE IVs, six conversions, and other non-porsche engined solutions. The 914 has been raced continually since new so there are a lot of performance enhancements out there to be had.

3. HERITAGE: New audiences are discovering these classic Porsches every day. The mid-engined, air-cooled, two-seater, targa topped sports car with two trunks is unique enough to be appealing some thirty years on. Compared to the newer water cooled Boxsters the 914 can deliver a pure sports car experience in a small, razor sharp, race car like package. The 914 looks like no other car and has the Porsche pedigree and a list of race wins as good as any.

4. SUPPORT: More vendors offering products for 914s. More Porsche restoration and performance shops. More resources like this forum and others. It has never been easier for someone to serice a 914, find parts & services for a 914, or see a 914 project through to completion. The value of these vendors, shops, and clubs is paramount to the thriving 914 marketplace.

The 914 is slowly becoming more rare, has modern performance (or can be made to have modern performance), has a family heritage that includes racing and nostalgia for the Porsche brand, and has support by clubs, vendors, and shops. Add to this the unique features of the 914 and it becomes clear why this car will continue to attract a more diverse crowd of owners.

All of the above will have an effect on the values of 914s but the number one factor will be desire. How bad does some one desire one of these cars? If someone want's something enough they can, and will justify any and all cost. Do they desire a fast 914-6, a wild 914-8, a 100% stock 914, a concours car? This random desire is what we can not really account for.

We can speculate the value of a 914 all day. If no one desires a 914 then it's value is actually zero, if everyone suddendly had to have one the values would increase in relation to availability (think Harley Davidson where dealers usually charge a premium OVER MSRP on every unit sold). When Excellenece runs a feature article on the 914 it's desireability is slight increased. When the club holds an event like WCC and it is covered by a magazine then the lust factor goes up some more. Little by little, baby steps, the 914 is becoming more desireable. This trend may continue or not, right now enough enough people desire 914s to have driven the market values up a bit.

Saying we want prices to be higher or lower is meaningless when the demand is low it is a buyer's market as the demand increases so will price. Waiting for the supply side to dwindle can work. But if you plan on sitting n a car for 20-30 years it will also cost to keep the car in prime condition over that same amount of time so there is still a risk there. I think all of us that own 914s are at the wim of desire and demand.