Tom:
I can relate as I went through a similar experience this summer. The first 968 I looked at (stumbled upon at a lot where sellers place their cars - I didn't even know 968's existed at the time) looked nice. Then the
PPI revealed lots of little things. In talking with the mechanic who did the
PPI, I came to realize I was looking at about $10K to put her right. The seller was asking $13K. I almost did it - I did make an offer of $9K. Thankfully, the seller never got back to me! After thinking about it some more, and talking to my sports car nut buddy in Denver, I decided it made more sense to put my money into a good example than to try and clean one up. It took another 5 or 6 weeks, but I found a likely candidate on Autotrader about 400 miles away. I talked to the seller who also owned a 928 and was an obvious Porsche nut. Good sign. The mechanic checked it out and said if he had the money and wasn't anti-convertible, he'd buy it himself. The result? I spent less on this one than I would have on buying and restoring the first one. And I'm happily enjoying driving my new ride instead of visiting her in the shop. My advice is to hold out and look for one in better shape. It will be cheaper in the long run. Or, as a friend on a musical instrument forum that I'm active on is fond of saying, "There will always be another".
Bill
Edited by lbpesq, 22 September 2010 - 06:54 AM.