Armchair appraisers' opinions wanted...

Hey all...

This eBay offering is a VS with about 8,000 miles on it. "Buy it now" price at $12,995. Unsure of the year. Engine looks dirty. If you have time, read the description (door dings, etc.) and give me your unvarnished opinion. I love the price, but what is involved in repairing dents in fiberglass?

I'm looking for opinions, not guarantees. Wondering if I should be flying to Michigan...

Thanks!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1958-REPLICA-PORSCHE-356-SPEEDSTER-NICE-CAR-RUNS-GREAT_W0QQitemZ4636855980QQcategoryZ6428QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

By the way... I'm not the seller! LOL

I saw that earlier. I think it looks pretty solid & a great price!

Looks like a great buy, motor is just a little dusty but looks good. Considering the price for a basic one is near the $20,000.00 mark it looks like a good deal.

Thanks, guys...
Keep the thoughts coming.
Any opinions on door dings? Can they be repaired?

Cory

I think it looks like a nice ride. As far as "dents", I don't see how fiberglass can dent. I have sucessfully repaired a "cracked" door corner with store-bought spray cans (took sequence pix but could not find!). The black isn't a perfect match in some light. I also have some other "impact" areas that seemed to spider-crack from the underside due to a stone hit. I have a LOT of stone chips from the freeway commute to work (70-80mph for 20 miles). When I went to a body shop to have the hood fixed from an impact/deep-scratch accident, they wanted to strip the hood completeley and re-prime/paint. Something about shrinking. I used to paint cars for fun when Laquer was in, but gave up the rust battle. Fiberglass, however, hmm, no rust ... might have to clean up the old DeVilbiss...

Cory,

Door dings on the glass might be as simple as touch up paint, unless you have cracks on the finish.

For the asking price, it might be worth your while to find the cheapest air fare (Jet Blue, Northwest, (Spirit Air - If you are brave)) to Detroit Metro. See the car in person with a Bank check on hand. Don't know how far you are, but pack a tool and parts bag for the return trip home.

It would be cheaper than having it shipped and what an adventure! Good Luck

Wow. What a deal. Get going and grab it.

All right, guys...

At this price, I know time is critical and, according to the seller, I'm apparently in a race with a Dutch dealer who's about to pull the trigger on the "Buy It Now" feature. He's willing to ship it to Holland, re-sell it and still make a nice profit and I don't blame him. (could be a sales fable...)

So... I'll ask all my questions of you guys/gals now.

- What's the range I'd expect to pay to paint this black Speedster silver? From an adequate job to something very nice...

- I live in the Phoenix area. Can Kirk retrofit his A/C unit to a 1600 cc engine, and would it be an unworkable power-killer? (I'm not interested in scorching the pavement, but I do want to keep up with traffic...) I suppose I'll call him now and ask him the same question, but I wanted to get as many viewpoints as I can.

Thanks again for all of your comments...

Well, that was fun...

I couldn't get the deal together in 45 minutes, and the car's sold. I knew it wouldn't last. C'est la vie. Mine's out there somewhere!

If anyone would care to answer the paint job question, I'd appreciate it. What's the general cost to change the color on a Speedster?

Cory

....A decent urethane primer, paint and clear with color sand/buff can be done for $2,200 . Like anything else you have to ask around and compare then look at what they have done for others.

Repairing chips:

First step: dish soap and water to remove any wax, small pc of 220 paper on a Q' Tip twist it in the chip to taper the chip sides, clean the area with PrepSol or a similar product(again even soap and water will do)cut the cotton ball off the Q' Tip and use the stick to dab a dot of matching paint into the chip, allow to dry and add another layer, then repeating until the "dot" is slightly higher than the surrounding surface. use a pc. of masking tape and cut a hole just slightly larger than the "dot" stick it over the dot, with a new straight edge razor blade lay it horzontal on rhe tape and gently slice off the excess. Remove the tape and you will have a repaired area that is raised up the thickness of the masking tape just above the surrounding area gently compound the chip repair until it blends into the surrounding area. ...you're done.

Ya might still have a shot at it - many of those foreign deals are totally bogus. He's lible to be left with nothing --- car shipped and he hold a forged certified check worth zip. Call him email saying you are interested if other deal falls through.

Agree with Wolf 100% Cory; go for it!

Cory, thats how I got my Speedy!

I contacted the seller to ask why his auction ended ahead of schedule since he didn't have the BuyitNow option. The winning bidder held on till the last day and retracted his bid for some unknown reason, upsetting the owner. I had e-mailed the owner to let him know that I was still interested if the highest bid was negotiable...the rest was history!

I flew in for an inspection, just in case the High Bidder saw something that scared him off.

Call him back to put your name on the top of that list. The guys are right, a lot of these overseas purchases tend to fall through.

Good Luck - M

Good advice, everyone. I'll re-contact the seller in the morning. I spoke to him about 15 minutes before eBay closed bidding today, and he told me he "hadn't been off the phone for more than five minutes all morning." Said he "wished he'd never even listed the car." Hmmm... I took that to be said facetiously, but perhaps he realized after 20 calls that his "Buy It Now" price was outrageously reasonable. I wonder if perhaps he just yanked it for a higher re-listing later this week. I'll get the skinny tomorrow.

Thanks again for all of the wisdom and encouragement. I love how you guys love these cars! Finally... people who appreciate the obsession of a man who's only ever seen a handful of Speedsters in the flesh, and only two in motion across nearly 20 years of wishing.

I've never been one made happy by "things." My happiness comes from another source. However, Dr. Porsche's little dream swept me up long ago, and I believe it's the only "thing" I just have to have.

I know you all understand...

Cory

It's kinda like lusting after the Senior Year French Exchange Student ......"Been there and done that" aka Ms. Bonsal'

Cory, after having purchased a white(cream actually)/red overseas, my advice would be for you to look for the car you are after, I mean if you would like a silver/black look for that, there are way too many fellows out there selling or changing their cars, you are probably going to spend the same money after all repainting a cheaper car and to me it is not a good idea to change the color of a car (you have to dismantle the whole car if you want it to be perfect).

I am always telling myself I should have wait for a black/tan that is what I always wanted, and being overseas specially after having been through the hassle that is licensing a car like this in Spain. After I bought my car I have seen dozens I would have bought with "my" right color.

By the way if you finally decide to go after this one I also must say I was the secong high bidder in a eBay auction, got mine letting know the seller I was interested in the car if the high-bidder would not want it.

I reluctantly purchased an ivory speedster, I was holding out for a black one. The seller was honest & the car was solid. What did I find out? I love the ivory color & I am very happy that I bought it! You might feel the same way when you pick up your car. You'll probably decide you don't want to paint it after all!

If you check the sellers feed back you'll see he is a used car dealer - so he probably had the car on his lot or advertized locally. His ebay feedback indicates he is not real precise in a lot of his descriptions (or his customer's are extremely picky. To his credit he seems to come up with an amicable solution for most of the problems surfaced. There are a lot of tire kickers and Walter Mitty dreamers looking at replicas too.

So apparently the Dutchman went $14,500 after he was told there was a $14K offer on the table for the $12,995 Speedster... I'm on the list for the fall-through, but down a ways.

Wolfgang, thanks. I had noticed that the fellow was a dealer, and checked out his feedback before I called him. He retracted the existence of the "door dings" during our conversation; said the phrase was left over from a template he uses for all his eBay car descriptions... LOL. He forgot to remove it.

Anyway, as I said, the support and enthusiasm you all show on this site sure keeps my fire stoked. I'm pretty level-headed about big purchases, but this hunt will require all of my restraint in order to choose wisely and within budget. I wasn't even contemplating a purchase right now, but the insane price was a real motivator...

I'll get there. Meanwhile, I continue to thrill to all of your new pics and especially your videos!

David, Ignacio, Mel, Ricardo, Bruce, Craig... Thanks for weighing in! And Alan... thanks especially for the how-to on the rock chips. I know I'll need it. There's no substitute for smart friends.

Later, boys.

A friend of mine found one with similar body/paint condition but some good engine parts (Webbers, Dual Custom Exhaust,Ignition) , extra set of 8 spoke Aluminum Wheels, Two Sets of Wheel Covers(Nipple & Moons) Average Interior & Top etc.

He got it for 8K which was about what it was worth in my view. He's put about 5+K in it to at this time: Body Work, New Paint, New Top, Repair Interior, New Rugs, Carb Kits, New Shocks, New Tires Etc.l

I think you can find a better car without much repair/work required in the 15K-18K Range.

My friend has "No Mechanical" ability or Tools. He doens't have a place to work on a vehicle either. Looking back he feels he would of been better off finding a car he could drive away and not have to put much money in then dumping allot of money into a "Deal" and then having it in the Shop allot and not being able to drive it.

If you are able to perform repairs your self, have room to work on a vehicle and are mechanical the "Low Buck Beater Fixer Good Deal" maybe the way to go but in my friends situation if he had it to do he would pass on the "Good Deal" and seek a better car ready to drive away for a little more money.

Jack

Good Luck Cory , and keep up your sreach! I had been looking for almost 2 years and this site helped me decide on my Speedie. I can not tell you how much these folks helped me pick a type, vendor, and color... IN fact over that period it was almost laughable.. I called myself Dave "Still looking"! You need to be patance and pay your dues by looking at, then calling and talking to jerks that think their ride is worth 25K when it wouldn't bring 15K from anyone who knew their stuff. And when that time comes Cory you'll be the happest camper at the camp fire. Yes......... I did buy my car and I've had it for 3 months now... What a blast I still get this never ending Sh*& Grin as the boys say here across my face! LOL.. As my ole Bush buddy might said... "Stay the course" Cory! You'll get there!

Good luck,

Speedster "D" Oh, BTW, That's my NEW name, thanks to the boys here! LOL...

Jack, David...

Thanks again for the widom and encouragement. I'll keep my powder dry until the right ride comes along.

And thanks to all of you owners for tolerating so well those of us who are waiting to join your ranks. (I don't want to be known as "the boy who cried Speedster," know what I mean?)

David, I monitored the last months of your journey and it was a thrill to finally see your goal met. I love the low stance of your Speedster! I'll be traveling at the same altitude someday...

Happy Saturday, all. Now get out and DRIVE!