A sad day - GT3 now sold..........
Discussion
I sold my Zanzibar Mk1 back to 911 Virgin today. I got a good price from Tom and after 4 1/2 years, he was very surprised at the condition it was in - good I mean, rather than not. It needed a little bit of paint on the front PU - blame French country parks for that - and a (new) oil pipe had started to leak again so a small deduction was made for that - certainly less than it would have cost me to fix it. So, there's the plug for 911 Virgin. Thanks guys and I might see you again sometime...
I put about 20K miles on it in my ownership, mainly early on, so from 41K to 61K, but wasn't using it enough to justify it sitting in the garage. It was also due a service but really only needed checking over as less than 4K miles had elapsed since the last one and that Mobil 1 does last quite well. Everything worked as designed and I had spent over almost £24K on it during my ownership, so it really wanted for nothing.
The car was bought partly with a view to its appreciating over the longer term but I don't now see that happening soon enough to justify hanging onto an asset which could be much needed cash in the bank. Given that about £2K per annum is the minimum its going to cost to run properly, you don't need much more than o-levels to work out that it would need to appreciate at that plus £1 annually to make it worthwhile. Obviously, it was transport first but the chances of it being worth what I paid for it, plus the total cost of ownership within the next five years, in my opinion, ain't good. So that was that.
Tom reckoned it might have gone for another £2k privately as it is such a nice car, and I had actually drafted an ad which was on here for about an hour before I pulled it. Why did I pull it? Because of all the nay-sayers and doom-mongers on this forum actually. I could see it coming really - how many owners has it had? - ooh more than one so it must have a history; how many miles? - well I only want one thats done 1500 miles a year; what are the seats like? - very good nick for ones that have done that mileage but not perfect; has it been over-revved? - well a little actually but nothing to worry about - well its an old dog and will probably need a rebuild. And so on and so forth and, honestly, I really couldn't face it. Its a shame really as someone could have got a really nice car for a decent price but there you go.
Sorry for the whinge but I am a bit sad. Its the first time in about 20 years that I've not had a Porsche - 16 of those being 911s - and it feels very odd. The trouble is its easy to get sucked in to the whole Porsche thing and keep trying to modify it or get a better one or a faster one and you lose sight of wwhy you wanted one in the first place. To me, it was the racing heritage which, now, seems to mean very little to Porsche and I've lost interest. Had I hung onto my 964 Celebration - too heavy, too slow, crappy four wheel drive, leaky engine etc etc - I would be a happy man but, hey ho, that's life and the prospect of much cheaper thrills in a 5.4 V8 AMG is something to look forward to.
If anyone on here actually buys my car, feel free to email me any time.
Richard
I put about 20K miles on it in my ownership, mainly early on, so from 41K to 61K, but wasn't using it enough to justify it sitting in the garage. It was also due a service but really only needed checking over as less than 4K miles had elapsed since the last one and that Mobil 1 does last quite well. Everything worked as designed and I had spent over almost £24K on it during my ownership, so it really wanted for nothing.
The car was bought partly with a view to its appreciating over the longer term but I don't now see that happening soon enough to justify hanging onto an asset which could be much needed cash in the bank. Given that about £2K per annum is the minimum its going to cost to run properly, you don't need much more than o-levels to work out that it would need to appreciate at that plus £1 annually to make it worthwhile. Obviously, it was transport first but the chances of it being worth what I paid for it, plus the total cost of ownership within the next five years, in my opinion, ain't good. So that was that.
Tom reckoned it might have gone for another £2k privately as it is such a nice car, and I had actually drafted an ad which was on here for about an hour before I pulled it. Why did I pull it? Because of all the nay-sayers and doom-mongers on this forum actually. I could see it coming really - how many owners has it had? - ooh more than one so it must have a history; how many miles? - well I only want one thats done 1500 miles a year; what are the seats like? - very good nick for ones that have done that mileage but not perfect; has it been over-revved? - well a little actually but nothing to worry about - well its an old dog and will probably need a rebuild. And so on and so forth and, honestly, I really couldn't face it. Its a shame really as someone could have got a really nice car for a decent price but there you go.
Sorry for the whinge but I am a bit sad. Its the first time in about 20 years that I've not had a Porsche - 16 of those being 911s - and it feels very odd. The trouble is its easy to get sucked in to the whole Porsche thing and keep trying to modify it or get a better one or a faster one and you lose sight of wwhy you wanted one in the first place. To me, it was the racing heritage which, now, seems to mean very little to Porsche and I've lost interest. Had I hung onto my 964 Celebration - too heavy, too slow, crappy four wheel drive, leaky engine etc etc - I would be a happy man but, hey ho, that's life and the prospect of much cheaper thrills in a 5.4 V8 AMG is something to look forward to.
If anyone on here actually buys my car, feel free to email me any time.
Richard
Ouch I feel for you Richard, but everyone has their priorities.
Looks like a lovely car and as you know they are special. I always use that word when talking about them. It just pops out, but it's the quickest way to sum them up. Not many cars similar to the GT3 have appeared since and they're definitely a dying breed.
I agree though, it doesn't matter what your toy is, if it's not getting used why sit on it.
I'm just starting out where you were 4+ years ago. Just starting to learn the car, excited everytime I go into the garage, etc. Roll on next spring.
Good luck with the Merc.
Looks like a lovely car and as you know they are special. I always use that word when talking about them. It just pops out, but it's the quickest way to sum them up. Not many cars similar to the GT3 have appeared since and they're definitely a dying breed.
I agree though, it doesn't matter what your toy is, if it's not getting used why sit on it.
I'm just starting out where you were 4+ years ago. Just starting to learn the car, excited everytime I go into the garage, etc. Roll on next spring.
Good luck with the Merc.
rlw said:
The car was bought partly with a view to its appreciating over the longer term but I don't now see that happening soon enough to justify hanging onto an asset which could be much needed cash in the bank. Given that about £2K per annum is the minimum its going to cost to run properly, you don't need much more than o-levels to work out that it would need to appreciate at that plus £1 annually to make it worthwhile. Obviously, it was transport first but the chances of it being worth what I paid for it, plus the total cost of ownership within the next five years, in my opinion, ain't good. So that was that.
Tom reckoned it might have gone for another £2k privately as it is such a nice car, and I had actually drafted an ad which was on here for about an hour before I pulled it. Why did I pull it? Because of all the nay-sayers and doom-mongers on this forum actually. I could see it coming really - how many owners has it had? - ooh more than one so it must have a history; how many miles? - well I only want one thats done 1500 miles a year; what are the seats like? - very good nick for ones that have done that mileage but not perfect; has it been over-revved? - well a little actually but nothing to worry about - well its an old dog and will probably need a rebuild. And so on and so forth and, honestly, I really couldn't face it. Its a shame really as someone could have got a really nice car for a decent price but there you go.
Sorry for the whinge but I am a bit sad. To me, it was the racing heritage which, now, seems to mean very little to Porsche and I've lost interest.
Tom reckoned it might have gone for another £2k privately as it is such a nice car, and I had actually drafted an ad which was on here for about an hour before I pulled it. Why did I pull it? Because of all the nay-sayers and doom-mongers on this forum actually. I could see it coming really - how many owners has it had? - ooh more than one so it must have a history; how many miles? - well I only want one thats done 1500 miles a year; what are the seats like? - very good nick for ones that have done that mileage but not perfect; has it been over-revved? - well a little actually but nothing to worry about - well its an old dog and will probably need a rebuild. And so on and so forth and, honestly, I really couldn't face it. Its a shame really as someone could have got a really nice car for a decent price but there you go.
Sorry for the whinge but I am a bit sad. To me, it was the racing heritage which, now, seems to mean very little to Porsche and I've lost interest.
That's a totally understandable feeling Richard. We should meet for a beer, I feel exactly the same way about Porsche and it's current products.
I've currently got two Mk1's, one a totally standard garage queen bought with the same logic you applied to yours (ie as an investment) I also have a very well used, much worn and much modified 57K miles version. I love it and I enjoy it because I drive it without an iota of concern about putting "too many" miles on it, knowing too that it'll never be a garage queen because it's had/got too many mods for it to ever be sought after. It is a "dog", but it's also one of the most enjoyable 911s I've ever owned because I'm not precious about it.
Selling these cars privately is a struggle, and I fully understand you not wishing to deal with tyre kicking muppets or read threads on here picking faults with your pride and joy. Personally I wouldn't pay any attention to any of the "experts" on here who think they know the value of every car in the classifieds. You know what your car is worth, you've driven it, maintained it and thus have a far better insight than any of them.
When I "lost" my Zanzibar car a year ago, I had to read various idiots views (I hasten to say, non of the regular posters on the Porsche forum) telling me it would find its way back on to the road (utter b*llocks, but I was too polite to say so at the time) but also questioning the "superb pre-accident condition" claim made by a subsequent vendor of the salvage. This is what it looked like a week prior to being written off :
Just like yours, it was a slightly higher mileage, but perfectly and fastidiously maintained example.
I think in the goodness of time you'll come to regret selling, but I understand your logic as I'm in precisely the same situation currently.
Molly, I think you're being somewhat optimistic on your predictions both in timescale and levels. I doubt they'll go up much in the next five years, but maybe over the next ten.
Edited by Slippydiff on Tuesday 13th November 23:57
i remember back in 2000 a pal of mine brought his then new zanzibar GT3 to Le Mans and it just blew us all away. i spent the drive down trying to hold onto his coat tails in my Impreza turbo company car, me driving like a complete moron basically to keep up, which in those days you could get away with in France on the blast down the n138. that car convinced me that one day i too would have a GT3, and whilst i have had 4 GT3's i've never had a mk1 996. looking at your old car on the 911 virgin site is very dangerous ! very special and i am sure the next owner will be delighted.
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