Big Money For a Basket Case 996 Turbo

January 14, 2023

996 Turbos have been hot recently and have shown no signs of slowing down with a number of $100,000 sales in the past month. The first, a Guards Red X50 Power Package 6-Speed with 27,000 miles sold for $101,000, and this week, a pristine 11,000-mile example sold for $109,000.

The 2003 911 Turbo 6-Speed above was a modified example with over 100,000 miles and offered without reserve. It sold for $44,000, about $5-10,000 less than the moving average for Turbos just a tick over 100k. Sounds well bought, doesn’t it? Well, we left out one little tidbit from the description. This was a project car.

Our Spotlight car is in need of a rebuilt rear spoiler mechanism, repairing the sound system and air-conditioning system, and addressing the transaxle, which intermittently slips out of second gear. Once the mechanical work is complete, the paintwork needs to be “refreshed” and the interior a bit of work as well. And that’s just the items noted by the seller. There is always more. Always.

So at $44,000 where do you go from here? The above work, even at the most in-expensive independent repair shop or shade-tree mechanic is easily double the $5-10k saved compared to the market. Some in the comments section suggested driving it as-is and then selling it along at a profit in a few years. The problem is, even more repairs and deferred maintenance will eat away at any imaginary profit you think you might take down the road.

You wouldn’t know it from the comment section filled with congratulations to the buyer, but this example was 1,000% well sold by the selling dealer. They listed enough issues for “buyer beware” and ripped it No Reserve. I can only imagine the surprises awaiting the new owner.