[Jazzbass]

Just curious to know how many cars you looked at before you bought "the one" (or "the 15" if you are David Riley or Siberian). Mine was the first car I looked at seriously and only the second 911 I ever drove. This can be attributed to two things: (1) not really looking, but finding a deal that was too good to pass up and (2) being clueless. If I were looking today, I have to imagine it would be a long and excruitating process (just ask anyone who talked to me when I was redo-ing my suspension).

[cmartin]

The 3rd 911 I drove was my SC. I looked at 2, if I recall, the 3rd was a buddies. Granted, this was '99, stock options still existed and Wcom was king of the world.

[87turbolook911]

Mine was the second car I was seriously considering to buy. My friend who has owned many 911's found the car for me. Can you believe he had to talk me into getting it...

He told me to do some research/homework on my own to truly understand what I was getting in to.

Before that I was just a dreamer....

[Vicegrip]

One and I bought it before I drove it or it was even all in one pile. Guy across the street from me had the 912 in parts in his driveway.

It pays to shop around I only paid about $3K more than I should have.

[Jim Richards]

Kurt, what price can you put on fame?

Before I bought the bloatmobile, Lu and I looked at 4 964s (one was an RSA), 2 Carreras, 1 SC, and another 993. Before Lu bought Dino, we looked at 2 912s and 2 911s. None of this includes the countless number of cars i wasted time investigating on the Internet!

[Parenn911]

I looked at about 10+ 911's over a period of two years before buying my SC. I test drove four SC's, one long hood, and couple '74-'77 911's that I seriously considered buying at one point in time. I looked at rust buckets, rolling chassis's, and 911's for sale with the engine all apart for a rebuild. Being patient paid off in the long run because I got my SC for a real good deal.

[Trak Ratt]

Originally Posted by Jim Richards

Before Lu bought Dino

We looked at 3 Triumph TR-8 before stumbling on the “FLITZR” (our 1st 911). Bought it w/o PPI, but following a serious test drive.. even by my standard. Test drive included several 3500 RPM launches plus top end run I highly recommend PPIs, we’ve just been really lucky. We have never actually set out to buy a Porsche, just happen to find them because I’m always nosing around.

[Jim Richards]

Originally Posted by david riley

I did that just for you, Dave.

[VaSteve]

I looked at 3....

I had gotten my wife to agree to letting me buy one in the Spring of 03. IIRC, all summer it rained and I wanted a Targa. Having never driven one, the wearing down process was more fun than the aspect of searching so I put it on hold until someone at work mentioned their uncle's 912. My wife readily agreed when I brought it up again so the search was on.

I started with a budget of $5000 because I knew someone with an 85 Cab once who bought the car for that amount. I quickly revised my budget.

Having still never drove a 911, I found a Dorki who would let me drive his. My first 911 driving experience was driving Ted's car, which was pretty scary because of the tiny steering wheel and stiff suspension. But he gave me a great lesson in what not to buy based on his SC experience.

I then drove 3 cars:

A 77 with 135K(?) and a bad 1st and 2nd syncro and failing throw out bearing. The guy advertised in Pano that it had been garaged for 20 year and repainted. The guy lived 2 miles down a gravel driveway and the car showed the wear. Basically beat to hell, but I took a 45 min test drive. 30 min up an back the driveway. Pulled well, but with the trans and the million other problems, it was a pass.

An 82 with 89K miles. Seemed to be in pretty good condition except for a banged up rear fender. When I drove it, it pulled poorly (as best as I could tell). Guy claimed it needed a valve adjustment. Turned out to need a top end (full rebuild) Mark Wemple bought it on Ebay for like $3000 less than he had it in the paper.

An 80 wih 150K miles. This one looked nice on the internet. I went to see it in Williamsburg after coordinating for 2 weeks with the owner. I think he was "fixing" stuff as we were negotiating, since it smelled like wet paint inside when I showed up. It had this ill fitting hardtop (guy threw away the folding one) and had multiple other problems my untrained eye could detect. The best was the guy was telling me it was a Euro when I showed up. It wasn't. I passed on this as well and it turned up on Pelican a few months later with an owner that knew what he was getting into.

I raised my seeking price and found a pretty sound one owner car in NC.

[targa911man]

Looked at around 8 Carreras, drove 3 before getting mine off ebay. Seller consented to a driving evaluation and ppi before finalizing the deal.