Where are all these 'low' mileage old 911s coming from?
Discussion
Just had a quick look in the classifieds and wow, there are so many 3.2s, SCs and even a dollop of 2.7s for sale at the moment and very few seemed to have passed the 100K mark.
Come on these are a minimum of 26 years old, some are over thirty or even getting on for forty years old, yet it seems there are lots and lots for sale with less than 90K miles on the clock.
Back in the day, wasn't a 'normal spec' 911s bought for driving?
Come on these are a minimum of 26 years old, some are over thirty or even getting on for forty years old, yet it seems there are lots and lots for sale with less than 90K miles on the clock.
Back in the day, wasn't a 'normal spec' 911s bought for driving?
Wozy68 said:
Just had a quick look in the classifieds and wow, there are so many 3.2s, SCs and even a dollop of 2.7s for sale at the moment and very few seemed to have passed the 100K mark.
Come on these are a minimum of 26 years old, some are over thirty or even getting on for forty years old, yet it seems there are lots and lots for sale with less than 90K miles on the clock.
Back in the day, wasn't a 'normal spec' 911s bought for driving?
Some of them will be investors cashing in.Come on these are a minimum of 26 years old, some are over thirty or even getting on for forty years old, yet it seems there are lots and lots for sale with less than 90K miles on the clock.
Back in the day, wasn't a 'normal spec' 911s bought for driving?
A great many more will be cars that have done far more miles than claimed.
When I was buying air cooled 911s at the start of the current boom, almost all the cars I viewed (and that was lots) had odometers that strangely read no higher than 90k miles, regardless of the condition of the car.
I saw one car from Jersey that was absolutely knackered inside and showing 50k miles, the seatbelts and driver's seat had seen at least a couple of hundred thousand miles use. I pointed this out to the dealer and he said, "yeah but Jersey's a small island and people get in and out their cars a lot".
I came across this strange phenomenon when I was looking for a 3.2 many years ago. The advice I was wisely given at the time was to ignore the odometer as because the underside of the dash on these models is not enclosed it is just a matter of reaching underneath whilst seated and pulling off one wire at the back of the odometer whenever the car is driven and the mileage is not recorded.
So this could is why many early 911's show such low miles.
I also came across many cars with badly worn bolsters pedal rubbers etc showing 20k miles!
So this could is why many early 911's show such low miles.
I also came across many cars with badly worn bolsters pedal rubbers etc showing 20k miles!
I came across this strange phenomenon when I was looking for a 3.2 many years ago. The advice I was wisely given at the time was to ignore the odometer as because the underside of the dash on these models is not enclosed it is just a matter of reaching underneath whilst seated and pulling off one wire at the back of the odometer whenever the car is driven and the mileage is not recorded.
So this could is why many early 911's show such low miles.
I also came across many cars with badly worn bolsters pedal rubbers etc showing 20k miles!
So this could is why many early 911's show such low miles.
I also came across many cars with badly worn bolsters pedal rubbers etc showing 20k miles!
13m said:
I saw one car from Jersey that was absolutely knackered inside and showing 50k miles, the seatbelts and driver's seat had seen at least a couple of hundred thousand miles use. I pointed this out to the dealer and he said, "yeah but Jersey's a small island and people get in and out their cars a lot".
Strangely there's some truth in that 
stuartmmcfc said:
13m said:
I saw one car from Jersey that was absolutely knackered inside and showing 50k miles, the seatbelts and driver's seat had seen at least a couple of hundred thousand miles use. I pointed this out to the dealer and he said, "yeah but Jersey's a small island and people get in and out their cars a lot".
Strangely there's some truth in that 13m said:
stuartmmcfc said:
13m said:
I saw one car from Jersey that was absolutely knackered inside and showing 50k miles, the seatbelts and driver's seat had seen at least a couple of hundred thousand miles use. I pointed this out to the dealer and he said, "yeah but Jersey's a small island and people get in and out their cars a lot".
Strangely there's some truth in that TR4man said:
13m said:
stuartmmcfc said:
13m said:
I saw one car from Jersey that was absolutely knackered inside and showing 50k miles, the seatbelts and driver's seat had seen at least a couple of hundred thousand miles use. I pointed this out to the dealer and he said, "yeah but Jersey's a small island and people get in and out their cars a lot".
Strangely there's some truth in that Unless of course Jersey residents have particularly abrasive clothing and hands and all weigh over 20 stone.
Having lived in Jersey for a while some years ago, I found it a very densely packed island with a very French attitude to cars ie they saw them as tools rather than status symbols. I saw quite a few knackered cars which were regularly used but could never go far, so were low mileage.
It's not like on the mainland where low mileage equals little use, they could be used all day but still have a low mileage. You should have seen some of the taxis
Obviously there are exceptions and clocking is rife on classic cars in particular. I used to be involved with Audi quattros, and it used to amaze me how many cars were for sale with 90k on the clock.
It's not like on the mainland where low mileage equals little use, they could be used all day but still have a low mileage. You should have seen some of the taxis
Obviously there are exceptions and clocking is rife on classic cars in particular. I used to be involved with Audi quattros, and it used to amaze me how many cars were for sale with 90k on the clock.
Edited by stuartmmcfc on Saturday 31st October 13:44
stuartmmcfc said:
Having lived in Jersey for a while some years ago, I found it a very densely packed island with a very French attitude to cars ie they saw them as tools rather than status symbols. I saw quite a few knackered cars which were regularly used but could never go far, so were low mileage.
It's not like on the mainland where low mileage equals little use, they could be used all day but still have a low mileage. You should have seen some of the taxis
Obviously there are exceptions and clocking is rife on classic cars in particular. I used to be involved with Audi quattros, and it used to amaze me how many cars were for sale with 90k on the clock.
I cannot say too much because I think the car now belongs to an active PHer, but I can tell a clocked car from one that has done lots of short journeys and that one was more clocked than Big Ben. The dealer was also trying to pull a VAT fraud. Clever really because it would have made the car slightly cheaper at no cost to him, whilst making it tricky for an unhappy buyer to pursue legal recourse.It's not like on the mainland where low mileage equals little use, they could be used all day but still have a low mileage. You should have seen some of the taxis
Obviously there are exceptions and clocking is rife on classic cars in particular. I used to be involved with Audi quattros, and it used to amaze me how many cars were for sale with 90k on the clock.
Edited by stuartmmcfc on Saturday 31st October 13:44
13m said:
I cannot say too much because I think the car now belongs to an active PHer, but I can tell a clocked car from one that has done lots of short journeys and that one was more clocked than Big Ben. The dealer was also trying to pull a VAT fraud. Clever really because it would have made the car slightly cheaper at no cost to him, whilst making it tricky for an unhappy buyer to pursue legal recourse.
I dont dispute what youre saying, im sure youre right about this car.All i was saying is that ive seen low mileage Jersey, cars which do look tatty. The idea that theyve had an easy, pampered life on a "rich" island is sometimes a bit deceiving.
The speed limit of 40mph got on my nerves
These cars maybe 30+ years old, but most of them were probably never daily drivers and by now will have been second cars for most of that time.
Cleary anything below 50K miles is sad, but I would expect to find a whole raft of cars in the 70-90K miles bracket. There are also bound to be a bunch of owners who have had them for years and are now deciding to cash in.
There is an elderly gentleman near me that has probably done no more than 500 miles a year for the last decade.
Cleary anything below 50K miles is sad, but I would expect to find a whole raft of cars in the 70-90K miles bracket. There are also bound to be a bunch of owners who have had them for years and are now deciding to cash in.
There is an elderly gentleman near me that has probably done no more than 500 miles a year for the last decade.
supersport said:
These cars maybe 30+ years old, but most of them were probably never daily drivers and by now will have been second cars for most of that time.
Cleary anything below 50K miles is sad, but I would expect to find a whole raft of cars in the 70-90K miles bracket. There are also bound to be a bunch of owners who have had them for years and are now deciding to cash in.
There is an elderly gentleman near me that has probably done no more than 500 miles a year for the last decade.
Hmm, not sure I agree with you. Cleary anything below 50K miles is sad, but I would expect to find a whole raft of cars in the 70-90K miles bracket. There are also bound to be a bunch of owners who have had them for years and are now deciding to cash in.
There is an elderly gentleman near me that has probably done no more than 500 miles a year for the last decade.
There will be SOME cars that have always been second cars and lightly used, but don't forget that 10-15 years ago you could pick up a decent pre-89 911 cheaply. Many of these cars ended up in the hands of people who modified and thrashed them for star ship mileages.
But these cars have vanished, oddly, to be replaced by lots of sub-90k mile cars. I wonder where they went.
13m said:
supersport said:
These cars maybe 30+ years old, but most of them were probably never daily drivers and by now will have been second cars for most of that time.
Cleary anything below 50K miles is sad, but I would expect to find a whole raft of cars in the 70-90K miles bracket. There are also bound to be a bunch of owners who have had them for years and are now deciding to cash in.
There is an elderly gentleman near me that has probably done no more than 500 miles a year for the last decade.
Hmm, not sure I agree with you. Cleary anything below 50K miles is sad, but I would expect to find a whole raft of cars in the 70-90K miles bracket. There are also bound to be a bunch of owners who have had them for years and are now deciding to cash in.
There is an elderly gentleman near me that has probably done no more than 500 miles a year for the last decade.
There will be SOME cars that have always been second cars and lightly used, but don't forget that 10-15 years ago you could pick up a decent pre-89 911 cheaply. Many of these cars ended up in the hands of people who modified and thrashed them for star ship mileages.
But these cars have vanished, oddly, to be replaced by lots of sub-90k mile cars. I wonder where they went.
Many a year ago a 911 was designed and sold by Porsche as the business mans choice (and could still take the family out the weekend) for business travel. Only by the time the 964/993 came along had they had become more of a weekend car, mainly because the design had become so antiquated there were far more 'comfortable' cars out there to travel around in on a daily business basis.
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