“Rare.” Rare My Asphalt!

After running across the word “rare” for the hundredth time in Craigslist ads today while looking for a used Porsche 911, I have to say, I’m darn near ready to avoid ANY car where the word “rare” appears in the title or near the price of the car in an ad.

My two cents worth:

• Putting the word “rare” in the title doesn’t mean you can charge a 25% or 30% premium over the going rate for similar or better cars.
• The word “rare” next to your car’s price doesn’t make the butt ugly color your car is painted any more desirable. An ugly color is an ugly color. Period.
• A 1985 911 Carrera Coupe does NOT qualify as “extraordinarily RARE”, even though it does have only 67k miles on it. Unusual, but not rare.
• A 2000 Cabriolet with removable hard top is NOT “rare”. What’s rare is finding a buyer who would be willing to take this car off the dealer’s hands when he’s obviously smoked like a chimney in the thing and didn’t even bother to vacuum it out before putting it on his lot. What’s more is a removable hard top is NOT hard to find. I’ve already seen one on Craigslist and had two different dealers tell me they have one sitting in their storage garage they’d be happy to part with.
• Last I checked, air cooled 911s haven’t disappeared off the face of the earth leaving only yours up for sale. Sure pre-1998 911s are commanding higher prices compared to similar 996 911s, but come on. Since when, for example, is a 1995 911 with 97k miles considered “rare”?

So far, I have yet to see a rare car actually labeled as “rare”. Now isn’t that interesting…People with truly rare cars that are worth the money they’re asking for them (and then some in many cases in recent days) don’t need to try and bait people into thinking they have something special on their hands. The cars speak for themselves.

Any Porsche, regardless of model or age, is still a Porsche. And Porsches are rare when put into context of the auto industry and the number of production vehicles on the road. But I’m tired of people (mostly dealers) trying to capitalize on the Porsche name by adding an adjective or two and thinking we dumb buyers will fall for some hype. A Porsche, especially, should speak for itself and the price you’re asking for it.

If you’re simply looking to add a little hype and shizzle to your ad to try and make your car stand out, don’t lie by putting “rare” down. At least get a little creative and find a couple of adjectives that are truthful and don’t make you sound like a moron when describing your car. It’s like people who feel the need to use the “f” word 6 times in every sentence. But that’s a topic for another day.