Carrera S great deal
I'd like to add my $.02. I recently acquired a C2S cabriolet. I did a lot of shopping on the Internet as well as calling around. On the Internet I used autotrader.com, carscom, Yahoo autos, Cargurus.com, as well as the Porsche website and Mannheim and Ebay. Over the course of 2 to 3 weeks I spent a lot of time searching for the car I wanted. After searching all the aforementioned sites, the best deal I can come up with for car that had the options I wanted(PDK and Sportchrono, the rest I was flexible with) was $86,000. This was for car that was approximately 90 miles west of Chicago. I live in New Jersey. The car I honed in on was a silver coupe 2012. It had 12,000 miles on it. It seemed to be in very good condition and it resided at a Cadillac dealership. I was very close to attempting to make a deal with the dealership when I woke up on a Thursday early in the morning and started to my normal search routine which that day began with eBay. I saw a car I very much liked which had recently listed and the bidding was already up to $76,000 after two bids. I noticed the dealership was up in North Jersey and I live in South Jersey. I quickly went on the dealers website and found out they were asking $90,000. This was approximately $4000 more than the coupe I was considering. I realized that just going from a coupe to a Cabriolet was a big upgrade. And I really did want a Cabriolet. (The new 991 cabriolet's silhouette is perfect.) I quickly called up the dealership when they opened at about five after 9 and struck a deal to buy the car for $88,000. I went up there later that day and picked the car up.
The next day I went to the Porsche dealership and asked them to run the Vin for me the car originally listed for few hundred shy of $150,000.(They gave me a run off of all the options and the costs) Additionally the previous owner had the Front bumper, Rear bumper, the hood, and the side view mirrors covered in xpel. He also went to the expense of installing the built-in escort radar detector 9500ci.
There are some great deals out there. And I think that the coupe I was looking up for $86,000 was a pretty good deal, but the car I ended up with was a far better deal.
I couldn't be happier. I guess the moral of the story is, you have to be patient when looking for the right car and you have to be LUCKY too.
The next day I went to the Porsche dealership and asked them to run the Vin for me the car originally listed for few hundred shy of $150,000.(They gave me a run off of all the options and the costs) Additionally the previous owner had the Front bumper, Rear bumper, the hood, and the side view mirrors covered in xpel. He also went to the expense of installing the built-in escort radar detector 9500ci.
There are some great deals out there. And I think that the coupe I was looking up for $86,000 was a pretty good deal, but the car I ended up with was a far better deal.
I couldn't be happier. I guess the moral of the story is, you have to be patient when looking for the right car and you have to be LUCKY too.
Last edited by neil.schneider; May 5, 2014 at 09:38 PM.
If you are referring to my story, I think it was a fluke. I think when the gentleman who traded his car in spoke to the dealer, the dealer did not realize this was a 991. I can easily understand this confusion since Porsche was producing both the 997 and 991 at the same time. My guess is he was given a trade-in value for a 997.
That said I don't know. Maybe they just made him an offer and he said fine.
That said I don't know. Maybe they just made him an offer and he said fine.
Markets vary, prices vary and it varies on vehicle types, but I think as a general rule, a guideline if you will, that Carmax generally does not have the best cars. Unless the car is sold directly to them, they are buying auction cars. Any dealer that takes trades is going to keep the good ones and wholesale the lesser cars. And those are the ones that Carmax has to chose from.
That said, I have sold two cars to Carmax in the past. They aren't as generous as they used to be, but still when you are trading in a car it's probably worth a visit for an appraisal. Sometimes they will do better, especially on a late-model car.
That said, I have sold two cars to Carmax in the past. They aren't as generous as they used to be, but still when you are trading in a car it's probably worth a visit for an appraisal. Sometimes they will do better, especially on a late-model car.
There are great deals to be had sometimes.
About two weeks after I purchased my car, the Land Rover dealership I bought my car from had another 911 for sale. This one was a 2014 coupe S. They were asking 95,000. It had only 750 miles on it. It was another fantastic deal and when I checked by a couple of days later it was gone. I tried to get a friend of mine to buy it but he did not like the color. It was Agate gray on black. It had a lot of great options. If I hadn't already purchased my car I probably would've gone for it.
Yesterday on my way to the office I pulled up next to a gentleman driving a 2014 C4S cabriolet. He said he picked up the car used with 4000 miles on it at a discount of about $20,000 off list. Another really good deal. Again they are out there you just have to be patient and sometimes fortunate to find it.
About two weeks after I purchased my car, the Land Rover dealership I bought my car from had another 911 for sale. This one was a 2014 coupe S. They were asking 95,000. It had only 750 miles on it. It was another fantastic deal and when I checked by a couple of days later it was gone. I tried to get a friend of mine to buy it but he did not like the color. It was Agate gray on black. It had a lot of great options. If I hadn't already purchased my car I probably would've gone for it.
Yesterday on my way to the office I pulled up next to a gentleman driving a 2014 C4S cabriolet. He said he picked up the car used with 4000 miles on it at a discount of about $20,000 off list. Another really good deal. Again they are out there you just have to be patient and sometimes fortunate to find it.
If you are referring to my story, I think it was a fluke. I think when the gentleman who traded his car in spoke to the dealer, the dealer did not realize this was a 991. I can easily understand this confusion since Porsche was producing both the 997 and 991 at the same time. My guess is he was given a trade-in value for a 997.
That said I don't know. Maybe they just made him an offer and he said fine.
That said I don't know. Maybe they just made him an offer and he said fine.
I understand. But on the other hand CARMAX should have figured out what they had and made more money...
My experience with Carmax has been that they occasionally have a few well priced used cars for sale. I saw a very nice 997TT go thru Carmax a few months back.
Trade-ins are another story. They will not budge on their offers and their offers are usually well under auction prices. Case in point - I took my 2012 Acura MDX (Tech package, 7K miles) to them for an estimate just a couple of months ago. Car was in immaculate shape, not a ding or scratch. They offered me $33K and the report said 'average' wear on seats, tires, etc. When questioned the appraiser said he didn't have anything comparable on Manheim - mainly because of the low miles. I still asked why the ''avg" and he couldn't really answer. It seemed to me that this was the perfect vehicle for them to resell. The could detail it and spend $100 and put it on the lot for $41K considering it still had 2.5 years of warranty remaining.
They didn't budge on their estimate and I would have taken $35-36K. I advertised it the next week on CL and sold it for $38.5K n 2 days.
Trade-ins are another story. They will not budge on their offers and their offers are usually well under auction prices. Case in point - I took my 2012 Acura MDX (Tech package, 7K miles) to them for an estimate just a couple of months ago. Car was in immaculate shape, not a ding or scratch. They offered me $33K and the report said 'average' wear on seats, tires, etc. When questioned the appraiser said he didn't have anything comparable on Manheim - mainly because of the low miles. I still asked why the ''avg" and he couldn't really answer. It seemed to me that this was the perfect vehicle for them to resell. The could detail it and spend $100 and put it on the lot for $41K considering it still had 2.5 years of warranty remaining.
They didn't budge on their estimate and I would have taken $35-36K. I advertised it the next week on CL and sold it for $38.5K n 2 days.
Yes, the problem with Carmax is they sometimes offer really below auction prices by a wide margin. They are more or less a sweat shop and just pushes cars out, their main game is numbers/volume. I do understand that and respect that. You don't have to buy/sell to them if you don't want to and they don't hassle you like a regular dealership does. It just offers another avenue to sell car without the pressure. There is enough pressure in life, who needs one more.
38.5k is a great price for 2012. Thanks for making my day.
I'd like to add my $.02. I recently acquired a C2S cabriolet. I did a lot of shopping on the Internet as well as calling around. On the Internet I used autotrader.com, carscom, Yahoo autos, Cargurus.com, as well as the Porsche website and Mannheim and Ebay. Over the course of 2 to 3 weeks I spent a lot of time searching for the car I wanted. After searching all the aforementioned sites, the best deal I can come up with for car that had the options I wanted(PDK and Sportchrono, the rest I was flexible with) was $86,000. This was for car that was approximately 90 miles west of Chicago. I live in New Jersey. The car I honed in on was a silver coupe 2012. It had 12,000 miles on it. It seemed to be in very good condition and it resided at a Cadillac dealership. I was very close to attempting to make a deal with the dealership when I woke up on a Thursday early in the morning and started to my normal search routine which that day began with eBay. I saw a car I very much liked which had recently listed and the bidding was already up to $76,000 after two bids. I noticed the dealership was up in North Jersey and I live in South Jersey. I quickly went on the dealers website and found out they were asking $90,000. This was approximately $4000 more than the coupe I was considering. I realized that just going from a coupe to a Cabriolet was a big upgrade. And I really did want a Cabriolet. (The new 991 cabriolet's silhouette is perfect.) I quickly called up the dealership when they opened at about five after 9 and struck a deal to buy the car for $88,000. I went up there later that day and picked the car up.
The next day I went to the Porsche dealership and asked them to run the Vin for me the car originally listed for few hundred shy of $150,000.(They gave me a run off of all the options and the costs) Additionally the previous owner had the Front bumper, Rear bumper, the hood, and the side view mirrors covered in xpel. He also went to the expense of installing the built-in escort radar detector 9500ci.
There are some great deals out there. And I think that the coupe I was looking up for $86,000 was a pretty good deal, but the car I ended up with was a far better deal.
I couldn't be happier. I guess the moral of the story is, you have to be patient when looking for the right car and you have to be LUCKY too.
The next day I went to the Porsche dealership and asked them to run the Vin for me the car originally listed for few hundred shy of $150,000.(They gave me a run off of all the options and the costs) Additionally the previous owner had the Front bumper, Rear bumper, the hood, and the side view mirrors covered in xpel. He also went to the expense of installing the built-in escort radar detector 9500ci.
There are some great deals out there. And I think that the coupe I was looking up for $86,000 was a pretty good deal, but the car I ended up with was a far better deal.
I couldn't be happier. I guess the moral of the story is, you have to be patient when looking for the right car and you have to be LUCKY too.
no seriously that is exactly what i did for 4 weeks before I purchased the 991 that I did - completely agree that you have to be patient and LUCKY and have the eye to spot a deal when you see one (dont sleep on it)
you sound like me - wake up in the morning and started with my daily search
no seriously that is exactly what i did for 4 weeks before I purchased the 991 that I did - completely agree that you have to be patient and LUCKY and have the eye to spot a deal when you see one (dont sleep on it) 
no seriously that is exactly what i did for 4 weeks before I purchased the 991 that I did - completely agree that you have to be patient and LUCKY and have the eye to spot a deal when you see one (dont sleep on it) 
Last edited by neil.schneider; May 6, 2014 at 07:27 PM.
Lol, I will take that as a compliment. Finding the right car at the right price is an art form. If you don't care about the price you can get a car any time. I am not in that position. I feel very fortunate that I have what I have. Getting a preowned car is the only way I am able to have my dream car,

I almost always buy preowned unless it's a car I have to have.
There is a lot of profit in these cars and the first owner usually takes a hit.
I am sure many saw this article.
Porsche and its parent company Volkswagen had a great 2013. Picture it this way: Every time someone drove a P-car out of a dealer’s lot, they left behind a bag with $23,000 in it. The Stuttgart company then booked that as pure operating profit.
While Porsches are relatively low-production cars, at 18 percent, they’re high-margin. Also, they’re purchased by people who are not as price-sensitive as, say, the average Beetle buyer. The ***-engined German sports cars also have fewer direct competitors against which to be cross-shopped.
Corporate cousin Bentley trailed only slightly with a per-car profit north of 20 grand. Audi/Lamborghini brought home a 10-percent margin of $5,200 profit for every vehicle sold.
Even though Volkswagen itself moved a lot of metal last year, those cars were not nearly as lucrative as those from the above luxury marques. The German automaker only came out ahead by $850 (2.9 percent) with the sale of each VeeDub.
Oddly, there’s no mention of Bugatti.
I am sure many saw this article.
Porsche and its parent company Volkswagen had a great 2013. Picture it this way: Every time someone drove a P-car out of a dealer’s lot, they left behind a bag with $23,000 in it. The Stuttgart company then booked that as pure operating profit.
While Porsches are relatively low-production cars, at 18 percent, they’re high-margin. Also, they’re purchased by people who are not as price-sensitive as, say, the average Beetle buyer. The ***-engined German sports cars also have fewer direct competitors against which to be cross-shopped.
Corporate cousin Bentley trailed only slightly with a per-car profit north of 20 grand. Audi/Lamborghini brought home a 10-percent margin of $5,200 profit for every vehicle sold.
Even though Volkswagen itself moved a lot of metal last year, those cars were not nearly as lucrative as those from the above luxury marques. The German automaker only came out ahead by $850 (2.9 percent) with the sale of each VeeDub.
Oddly, there’s no mention of Bugatti.




