I have been watching the TT market for a few years now.

I have noticed lately that there aren't a lot of 996TTs for sale and many of the ones that are seem to have high miles, some negative history, stories, etc.

Not that there aren't some good ones available on the Boards but the available inventory seems very low overall when you look at the porsche site, Boards, ebay, etc.

As I recall, about a year or so ago, there were a significant number of Turbos for sale and people couldn't give them away. Now, i have just qualitatively noticed more people looking and less quality cars available.

Just curious if people are holding onto their cars longer because of the state of the economy, if both the supply and demand for 996TTs have just stabilized, or if we are in a weird stage were buyers and sellers are waiting for the 997TT prices to drop?

Thoughts?

 

im waiting for a clean guards red 997tt with ceramics to show up in my budget (75k) so i can dump my car

 

I looked at a lot before I found a perfect one.

It seems the ones in the high 30s-low 40s all had some kind of issue- 2nd gear popout, paintwork, not running great, didn't look taken care of, etc...

 

I think you nailed both points... 996TT market has firmed up and now the low $$ cars are stories, high miles, etc. and the quality cars are going for more. Also there will be an influx of 997TT's on the market this year as leases on the initial batch are expiring and dealers have them and are looking to roll them out to keep inventory turns up.

 

I think the cars are getting old enough that there are more and more factors coming into consideration, all of these factors can negatively affect resale.

accidents
mileage
many owners
maintenance records (or lack thereof)
modifications
stored in a garage at all times
whether or not the car was used as a daily driver (daily drivers don't avoid foul weather for example)

I have been watching the market as well and IMO the cars have gone up about 10K from the lows of March 2009. There was a lot of market uncertainty in March.

 

I completely agree.

 

I am in the market and have noticed fewer cars for sale as well. I think the time of the year might play a factor. Most folks in states with severe winters can't be bothered to list their cars that's in storage and will probably wait until the spring time to fetch a better price. Also, with the holidays just behind us, I am sure most aren't in the mood to spend ~$50k on a toy. I suspect once the weather warms up, people get their tax return/pays off their credit cards from Christmas/etc., we'll see more transactions taking place.

 

I have also noticed the same in my area, all the decent cars are in the 50s-60s. A year ago a decent car could be had in the mid 40s

 

But are the higher priced ones selling? I don't have a way of knowing except to look at the completed auctions on ebay and most do not sell. Looking at the Manheim MMR it looks like they are predicting wholesale prices to stabilize, meaning they won't be going down as fast but they don't see prices increasing.

 

I dont think that prices will increase, I am just saying that it seems that the "good deals" are very hard to find in these days... for example I got my 02 6sp with 23k miles CPOd from a dealer for 49.9k last Jan. I just did a search in the whole country for a car like mine and there is nothing out there in that price range...

 

Yeah not many good examples at the low end. The same cars have been languishing there for some time so they must all have issues. I think more will show up in the Spring as will more buyers (like me!)

 

I think the "lower priced", "lower quality" cars are being used as leverage, by buyers, to try to get a newer, low mileage example. If sellers try to hold out a little longer, the value will start to rise again. Unfortunately, in this economic climate, most who are selling, (dealers notwithstanding) can't afford to sit on their cars waiting for the right buyer.

 

I also agree with most people's thoughts about the value firming up. I believe that prices are firming up now and have actually started to rise based on my research.

Edwin

 

I was speaking with a friend of mine that owns a dealership. He doesn't handle Porsche but attends a lot of auctions. His observation is that there has been a pretty significant increase in the mileage of cars running through the auction. Basically, he said that people are keeping their cars longer and as a result, when they are traded in, they have more mileage. This makes it hard for dealers to get higher quality, low mileage cars and as a result, drives the cost of the excellent ones up.

 

I also think dealers have much lower used inventory