Hey C4Bliss, which one is Robert and which one is Suzanne in your avatar? Must have been a FINE surgeon! Seriously, dealers exist to make money, some more so than others. While you probably could knock some money off that car, unless you were willing to wait a long time they aren't jumping at 80. All this auction results and stories of great buys can make you crazy and that stuff is certainly out there. To me, if I were spending 75 or 85 wouldn't matter so much as the product. That is, if it were the car I wanted with the things I wanted and no accidents/paintwork/etc., I wouldn't hold on to milk every last cent out of the deal and risk losing the car. If you aren't that picky and just want the best deal possible, then this isn't the one for you. Just like on eBay, all it takes is someone willing to pay a buck more than you and it's gone. I think of it like this, even if you paid 85, it is still at a 40% discount in 3+ years and that's one hell of a deal. If it were 75, you still didn't hit 50% and unless you plan on telling every person who you know after the fact, who really cares as you'll have a great car at a good to great deal.

 

I agree. If you are patient and always looking, you may luck into a great deal as with any car buying situation. But most of the time, you get what you pay for. There are plenty of 996TTs selling at retail book value. A person on this forum just bought a 2002 X50 with 7K miles for $95K. It was in perfect condition, had no warranty and was lightly optioned. He got the exact car he was looking for and it was worth every cent.

 

I picked up a 02 996 TT w/ Carbon Fiber, Tech Art Wheels, Tubi Exhaust, GT3 Seats, and 11k on the ODO for a friend of mine this week. Price was about $5k less than what you quoted. Car is very clean basalt/black.

-Greg

 

I agree with you on the one hand, but, what pisses me off, is if you go and spend the 85k for a "clean" car and wanted to trade it the next day, the same dealer would hit you at $70-71k........Why should the dealer make a $14k pop on me!!!?? That's insane...if dealers are paying 70k for a car, and asking 88k, they are hoping for an uneducated consumer...trust me...real clean cars certainly don't get 10k more on the open market...dealers may put 2-3k more into a cleaner car, but, even thats a stretch

 

That's what makes it frustrating because pricing is all over the place. Dealers are used to having a product sitting around and don't mind waiting usually for the right buyer b/c that is the nature of their business. If it were me, I'd make a quick couple grand and then move on, selling 4 or 5 cars for more profit than waiting out the right buyer. Good or even great deals are out there and if you are prepared to hunt, no question you can find better. My point is if he found something he likes, it's close by and he can afford it, why should he pass? Get it and start enjoying.

 

Well thank you everyone for your thoughts! If i was truly going to lay it down on a turbo, i have to move my cab first! Also, wrong color for sure.. i would prefer speed yellow or "give me a ticket" red.... I just wasnt sure what the deal was, since the car was stickered at 99K and on sale for 88k?

 

Well that is the used car business. All car dealers try to make money and the customer will lose money every time. It was been that way forever. $14K is 20% of the car's value. Last yeat a buddy traded in his M3 and they gave him $35K for it. I went to the dealership later and they were asking $42K. That's 20%.

BTW, those auction prices are from wholesale auctions. They are not necessarily cream of the crop cars. When a dealership can't sell a car or if they have a car that might hurt their reputation (wrecked, lemon or other dubious past) they dump it at auction. Be careful relying on wholesale dealer auction prices. A Porsche dealer will trade or sell their clean cars they can't sell to another Porsche dealer.

 

Dealer auctions are one thing to look at as I know MANY dealers that send clean cars to auction. For instance all Porsche financial cars that are lease returned or maybe a BMW dealer that gets a Porsche in trade.. The other thing to look at is dealer black book. As a rule, dealers go by average book which is just under $70k in the black book. Remember a lot of these cars are out of warranty or will be shortly and I think the price reflects that....A dealer can mark up there cars 50%, who cares, but, when negotiating for a car, I would go from wholesale up, not dealer price down.....



Lou

 

You also have to factor the large amount of risk that is involved in auction prices. The pool of cars is indeed mixed between clean cars and rats and with the speed they roll through the auction, and given that most have zero documentation buying one is a pretty huge risk for any dealer. Its not like you can throw them on a lift and test drive them before you bid...this keeps wholesale auction prices for highend cars much lower than actual market prices. Black book prices also reflect this, as wholesale auctions are used in the equation.... the wholesale prices are usefull to see if the trends are going up or down, and at what rate, but they are not a reliable indicator of retail market realities.

dw

 

No one has suggested "Porsche Certified". An '02 is coming up on the end of the factory warranty. Porsched Certified adds two years with unlimited mileage. It seems that with all the used product out there, if there was one advantage available, it is this - but you can only get that from a Porsche dealer. So - you may pay a little more than from an indivdual - but at least you knw that Porsche will stand behind the car.

I paid a little more than I could have paid but I got three things in the deal that added value for me. - Brumos reputation, Prosche Certified, and a driving lesson from Hurley Heywood (week after next).