Recently sold a Viper, looking for a more refined daily driver car. It appears a used 996 is a lot of car for the money.

None of the cars I am looking at are local, hence, I am not able to see them. The $$ benefit of a national search are substantial. Here is what I am looking at, can anyone give me some direction? Trying to decide if a 2002 is worth the extra bucks.

1999 C4 Cab, with hardtop, PSM, 50K miles, new clutch, all records, $40,000

2002 Targa, 25K miles, this was a manufacturer buy back, looks and sounds mint, nicely optioned $52,000

2002 C2 Coupe, 19K miles, $50,000, fairly standard.

Any advice? Which would depreciate the fastest from present market level?

Any direction for a prospective new (used) Porsche owner would be much appreciated!

 

blipper,
the change in torque and hp will be dramatic to got to a 996. if these are your choices i suggest the 02 c2 coupe or targa. the 99 would depreciate the fastiest, plus the 99 are a drive by wire system that i highly do not recommend, very problematic.

 

newer cars depreciate faster than older ones.

the change in 2002 models include more horsepower and turbo look front lights distinguishing it more from a boxter.

the targa has the lowest resale values. I think they are beautiful but they don't do well on resale.

what to do?

first drive the c2 vs c4. once you decide on what you like in the way of handling then you can procede. I have a turbo so I have awd. I like it. If you have a lot of inclemency then the c4 would be my choice.

next, decide whether you need a convertible or not.

finally, a very important thing is the warranty. I would be willing to pay a little more for a LOW mile car that has the 100k mile warranty (only available through the dealer) with a cost of approx 1500. be very careful about buying a car site unseen and be sure to have it inspected by a dealer fully before purchase.

Also, options I would seek out:

psm2
xenon headlamps
full leather
porsche sport exhaust

good luck, I've had my turbo for 5 month and driven approx 7000 miles without any real problems.

 

Get the 2002 C2 coupe. You get the 3.6 motor and lower mileage. For the '99, you can get a lower mileage car around that price. The 2002 Targa is a mfr buyback, has higher mileage and costs more than the 2002 coupe.

They are all going to depreciate so don't even worry about it.

 

What do you mean that the Targa was a buy back? Problems?

 

Don't know exactly at the moment, but I intent to find out what I can. Title OK, no paint or body work and the warranty is intact. I can only surmise is might have been an immediate RMS or other mechanical problem that was fixed.

Car is represented as perfect.

 

Represented as perfect by who? The dealer? I would be concerned about this one. There is no shortage of pre owned 996's. look around, see if someone on this board is selling theirs. You can be pretty sure that these were cared for properly.

 

I love my Targa, and the '02 Targa would be my first choice of the cars you listed. However, I would also be very wary of a buy-back unless I could talk to the original owner (unlikely that they would let you do that) and get both sides of the story.

 

I think the 02 C2 Coupe is in the right direction. My recommendation, stay away from buybacks unless you have some insider knowledge on the car. I just purchased a preowned TT Coupe...I basically monitored the market everyday and had two different Porsche sales guys looking for me. One day, a consignment came in with the specs I was looking for (3K miles, 03, manual, etc). Another pair of eyes searching for you can be quite helpful. Goodluck and enjoy the process!

 

I would suggest you get an 02 or later. The list of improvements over the 01 and previous is very long, there have been many posts on the subject. It includes, more hp/torque, 25% stiffer chassis, reduced lift (25% front, 40% rear as I recall), bose was standard, lighter wheels if it has the light 18"s, flat black switchgear (looks a bit better imo), and more. I had an 00 and now have an 02, LOVE the 02 and the improvements....

Good luck, post pics

Roy

- previous Viper owner as well

 

02 C2