My car is actually leased and I am trying to get out of the lease about 9 months early. With a 65k trade in value, I am upside down under my lease buyout and would be better off just hanging on to it until August 07. Guess it wouldn't be too bad to have 2 turbos for a while. I don't think I will lease my new Turbo since I like to have flexibility in getting in and out of cars.

 

imho, leasing is the only way to go (assuming you can write it off). All of us who bought 'new' 996 turbos know first hand the hit they take. The 997 turbo will be the same.... lease it for a shorter term and walk away without the hit.

 

Andrew - they don't have the X50s designated separately...the people at Manheim putting in the data are not true Porschephiles. However, here's what I pulled up for the 05 Turbos:

<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" width="559"><tbody> <tr bgcolor="#00ff00"> <td class="text" width="50">09/21/06</td> <td class="text" width="70">MANHEIM</td> <td class="textCenter" width="55">Regular</td> <td class="textRight" width="42">$115,000</td> <td class="textRight" width="45">6,195</td> <td class="textCenter" width="36">Above</td> <td class="text" width="45">SILVER</td> <td class="textCenter" width="24">6GT</td> <td class="textCenter" width="32">6</td> <td class="textCenter" width="57">Yes</td> <!-- <td class="textCenter" width="41px"></td> --> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#00ff00"> <td class="text" width="50">07/20/06</td> <td class="text" width="70">RIVRSIDE</td> <td class="textCenter" width="55">Lease</td> <td class="textRight" width="42">$113,000</td> <td class="textRight" width="45">745</td> <td class="textCenter" width="36">Above</td> <td class="text" width="45">SILVER</td> <td class="textCenter" width="24">6G</td> <td class="textCenter" width="32">6</td> <td class="textCenter" width="57">Yes</td> <!-- <td class="textCenter" width="41px"></td> --> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#00ff00"> <td class="text" width="50">06/15/06</td> <td class="text" width="70">CHICAGO</td> <td class="textCenter" width="55">Regular</td> <td class="textRight" width="42">$115,500</td> <td class="textRight" width="45">4,547</td> <td class="textCenter" width="36">Above</td> <td class="text" width="45">RED</td> <td class="textCenter" width="24">6G</td> <td class="textCenter" width="32">6</td> <td class="textCenter" width="57">Yes</td> <!-- <td class="textCenter" width="41px"></td> --> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td class="text" width="50">06/07/06</td> <td class="text" width="70">W PALM</td> <td class="textCenter" width="55">Regular</td> <td class="textRight" width="42">$108,000</td> <td class="textRight" width="45">1,876</td> <td class="textCenter" width="36">Avg</td> <td class="text" width="45">YELLOW</td> <td class="textCenter" width="24">6G</td> <td class="textCenter" width="32">A</td> <td class="textCenter" width="57">Yes</td></tr></tbody></table>

 

The values have definitely gone down and I do agree that leasing provides a great safety net on the car's value. I leased my last 2 Porsches. The first one was a 993TT and because of the amount of track driving I did, that turned out to be a great decision since that was not a car I would be willing to sell on my own (of the 38k miles on the car, I probably put close to 20k on the track!). I turned it in and walked away.

On my last 911 (a 996 cab), I leased it because of the low monthly and my lesson learned on the last car. However, my priorities and attention changed and ended up with a car that I rarely tracked, and which recently got a new motor (courtesy of Porsche). This car was in great shape and I actually thought I'd keep it longer - but with the lease term ending and the residual on the car, it didn't make too much sense. I sold it myself on the last month of the lease and avoided the lease disposal fee and 'recovered' some of the money I paid to drive the car 12k miles/year (I only drove it a total of probably 14k over 3 years).

My newest purchase, I bought because I intend to keep the car a while.

 

Was the MSRP on these cars north of $140,000? If so, that is quite a depreciation hit.

 

If you were to go back to stock you could get the following for your mods. Post them in the For Sale section and they will go quickly!

18 inch HRE 540 Reverse Lip Wheels
Michelin Pilot Sports

+$2500-3000

EVO sport exhaust
+$1500-2000

EVO sport shifter
EVO diverter valves
Sirius Satellite Radio
H&R sport springs


Not really worth removing but these combined would fetch +$600
cargraphic petals

+$100

Your best bet is to go back to stock and trade the car in.

 

One word of caution, since you are leasing, you do need to return it to stock. They can technically hit you for the porsche price of returning the car to stock with all new/marked up parts. Just slowly take the stuff off, sell it, and lease something else in Aug '07. Less than a yr away. If you're paying for 12k miles a yr, then drive it 12k a yr, no sense in saving it for whoever buys it at auction.

 

I don't believe I am required to return my turbo to stock since i leased after the mods has already been done (I leased in August of 2003 when the car was 1.5 years old). My new turbo will be here no later than the end of this month and would prefer not to back out. Therefore, my options are:

1. Have the dealer purchase at 65K and eat the lease payoff difference (not very attractive, but get a reduction in sales tax).

2. Sell to third party and hopefully have the dealer do a courtesy trade. Have several offers but need to find out if they are real.

3. Keep my 996 turbo through August of 08, not buy the 997 turbo when it comes in this month, and then get a new turbo then.

 

I would need more info to make a decision..... how much of a hit do you take with a trade of 65?

Where do you live --- if winter is an issue and the turbo will just sit (like mine)... then I might wait until at least Spring. You'll always be able to buy a 997 turbo at list

 

My lease buyout this month is about 72.5k and goes down each month until August 2007 (at which point the buyout is 65K). Monthly lease payments are about $915 per month. Probably not worth trading at 65k versus keeping and paying 900 per month for another 9 or 10 months. I don't mind paying to play but would not be all that happy to take a bath.

Any recommendations on places to advertise the sale of my Turbo if I go that route?

 

$7250 is not really taking a bath IMO. Take the parts off, sell them and trade the car in. You should make a couple of extra bucks from the parts to offset the "bath".

 

I agree; and, when you factor in sales tax credit vs. selling it yourself (for probably not a lot more) you could cut your loss to under 5k ............

Back to one of my earlier questions.... where do live and how much will you drive a turbo during the next 4 to 6 months?

The question is will you drive it enough to offset the 5 to 7k 'price to play' .................

 

mja 996TT,

I live in North Carolina and can drive the new Turbo most if not all of the winter.

 

go for it.......... life is too short!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Mike,

I concur. If I really wanted to be smart, then I would have waited to get a new Turbo when my lease expired.