I made the decision today that barring a hurricane or other financial hurdle between now and December (when my Mercedes lease ends) I am going to order an 09 997S and become a two Porsche household . My girlfriend and I are bitten big time by the Porsche bug (me with the Turbo and her with the facelift S)

I was torn this week after driving the new M3 . It's a different car but has space and for the price really has a lot to offer. Plus she loved the M3 and had not driven the 997S on a full test drive .

Until today.

While she was on the test drive and I chose to stay behind so that her opinion would come without any of my Porsche bias as an influencing factor .

She drove up with a beaming smile.

I have never seen anyone test drive the car and not love it . In fact I showed my buddy last week the various cars in the local dealership and since that day he has called me every day asking me another question .

He's bitten .

So are most here as we all have some variation of this car .

Lastly --I did consider a deal on an 08 (they had a beautiful silver/black.red stitch seat/ PSE 997S) vs waiting for the 09 BUT I can't resist waiting and hope that my patience works out for the best.

Anyone else getting the 09 ???

 

I'm waiting on the 2009 model so the 2005 and 2006 models will get slammed in value and i can pick one up.

 

They won't get slammed but what I have seen in past facelift values is that the first two months or so the old model takes a big hit but then it actually climbs back .

The buyer of the former body style has a two month window to get the better price before that same car might cost more in 5 months.

In fact this would be the time to sell the car if a person wanted to still get a decent price otherwise they need to keep the car after the initial launch "gotta have it" buyers subside.

 

You're right I've actually found the same thing. I think it's the market's initial knee-jerk reaction to when a new/updated model hits the market. I'm just saving now and waiting to pounce on a nice lightly modded Carrera S if I can find one.

I think 385hp will be enticing for a lot of people to want to move into the newer models not to mention that the 997 has been the most successful 911 to date and there's going to be a huge glut of them for sale once many leases expire.

 

My lease expires in 2010 and I intend to pick up a late build '09 c2s (no point rushing to get an early one with potential bugs...), either new or demo/low miles, on another lease. Unless the plan is heavy mods, which I don't bother with, I think a lease is generally better, as it locks in at least a minimum residual and allows a walkaway and, if I'm really in love with that particular car, I can always keep it/buy it out. Otherwise, not much point owning a depreciating asset...

 

Your opinion about the lease option seems right but you're missing a couple of thing... just keep them in mind:

1. you're paying the depreciation in your monthly lease, those companies don't want to take any risks so they are assuming the worst retail price
2. you can get out of a lease but they will scr€w you over since the fee you will have to pay in that particular case will be robbery
3. whenever you want to buy-out the car after the lease they will still charge you too much... the title transfer will cost you as well

my conclusion on leasing (leased 4 different cars in the past) is you can only enjoy a lease if you actually plan to take the full term and give the car back at the end (although buy-out isn't too bad either) but you're always going to pay more than buying the car yourself... leasing companies have to make a profit too, can't deny that!

getting out of a contract seems easy but it's financial suicide... if you buy a car and you want to get out you can always sell it yourself and even when selling it cheap to get rid of it fast will give you a better deal than breaking a lease

I'm not on an offensive path here but leasing a car can actually be a way of getting a car you can't really afford... look at it this way: when you're maxing out your budget on a lease you have to start all over when you want a new car... maxing out your budget on a bought car leaves you at least with a car that has an actual value you can sell to make a deposit on your next one (making the loan a lot cheaper)... it's only the first one that will cost you most.

and it is perfectly possible to get out of a loan, just make the remaining payments to the bank after you sold your car (won't be a problem unless you sell it too fast) and banks won't take advantage of you deciding to not go thru with what you planned (e.g. 3 years driving the car) since they will only charge you a minimum fee for early termination... make sure your loan contract states a fair deal on those situations; banks could try to lure you into a bad contract but they'll never charge you more for setting this straight

1 exception on this... if you take a full lease (including all repairs, tires, maintenance...) and you're driving like an ***... some people actually manage to make a car more expensive to a leasing company than what they are paying for it... and well... I can be honest about this... when you lease a car (not planning to buy it out) you will drive your car way more aggressive!

my 2ct.

btw, I'm open for a discussion here... this is my opinion but I would like to know if I forgot something or made a mistake in my way of thinking

 

I would save the $30K+ and spend it on some more mods.

 

Here's my 2 cents...I totally agree with these statements and granted I've never had the experience or the will to ever lease a car since I enjoy owning what I drive but here's my spin to how I see leases from a different perspective:

* The extra cost allows to be able to walk away or jump into something new without private party selling (a great pain that I always dread) or trade-in (talk about bending over and getting screwed by the dealer)
* For those who cannot commit (somewhat like a relationship) and always looking for change, this is the ultimate contract
* Never without a factory warranty is never a bad thing if you keep rotating to a new lease every time
* You'll always be able to keep the miles down since a lease is like house arrest j/k...thought I'd throw that in in good humor

These are just the positives.....but I don't know, I think I will still continue to buy my vehicles now and in the future. I can go to sleep knowing that if someone scratches/dents my car, I won't be fined for it at the end of a lease

But I will have to disagree with one particular comment: I don't think leases are only for those who are given the chance to get into a car they can't afford, I can also see it that they are for those who are willing to throw money away and continue to what I feel, rent. The contracts to me seem to share similiarities.

 

Is that how you understood my "leasing a car can actually be a way of getting a car you can't really afford"?

 

When you add "you" can't really afford......YES, that's how I interpreted it. I guess trying humor on the lighter side has mixed feelings when a difference of opinion or moreover, might be a misunderstanding can change the direction of many posts.....but hey, I'm not trying to be a grammer perfect anyways....my bad . I'm still s believer of both parties in most cases though.

Now let's get back to the topic...........IF I KEPT IT STOCK, THERE WOULD NOT BE TOO MUCH HARD FEELINGS TO LET GO AND WAIT FOR THE '09. BUT IF YOU PUT A LOT OF HARD EFFORTS WITH AFTERMARKET PARTS, I WOULD SAVE MY PENNIES, CONTINUE THE MODS AND HAVE A SICK RIDE!!!!!!

 

The 09 may have 30 more Hp . Imagine modding that . Even a base 997 might come close ro a current 997S .

 

Buying outright or leasing all comes down to the funding rates and residuals they factor in... you can always push them on the res's by saying "what? you dont have faith in your products resale value?" Thats usually worth a few %!

Leasing has some business write off advantages. So if you own your own business this is the way to go (at least it is here in the UK).

 

That's true for most European countries... and you don't have to put down the non deductable part of VAT (sales tax) right away... however, buying a car with a bank loan is always a better option from a fiscal point of view, it only looks different on your balance sheet since you don't have any long-term debts when leasing.
There is a fiscal advantage but you're paying for it... more than it saves you... and you're sponsoring a leasing company rather than government. Your choice?

Leasing is very common for expensive products you never intend to fully pay for (like expensive machinery). Making a profit on top of the monthly payments is good business without ever being able to pay for the whole thing. However, I don't see a car this way since most companies can afford to pay for a car in let's say 3 or 4 years and selling it again. Selling the car afterwards can even make you some nice tax-free money

And to flip the coin, the disadvantages of a leasing (when you want to end a contract sooner than agreed) can cost you a lot of money.
Someone said selling a car is a pain too but you probably never had to pay a contact cancellation fee... I can assure you what they want you to pay to get out is a nothing less than pure robbery. Keeping the car on a lot and just paying the monthly fees after reducing the agreed number of miles is sometimes cheaper than paying their bribe... an it's spread over time. Trust me; I have plenty of experience on this subject since I paid those bribes, being stupid enough to take another lease... NEVER AGAIN!!!!

 

Yep, my only regret is I did not do a Gteed residual on my E55, its just got crushed.... some decent optionality in a g'teed res.... and lets face it its not going to be very likely the actual resale value is going to exceed the residuals by much, the asset is, as you say, a depreciating one and a fast one at that. Its interesting here that the leasing companies give you a final monthly pmt and always skate around the embedded funding rate... funnay that. Bank loan as you say is more efficient - particualrly if its collateralised. Bank rates tend to be much better than leasing co's as the underlying assets are in one case a viable business (hopefully) and on the other a pure depreciating asset with no real income... no easy way to fund our passions... but then what would life be without a passion!?

 

Love that quote!