Little help needed for new Porsche owner. Lurking here for a while and believe you guys are best source of information.

Purchased 2005 C2S Cabriolet two weeks ago and trying to figure out exactly what options car has on it. Went to dealer and had them print-out a VIN report and confirmed car has the following options:

342 heated seats;
405 19" Carrera Classic Whls;
446 Wheel centre set (what is that?);
640 Sport Chrono Package Plus
680 Bose Surround
741 Press Vehicle
P01 Sport Adaptive Seats

But the car also has full leather and painted seat backs, neither of which options are listed on the VIN report so I am guessing those are part of the "press vehicle" option code??? Dealer did not know. Are there other options included in "press vehicle" that I have not yet discovered?

Think I got a decent deal but at risk of learning otherwise here is what I got: Arctic Silver Cabriolet S, full black leather, painted seat backs and the above listed options, 6 spd manual, 16,300 miles, CPO vehicle (CPO'd at 14,300 miles a year and a half ago by prior owner), no accidents or paint; looks new. Paid $54,000.

Any help appreciated!

Tony

 

My guess would be that "press vehicle" means that it is a launch vehicle. Launch vehicle meaning it is the first model year of the 997 and was the first to arrive at a specific dealer for the showroom. That is probably the reason for the painted seat backs and full leather not showing as their own codes. It is included in the "press vehicle" option code.

 

The dealer can tell you the "in service date" for the car. I could be wrong, but I would assume that 2005 MY cars were arriving in late 2004. So if your car was "in service" in, say October 2004, then that would be consistent with it being a launch vehicle.
If the in service date is October 2005, that would make the launch car theory less likely.

 

Car in service date is April 15, 2005. New vehicle warranty goes to April 15, 2009. CPO warranty goes to April 17, 2011.

 

According to wikipedia, the 997 C2S was first produced in July 04 and was "available immediately." Anyone want to hazzard a guess why a launch vehicle would go into service on April 15 2005?

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_997#Statistics

 

It's probably a launch car because I believe cabs were not available until the first quarter of 2005. I could be wrong though.

 

Good theory. The wikipedia is silent on when the cab came out.

 

Assuming you are correct that the "press vehicle" option means the same as "launch car", does anyone know what options are included in the "launch car" designation? Thanks for any info!


Tony

 

maybe 'press vehicle' means it was lent to magazines for tests and photos? just a theory...

 

IIRC launch code and press code are two different codes no?

 

This is what i thought of, this could mean two things, the cars was extra well set up and checked and it was somewhat abused by journalists afterwards.

 

I would say you scored a deal. Nice job.. 16k miles, CPO for an S Cab for 54k?

Did you have to pay sales tax?

 

Paid $54k for the car itself. Sales tax was extra. I think it was a pretty good deal also. Drives like new. Someone seems to have taken pretty good care of it.

 

As an almost daily shopper I'd say that in today's economy you got a fair deal; not great but at least 12k less than what you would have paid 9/01/2008. The one good kicker is the CPO (how many owners has this thing had?). Wheel sets are the Porsche gold inserts in the center of each wheel. Full leather? (dash, door panels, headliner?) I'd assume that it has fairly new tires, at least on the rears? Bottom line is that you have a hell of a nice car, the money is spent and you won't get it back - at least on Ebay, so join a Porsche club if there is one nearby and enjoy it.