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Thanks for the affirmation on my purchase Larry. I'd be lying if I didn't say I've had the thought cross my mind of, "hmmmmmm, with these ridiculously low prices on turbo's, I wonder what I can get for my car and maybe move into a turbo."

You'll even see that I've been frequenting the turbo forum a bit

 

This is a rather disheartening thread to read. I have been doing extensive research over the past month, or so, looking into purchasing a used 911. This effort was initially based on recent recommendations from local friends that own Porsches, and other local Porsche club members that the prices for good, used 996-997 911's, were at rock bottom. Well, that and the fact that at the prices I was told to expect, there seemed to be no other car that could possibly perform at the level of a 996/997 series 911.

I was originally targeting a 2004 911 Anniversary edition, and thats where the vast bulk of my research was focused. Very recently (the last couple days following a Porsche meet that I attended) I've decided that a low mileage, reasonably well equipped, 2005-2006 C2 is what I really want. I would love a C2s, but my budget simply cannot go reach that far.

I am in the process of refinancing my home, taking some money out, and selling my present vehicle to support the purchase. The car would have to be bought somewhere between the end of July and mid September.

If it's really true that the availability of good used 997 911's is quickly diminishing, and prices are rising significantly, I may have have seriously miscalculated. Unfortunately, this is my one opportunity to ever own a great car, and hopefully, a 911. Now you have me wondering whether I need to scrap the idea, forget the dream of a 911, and default to another manufacturer/vehicle option. You guys seem to have signiicant knowledge about the current market, am I too late?


John

 

What's your budget and what's your definition of low mileage?

 

Slapshot,

Also be careful of things that seem to be to good to be true:

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false

 

My budget is $43-45k on a 2005-2006 C2 with 15k or less on it, with at least Xenons, a Bose stereo, and leather, minimum. 19 inch wheels would also be appreciated. At the 45k price, I would need at least a year of remaining warranty to offset things.


There are a few cars out there, that fit my requirements at this point in time, but I'm wondering, if the market is getting worse, whether I will be able to find the right car in my timeframe. There are at least two out there, as we speak, that I would buy right now, assuming they passed the PPI/DME, if the re-mortgage was already confirmed, and I had sold my daily driver (which won't be hard to sell).

I expect that all of the above will happen in the next 30-40 days. And I would dearly like to have the time to look for the best possible 997 C2. My issues are that as soon as I sell the daily driver, I am limited to using my November 15-April 15th winter vehicle, which it would be best not to pile miles on. And, I feel it is way too risky to even consider waiting for next spring to buy a Porsche. If the economy were to improve, which is projected, these cars could easily rise beyond my ability to purchase based on comments some experts have made to me.


John

 

. As you know I did consider a 997S . In fact I thought of every car from ordering a Porsche Gt3 right down to a Honda Si . With three drivers and playing musical cars I pondered the "who drives what" along with all the logical aspects of a car purchase. Keep in mind .. I already have a Porsche (which tilts the scale) but being that it's a garage queen I thought about several choices.

1) the gt3 was my first choice . I love the car. It makes no sense to buy it and park it outside , drive it daily, and having two garage queens is not only extravagant but silly .

2) The used 997S was next in line - If the deal was good I would have bought it . It wasn't . I even calculated that if I paid 61K and had to add wheels and replace P zeros , and mod it .. I might as well buy a new car . That brought me back to the Gt3 which made no sense . Keep in mind I already have a Porsche but I keep the miles low.

3) I refused to go in between . A BMW, Infiniti , etc was mediocrity . I either was going to get a great car , a great deal , or simply a fun to drive inexpensive car.

4) So I bought a Honda Si -tonight . seeing the two Honda Si parked side by side they look like twins . It was very hard to buy this car . Dealerships only have one coupe as its quite rare . I had to go to several to get the color I wanted . I got silver this time.

 

I know a Turbo in Norcal . The only option it lacks is axle lock and it has sat at adealership for so long that I stopped checking . It's a white car and I think that's not high on your choice list . It's a really nice car though. He traded it with 3500 miles and it had almost 5K miles last time I looked so a DME would be in order . It's clean though .. garage kept/ non smoker /absolutely meticulous owner . Last I checked dealership was asking 92 .

 

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Thanks Larry. Yeah, I'm pretty partial to black but this car would be a good reference from a pricing perspective if I get serious about a turbo.

 

Congrats

 

That's a good one! You should've started a new thread - Honda Civic Si or 997S??
Would have been a great compliment to all the M3 vs. 997S threads!

 

Actually when I take the cheesy front plate off the front (there's no holes ) I'm going to take pictures of it next to the other Si .

Rye - I can't help but think about how the 55K 07 997s CPO offer I made cost them a sale. I'm not crying over the 30K I saved in buying a Honda Si (below my offer --36K from theirs) . I already had a 997S (two in fact) and I still have my Turbo so my offer came from a position of strength in that it was easy for me to walk away and not feel like I lost out on anything. They did. They still have the car and i look at this new Si and I am really liking it.

 

Any mods planned for the Si Larry? I've seen some really sweet looking Si's rolling down the freeway here in SoCal. And usually their exhaust is much louder than my C2S.

 

The prices of used 997s are going up because of the massive printing of dollars by the fed. Expect the dollar to fall in value and everything else to rise in price.

 

I left the M3 and Honda Si both stock . Now I have two Honda si cars and one is going to my girlfriend's 20 year old son . He wants to take a track driving class and has not mentioned modding it . I think he's still stunned that he has a car to use . He had been walking to work and taking the bus to school fron his apartment. As for the other my gorlfriends commute with the M3 eats gas so the Si is a daily driver for her . On the weekend she uses the M3 and i take the Turbo . That's what made the car decision so tough . It's like playing musical cars . That's the same with mods . If she is driving the car it's probably better that its stock so that if she has to go to the shop she won't face the warranty concerns . Plus the first question my insurance asked was am I modding this car too . I am already so heavily piled up on the 997tt with aftermaket .. they were glad .

Conclusion --If I mod any of the cars the M3 would be the next candidate but thus far not yet.

 

How true. As I said a little while back I am still getting offers for my car that I sold 3 weeks ago. Last night I got an email from a guy who was interested but passed and now said he wishes he bought it. He cant find a 06 C4S cab with <10k miles anywhere...even an 07.

I was looking at a few used 08 Turbos but was talking to a guy this weekend who said he got 25k of a new 09 Turbo Cab, MSRP 157k?? Could this be True? Is the Turbo market really this soft?

Larry, do you think the best Turbo/Cab buy is an used 08 or a new 09 right now?