09 without a doubt, drive both.. i have 997.1 and 997.2 feels like a whole new beast... that difference to step into an 09 versus the other is pennies.. do it.

 

Tough call- would probably go for a new '09 for $15K total difference incl. tax- financing it for one extra year over the '07 would lead to about the same monthly payments (if the cars are otherwise equivalent). However, you could probably get more options on a '07 CPO - ie full leather, PSE, Nav, Sport Chrono, Bose, etc + < 20K miles for under $55-59K- which would definitely cost you more than $71K with a new '09- in which case I'd go with the '07-

 

Buying the used car and the annual cost will be closer to $5k. A HUGE difference compared to buying the '09. Also, the '09 is not an S, the engine may be better than the older models, but the used S will sell at a premium and will also be more desirable for resale value.

From what I've seen, prices have definitely firmed. It is the winter, so this is a good time to go bargain huning though. Nevertheless, your target prices seem reaching. Inventory seems more active now than it was 6-9 months ago and prices are firmer. Lesser cars go for lesser prices, the good cars still get a premium. The '09 should be a good 20% off the MSRP - heck it's a year old. That's what you would expect for first year depreciation. If you add the miles, the $2-3k extra you spend for the CPO will get you peace of mind and help you feel comfortable driving the crap out of it!

 

Chris -
You are spot on with pricing !!!! My vote goes to the new car as well and I am in full agreement on the ridiculous asking prices of CPO cars in recent times . In fact the CPO cars cost as much as they did LAST year .

As for 30K miles a year in a Porsche 911 . I wouldn't do it . Most of my daily driver second cars have been BMW's but I even think those are too nice for 30K miles a year . My vote goes to a Honda Civic . Three years and 90K miles later the car will depreciate 7 grand , take all the dings, chips, and assorted snags of daily use . It can be parked anywhere and runs forever on gas and is cheap to insure and repair .

 

Here is the downside: driving 30,000 miles in a Civic, you spend at least 600 hours or more than 2hours a day (most likely 3 as you won't get a 50mph average) sitting in a pretty boring and mediocre car.
If you spend 15% of your day - every day that is - with something, don't you think that you should make it as nice and stimulating as possible within your financial means?

'Life may not be the party we hoped for... but while we are here we might as well dance!"

 

[quote=Jafetica888;2627691]Here is the downside: driving 30,000 miles in a Civic, you spend at least 600 hours or more than 2hours a day (most likely 3 as you won't get a 50mph average) sitting in a pretty boring and mediocre car.
If you spend 15% of your day - every day that is - with something, don't you think that you should make it as nice and stimulating as possible within your financial means?

quote]

I'm on the fence with this and would pin the answer on an individual example rather than on the whole . The reason is that some regions have harsh driving (weather/road) conditions or place the 30K mile a year driver in unsafe areas. All it takes is one accident , one car jacking , one ipod theft, or even just one flat tire at the wrong place at the wrong time -- and driving a boring Honda Civic can reduce some of that negative exposure risk. This way the Porsche is enjoyed with more selective choices given to it's owner.

 

[quote=yrralis1;2627769]All that is covered by insurance.
But - if you would be worried about all that stuff with the Porsche, buy a new C-Class Mercedes, VW Passat or BMW 335D to have a have a nice comfortable, safe and reliable ride and buy a $20k 993 911 as the fun weekend ride, drive it rarely and keep if for years ....

 

Insurance may cover the tangible loss but it will not cover the emotional loss of seeing a cherished car dinged, dented, vandalized, stolen, damaged . I can understand that we all differ in how we perceive our cars . There are some folks who buy a car and don't care as much about the wear and tear of big city realities while others (like myself) strive to maintain the car as "almost new" while still finding time to enjoy it .

Thirty thousand miles a year may not always have fun miles either. Having two cars gives the driver a choice every time he sets out to drive and that provides the luxury of knowing that the miles of a mundane drive can be hedged . Even more of value is the miles driven on harsh roads or unsafe areas can be avoided.

As for the choice of a daily driver ? Any of those cars would do but since 30K a year will send the car depreciatig I suppose its up to the individual how much he is willing to spend to have it all and preseve the best car for those special drives .

 

[quote=Jafetica888;2627691]Here is the downside: driving 30,000 miles in a Civic, you spend at least 600 hours or more than 2hours a day (most likely 3 as you won't get a 50mph average) sitting in a pretty boring and mediocre car.
If you spend 15% of your day - every day that is - with something, don't you think that you should make it as nice and stimulating as possible within your financial means?quote]

I'm all for that. I would much rather drive my A6 2.7T than my wife's old Acura TL which I do most of the winter. The Acura while competent is too milktoast for my tastes. She likes her TLs though and they are reliable. Can't and don't complain.

 

Is this true in Nevada? If so I'm moving

In Michigan you don't even get the sales tax brake if you trade the car in @ a dealer. I hate Michigan!

 

I posted this on another thread but I'll post again.

If you are selective, you can find great deals out there...the deals will get better not not worse when we enter the double dip recession(but this is another story).

I just bought an 06' C4S with sports exhaust, full leather, NAV, sports chrono for 55,750...car has 6K miles...the car was check out and is clean...only downside is the car only has 10 more months of warranty. For me I had to either have a turbo or C4S as I love the wide body look and wanted the "S" features.

This was the best deal I found in the US...I looked every night for 30 minutes for a month....

But I agree with some who have said they wouldnt want to put 20K miles per yr on this car...I will buy a daily driver next yr but will drive it as a daily for the next 6 months since it has such low miles on it now.

What a fun car!...reminds me more of the Lotus Elise I had than the M3 I just got out of as far as road feel and overall handling.

Guess my point is this, keep looking and you will find great cars for great prices...but it takes time..."gas passer" huh?...cant anesthesiologists just buy an 09' since you guys make good coin while sitting down and reading the newspaper 90% of the time?....

 

+1 and keep looking you'll find it eventually.

The first quarter of 2010 may be a good time to buy as most folks have spent their money on the holidays and aren't really shopping that extensively for a car. Of course YMMV.

 

YMMV?

Apparently the best day to buy cars is December 30th - last chance to get the dealers to reach their quotas and they are apparently quite flexible then. Never tried though

 

[quote=Jafetica888;2627782]I agree with that approach if you're in an area where the weather itself is cruel and unusual punishment for an exotic, or if your driving regularly includes destinations where exotics are like waving a red flag at vandals. And of course, for anyone in any climate the 'mission', to use a pilot term, is sometimes one an exotic does not do well. Delivering one of the dogs for grooming, picking up construction supplies for a project, that sort of thing. Live is full, and we have to plan.

If those hazardous destinations and special missions are unusual, I reverse that thinking above. Buy your dream car as a daily driver and keep an old pick-up or a Honda Civic for special missions. Or... well, there's another way. We tried the old pick-up route with our NSX and eventually the unmaintainable air conditioning unit became intolerable since we live in a desert. That led to the dreaded 'other' method: show some Enterprise.

For the dog, our Acura dealer provided loaners, so we used those when dog and car needs coincided. For construction projects, Lowes has a pick-up for rent. Thirty bucks once in awhile is a lot cheaper than owning a second car. And when neither of those fit the mission, we just called Enterprise. You can get a wide range of vehicle types for less than fifty bucks a mission. And with a little forethought, several chores can be combined. For example, needing to buy something sloppy like fertilizer, I would wait until the dog was ready for grooming, rent something cheap from Enterprise and haul the fertilizer while the dog was in the PetSmart spa.

That's how we managed to sell the old pick-up to a gardener in need for basically the cost of replacing the old battery. We kept the NSX as our only vehicle and necessarily our daily driver.

As for mileage, well that's the area with two schools of thought as described earlier in this thread. The NSX perished through someone else's negligence at 145,000 miles, but we'll handle our new S the same way: pamper it like a lover, and ride it regularly. Let the mileage total end up where it will.

Basically, when it's not a business vehicle, we buy cars we love and assume it will be us driving it until the wheels fall off. This is clearly a matter of personal taste. If you like to upgrade to the latest technology every two or three years, you have to start thinking hard about what those miles cost and expending them in the most enjoyable way. If you bought the one you really wanted and you're the monogamous types, then why worry about where each mile goes? When you reach 100,000 you'll have a little party anyway, and when you reach 200,000 you'll consider buying a new one to give the old lady a rest. But that's at least a decade away for most of us.

Incidentally, I did acquire a client who wanted daily attention at his offices nearly a hundred miles away. So we bought a Honda Civic in the sporty variant and I chose the Angeles Crest highway to get to the client. Only 75 miles distant that way, and getting there and back relieved the tensions as well as a track day. We put 105,000 on that Civic in one year. But it was mostly very pleasant driving. What more can you ask of a car?

 

South Florida has great climate and smooth roads but there also is the lowest common denominator of driver skill sharing those roads and whether one lives in a posh neighborhood or not -- any car is fair game to theives . In this economy and with this city having faced a huge freefall in real estate value and less jobs or pay cuts there is a air of financial despair. If ones car isn't dinged or dented then he might just face losing his xenon lights , wheels, ipod, or anything else of value . Owning a Porsche ANYWHERE requires being aware of ones surroundings at all times because it is someones full time job to take that car . After owning 8 Porsches I have learned that one must reimain aware and park only where thewre is security , cameras , and even then there is no guarantee .

I have four cars (2 porsches, an m3, and a honda si ) . At one point I had two hondas and it came down between the Honda or the M3 for the daily driver and the BMW won . That's not to say it wasn't more expensive , more on gas, insurance, etc --
BUT --I am not driving 30+K miles a year . If I was the Honda would be the choice .