rmc1148

As noted do the reading of past posts and do the math as most of the discount buys are more costly in the long run= I watch the classifieds and quite a few don't make a year of ownership before back up for sale.

FRUNKenstein

I say anything under $50k is junk. Budget $10k for preventative maintenance before you drive it off the lot.

Dock

The Georgia emissions inspection consists of an OBD readout, and a gas cap pressure check. It's a no-brainer for a well sorted out 996 Turbo.

Dock

Those are mutually exclusive targets.

911mhawk

+1, IMO a good idea to bank that much for repairs on any car that was $100k+ when new.

Not sure how much in preventative some have paid, but I now know what a transmission rebuild with better parts by a reputable builder costs. You could eclipse $10k with just that if needed.

My post on "actual first year cost" got some response, most seemed from those who got off pretty light, not as many want to share their a$$ $panking.

Maybe if there were more female owners...

techweenie

I could be persuaded out of my car for $44K. It is not junk. Am I out of sync with the current market?

autobonrun

I never get hung up on whether someone spends $4000 in a year or zero because no one-year snapshot, whether it's titled "first year cost" or " 6th year cost" is representative of the actual cost of ownership unless you're selling in a year. To me true cost is an average over a period of time.

I have 32 years of maintenance records on my 911SC. Over that period I've spent over $30k in maintenance, repairs, modifications, and painting. Of that amount less than $7k is for actual failure repairs (e.g. alternator, clutch, blown air box, steering rack, etc.). That averages to less than $250 a year. The other $25k is for things that everyone has to do regardless of the type of car (e.g. brakes, tires, tuneups, oil changes, etc.) and optional stuff that I did not have to do, like adding a turbo spoiler and painting the front bumper to remove road rash.

So yes, I could have run to the internet the year I spent $3000 and said that's the cost of ownership; or I could have done the same thing for the periods I spent $0. In either case, someone looking to buy a similar car would either get scared away, or mistakenly think they too would see zero maintenance costs. IMO.

The turbo is more complex, more expensive to repair, but I don't feel a one year figure means very much.

911mhawk

Agree with you on the overall cost idea, it's how I've always justified spending more than some on maintenance and upgrades to my vehicles.
Anyone can pick a good or bad ownership timeframe to make the cost of operation where whey want it.
Overall they may be a relative bargain if you buy one for $40-50k, spend another $10-20k, get a few years of fun out of it and sell for whatever they are in the future?

Carsly

To the OP, You would have had a better short at a sorted $40K TT 2-3 years ago. KC is right, you're looking closer to $50K today. I'd avoid anything under $40K as well, too many potential headaches.

jumper5836

+1, I bought mine 3 years ago, not much longer after that the prices went up. I just caught the tail end of it. 41k Cdn which equals 28k USD nowadays.

danspach

Having been casually following the market for a year and actively looking for the last 3 months, I've seen more than a few really nice cars for $50k.

In my research,

jumper5836

With the Cnd dollar so low now, I'd be looking at Canadian Auto trader, 50k here is 35k USD which will get you a into a nice tt.

danspach

sorry...had some characters that truncated my response

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Having been casually following the market for a year and actively looking for the last 3 months, I've seen more than a few really nice cars for less than $50k and PLENTY of junk cars for more than $50k.

In my research, less than $40k will buy a higher mileage car but that doesn't necessarily preclude it from having a complete and well-documented service history with plenty of miles left in it. If you want one for less than $40k, you definitely have to dig a little and compromise on things like color, options and mods (whether you want them or not). Also need to be ready to transact because if they are gems, they won't last long.

In a period of two weeks, I missed out on three cars that fit this description because I wasn't fast (read: organized) enough. I don't consider three cars in two weeks to be that scarce a market for someone with patience and knowledge.

Atrox

I swear 90% of the posts on this site seem to always be about what these cars are worth and what constitutes a good deal. It is a car (yes a nice, fast, well made, dream car etc.) and like all cars high end or not one mans deal is another mans nightmare. You can find a well sorted car for 40k, hell KC found a steal of a car in terms of value. So bottom line is this

Find a car "you" like.
Drive it, get it inspected.
Buy it and forget about it.

I bought mine with 28k on odometer with two previous owners. I was diligent and sellers like cash in hand. Got it for 40k and in a year of ownership I've spent $500 bucks on wear and tear items. So buy it.

Dock

Yes indeed. I've been posting about this very thing for some years now. It seems in some ways that the forum has turned into the "Where can I buy the cheapest 996 Turbo" forum. It happened when the 996 Turbo reached a price point where people who may not actually be interested in the car at the same level as those who have owned for long(er) periods find themselves with the coin to grab a cheap 996 Turbo. There seems to be a fair number of posters here who surf in looking for advice on finding the most righteous deal, only to be gone in a year or two (or less). This isn't a blanket statement, but take a look at the threads here and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Frankly, many of the people "flipping" the 996 Turbo after a short ownership, end up modifying the car to some level that actually reduces the car's worth, and/or apply MacGyver fixes (also devaluing the car) because they are shocked to find out that it takes money to properly maintain/fix these cars.