Holding Value: New Study Finds That the Porsche 911 Is a Depreciation Proof Investment
Would you like to drive one of the best sports cars in the world for free? Beat the depreciation curve and buy a Porsche 911.
I feel like I need to begin this article with a couple of major call outs. First, the automobile market has been turned on its ear in recent years. Between COVID, supply chain issues, and the imminent demise of the internal combustion engine both new and used car prices have been bonkers. Second, this is not an article on financial advice. Despite recent trends cars are generally not investments. Depreciation is real and cars do lose value. Folks should buy cars because they need and/or love them. Not because they think the car will help them retire early. That being said the folks at iSeeCars have recently published an interesting study around which vehicles hold their value the best. And on the flip side which lose the most value. It probably won’t surprise anyone here to learn that the Porsche 911 was one of the best performers in this regard.
Not only did the Porsche 911 retain the most value behind only the Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. But in some cases, the 911 actually APPRECIATED in value as the years went by. So, there you have it. A data-backed study proving that us Porsche 911 owners are smarter than everyone else. Obviously, I say that in jest. However, there is no denying the fact that splurging on the 911 might be a better decision than buying say a sensible Audi A6. Let’s take a closer look at the study.
Five Year Depreciation
iSeeCars analyzed over three million three-year-old and five-year-old used cars sold in 2022. The average five-year-old car lost only 33.3 percent of its value from MSRP. The depreciation champ was the Jeep Wrangler which lost only 7.3 percent of its value. The Wrangler Unlimited was second at 8.7 percent. The Porsche 911 was third losing only 14.6 percent after five years. Since we are looking back five years, these would be the 991.2 generation cars. Of course, a Porsche 911 encompasses many models. There are the GT cars, the Turbos, and so on. The study does not call out the specific trims examined.
Making Money
iSeeCars did a similar analysis on three-year-old cars and the results were even more positive for Porsche. The Porsche 911 ranked number one in this analysis. In fact, the 911 didn’t lose any value in the past three years, it actually INCREASED in value by 5.7 percent. According to the results a 2019 911 sold in 2022 for $11,373 MORE than the original MSRP. In addition, the Porsche 718 Cayman was fourth best in this regard. The price of those cars increased by 1.8 percent or $1,342 from MSRP over the last three years. The 718 Boxster also faired well as it lost only 2.5 percent of its value in three years.
Takeaways
So, what does all this mean? Well, this is clearly an anomaly in time as ALL vehicles (outside of extreme rare examples) depreciate. But the factors I listed above contribute to this strange phenomenon of cars losing little to no value or even appreciating. But given that, it does show just how desirable the Porsche 911 remains after nearly 60 years of production. Will this trend continue? It can’t last forever, can it? But supply of Porsche sports cars remains tight. Forget a GT car, getting even a 911 Carrera S is a challenge right now with long wait lists and some substantial dealer mark ups. It used to be said that your first Porsche will be a used Porsche. But now with values being what they are, it can be even more expensive to get a used one.
That all being said, the market does appear to be getting a bit softer thanks to current macro-economic trends. So, for those wanting to get into a Porsche 911 for reasonable money (at least less than MSRP) there is light at the end of the tunnel. Just don’t wait too long. Because as we all know, once a Porsche 911 becomes a classic the values begin to skyrocket again.
Images: Porsche
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