Bill Coleman

Autoweek has an article about how Porsche hopes to double sales in the next few years:
http://autoweek.com/cat_content.mv?p..._code=01946176

At the end of the article they also talk about increasing the number of used Porsches sold by dealerships, in part to control residual values!

So for fun I went to the Porsche website and did a search for used 928s. First I tried Michigan - and got nothing. So I expanded my search to the whole US and found... one used 928 in the whole country. I can only remember my local dealership having one used 928 - with a salvage title and a bad paint job. Somehow I doubt any attempt to sell more used Porsches through dealerships will include 928s.

BTW the one 928 I found sounded pretty nice - a black 88 5sp w/57k miles for $13.9k. It's near my parents house in the Cleveland area, so I may try and get a look at it when I'm visiting them this Christmas.

MikeN

The only thing Porsche wants to sell as used cars will probably be nothing older then 3 years......period. Finding a 928 for sale at a real Porsche dealer is VERY uncommon today......same for a 944, 951, 968, etc. Just not what Porsche is "into" anymore. Most if not all are quikly wholesaled off.

John Krawczyk

I dont think this is anything unusual. Most retail new car dealers that sell used cars too dont typically sell anything more than a couple of years old and mileages over 60k either. Back in '96 my wife and I were shopping for her a used Volvo wagon and we called to just about every dealer in Maryland looking for something around $10k. The very last dealer we called had an '88 740 GLE fully loaded with 39K miles for $9k. But he said we were lucky, the only reason they had it still was it was just traded in and they hadnt had a chance to resell it to another used car dealer. We bought it on the spot. It finally died on my wife this Feb. @ about 230k miles.

Jim bailey - 928 International

The current big problem for Porsche is the " low value " of lease returns . Porsche leasing grossly over estimated what a used Boxster or 996 would be worth and they are taking huge hits at the wholesale auctions .Porsche traditionally leased about 10 % of their sales recently it hit 40 % . What it really means is Porsche did not SELL 40 % of their cars they only RENTED them to people . Those people at lease end look at the residual buy out and MOST realize the car is not selling for nearly that much so they return the car to Porsche leasing . Porsche leasing then must sell them for what ever they bring at wholesale auction (the Porsche dealers are there to buy ). The glut of used late model Porsches just drives the prices lower ...fewer people buy out their lease and keep it , more go to the auction........ No doubt Porsche is going to "encourage" the Porsche dealers to buy more used cars from ....Porsche leasing !!! Porsche has required that dealers upgrade their facilities , buy all the Cayennes , now they intend to have them sell more used Porsches at higher prices ? One of the draw backs of moving from a maker of limited production high quality collectable sports cars to "transportation" vehicles is that transportation cars get driven used abused and turned back in at lease end !

John Krawczyk

That cheap off lease '01 Boxster 2.7 is sure gonna look good in my driveway next year.

(dont tell my wife)

tuk_928

I too have been shocked at what used Boxters are beginning to go for on the used market...particularly from individual - private sales and on eBay. I may consider one of these eventually but would probably opt for a 964 -era "911" before going that route. I prefer the hard-top variety with rear seats...thank you very much ;-) I believe Jim Bailey is dead on when he made the statement about the drawbacks of Porsche moving from a producer of high quality collectable sports cars to vehicles for transportation a la VW and the like. Apparently, while they have had a "success" in the Boxter, this organizational transition has not been an easy one for Porsche. Interesting thoughts all...thanks for sharing.

Best,
TUK

Flint

Hey, a first at my local dealership yesterday; TWO 911's!

hacker-pschorr

In 1997 or 1998 Zimbrick Porsche in Madison Wisconsin took a Red 928 in on trade. Sorry, don't remember the year, I think it was pre-S4. Incredible shape, not sure what it was traded for. They actually put it on the showroom with new 911's outside! I was very impressed. Too bad this isn't the norm.

Chris Bennet

I think part of the reason that the newer cars value is dropping so fast is that their true value is less to start out with. Porsche is the most profitable automobile company in the world for a reason. When they went to the water cooled cars they sold them for about the same as the outgoing 993 but they made them a lot cheaper.
For example:
- A new 993 motor went for what $25K?
- A new 911 motor goes for something like $9-10K.
- A 993 transmission is rebuildable. (OK, the LSD's are so-so.)
- A 996 transmission is basically disposable.
I'm not blaming Porsche for what they did. Like it or not, those steps probably saved the company.
I think the used Porsche market is at least partially reflecting the true value of the cars.
-Chris