Winston Wolf

Hey gang, so I've decided on a 987.2 base with PDK as my first P-car, and I'm pretty excited about it. Initially an S was what I was pretty sure I wanted, but those are honestly a bit of our my reach right now. I've been reading a bit on options, and there are so many that I'm struggling to determine which ones I should care most about. I found this 09 base in California that appears to be pretty much perfect. No sport chrono, no full leather though. I've also read about a limited slip differential? That doesn't appear to be on their option list either. I won't be tracking this, and it will be a pleasure cruiser, complimentary to my 2016 GTI. How does that car appear to be priced?

Thanks everyone.

09 Base in California

hueyhoolihan

full leather is an option worth having, IMO. i've test driven two with that option and even though one had 65,000 miles and the other 95,000 miles on the clock, the interior in both was still immaculate. apparently, it holds up to abuse pretty well as both cars were somewhat abused on the whole.

the standard leather is of noticeably inferior quality.

about $10,000 over the 987.1 price is about average. looks like a decent price IMO, i just got back from looking at a white 987.2 the other day with 60,000 miles on it that was an absolute abomination and they wanted $36,000.

Robert Nixon

The car looks to be well prepped for sale (clean), although my estimate is that the price is a little high, even with a hot used car market. I also have an 09 base with PDK, so the one thing that sticks out to me is that while the PDK is reliable, those goofy shifting buttons on the steering wheel are not my favorite. I don't see any mention of maintenance in the ad, so that would be something to ask about, at a minimum has it had oil changes, and a spark plug change.

KrisA

Full leather would be very nice, but if you are holding out for it I feel like you'll be looking for a looooonng time. I'm not sure that I've ever seen a 987.2 non-S for sale, at least in Canada, with full leather.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about the options and I would tend to a low option car anyways.

bi-xenon headlights: nice to have but you can upgrade the regular ones with better bulbs. My car has them, could live without
Nav: who cares, it sucks anyways, upgrade to an aftermarket or the new Porsche Classic system. My car has nav, only thing I really like about it is that it looks better than the stock unit
Bose: meh, sounds like it makes upgrading a pain
PASM: would be OK, but I plan on upgrading to R suspension anyways so glad I don't have it
Sport Seats Plus: that would be a nice to have
Sport Chrono: nice to have but can be added aftermarket, minus the ugly clock
LSD: I've read several posts where people claim that the locking effect of it is so minuscule it's barely noticeable and an aftermarket is vastly superior
Aero Kit: very rare, very desirable IMO
Wheels: especially Boxster Spyder wheels are very desirable, other 19" options like the Carerra Sports are very desirable. Wheels are easy to upgrade but it's nice if the car comes with ones you'll be happy with.
PSE: very nice to have. If your car has the regular exhaust plan to upgrade (I went Carnewal) if you want to hear the sweet Porsche sounds from more than the intake.

Again, I'd just buy the best car, with the best maintenance history in a colour you are happy with. These cars are too rare IMO to hold out for the perfect spec. Besides, they are holding their value (or appreciating?) so if a more perfect spec comes around after you already own one then buy it and sell your first one.

Dave in Chicago

I’ve found it helpful to decide on:

1. must have features / options
2. nice-to-have options
3. undesirable (don’t want) options

This really makes sorting through available cars and their variables a lot easier.

Good luck with the hunt. Great cars, these.

sectachrome

If you’re looking for a .2, I’m not sure I would be too picky about options. There are so few out there that you should jump on one that’s in good condition. Otherwise youll be waiting a long time. Many of the best options like sport chrono (or the sport button at least) and PSE can be purchased and added on later.

Things that are not so easy or cheap to add later would be seats, color, and to some extent wheels if you are particular about having OEM.

You have good taste by the way - my .2 base keeps an ‘18 GTI company in the garage.

scootr

It looks scantily optioned and high priced to me. Options are valued by personal preference. If you just want a P car to cruise the beach side then performance options like PASM and LSD are not important.
If you are a canyon carver you will want those 2 things. I shopped for a year before spending more than I wanted on my 987.2 BS and I'm glad I didn't buy the first available or even the first pre purchased Boxa I found. Ideally you can find both the quality and the options in the same car.
Once you get the right car with all the options you want it will feel like a favorite pair of shoes every time you slip into it.
Be patient. Have your money ready. Be prepared to pay a little more than you think you should ... for the right car.
Somebody somewhere is thinking about selling the car you are waiting for ~
GL with the hunt.

Robert Nixon

The KBB range in that ad is 29K-33K, for what that is worth,

Bxstr

Quality for me. My 997.2 C2S I bought with tons of options, but it had paintwork which I didn't want on that car, along with some larger chips.

scootr

Color or should I say the lack of it was the one compromise I made in my selection. At least it's not black. Black is a job not a color. I wish it was yellow or orange but I won't change it.
Maybe some stripes ?

Winston Wolf

Thanks so much everyone. I learned a lot about financing an older car and buying one out of state. Ultimately I passed on this one because of too few options and too high of am asking price. Looks like I’m going to need a little more down payment cash than I had initially due to shorter terms and higher interest. Are most folks financing through Porsche? I was basically told only they would finance a car this old.

I live in Houston so not many canyons per se, but I frequently drive back and forth to Austin and love the back roads. The GTI is pretty rewarding, but I can’t imagine how great the Cayman will be.

The search continues…

Winston Wolf

My GTI is black and your totally right about that. White and red are probably my first choices.

Snakebit

In your area, Johnson Space Center Credit Union (recently re-branded "Wellby") will finance a 987.1 Era Porsche, so I suspect a 987.2 wouldn't be an issue. Depending on credit scores, you could even expect a 3.xx interest rate.

With the unpredictable near future, I don't know how long this will be true.

scootr

I used Porsche finance on 2011 car. They were reasonable and provided good service. They also wrote a full warranty at about 1k per year. If you're not a mechanic it might be worth it to you.

Winston Wolf

Ahh, I didn't even think about them. I actually live in Clear Lake, 15 minutes from the main branch and work right down the street from it!

I don't get the rebranding....