johndemartino

New to this site and working on my first Porsche purchase, likely a 991.2 GT3. The car has buckets but I prefer the 4 way or 18 way adjustable for many reasons. I see buckets listed on eBay for $15k+. My questions are these...

What is the demand? Is it reasonable to assume I will be able to sell mine? Is $15k typical?
Is the swap straightforward?
Are used 4/18 ways GT3 seats generally similarly available?

Any guidance appreciated.

Thank you,

John

Bruce R

Easy $12k, but I've seen them for over $20K too.
Seats are a straight swop at your local dealer.

tstafford

Seems like a PITA. I’d rather just find a car that meets my preferences.

evilfij

15k is aggressive, keep in mind that finding seats with matching stitching can be a challenge both selling and buying.

Porsche911GTS'16

I agree with evilfij - does the car have deviated stitching? If so, good luck finding 4 or 18 ways with the same color of stitching.

If you really like the car, perhaps reconsider the buckets. I have a GTS with 4 ways and my Touring has the buckets. I prefer the buckets 10 times out of 10. More comfortable. More sporty. Better looking. Lighter. Enhances the driving experience. AP himself said that the buckets are a must-have for him on a GT car. Food for thought.

RockyTopTenn

Depending - as others have noted - on the color of the fabric and stitching, you are likely to become someone's new best friend. There are a bunch of folks who desire the buckets and have found cars with 4 or 18's that were otherwise "close enough"... I doubt you'll have difficulty making a swap if your price is right. FWIW, I love my heated 18's and wouldn't trade them.

This is a highly-heated debate though. Kind of like: Dem vs Repub, Costco vs Sam's, Carbon vs Iron (brakes), wings vs Tourings, manual vs PDK...

Welcome to Rennlist...!

ipse dixit

No.

You cannot simply buy 4 or 18 way seats off the shelf like you can LWBs.

If you don't buy them second-hand, you have to (1) order the parts separately and (2) pay someone to assemble them (usually the dealer).

For what it's worth, I sold my 18-way seats from my 991.1 GT3 for 15k (not including shipping).

Better to just buy the car with exact specs you want. There's enough inventory out there.

RockyTopTenn

That is a strong sale!

usrodeo4

I couldn't imagine my GT car without the CF Buckets. It took me a couple weeks but I have now mastered the getting in and out without touching the bolsters at all....good motivation to stay trim and limber with gym and beach workouts Having said that I had the 18 ways in my previous 997 TT and they are sweet seats, if I wasn't F1 driver sized and in good shape I might not be so in love with the CF Buckets. p.s. mine are red deviated stitching, of course.

Aku700

You want real value, here you go, when I was shopping for my first gt3, my gf said, if you buy buckets, we'll never have sex in the car, so ya, nuff said, and my wife agreed, go 18 ways.

Hahahahhahaa

shapiroeric

Don’t forget your car will take a beating on resale. Best to buy the seats you want and store the buckets. And saying “I’m keeping this car forever” is much easier said than done.

pewpewpew3000

With GT cars the number one thing is to get what you prefer, then worry about everything else. Trying to save a few grand will hurt you in the long run, especially if it gives the car a story.

usrodeo4

lol, I popped my cherry as a 17 year old with my HS sweet heart in my Sister's chevy vega with 4 speed on the floor, so if there is a will there is a way buckets or not

RapidGT

The problem with buying the 918 buckets second hand is that the model designation is embossed on most of the headrests so seats cannot be easily transferred between models unlike most of the old gt2 buckets. Kinda limits second hand 918 bucket options because my OCD is like

Drifting

That is a very strong sale. I personally know of 3 sets of 991 sofa seats that sold for 4-6 thousand over the past 8 months.

Its amazing that you convinced someone to pay 15K for yours!

Agree however on how difficult it is to buy Porsche LWB or sofa seats as you just can't order an entire seat from Porsche. I looked into it with several dealers and PCNA. You would have to buy every single tiny component of a seat and hire a porsche tech to put it together. It was priced out at over 22K!