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I would always defer to your knowledge base and I certainly have nothing to offer more than Mr. Stout, but I must respectfully disagree on MT cars being the "kiss of death", at least until the remaining upright Baby Boomers age out.
I lost quite a bit of money dumping my '15 TT after less than a year because I hated the PDK in a "sports car". It did teach me I'll never own another "sports car" without a manual transmission. As I have posted elsewhere, it's saved me from a lot of drooling and Supercar envy.
There will always be a market for MT cars. As long as the decline in the number of enthusiasts is at worst paralleled by the diminishing number of cars ordered with a MT, I don't think the depreciation hit will be awful. "An *** for every seat", as it were.
As far as the .1 v .2, I'm just blown away by the low RPM power of my X51 Targa, even during break in. It's by far my favorite 981/991 (Boxster S, GTS and .1 TT). That's clear to me at 500 miles (today
So at 8 pm on Aug 9th I saw the ad for
this 2017 .2 991S coupe at CarMax for
the first time. And because of the low
price on the ad, it's only then that I
started paying attention to the differences
between the base & S models in all
seriousness! And I then realized that
for me it was really worth the upgrade
from the base .2 991 to the S model!
Having owned & driven a .1 991 gt3, the
rear axle steering & torque vectoring were
very familiar to me. And the larger brakes
& wheels/tires are a noticeable improvement
over the base! Sport Pasm was to me very
desirable & not available on the base. And
the extra torque of the S model would be
welcome, especially coming from a gt3 with
a 324 lb. ft. torque output! As an aside, the
.2 991 S has 368 lb. ft. of torque & 420 hp...
nothing to be shy about even next to a .1
991 gt3!
Perhaps, as Pete Stout argues, the base .2 991
does represents best value in the new 911 range.
But presented with this slightly used S coupe as
configured with rear axle steering & SPASM with
1943 miles & nearly full factory warranty at this
incredible low price, it's hard to not to say this is
perhaps one of the best deals seen in the market
in recent times!
***
And here is the ad that I see at Cars.com & Car
Gurus. And then I check it out directly at CarMax:
Run flats & everything!
*
Miles: 1943
Clean CarFax
In service date - End of Feb, 2017
And their asking price was $104,998 & that
caught my attention really fast!
*
As you can see, the CarMax ad is pretty lame
as far as useful information is concerned for
a potential buyer. This will turn out to be the
real Achilles Heel of the CarMax sales model.
They often don't really understand well the
high end cars they are often lucky to get their
hands on! And so they don't market them
correctly. But that presents an opportunity
to savvy buyers that quickly recognize what
they see in front of them via their crappy
photos in the normal CarMax ads!
From their non-high resolution mediocre pictures,
I could at least discern a few things about this S
coupe. The car had four visible components of
the highly desirable 'Sport Package' option group:
SportDesign Mirrors, sport chrono, sport exhaust
& gt sport steering wheel! And the LED headlights
& 14 way adjustable seats with ventilated/heated
functions alerted me to the fact this vehicle had
the Premium Package Plus option!
So I quickly entered the Vin number (without doubt
the most valuable piece of information on these
CarMax ads) in VINDecoderZ.com & presto...I got
the complete MSRP & options for this exact vehicle!
And it was a $131,605 loaded S coupe:
So by 9 pm on Aug 9th, already comfortably
attired in pajamas, I was faced with what to
do about my newly-discovered interest in this
Porsche! And that is when I started looking
over carefully the CarMax ad & quickly realized
this was not your normal car dealer! CarMax
operates differently than most, or perhaps all,
car dealers in the US. And a few minutes later
I would embark on the start of the odyssey that
would culminate 20 days later in the purchase
of this nicely specced Porsche .2 991S Coupe!
Interesting that manual is a "kiss of death" for the dealers.. I know they only order PDK now (they told me, and the showroom reflects that - one manual car in stock, one: a cayman), but it was so hard for me to find a used manual that I 'd think there are other folks like me for whom manual is the only option, and we're competing for those unicorns...
Last time I was in for a dealer job, the service advisor complimented me on having a pretty "rare" 991.1 - very low on options, no sunroof, manual... "it's what I'd buy for myself, not much that will go wrong" as he put it (my sentiment too). He said quite a few of his customers were looking to move back to a more raw experience and ditch pdk (not saying pdk was bad, just wanted to move back to stick while it still existed)... The success of the R and the return of the 6 speed GT3 seems to confirm we manual-lovers still have some pull... He concluded by saying I'd have no problem selling my car and they would happily buy it from me (and here's my #)... So go figure ?
Thanks, Joe. I must admit that one of the
things that helped keep me from considering
a .1 991 non-gt3 was the dreaded 'Stumble'
you have posted about!
*
Originally Posted by bwiele
This feels like a barn find.
Sort of. And it will at times be at my
ToyBarn in Arizona, so yes...it will be
found in a barn!
I must be doing something wrong but I only see
150 or so listings total for the word Porsche at
Carmax...911 only two for nationwide.
I am getting six 911s listed nationwide
at the moment!
Originally Posted by stealthpilot
Wow well done! I wonder if they have
a 2017 Turbo S.
Not at the present. But they do have
this stunningly odd 'Lime Gold Metallic'
.1 991. Surprising it hasn't sold yet...
being such a rare color & all!
*
Originally Posted by GregD
Interesting that manual is a "kiss of death" for
the dealers.. I know they only order PDK now
(they told me, and the showroom reflects that
- one manual car in stock, one: a cayman), but
it was so hard for me to find a used manual that
I 'd think there are other folks like me for whom
manual is the only option, and we're competing
for those unicorns...The success of the R and the
return of the 6 speed GT3 seems to confirm we
manual-lovers still have some pull...
Correct. Pete Stout & others have posted in
this forum that a manual .1 or .2 991 is a rare
& desirable transmission to have for future
resale to the enthusiast Porsche community!
So it's a car that needs to be marketed & sold
within a circle of fellow enthusiasts, such as
those found on this website! It will not be well
received, or favorably priced, by the professional
car buyers at CarMax or typical Porsche dealers!
I kid. Today 'Shorty' (above) would be considered
over-dressed for his profession. The professionals
tasked with buying cars at dealerships today wear
'hip' sport casual clothing...
***
Re: this particular .2 991 S Coupe, the selling
dealer service manager informed me that this
car was a 'special order' by a customer & not
one that was ordered as spec inventory by his
dealership. A couple of items in the options
selected also gave it away. Very few dealers
choose 'Leather Interior Package' for $1090,
or 'Rear Center Tunnel in Leather w. Decorating
Stitching' for $1190 on a spec order!
I think you have to drink PDK Kool-Aid to work at anything Porsche. In 2009 it was a substantial innovation but even the latest ZF's are really good now.
That Lime Gold car has been for sale - if I am correct - for about two years and has been to many many many different CarMax lots. Obviously there is some kind of story behind it. Check the HFS thread for more details.
That Lime Gold car has been for sale -
if I am correct - for about two years
and has been to many many many
different CarMax lots. Obviously
there is some kind of story behind it.
There may be a 'story' behind it
besides the fact it's 'Lime Gold'.
But not necessarily...if you catch
my drift!
As an aside, I flew into Stuttgart
earlier in the year to pay my
'respects' at the grave of 'Lime
Gold Metallic' at the cemetery
for undesirable Porsche colors
at Feuerbach. Well, 'respect' is
really too favorable of a word!
What I really wanted to do is to
check to make sure that 'color'
was still buried deep in that grave
& had not been resurrected by
the 'color fashionistas' at PAG!
And all I can tell you is that I
do sleep better every night
knowing that the 'Lime Gold
Metallic' gravesite has not yet
been disturbed!
Thanks for sharing your buying experience, particularly breaking down the base and S differences in a simple to follow format. It's a pleasure to follow your journey. Out of curiosity I do have a question if you don't mind sharing regarding the CarMax Price: Is it a fixed no hassle price as advertised or did you find room to negotiate this especially since it was a high end car ?
09-06-2017 | 11:14 PM
Eduardo.
