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First off, I understand why folks love 911s. After test driving a few 997 and 991 examples, I am hooked. The look, cornering, canyon runs, the sound of that flat 6 humming along. Its something everyone should experience at some point in their lives. I am skipping the Boxster/Cayman as I have 2 small kids who will want to ride along.
But I am also approaching this from a financial perspective. I was also interested in buying a 911 to lessen the depreciation hit so I have been looking at cars at the flatter sections of their depreciation curves.
Ive settled on a 991.1 primarily because there is more available to choose from (the 997.2 6MT i was aiming for was proving too hard to come by), and I much preferred the interior to the 991 over the 997. I also prefer having an NA engine over a turbo, primarily for less to go wrong with the car plus I prefer the sound over a turbo.
This is doing to be a daily driver for me.
However the difficult part comes when I am trying to choose trim and transmission, considering all factors including daily drivability, weekend canyon run fun, cost, and finally resale (gasp!).
Ive read many forum posts about a base carrera with 7MT being the way to go because its plenty fast for the majority of drivers and allows you to engage the car more directly because of transmission and lets you approach the limits of the car more so than trims with higher horsepower.
On the other hand, Ive driven a GTS in PDK which has most all the goodies you would ever want in a car (minus the manual), but in a higher price tag. And the sample with sPASM I drove had a beast of a stance!
Obviously the S sits in the middle.
Should I start out with a base carrera in 7MT or just go all out GTS or middle ground S trim for a first 911?
At the end of the day I prefer the manual but not an absolute must, and considering its a DD with lots of stop and go, PDK seems convenient but more worrisome to own in long run due to potential repair cost if needed. I am also curious if buying the GTS will soften the depreciation due to being less common than their base/S bretheren and demanding higher at resale time.
Its just a lot to consider and I sometimes just think it may be better to get the base carerra and upgrade later, but I am typically one to keep cars for a while and want to try and hit the bullseye without overbuying this first go around.
Dont roast me too hard but just looking for some direction.
Thanks
AC
can't help there. last car that I drove as a daily (acura) I put 180,000 miles on it over 16 years. wasn't the least bit concerned about resale value. I tend to mod a car to get it to drive how I like and then just drive. if you drive it as a daily then the miles will quickly pile up and resale will take a hit, nobody is going to pay big bucks for a 10+ year old car with big miles on it, especially if it sees snow and road salt every year. most 991.1 cars will see repairs costs increase because of age. for me the 991.2 is a far superior car and the sound is plenty whiny enough at higher rpms.
If you can get over not being the fastest guy off the line / stop light to stop light / paper racing talk around the watercolor... get the base with a 7MT and revel in the handling and aural symphony. If you're a hardcore track guy, then the PDK is probably for you, and it's as good as you can get, but if you're just wanted to bomb around back roads and smile, get the MT.
That is coming from someone who prioritized being quicker / faster, and ended up in a 991.2 S PDK and while it was blisteringly quick, easy to repeat those 3.7s 0-60's... it was lacking in both noise and any real involvement other than smashing the go-pedal.
So I sold it for something with a manual and something that is much more pleasing to my ears.
I did the same thing three and a half years ago. Decided on a 991.1 and not a 997.2 even though an example at that time could be eight years old but at the sweet spot for depreciation. I was not interested in a non N/A car so the 991.2 was not an option for me. I stopped "shifting" gears fifty years ago so PDK was a must. Issues are not common so I didn't worry. But wait, I had to have a white Cab but no black interior. I took it one step further and only considered low mile GQ's with one or two owners. I looked all over the country for a year and found mine 27 miles away in Coral Gables. In 2020 it had 13.6k (2012.5) and was exactly the GQ I would consider. It was not a fully loaded spec like I wanted but it was an "S" Cab with Sport Chrono, PSE, Nav, folding mirrors, park assist and heated seats (strange option for Miami), 20" wheels and that was about it...no full leather, XM, 14 way seats, etc. but the "must haves" were there for me to enjoy a non DD example. I have always bought new vehicles so finding out that I would be the fourth owner was bothering me...for about 5 minutes. I know the cars history from day one delivery from The Collection, Miami. The first owner had the car for a year and put 1,400 miles on it, the second and third owners were friends so talking to the seller or last owner are important to me but most don't care about that. I like to get as much back info as possible to help predict future issues (if that's possible). When looking/purchasing a "preowned" there will be compromising, no doubt. Just make sure that you get the "must haves" so you will not have buyers remorse after three months. You will have a lot of cars to consider if you are a spec buyer, willing to look outside of your immediate area and not a color combo must have, that makes it way easier. I spent about 6.5k after purchase to replace tires, battery, PPF, extended warranty and maintenance so don't forget about that possibility, if needed or so inclined. About half of that was not necessary or important to most. I hope that my "story" helps you to get through the the process and get the car you want. My opinion...any 991.1 is a great car for your needs and budget, just take your time - the right car will appear. Good luck!
I had to settle on a 991.1 base PDK 2013 with 58k miles for 61k because it was hard to find an S for under 70k that had clean carfax and under 60k miles in a 1k mile radius of me. I do have a cobb v3 accessport which they claim can give 20 HP/TORQ which would make me around 370-375hp to try to get it to an S if that makes sense. If you are comfortable spending the money on an S or GTS just do it because they are only going to get harder to come by. A lot of people like Chris harris are ditching their 992's and coming back to the 991 (his is an 991.2 gt3). I would recommend getting a PDK if you're stop and go DD but that is up to you.
I have put 2k miles in 2 months as a DD and I never track the car and don't plan on it. The base is more than enough for me but I just wish I could have found an S. I don't regret the base over S because it was never an option for me. I don't dwell on what cards were given to me.
As for the PDK - you can look up on youtube a PCA video with a shop in atlanta that does PDK rebuilds for around 10-15k which is cheaper than a new PDK from dealer but hopefully nobody ever has to call them!
For a DD I'd go for any of the options you mentioned in PDK with SC (every other "must have" like 18 way seats, PSE, Carplay/Android Auto can be easily added later). I was all about manuals for the entirety of my life, until I drove my first Porsche 987.2 Cayman with PDK. The PDK is an amazing piece of modern engineering and I have not regretted the choice in my first Porsche nor my current. These cars are more or less bullet proof and the costs to maintain are commensurate with the age. build quality and brand. Most, if not all, of the maintenance can be done DIY or just do what I did and buy an extended warranty for the big ticket items as a failsafe. The big issues with the 991.1 generation seem to be... Door card delamination (mine are at Pedro's as I post this) and rear wing spring break (easy DIY fix). Everything else has too small a pool of effected owners to make me think the problems are a foregone conclusion. These cars were meant to be driven and the worry about resale should be the least of your concerns... Just enjoy it to its fullest!
I have terrible knee problems and pushing in the clutch can be painful. Allow me to show off and say
this gave me permission to buy a manual and a PDK…..😎
But I am also approaching this from a financial perspective. I was also interested in buying a 911 to lessen the depreciation hit so I have been looking at cars at the flatter sections of their depreciation curves.
Don't forget time value of money. I'll go extreme to illustrate. Which lost more money, ignoring gas, insurance, etc. A one million dollar car purchased April 8th 2014 that you can sell today for one million dollars? Or a $500k car purchased the same day that you can now only sell for $1 USD? It's not obvious, but you have an extra $100k plus if you chose the $500k car that you drove the **** out. That $500k you didn't spend is now worth $1.185M if you bought the S&P 500 and left it alone. (not to mention you had funds to open up other opportunities and a $500k 2014 car is probably worth more than $1)
To me there is nothing special about a car with an automatic transmission. TRaffic to me is easier in a manual as I just leave it in 1st gear and poke along.
S has bigger brakes and at 150mph stopping is good. GTS is overpriced IMHO. S stands for Sweet Spot unless of course you have GT3 money.
Pick a hand full of must haves and snag it when you find it.
The Pre-Owned market is still going pretty strong.
What's your budget?
One of my must haves was a 100% leather interior which narrowed down the CPO market a bit when I was looking.
Post up when you find some contenders.
Option 1
Base carrera $69k, 31k miles, 7mt. Sport chrono, vent seats. Minor accident on carfax to right rear
Option 2
S trim. $79k, 20k miles, PDK, clean history, PSE, sport chrono
Option 3
S trim $83k, 49k miles, 7MT, every damn option available (pse, chrono, pasm/pdcc, pccb)
Option 4 (closest to me)
GTS, $85k, 49k miles, PDK, sport pasm
Option 5
GTS, 93k, 36k miles, PDK. Has GT silver exterior (second best color imo after dark blue)
Thanks for everyone's opinions, very helpful
Option 3
S trim $83k, 49k miles, 7MT, every damn option available (pse, chrono, pasm/pdcc, pccb)
Option 4 (closest to me)
GTS, $85k, 49k miles, PDK, sport pasm
The 991.2 with the turbos is a great car. Even the base Carrera and the T are plenty for the street with 370HP. The 991 has a more modern interior as compared to the older 997 generation. My general feeling is to purchase the newest and best car you can afford and find.
With that said, if you want to drag race, buy a Corvette. For the 911, it’s a drivers car, get the manual transmission.
04-08-2024, 02:30 AM
First Porsche Analysis Paralysis
