When buying a new 911, how do you balance the cost and options?
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As with most of us here, by the time we confront our desires to purchase a 911 we can more than afford them.
One thing I don't like about me and my personality is I have to over analyze everything when it comes to money issues. I get that from when I was an accounting major and just being a math person in general.
Reading Michael T's post sealed it up for me though. I think I will just go low option, and the options I do check will be from the Performance Category.
Slightly off topic here, does Porsche offer the Ducktail by itself for the new 911? The option on their website includes a new front end?
One thing I don't like about me and my personality is I have to over analyze everything when it comes to money issues. I get that from when I was an accounting major and just being a math person in general.
Reading Michael T's post sealed it up for me though. I think I will just go low option, and the options I do check will be from the Performance Category.
Slightly off topic here, does Porsche offer the Ducktail by itself for the new 911? The option on their website includes a new front end?
My 2 cents, usually a Porsche 911 is ordered by the heart, my dream car that I ordered was a naturally aspirated S. my options were strictly related to performance, Sports Chrono, PDCC and PASM. Other than that I went for the PDK (my left knee is too bad for another manual), and the sports design package with sport exhaust.
I would buy what I would want, or accept until getting my dream car.
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#17
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Glass Sunroof too?
OK, I just configured a base Carrera and it still ends up at $108,000, most of the performance options Sans Carbon Brakes, one of those cheaper enterior packages and that Burmeister, I know I should cut that first.
I got the paint just white. Though I do want Arena Red on the Turbo someday.
OK, I just configured a base Carrera and it still ends up at $108,000, most of the performance options Sans Carbon Brakes, one of those cheaper enterior packages and that Burmeister, I know I should cut that first.
I got the paint just white. Though I do want Arena Red on the Turbo someday.
#18
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I think if buying new, get everything you want. For me that was an important component of going for a factory order - the car is tailored to you. This is passion over fiscal prudence but it makes a big difference to one's enjoyment of the car! Alternatively, I would have gone for a used vehicle with most of the main options I required and saved a lot!
#19
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In the end I look at a 991 or any other car of this type to be a toy. It's certainly not fundamental transportation, although the point is to use it as such at times and have a blast while doing it. And if you can't have your toy, the way you want it, why spend the 100K and not the 20K extra?
Michael T. above points to the depreciation numbers and I completely agree with him if you are looking at this from simply a depreciation perspective.
But I have learned the lesson repeatedly in life, that unless something is a necessity that you need to get for yourself or your loved ones... always always get exactly what you want and sometimes even wait for it to exist, if what you want does not, regardless of cost and you will appreciate such objects more and more each day. In the end you will value it more, keep it longer (and happily) and furthermore buying 2 porsche cars in rapid succession which do not have exactly what you want will make you lose less money on each one but I promise you that it will cost you more in actual dollars than to keep one for twice as long and mind you, you will never be completely happy with either.
Of course, every Porsche dealer will disagree with me, and as usual, YMMV.
Michael T. above points to the depreciation numbers and I completely agree with him if you are looking at this from simply a depreciation perspective.
But I have learned the lesson repeatedly in life, that unless something is a necessity that you need to get for yourself or your loved ones... always always get exactly what you want and sometimes even wait for it to exist, if what you want does not, regardless of cost and you will appreciate such objects more and more each day. In the end you will value it more, keep it longer (and happily) and furthermore buying 2 porsche cars in rapid succession which do not have exactly what you want will make you lose less money on each one but I promise you that it will cost you more in actual dollars than to keep one for twice as long and mind you, you will never be completely happy with either.
Of course, every Porsche dealer will disagree with me, and as usual, YMMV.
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I know right, if you're car cost $82 to start what's another $20 or so? Just multiple all that by 1000!.
But here's the list, don't make too much fun of me.
escription No. Info Price
911 Carrera
$82,100
Packages
Premium Package Plus
P39
$4,650
Burmester® Audio Package
P3A
$5,010
Exterior Colors
White
0Q
$0
Interior Colors
Black standard interior
AG
$0
Exterior
ParkAssist (front and rear)
636
$990
Model Designation "911"
911
$0
Clear glass tail lights
XXG
$610
Performance
Sport Chrono Package
640
$2,370
Power Steering Plus
658
$270
Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK)
250
$4,080
PASM Sport Suspension
030
$2,980
Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus (PTV Plus)
221
$1,490
Wheels
20-inch Carrera S wheel
423
$1,560
Interior
Power Sport Seats (14-way)
P06
$0
Fire extinguisher
509
$140
Audio and Communications
Electronic logbook
641
$650
Total Price*
$107,850
OK, I can live without the Burmeister but just about everything is would be an Essential to me. Now I notice I missed checking the box for the Sport Design Wheel so I can get the Flappy Paddles. If I didn't have to fart around with LA/OC County Traffic I would get the 7MT for sure.
Someone Mentioned the Sport Exhaust; is it reallly worth it to have it with Sport Chrono and such? I was thinking about going to Sharky for a Tubi.
That and PTV, will I be able to really feal the LSD? No pun intended.
But here's the list, don't make too much fun of me.
escription No. Info Price
911 Carrera
$82,100
Packages
Premium Package Plus
P39
$4,650
Burmester® Audio Package
P3A
$5,010
Exterior Colors
White
0Q
$0
Interior Colors
Black standard interior
AG
$0
Exterior
ParkAssist (front and rear)
636
$990
Model Designation "911"
911
$0
Clear glass tail lights
XXG
$610
Performance
Sport Chrono Package
640
$2,370
Power Steering Plus
658
$270
Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK)
250
$4,080
PASM Sport Suspension
030
$2,980
Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus (PTV Plus)
221
$1,490
Wheels
20-inch Carrera S wheel
423
$1,560
Interior
Power Sport Seats (14-way)
P06
$0
Fire extinguisher
509
$140
Audio and Communications
Electronic logbook
641
$650
Total Price*
$107,850
OK, I can live without the Burmeister but just about everything is would be an Essential to me. Now I notice I missed checking the box for the Sport Design Wheel so I can get the Flappy Paddles. If I didn't have to fart around with LA/OC County Traffic I would get the 7MT for sure.
Someone Mentioned the Sport Exhaust; is it reallly worth it to have it with Sport Chrono and such? I was thinking about going to Sharky for a Tubi.
That and PTV, will I be able to really feal the LSD? No pun intended.
#21
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I know right, if you're car cost $82 to start what's another $20 or so? Just multiple all that by 1000!.
But here's the list, don't make too much fun of me.
escription No. Info Price
911 Carrera
$82,100
Packages
Premium Package Plus
P39
$4,650
Burmester® Audio Package
P3A
$5,010
Exterior Colors
White
0Q
$0
Interior Colors
Black standard interior
AG
$0
Exterior
ParkAssist (front and rear)
636
$990
Model Designation "911"
911
$0
Clear glass tail lights
XXG
$610
Performance
Sport Chrono Package
640
$2,370
Power Steering Plus
658
$270
Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK)
250
$4,080
PASM Sport Suspension
030
$2,980
Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus (PTV Plus)
221
$1,490
Wheels
20-inch Carrera S wheel
423
$1,560
Interior
Power Sport Seats (14-way)
P06
$0
Fire extinguisher
509
$140
Audio and Communications
Electronic logbook
641
$650
Total Price*
$107,850
OK, I can live without the Burmeister but just about everything is would be an Essential to me. Now I notice I missed checking the box for the Sport Design Wheel so I can get the Flappy Paddles. If I didn't have to fart around with LA/OC County Traffic I would get the 7MT for sure.
Someone Mentioned the Sport Exhaust; is it reallly worth it to have it with Sport Chrono and such? I was thinking about going to Sharky for a Tubi.
That and PTV, will I be able to really feal the LSD? No pun intended.
But here's the list, don't make too much fun of me.
escription No. Info Price
911 Carrera
$82,100
Packages
Premium Package Plus
P39
$4,650
Burmester® Audio Package
P3A
$5,010
Exterior Colors
White
0Q
$0
Interior Colors
Black standard interior
AG
$0
Exterior
ParkAssist (front and rear)
636
$990
Model Designation "911"
911
$0
Clear glass tail lights
XXG
$610
Performance
Sport Chrono Package
640
$2,370
Power Steering Plus
658
$270
Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK)
250
$4,080
PASM Sport Suspension
030
$2,980
Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus (PTV Plus)
221
$1,490
Wheels
20-inch Carrera S wheel
423
$1,560
Interior
Power Sport Seats (14-way)
P06
$0
Fire extinguisher
509
$140
Audio and Communications
Electronic logbook
641
$650
Total Price*
$107,850
OK, I can live without the Burmeister but just about everything is would be an Essential to me. Now I notice I missed checking the box for the Sport Design Wheel so I can get the Flappy Paddles. If I didn't have to fart around with LA/OC County Traffic I would get the 7MT for sure.
Someone Mentioned the Sport Exhaust; is it reallly worth it to have it with Sport Chrono and such? I was thinking about going to Sharky for a Tubi.
That and PTV, will I be able to really feal the LSD? No pun intended.
That would save you around $12k.
Buy the Carrera S instead (for an extra £14k) and you get the PTV and 20" wheels automatically!
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#22
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1) Unless money is no object then "affordability" is important for all of us
2) Affordability comes in two distinct parts - a) purchase price and b) cost of ownership i.e. the impact of depreciation
3) Period of ownership is highly relevant to the cost of ownership
4) As has been highlighted already, many options add little or no additional value on resale, but may enhance the ownership experience!
I've had my current 997 C4S for 6.5 years now - the £80k asking price (including a decent amount of options) has now fallen to say around £25k and the car will probably be worth around £20k by the time it is 8 years' old when I will hopefully be changing it for a 991 Turbo.
That equates to 'just' £7.5k per annum, which for me is affordable.
Likewise, some simplistic 'man maths' suggests that a fully specced 991 Turbo will cost around £140k and in 8 years might be worth around £45k, so depreciation of around £12k p.a.
This is exactly why I've not considered changing my car for a 991 C4S as an intermediate step to the 991 Turbo.
Based on the above, I can therefore justify owning a 991 turbo over an 8 year period, but not over a 3 year time horizon.
For me this means choosing the options I want rather than being too focused on only the options that retain their value etc.
For people looking at a 991 Carrera as a stop gap to another car 991 GT3 or Turbo, costs over a 2 or 3 year ownership horizon are that much higher and hence adding options needs to be thought through more carefully!
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Sidicks
#23
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Sport exhaust is my favorite option.
#24
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After 7000 miles driving a base Carrera, this is my (very personal) opinion of the ideal set of options:
1. Leather interior - $3,690
2. Bose Audio - $2,420
3. PDK - $4,080
4. Sport Chrono - $2,370
5. Sport Exhaust - $2,950
The base car price is $82,100 and the equipment price is $15,510 for a total price of $98,560 (with the $950 destination charge).
That's it, just these 5 options. Minimalism has its own intrinsic appeal.
I got options 1 through 4 above and wish I had got option 5. I got the glass sunroof instead, which is a lovely option, but not absolutely key; I got some other minor options as well.
This set of options maximizes what this car means to me, which is to saturate the four senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch with pleasure. Someday I'm sure Porsche will please the fifth sense of taste as well.
I don't see how PASM, PTV, PDCC could improve this wonderful experience I'm having in any way. Ignorance is bliss, I admit.
It's all about how you feel.
1. Leather interior - $3,690
2. Bose Audio - $2,420
3. PDK - $4,080
4. Sport Chrono - $2,370
5. Sport Exhaust - $2,950
The base car price is $82,100 and the equipment price is $15,510 for a total price of $98,560 (with the $950 destination charge).
That's it, just these 5 options. Minimalism has its own intrinsic appeal.
I got options 1 through 4 above and wish I had got option 5. I got the glass sunroof instead, which is a lovely option, but not absolutely key; I got some other minor options as well.
This set of options maximizes what this car means to me, which is to saturate the four senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch with pleasure. Someday I'm sure Porsche will please the fifth sense of taste as well.
I don't see how PASM, PTV, PDCC could improve this wonderful experience I'm having in any way. Ignorance is bliss, I admit.
It's all about how you feel.
#25
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For me - and I've been thinking on this as have same issue - I do not want to go bonkers on options.
First, what are the primary use(s) of the car. Then cost vs benefit on which options you:
(1) must have for that use
(2) like to have
(3) be cool but don't need to have
Maybe - like a 'salary cap' - have an options' budget or %-to-total car price in mind. For me I'd rather not spend > 20-25% of the car on goodies. Then one is forced to focus the mind, and apply the budgeting scalpel.
For some budget is no issue so go for it. But for me I want value for my hard-earned money. Good luck w/ your challenge: embrace and try to have fun w/ this rather than let it get you frustrated.
After all, how lucky is one even to be contemplating dropping 6-figs on a conveyance
First, what are the primary use(s) of the car. Then cost vs benefit on which options you:
(1) must have for that use
(2) like to have
(3) be cool but don't need to have
Maybe - like a 'salary cap' - have an options' budget or %-to-total car price in mind. For me I'd rather not spend > 20-25% of the car on goodies. Then one is forced to focus the mind, and apply the budgeting scalpel.
For some budget is no issue so go for it. But for me I want value for my hard-earned money. Good luck w/ your challenge: embrace and try to have fun w/ this rather than let it get you frustrated.
After all, how lucky is one even to be contemplating dropping 6-figs on a conveyance
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#26
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My thoughts would be to drop the Burmeister, car glass lights, power steering plus, electronic log book, Sports PASM, PTV plus and 20" wheels.
That would save you around $12k.
Buy the Carrera S instead (for an extra £14k) and you get the PTV and 20" wheels automatically!
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That would save you around $12k.
Buy the Carrera S instead (for an extra £14k) and you get the PTV and 20" wheels automatically!
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#29
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I thought to myself how much cheaper it "SHOULD" be even compared to the other used 911s. I was almost tempted to go and get a Cashier's Check just so I could get the purchase over with. That was last Thursday, Turkey day.
#30
Burning Brakes
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I bought a lot car because I'm A. Impulsive, B. Great deal.
Base Carrera with Premium Package (14 way seats), Sunroof, Bose, Power Steering Plus, Folding Mirrors, Parking Assist Front and Rear. Red/Black/Manual.
If I had been speccing it, I would have skipped the Sunroof, PSP, Parking Assist, and Folding Mirrors, then added PASM. I don't mind having those extra things, but don't consider them important to the driving experience at all. My cars have never historically been "forever" cars so the idea of adding $10K+ of extra stuff would not be cost effective at all to me.
That's the funny thing about options in general, even more so on the 991. What one person thinks is a must have may have little appeal to the next guy. For instance as long as Porsche keeps offering three pedal manuals, I will buy them, I just have no need or desire for PDK. It's also a relatively big ticket item that could translate into other things for the car. YMMV.
Base Carrera with Premium Package (14 way seats), Sunroof, Bose, Power Steering Plus, Folding Mirrors, Parking Assist Front and Rear. Red/Black/Manual.
If I had been speccing it, I would have skipped the Sunroof, PSP, Parking Assist, and Folding Mirrors, then added PASM. I don't mind having those extra things, but don't consider them important to the driving experience at all. My cars have never historically been "forever" cars so the idea of adding $10K+ of extra stuff would not be cost effective at all to me.
That's the funny thing about options in general, even more so on the 991. What one person thinks is a must have may have little appeal to the next guy. For instance as long as Porsche keeps offering three pedal manuals, I will buy them, I just have no need or desire for PDK. It's also a relatively big ticket item that could translate into other things for the car. YMMV.