Help deciding.. buy or build?
09-07-2015, 02:41 PM
#1
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Help deciding.. buy or build?
I’m totally agonizing over the choice of whether to buy locally, buy long distance(or try to get my dealer to trade) or push for one of the last build slots. Anyadvice offered would be much appreciated! I know I’ve posted a couple of questions about this already (and am super grateful for the responses I’ve already gotten) but I am still trying to wrap my head around the pros, cons and options here.
I’m new to 911 (have a Cayenne that has been great) and am looking for a new C4S and am wanting to get into a 991.1 before it’s too late. My local dealer had put a number of dealer and marketplace cars on boats etc. a few weeks ago. One of them I really liked, it was dark metallic blue with platinum satin C wheels and in terms of my options was really only lacking PSE which could have been dealer installed. In the following week that car sold and it slipped through my fingers. Now I have a choice to make, here are my options as I see them.
Option1: Try to build. My local dealer told me that they could find ONE build slot remaining for a C4S that they thought they had a shot at bargaining for, if the dealer whose slot it was would trade for it. They said the build would have to be committed by mid-week coming up and they weren’t sure they could even get it. They expected delivery would be in February.
Option2: Dealer Trade. Get the dealer to trade for another vehicle in new inventory from somewhere else. The dealer gave me a refreshed set of what they said were all of the build sheets on the available dealer and marketplace vehicles they could find currently in the system. They marked west coast ones they said would be easier to get but also others they could find. I’ve gone through them and not found much… though I did find one on a dealer lot near LA that looks pretty close to the build I would want but it wasn’t one of the vehicles they handed me a sheet on, and it had one thing I really didn’t like. The metal sunroof,I’ve always had moon roofs in other cars and my Cayenne has the panoramic moonroof which I love. I drove a Cayman for a couple of days a few weeks ago and while I loved driving the car I really missed the extra light and being able to look up in the car. I felt a bit claustrophobic without the moon roof, I should add that in Seattle things can be pretty light-challenged about eight months of the year so good interior light can be important.
Option3: Buy long distance. If the dealer couldn’t trade for the car that’s closest to my spec that I found at another dealership (again, it wasn’t one of the ones they handed me a build sheet on) I could buy it myself and have it sent up to me. But I’d miss some of the benefits of buying from my local dealer.
Option4: Buy from current inventory. I do like the way I was treated when I purchased my Cayenne, also the dealer offers good extras like free shuttles, good loaners( or they’ll make arrangements for a rental car if you need it) and they offer free car washes for life in their carwash. In terms of what they have, they do have a nice C4S on the lot now, I hadn’t originally been considering silver butI do like the way the GT Silver looks and it’s been growing on me the more I’ve looked at it. The car lacks PSE also which I could have dealer added (though they had said it might cost 5k to addbut I was hoping to get them to do it for MSRP as a condition of buying). One issue with the one on their lot that is the closest for me is that I test drove this car and the PCM wouldn’t stay OFF during the drive! It kept coming ON and turning the volume up on its own.. We’d shut it all the way off then a minute later it would come back on. I expect updating or re-flashing the computerwould solve this but still, it had a gremlin.
I plan to use whatever car I get as a DD and I don’t plan to baby it.. For example I don’t want sport fascia because I don’t want to have to worry aboutthe nose of the car too much. I would be willing to take it through car washes and just USE the heck out of the car as a DD. Also, I have kids so it’s hard to be too attached to having nice things 
so one of my thoughts regarding option 4 is that I would just get into a 911 that’s close enough and enjoy the car, learn about it and then in a few years build one to order that’s exactly the way I’d want one. Since I’ve been test driving these 911s driving my Cayenne feels like driving a marshmallow and I’m not sure I would want to do that for six more months! However, if in the future I already had one and was specing and waiting for a new one to arrive it wouldn’t be so hard to wait!
so one of my thoughts regarding option 4 is that I would just get into a 911 that’s close enough and enjoy the car, learn about it and then in a few years build one to order that’s exactly the way I’d want one. Since I’ve been test driving these 911s driving my Cayenne feels like driving a marshmallow and I’m not sure I would want to do that for six more months! However, if in the future I already had one and was specing and waiting for a new one to arrive it wouldn’t be so hard to wait! Thoughts and THANKS!
09-07-2015, 02:51 PM
#2
There is not much "benefits of buying from your local dealer". They will gladly (in Open Arms), service your car. The only benefit I can see is when you buy a new one. They usually give you a good deal on your next purchase. The same thing on the other place you bought your car.
It looks like, IMHO, you better get the best deal you can have with your local dealer on the car on lot. Since you will be getting one in the near future.
It looks like, IMHO, you better get the best deal you can have with your local dealer on the car on lot. Since you will be getting one in the near future.
09-07-2015, 03:20 PM
#3
Race Director
Help deciding.. buy or build?
I don't assume you'd be getting any insane deals on the "lot cars" versus doing a custom build.
The real savings is buying preowned.
If buying new, I say do the custom build. If you're paying new car pricing, get it exactly how you want. Still get a discount! They're doing some jumping through hoops for an allocation, but shoot for 3-5% off sticker. My advice, don't take anything under 5%.
You can always kill time on here. The time will go by quick with the holidays upon us anyway.
I say, go CUSTOM BUILD. Start getting your want list together!
The real savings is buying preowned.
If buying new, I say do the custom build. If you're paying new car pricing, get it exactly how you want. Still get a discount! They're doing some jumping through hoops for an allocation, but shoot for 3-5% off sticker. My advice, don't take anything under 5%.
You can always kill time on here. The time will go by quick with the holidays upon us anyway.
I say, go CUSTOM BUILD. Start getting your want list together!
09-07-2015, 03:27 PM
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I'm not so worried about the deal.. more just having an awesome car for the DD on the mind-numbing commute and for fun on the weekends. I'm thinking if the 991.2 GTS remains NA or if the new turbos are great then I'll spec one in a year or two and switch.
09-07-2015, 03:31 PM
#6
Race Director
Help deciding.. buy or build?
If that's the case, just buy the car optioned closest to the way you like it from whatever dealer has it. You can transport a car coast to coast for 2K if you find one far away.
Your local dealer will gladly take your money for service and give you free shuttle rides and washes.
Don't leave money on the table either. How about I negotiate and keep the discount?
Your local dealer will gladly take your money for service and give you free shuttle rides and washes.
Don't leave money on the table either. How about I negotiate and keep the discount?
09-07-2015, 07:22 PM
#7
Racer
I'd do a national search for both new and used. Can't tell you what you "should" do because only you know that. I just traded in my base 991 for a 2013 S that was spec'd exactly how I'd want it. Buying a 130k car for 90k seemed like a no brainer. 5,000 miles and CPO thru 2019. Lots of good stuff out there if you're not afraid to buy out of state and have it shipped.
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09-07-2015, 08:06 PM
#8
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Yeah, I get the used and CPO thing. I got screwed once buying remotely and having a car shipped and I had that car for about four years after that and it sucked (it wasn't a P car). I think I'd want to know more about these cars and not be such a newb before trying that again.
Of the cars I've owned over the years the ones that were my most favorite and gave me the most emotional satisfaction were ones I bought new. I know that doesn't make sense on paper but to me these cars aren't really about making sense on paper anyway.
Of the cars I've owned over the years the ones that were my most favorite and gave me the most emotional satisfaction were ones I bought new. I know that doesn't make sense on paper but to me these cars aren't really about making sense on paper anyway.
09-07-2015, 09:21 PM
#9
There is not much "benefits of buying from your local dealer". They will gladly (in Open Arms), service your car. The only benefit I can see is when you buy a new one. They usually give you a good deal on your next purchase. The same thing on the other place you bought your car.
It looks like, IMHO, you better get the best deal you can have with your local dealer on the car on lot. Since you will be getting one in the near future.
It looks like, IMHO, you better get the best deal you can have with your local dealer on the car on lot. Since you will be getting one in the near future.
09-09-2015, 12:05 PM
#10
Drifting
There is nothing better than ordering exactly what you want and getting it and not paying for a bunch of crap that you don't want.
It's not just options but colors and wheels and all of that neat stuff.
It's not just options but colors and wheels and all of that neat stuff.
09-09-2015, 01:21 PM
#11
just get into a 911 that’s close enough and enjoy the car, learn about it and then in a few years build one to order that’s exactly the way I’d want one
If you go that route, make sure you're using the car for whatever you think you'll do long term. I made the mistake of getting a 911 off the lot, then replacing it with my custom-ordered "dream" car and only after it arrived, realizing that I wanted to take my car to the track. If I'd realized that sooner, my dream car would have been a different model. Oh, well, live and learn...
09-09-2015, 02:13 PM
#12
Three Wheelin'
I'm a firm believer in getting exactly what you want, especially when spending $100k+. With that said, buying a "near" car off the lot is a very good way to learn exactly what is and is not important to you. That's what I did when I bought my first 911 over 15 years ago. But if you go that route, why not look for a good pre-owned vehicle? Let the first owner pay the depreciation while you get and learn what you want for a couple of years. Then go all the way with a custom build. My $0.02 only.
09-09-2015, 07:59 PM
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All good suggestions. Here's my logic for buying new..
- used is not new, i would be willing to pay something of a premium for new
- I've been watching for a month or so and haven't found used that has the combo of features, the local GT Silver above is well optioned (and expensive because of it) but it's really close option-wise to what I would spec in terms of the comfort and performance features. The only things I wouldn't do on that one if it were mine would probably be the LED and I likely would have added PSE. Originally I really wanted one of the blue ones but the more I've looked at the GT Silver the more it's grown on me.
- Assuming I love the car (highly likely since i've LOVED my Cayenne and the 911 is so much more car) then owning it for a number of years I won't mind the depreciation spread out over that time..
- The cars i've owned that were my most favorite, as it turns out, have been the new ones I've bought including a black 1998 Toyota Tacoma V6 SR5 (loved that thing!) and a 2002 Jetta wagon 1.8T - fun to drive but to small for babies! And my current Cayenne base.. So if this car turns out to be one of my favorite ones ever the new is worth something to me..
I'm not saying this is watertight logic but it's the way I am thinking about it. I am also aware of the painful depreciation on new.. sigh.
- used is not new, i would be willing to pay something of a premium for new
- I've been watching for a month or so and haven't found used that has the combo of features, the local GT Silver above is well optioned (and expensive because of it) but it's really close option-wise to what I would spec in terms of the comfort and performance features. The only things I wouldn't do on that one if it were mine would probably be the LED and I likely would have added PSE. Originally I really wanted one of the blue ones but the more I've looked at the GT Silver the more it's grown on me.
- Assuming I love the car (highly likely since i've LOVED my Cayenne and the 911 is so much more car) then owning it for a number of years I won't mind the depreciation spread out over that time..
- The cars i've owned that were my most favorite, as it turns out, have been the new ones I've bought including a black 1998 Toyota Tacoma V6 SR5 (loved that thing!) and a 2002 Jetta wagon 1.8T - fun to drive but to small for babies! And my current Cayenne base.. So if this car turns out to be one of my favorite ones ever the new is worth something to me..
I'm not saying this is watertight logic but it's the way I am thinking about it. I am also aware of the painful depreciation on new.. sigh.
09-09-2015, 08:32 PM
#14
I spent a lot of time speccing out the perfect C2S for me, agonized over the details, building a number of awesome cars over a number of weeks, finally deciding on one. Then a week before it locked I got a chance to buy an awesome leftover car at a huge discount. While it had the few absolute must have options I wanted, it also had a few performance mods I wouldn't have specced and was missing a number of things I thought were very necessary. When it was all said and done, I couldn't be happier with the decision to buy the leftover car. I discovered that, as much as I played on the configurator and thought I knew exactly what I wanted, until I lived with the car, I really didn't know. I think if you really think long and hard about the few options that are truly must have (i.e., limit that to a few), and look for a leftover car at a dealer, you'll be just as happy. But of course, YMMV.
For me, a number of things I would have paid money for, I'm now glad I didn't, while there are other things I'm glad my car has, that I wouldn't have thought to add.
For me, a number of things I would have paid money for, I'm now glad I didn't, while there are other things I'm glad my car has, that I wouldn't have thought to add.
09-09-2015, 08:45 PM
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That makes sense Archimedes, and i have't stopped looking at used to see if one comes through that's just right.
I should have added to the above that the reasons I would prefer not to buy used right now include:
- I'm a newb and don't know what to look for / ask about or think about on a 911
- I bought a used car through a local dealer a number of years ago and the car was remote and was shipped, the car had things wrong with it that were intentionally hidden from me and when I discovered them it was too late. It totally colored my experience with that car for the four years I had it. I trusted buying remotely too fully at the time. Perhaps this was the lesson I needed and I'd be smarter now but this is definitely a reason I would shy away from buying used right now. For a car I am looking forward to as much as this one I don't want to risk the experience with this kind of thing happening to me again. I get buying new can have probs too (Nick Murray etc.) but the risk feels lower to me.
I should have added to the above that the reasons I would prefer not to buy used right now include:
- I'm a newb and don't know what to look for / ask about or think about on a 911
- I bought a used car through a local dealer a number of years ago and the car was remote and was shipped, the car had things wrong with it that were intentionally hidden from me and when I discovered them it was too late. It totally colored my experience with that car for the four years I had it. I trusted buying remotely too fully at the time. Perhaps this was the lesson I needed and I'd be smarter now but this is definitely a reason I would shy away from buying used right now. For a car I am looking forward to as much as this one I don't want to risk the experience with this kind of thing happening to me again. I get buying new can have probs too (Nick Murray etc.) but the risk feels lower to me.