DrKarlB

After all the huffing and complaining about the new prices, i though i'd look up the historical data
Quick search only to get an i idea of base Carrera MSRP and used the inflation calculator to convert to todays dollars

Model Year MSRP Todays Equivalent
964 1984 $32k $96.9k
993 1995 $63k $129.6k
996 1999 $70.8 $131.7
997 2005 $77.8 $124
991 2012 $85.6 $116
992 2020 $99 $120

992.2 2024 $120

So the price has stayed in a pretty small window for the last 40 years,
.... so much for the conspiracy theory hysteria

Of course performance isn't even comparable

*** data edited based on Dentasins input on 992 base ****

detansinn

A few notes...

• There is no $120k 992.2. With the current delivery processing and handling fee, the car starts at $122k.
• Back in 2019 and earlier, we were all paying below MSRP. No one was paying MSRP for a Carrera, let alone ADM. I paid below MSRP for my 992C4S in 2019, even when I was the first to take delivery at my dealer.
• At least in the US market, the 992 Base Carrera didn't exist until the 2020 model year and calendar year. It was $99k for just that model year before crossing into six figures.
• There's been a lot of dollar creep when it comes to the option sheet that are well above the inflation numbers. Heck, we've dropped from 5-6 free colors to 2 "free" colors for the 992.2.
• The window stickers of the modern 911s are significantly larger for the cars as they roll off of the lot. Base MSRP doesn't tell that story.
• 993 and earlier cars were hand assembled with a lot less plastic. When you get into the 964 and earlier, the cars are different enough that replacing body panels requires actual craftmanship. A modern 911 is assembled by robots in the tens of thousands of units. Porsche's margins on these cars have grown substantially as a result.

jhardy

Personally I don't think inflation calculators are accurate. The way we calculate inflation has changed dramatically. The cliche was dentists drove 911s. Dentists, at least where I live, can't afford 911s anymore. In 2002 the WSJ found that the average age of a 911 buyer was 45; that's crept up which I think is a signal that the inflation adjusted cost has too.

DrKarlB

Delivery charges were always there for every model so its a wash... add a couple percent to all and no different conclusion

Here is the 993 option pricelist from another rennlist post... pretty similar to today, but 30 years of inflation makes these way more expensive

More people pay MSRP (or closer to it) today than a couple years ago (during pandemic or just after) when ADM's were everywhere... in that respect the 992.2 is cheaper than the 992.1 ?

DrKarlB

Dentists make average $230k per Indeed

https://www.indeed.com/career/dentist/salaries

Big SUV's run about similar prices to Base Carrera's

The average new car price in USA today is $48k

Sounds like a dentists spend their money on other things these days ??

AlfaM5

Totally agree. When over a 20 year period the average price of a house in my area goes from $240k to over a million, and the cost of public university goes from $4k to $20k and the cost of private university goes from $25k to $65k and the price of a gallon of gas went from $1 to $5 and on and on and on, you should definitely see that whatever inflation numbers our government uses is totally meaningless. When inflation was "2%" the price of all essentials went up in the tens of percent. All BS.

DrKarlB

With this logic, then over 20 years prices have increased 4-5x

So the $70k 996 should be equivalent to $280k to $350k today .... it was equivalent to ~ 1/4 of a house prices then... and therefore should be today as well ?? Or was 20x the price of University... so should be $400k ??

That just makes the point that todays cars are damn bargains

AlfaM5

Absolutely correct. A W124 300E in 1986 was $40k. A W126 560SEL was $70k. You could buy a house for $70 easily at that time.

Cars are cheaper to manufacture today despite all the tech. Manufacturers make way more money despite the tech. The price of the car looks big nominally on paper but compared to before, it is a bargain relatively speaking. I think for cars to be considered cheap "back in the old days", you'd have to go to the 50s and 60s. Everything was cheaper and real wages were higher compared to the cost of living back then. The 1970s inflation era changed everything.

So my two cents is that compared to what a 911 used to cost, today's cost is not bad. However compared to what life used to cost and what real wages used to buy, things are a lot more expensive relatively speaking for the average person.

DrKarlB

And don’t forget the stock market has returned 450% over the last 20 years or so

kind of matches the house price increases

the kind of people buying 911’s probably have some stock investments too

jhenson29

Damn, I wish they still offered 2yr/unlimited miles.