Rocky Rapsavage

Hello Friends. Been monitoring the site but have not posted in a while.

Here's the deal. Picked up my 97 Silver 993TT from my Porsche dealer last Saturday after some minor warranty work. Sitting on his floor was a one-owner black 993TTS he had just taken in on trade for a new Merc AMG SL55. Anway, the car has a graphite grey interior and just turned 37,000 miles. The dealer sold the car new, they have performed all service on the car from day one, and state it is in excellent mechanical condition. No stories.

As luck would have it, the original owner of the'S' dropped by in his new Merc to buy an SLK for his wife so we talked a little while about the car. After our talk, I was satisfied this is the real deal!.

The car has four new hollow spokes on it because the original set was beat up by a tire installer. The interior looks as new and there are no dings or dents or paintwork on the exterior. There are, however, the usual rock chips one would expect for a car that has covered 37.000 miles.

The dealer offered the car to me for $17,500 plus my 97 twin turbo I bought from him this past May. My car just turned 25,000 miles, has graphite grey interior with aluminum package, chrome package, small carbon fiber package, 12-way power driver and passenger seats, supple leather, upgraded sound package, etc. I also have a two-year Porsche-Certified warranty.

The question is...I have $72,500 in my car. That plus the $17,500 puts me at $90,000. Am I nuts for thinking about trading?

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I need some help here.
Thanks in advance.

Jeff 993TT

Depends on what you want.

17K to spend on mods is an awfullly lot of money. You could make your existing TT much faster than any Turbo S for the same money.

But if you want the collectable aspect of it, then you can't beat a turbo s.

viperbob

I agree with Jeff. If you are looking for the pinnacle of the air cooled turbos, it is the S model. Very rare. Now are they that much faster or anything else of your existing turbo? Not really. The question is do you want a rare car that is collectable, and are you willing to pay for it? If your intention is to head the the track, then it is a complete waste of money.

adsc4s

If you are looking for a garage queen, collectible, conversation piece, type of car, I'd get the S. If it is a daily driver or a track car, it's a waste. Personally, IMHO, I think it is absolutely the pinnacle of the Porsche line and I'd jump at the chance. What do you think they'd want in addition to my C4S?

laurence '97 C4S

No brainer, if you got the $17,500. I wouldn't hesitate.

pig4bill

It's funny, I just saw one last week for sale in the 90's. Not that long ago they were going for $125k. I think desperation is in the air and people are selling them while they still bring a hefty premium.

Rocky Rapsavage

Thanks for the responses. I don't plan to track the car though I might give Brainerd a try once or twice. The car will be used for pleasure driving along with my 427 Cobra replica. While it won't be a track car, it will not be a garage queen either as I plan to drive it as much as the weather up here allows.

Anir

Rocky,

Given that you don't intend to track the car a lot, I would go for it. The Turbo S interior represents a significant upgrade over that of the standard TT. Also, the exterior is beautiful, and the car will always be that much more special due to its relative rarity (about 200 units produced, right?).

Good luck!

clubrcr

I have been looking at 993tt "s"s for a while. I think the only thing you should consider is the mileage. Although I don't think it is high, if I were a collector, I would. I have seen these cars fall down in 90s here recently. I found a 17K silver car for 92K a couple of weeks ago. If you do the math, this car would be a better deal.

Rare cars seem to fall drastically with mileage and I would think 37K miles would make this car priced lower than the 17K car by more than 2K.

Just my two cents.

Dan89_930

Rocky: For what it is worth, I agree with clubrcr. The 'value' in a collectible (and there's no doubt the Turbo S is a collectible) is held with fewer miles (ALWAYS depending on condition). If you plan on driving the "S", the value will decline (although it will always be worth more than a '97 993tt with similar miles in similar condition), perhaps substantially, over an "S" with, say, 2,500 miles / year on it. But it will always be worth more than a 993tt with similar miles in similar condition.

If you want the "S" for performance reasons, I agree with Jeff993TT - there are better ways to spend $17K on a stock 993tt than to purchase an unmodified "S". But if you want the "S" because of the collectibility, without regard to resale value as you rack up the miles, then get the "S".

I have driven an "S" that had a PSS-9 set up - very nice. But even that one is no longer stock, so the collectibility "value", for most, has declined.

By the seat of my pants could I tell the difference between my 993tt hp and the "S" (400 v. 424)? Not really. But my seat may be different from others who can tell the difference.

That said, I have driven a 500+hp 993tt. Now that I could tell a difference. Why pay a premium on an "S" if you want more than 424 hp?

Enjoy whatever you decide!

Dan
'89 930 3.4
'97 993tt

Steve 96C4S

I'm throwing my 2 cents in as a casual outsider, but if I had the money and had always wanted an "S", I'd buy it in a NY minute. Even if you drive it every nice day as a daily driver and it will get more rock chips, even though it's got 37k mi on the odo and you wish it had less, even though you might lose some money on it if you had to sell it in a couple of years, I'd get it for the experience of owning the pinnacle of the aircooled 911, + you know it's history. I'd get it for the rareness factor, and wouldn't it be a gas to be driving the only TT "S" in town, maybe your whole state! I'd be shocked if there were another TT "S" in your state or the surrounding states for that matter! You'd never see yourself coming and going so to speak.

I drove a TT "S" about 4 months ago, black on grey interior and thought it to be superb. My jaw dropped when I saw it, more so than when I see a 993 TT. To me, it was like seeing a mirage, an oasis, that rare orchid growing in the everglades, an Enzo Ferrari if you will. It's just that rare.

As the Beach Boys once sang, "Wouldn't it be nice"?

Either way you go, you're be on top with your car OR the "S". They both have there plusses and minuses. You might worry a tad less about door dings and parking it at your local mall when in the 993 TT non "S" due to the lower cost and less rarity. But PLEASE drive that "S" if you buy it and try to forget how much it cost. When you pass out of this world and am travelling up to heaven, you'll be SO glad you drove it and enjoyed it, rather than leaving it in the garage to keep it "perfect"

Steve

clubrcr

I have to agree with Steve, life is short and you should enjoy it to its fullest! I have lost more money in the stock market since 1999 than the Turbo "S" has depreciated.

bbeckmann

Hey Steve, you should handle the marketing for my car sale.

After reading that, I'm not even so sure I should sell mine anymore!

Steve 96C4S

Ah shucks - Thanks Bobby.
You got great taste in cars.
Just tryin to keep it real.

This situation reminds me of the story of the older guy who's wife has passed on... he goes into her top drawer to clean it out and finds all this sexy, expensive lingerie with the tags still on them. She bought and saved them for that special occasion, but because it was so fine and expensive, she never deemed the day special enough to just break it out and wear it. Her's and his loss.

The same with our cars. We need to drive these beasts, even though they're expensive and depreciate with every mile driven, even though they'll get dirty in the muddy, rainy weather and lose furthur value, even though... yeah - I know, enough already. You get the picture.

Steve

David in LA

Besides the value proposition and relative collectibility of a TT-S vs. a TT, I think the decision really depends on what $17K is to you....it's not a lot of money, but it's a lot of money...know what I mean?!?