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I bought mine to drive ,and drive it I do.The only car I made a lot of money on was my 1966 mustang fastback .Paid $2100 for it back in 1982 at an estate sale in malibu . Sold it few years back for $50 K. I bought it to drive ,had no clue the prices would skyrocket as they have.The only regret I have for the 996 is my rottweiler can't ride in it.She's too big at 120 lbs .I think most cars are not investments ,there are some that will appreciate but those are few and far between .The older mustangs were an exception.
As a side note to my post above, I have a 1993 Mustang 5.0 notchback I bought for $6k in 1997. This is a car for which they literally made a million of them. It's only seven years older than my 996. I've probably got an additional five grand into it in mods and I could probably break even on it at this point. I've enjoyed the car for twenty years and I could still walk away from it not having spent a dime, in the strictest sense. The 996 is far more rare, a MUCH better car (even accounting for its faults). Any stigma associated with it will disappear soon.
I think the 996 is like the cashmere sweater that George Costanza bought. It was genuine cashmere. It was soft like genuine cashmere. It was warm like genuine cashmere. But it had a minor flaw that probably could have been corrected or ignored, but he couldn't give it away.
Guys, I apologize, it's my fault, I bought one this year. Every "investment" I've ever touched seems to tank. As soon as I sell, values will skyrocket.
In all seriousness and IMS theory aside, the value for a "standard" 996 has been relatively flat or slightly appreciating for a few years. What I mean by standard is if you took any 996 and locked it in a time capsule and kept it in the same condition/miles the value would have at least stayed the same over the given time period. What you see in the data presented in this post is a reflection of the whole fleet aging. As these cars age out and get off the road it first begins driving up the value of the cars in better condition, once those rise the lesser condition cars will follow. I've written this elsewhere, but a good condition low mile car is going to start creeping up (go find any coupe with <30k miles and get it for less than $30k). At the topside will be the pricing of the 997 though, so there isn't much room for appreciation like the 993's. I could see nice examples being high 30's in the next few years, really special cars in the low 40's. That would be it, adjusted for inflation, until Porsche does something the faithful deem "stupid" with the 911.
I didn't buy mine for an investment, but I did buy it expecting to be able to drive a few thousand miles a year and not lose to depreciation.
In all seriousness and IMS theory aside, the value for a "standard" 996 has been relatively flat or slightly appreciating for a few years.
The value has been going down steadily since I bought in early 2016. About -1,000/yr or so seems to be the trend. Not as bad as new cars, but not appreciation by any stretch.
As a side note to my post above, I have a 1993 Mustang 5.0 notchback I bought for $6k in 1997. This is a car for which they literally made a million of them. It's only seven years older than my 996. I've probably got an additional five grand into it in mods and I could probably break even on it at this point. I've enjoyed the car for twenty years and I could still walk away from it not having spent a dime, in the strictest sense. The 996 is far more rare, a MUCH better car (even accounting for its faults). Any stigma associated with it will disappear soon.
The value has been going down steadily since I bought in early 2016. About -1,000/yr or so seems to be the trend. Not as bad as new cars, but not appreciation by any stretch.
Not sure I agree that they're still depreciating. When I bought my '99 in spring 2013, there were a lot of "decent" Mk I coupes in the $12,000 to $15,000 range. I define decent as a good driver - around 100k miles, good condition with only minor warts. Just looking at cars.com, I'd say that's still where we're at.
Also, keep in mind this is the dead time of the year, buyer's market. 6 months from now, people will be talking about values rising. Happens every year. IMHO, prices seem to have been flat for the last 5 years that I've been paying attention to the 996 market.
Someday, we'll look back on this as "the good ol' days" when you could pick up a presentable 911 for under 15 large. For years, I've thought about buying a 914. After browsing yesterday for about an hour, I've come to the conclusion that the 914 ship has sailed for me - their prices have gone up markedly over the past 5 years.
A 914 is definitely a toy, not suitable as a real transportation device. Not that long ago, you could get a decent one for $6,000 or $7,000. That car is now $12,000. A really good one is close to $20,000 and there are plenty on the market at well over $20k asking.
For years, I've thought about buying a 914. After browsing yesterday for about an hour, I've come to the conclusion that the 914 ship has sailed for me - their prices have gone up markedly over the past 5 years.
A 914 is definitely a toy, not suitable as a real transportation device. Not that long ago, you could get a decent one for $6,000 or $7,000. That car is now $12,000. A really good one is close to $20,000 and there are plenty on the market at well over $20k asking.
You dodged a bullet there. I've owned 3 914s in the past. All of them were built for spit, and they have only gotten worse. FI problems, chassis weak, vague steering, wiring woes(worse than 928), junk shifter, and anemic performance. The 'best' one I had was a 74 914 with a 2.2L big bore kit. I still got owned by 240Z in all but the tightest conditions. Not that I hate the 914, but it was a compromise car and it shows. I would suggest looking at the 924 turbo if you want a collector with some upside. Those are still dirt cheap, and they should take off within 5 years. Note - turbo only, not the other 924s.
You dodged a bullet there. I've owned 3 914s in the past. All of them were built for spit, and they have only gotten worse. FI problems, chassis weak, vague steering, wiring woes(worse than 928), junk shifter, and anemic performance. The 'best' one I had was a 74 914 with a 2.2L big bore kit. I still got owned by 240Z in all but the tightest conditions. Not that I hate the 914, but it was a compromise car and it shows. I would suggest looking at the 924 turbo if you want a collector with some upside. Those are still dirt cheap, and they should take off within 5 years. Note - turbo only, not the other 924s.
Thanks for the input - I think I've only driven a 914 one time, and that was on a test drive that lasted about 2 minutes because the car died on me and wouldn't restart. Had to push it back to the seller's house. I've always liked the looks of them, but understand that they were hardly a stellar car. I had an X1/9 as a kid, and have thought about buying one of those also, just to have. But, figured the 914 would be a better "investment" (although I hate thinking of cars as investments - I am more than happy if I can get my money back when I sell a car and have enjoyed it for free for a few years).
You are correct in that the chart certainly seems to substantiate declining values, but take away that July 2015 outlier and it's relatively flat. Also, that chart shows 49 sales over basically an 18 month period (again, if you throw out the 7/2015 sale). I suspect during that 18 month period, there were thousands of 996s sold across the US. So, although that data does show a minor downward trend, I'd just point out that it is a short time period and very small sample size relative to the 18 years since the car was first sold new and the thousands of annual used 996 sales. But then again, I've got no hard data to support my case, just my observations, so you may very well be correct.
You are correct in that the chart certainly seems to substantiate declining values, but take away that July 2015 outlier and it's relatively flat. Also, that chart shows 49 sales over basically an 18 month period (again, if you throw out the 7/2015 sale). I suspect during that 18 month period, there were thousands of 996s sold across the US. So, although that data does show a minor downward trend, I'd just point out that it is a short time period and very small sample size relative to the 18 years since the car was first sold new and the thousands of annual used 996 sales. But then again, I've got no hard data to support my case, just my observations, so you may very well be correct.
There's no real viable way of knowing what the future holds for the 996. I'm sure we all want to optimistic, but in the end it's all speculation. Just like the guys who sold their air cooled before they took off, it wasn't really expected.
Who knows what people will crave in the next 5, 10, hell 15 years. People may want the "first of Porsche water cooled", or for their short run of different headlights.
Times change and things seem to die down, but then down the road, sometimes becomes popular again.
Like girls that wear those shorts that go up their *** crack past their waist. That's an old trend that's made it's way back...., maybe the 996 is like high waist booty eaters.
Ok guise, I already bought mine & don't plan to sell in the near future, so my interest here is purely curiousity
A few interesting notes from my perspective:
- 996 sample is good for BaT, though it's admittedly small relative to the broader market
- Look at all the 964s that didn't meet reserve! This gives me hope for the future
- 993 cabs are clustered near $30k
- 997s small sample size but also trending down whereas the trend for older cars 993/964 is sideways with lots of missed reserves
- Carrera market overall looks soft imo, with lots of supply of 997/996 models keeping the water-cooled cars from appreciating
I seriously doubt that 996 values will suddenly go up in the future. I'm ok with that.
They'll go up when I decide to sell mine. Which might be soon given that I'm super annoyed right now because of how annoying it is to change the spark plugs. I think AOS is going to be the nail in the coffin.
10-12-2017, 12:08 AM
