KrazyK

The pricing for the 1999-2004 996, CS, CS4, and Turbo is all over the place. The Porsche Dealer "True Price" is a joke. Can someone please give the correct place to look for auction prices, true trade-in, etc for these cars.

Please dont give me the "whatever someone will pay" answer.

awrryan

The pricing is all over the place because your looking at 5 model years and at almost all 996 models. Compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges. A '99 996 will obviously sell for less than an '04 turbo.

kromdom

+100 to above. In addition to sources you mentioned, I also checked this: http://www.excellence-mag.com/resour...ide/1041874889

LOCATION plays a big role in pricing (example: prices are generally much higher here in California).

SSST

Excellence and NADA are the most representative of true negotiated prices for cars recently sold.

sjfehr

They're all over the place because sales prices are all over the place! What you're seeing is the dynamics of supply and demand, which unfortunately happen to be quite random because it's more related to how patient the seller is and how selective the buyer is as opposed to actual supply/demand. You're going to have to simply get a price range in mind and then go from there.

My advice is if you're buying, arm yourself with documentation for whomever estimates them the cheapest. If you're selling, go with the highest reputable estimate. Then negotiate from there.


I've always thought excellence was way high- the sellers in there always seem to be overly optimistic about the value of their cars and sales prices reflect that. "Real world" sales prices are nowhere near that; you can go on autotrader and see that in an instant just by the asking prices.

Barn996

Those tools are used as an indicator of price or value and as such do vary, especially when looking at so many different years and models. Perhaps you are spending too much time trying to find the perfect price and the perfect Porsche.

Shark Attack

go to the nearest auction and pick up the lastest sale prices they publish these in a tri fold pamphlet... Look at ebay....

andys-944

The other thing to consider is options, the price of these cars varied hugely when new depending on spec.

rpm's S2

Options rarely add much value to a used car's price. If I recall correctly the dealer bible, Black Book, does not even list options other than sunroof/moonroof and transmission type. It is mostly miles and condition. This is a good reason to look for highly optioned cars, since they won't actually cost you much more.

Most of the online guides are bs, Kelly Blue Book in particular. And the 'trade-in value' they list is worthless. Dealers only care about wholesale value, which is usually a few hundred less than KBB's low trade-in number. Excellence value guides are instructive on trends. Porsche Market Letter is even better. Recent auction prices and Black Book are what dealers use.

The 996 value plunge seems to have mostly stabilized. Good condition, good mileage 996.2s have perhaps even gained just a bit, edging back toward $27-28k retail. Turbo prices on the other hand seem to be coming down after staying strong for quite a while. Perhaps used 997 turbo availability is affecting this.

Anyway, there is no exact answer. Porsche sports cars are rare enough that it is difficult to cross-shop between dealers and private sellers the way you could if you were looking for a Ford. Dealers are also willing to hang on to cars longer to get their money back, unlike most used cars that they just want to move. It is a bit of a seller's market out there in used car land, with supply far behind demand. But be patient and picky and eventually you will find what you want... but you need to figure out what you want.

LordVicious

Of course the prices are "all over the place", and thats a good thing! As these 996s age and begin to transition from driver's cars to collectibles the value of any individual vehicle will become far more dependent on that particular car's condition, options, location, etc. (notice I didn't say 'mileage'). What I think of as the 'base price' on these cars has dropped to around $15k-$17k. Now before you panic let me explain ... this is for a good, clean, straight, functional driver with wear and tear typical of a 10 to 13 year old car. A heavily optioned minty fresh showroom new example will sell for approximately twice that (keeping in mind that such a car would have sold for somewhere around $80k new.) Anything in the middle is, well, in the middle ... so your effective range is around $15k to $28k.

tnj100

Depends on your definition of Model vs. Options. If you think about the car in terms of it being a Porsche 911, there are some options that add a lot of value. Like the Turbo package, or 4WD, or a convertible top. If you take a narrower view on what a "model" is (i.e. 996 Turbo Convertible), then options like "CD Changer" don't do anything for value.

andys-944

I agree as far as guides go option don't make much of a differance. But when I was looking at cars I didn't even bother to look at cars which didn't match my list even if they were very appealing cost wis,. While I did consider equivalent cars costing much more which suited my preferance's.
So to answer what options mean I'm thinking things like color, leather interior things which are difficult to change after purchase.

kromdom

for me, OPTIONS played a big role in in the car I finally picked: full aero kit, nav, PSM, Bose, leather, 19-in rims, heated seats, PSM,, mufflers/intake done, etc.

rpm's S2

Actually the definition of options vs. model is very clear in the automotive world. Turbos, AWD, and cabriolets are clearly different models with separately listed values.

pecto3

Whenever I buy a car, I always look at dealerships, local publications, online sites like autotrader and cars.com and even Craigslist just to have a feel how much the market is asking for a particular car I want to buy. For me, I tend to buy just within my region. When I gather info on prices, I average it and set a price that I would be comfortable buying. Like most people here said, a 911 varies so much in models and prices with tens of thousands difference especially when they were new.