Glad to see you are making so many friends.....your other thread about catastrophe just got nipped in the bud.

 

This thread is moot! It doesn't matter if the car is worth $10 or $10million! It only matters if you're going to sell! It's like saying your house that you bought for $500k is only worth $450k now. What difference does it make unless you're selling RIGHT NOW?! It could be worth $550k, but again, who cares unless you're selling RIGHT NOW.

KK is by himself driving down the value of these cars. I for one am waiting for him to upgrade to a GT3 or TT so he can start bugging those guys instead. :P

 

The prices were not this low two years ago. In mid 2012 the dealer asking price on my 03 C4S started at $37K. They dropped it to $35K, I was patient and waited then got it for $31K which is no where near the mid $20's. The dealer had more invested in the car.

I got lucky and got one of the good engines (so far) but should have spent a little more for a TT as Cannon suggested.

It was only recently that I noticed a rapid decline. KBB retail for mine is now $39K, which is fantasy land. Porsche Dealers are only going to give you BB not KBB.

 

A buddy of mine paid $27K for a 02 C4S with 77K miles in summer of 2011. Low for sure but not unheard of. Median price back then was $31 for a car like that.

Can't help you if you bought at a dealer and then find this sites like this with deals to make you feel like you overpaid by buying from a dealer. They have to eat too.

 

Bought mine almost four years ago for the mid $20s. If anything prices seem to have remained constant. Sure there are high and low outliers but just like the old rule about ANY older used 911 being a $20k car - I think it still applies with a 996.

 

I paid $22K for a 108K mile 4S with 45K on the motor and full maintenance records.

The one upside is that there were far fewer 4S coupes made compared to narrow body coupes. There's about the same number of turbo coupes as 4s coupes.

996 Carrera Cpe(300/320)- 37756
996 Carrera Cab(300/320)- 31122
996 Carrera 4 Cpe(300/320)- 25286
996 Carrera 4 Cab(300/320)- 18822
996 C4S Cpe-17298
996 C4S Cab-5757
996 Targa- 2693

 

You guys need to stop buying new Porsches, the prices will drop pretty quick.

As for falling prices, they are simply continuing to depreciate, I wouldn't read anything into it beyond that. They'll level out eventually - like all cars.

 

The 996 isn't yet collectible. One reason is due to the sheer volume of 996s that were imported as lease vehicles. If you want it to be worth something, be prepared to hold it until the herd is culled. Look at 914 values... now that the majority of them have either rusted away or met their end in a more flamboyant way, the price for a solid 914 is through the roof.

I bought my 996 precisely because it cost me less than a loaded Camry would have, and I didn't want to hate myself just a little bit more every day for driving some sh!tbox to work. So now I pick between my '96 Corvette (which has 24K miles on it) or my '99 C4 (which now has 52K miles on it), depending on whether I'm in a Van Halen or Falco kind of mood. Either way, I get to ride to work in a car that's still cooler, faster, and in better shape than 95% of the other cars on the road.

If I manage to keep my 996 in great shape for 15 years, that's awesome for me. If it finishes life backwards in a ditch on fire, that's still awesome for me, and your car will have just appreciated a bit more.

 

Halik, Sounds like you got a good deal on that one. Is the body and interior in good shape? I also paid 22k fo mine not quite 2 years ago but it was a 2001 with 62k miles also in exc cond with records. Its been a great car.

 

I paid $30,250 for mine last year - really high for a '99. However, it only had 45K miles, and easily had $15K worth of GOOD upgrades (aero, suspension, exhaust, wheels & tires).

 

The paint isn't great - I'm having it redone due some asshat keying it. Interior and mechanically mint, car has ~$22K in maintenance records. The car is from porsche exclusive program - leather airbag, wood steering wheel/shifter/handbrake, factory painted console etc; very happy with the options.

 

You seem to continually confuse retail prices, trade-in values, and wholesale values. You are also comparing apples (C4S) and oranges (996 coupe).

 

You are giving KK waaaaaay too much credit!

 

I agree with the idea that the car is worth what you can get for it when you sell it. Forums are always the same. There are a handful of folks that got an amazing deal (or claim they did... I mean who really knows on a forum anyway) and of course post. That gets taken as an indicator of what "market" absolutely is, but in reality 5 people who may or may not have gotten the deal of a lifetime doesnt reflect the reality of thousands of cars.

All I know is that a couple of months back when I was considering unloading my car (02 996) I was offered $25k on *dealer trade-in*. Thats pretty good for a 10 year old car with a reputation as bad as the 996's has (unfairly) been.

Sure there are people that bought a factory new 03 C4S 4 years ago for $20k and Im sure someone will say they bought a low mile turbo just now for $19k, but to me, if I can get $25k on a dealer trade then the valuations are pretty decent.

Some people (especially these days) give things away because they are desperate for money and so outlier deals can happen. There arent an infinite number of those folks though. Also, accident history is *huge* or some buyers (me), but *many* choose to either ignore it or just don't see it (or they don't talk about it)

Every "amazing deal" car I've ever checked out (Porsche, NSX, GTR, Ferrari, on and on) had accident damage. For me that made them non-starters. For others those cars *were* a great deal and I'm sure they ended up with happy owners. I doubt any of those people (if they even were aware) ever posted "got a GREAT deal on a car that only had MINOR accident damage!"

Point is you never really know... It *is* possible that they lawsuit will have impact on 996 pricing, IMO, and if it does it would likely be in the short term, but it would take gathering a lot of *real* market data (meaning surveying *hundreds* of sales and knowing the real condition of the cars) over months to accurately gauge it. And no one does that. So the rest is hearsay.

 

Cmon SP, your so dramatic. It was a legit question. I think you enjoy this.