On the contrary, I keep up with prices by looking at what local dealers are asking. You know they will usually get within 10% of asking (eventually). I bought my C2 Cab a little over 2 years ago for $28.5K. I could easily get that today by private sale. KBB is $23K.

And in my market, Porsches are as common as VW Beetles.

 

C4S routinely sell for well more than KBB. The same with taigas and the other more prominent 996s.

 

LMFAO! You guys are hilarious.

 

+1. The most intelligent comment so far.

 

And, the 996 is fun to work on so all the PM, MOF's, and CEF's do have a bright side.

 

So, I'm back. Did some statistics on C4S pricing (not sales but asking price) from several sites on the web, like cars dot com, autotrader, etc. I did not use any ebay data. I do not have any data about what this model actually sold for, but one could assume a certain percentage under the asking price. I collected 61 samples between MY 2002 and 2005. Some interesting info came out of this very limited data set. For all cars, average list price is as follows (MY / asking $ / % diff per yr):

MY 2002 $31,367
MY 2003 $33,043 5.3%
MY 2004 $34,134 3.3%
MY 2005 $37,616 10.2%

this part was very interesting, here is the average odo reading per model year:
Year / Avg. Miles
MY 2002 66,672
MY 2003 66,171
MY 2004 63,240
MY 2005 57,266
(not a big difference)

From odometer info, the following data falls out (odo reading / avg. ask price / % diff.):
ODO <40K $38,775
ODO <50K $35,911 -7.4%
ODO <60K $34,336 -4.4%
ODO <70K $33,395 -2.7%
ODO <80K $33,290 -0.3%
ODO <90K $30,505 -8.4%

Seems a manual transmission is slightly more desirable at 1% higher asking price.

The following graphs show the trend in asking price based on model year and by odo mileage (if you are a buyer, try to stay at or below the line!):

 

Great useful data representation!!

Certainly made me feel good about the '03 C4S w/ 49000 miles I bought in October for $32.5K

Sent from my iPhone using Rennlist

 

Wow that is freaking awesome! So you're looking at 15 cents a mile in depreciation

 

Purchased my '02 C4S 5 years ago for $32k with 33k miles. I just sold it with 60k miles for $34k.

Olga (my C4S) never gave me a single problem, not one! I changed my oil regularly and cared for it like a Porsche owner should.

If you're looking to flip a car 996's are HORRIBLE cars to do that with. But if you purchase a low miled C4S and take care of it not only will you have a lot of fun with it but you'll almost break even.

I'm now on the hunt for a 993 C4S...

Here's Olga, she will be missed...



Stop looking at KBB... That really only works for Honda Accords and more common cars. No one really stumbles on a 996 C4S, that buyer knows what he wants. If you take care of your car it will be worth market value or more. There is a trend of people that are now in their lower 30's that want the look of a Turbo but don't want to hassle of maintaining one. Personally, I don't like the Turbo rear spoiler and I prefer naturally aspirated cars.

I guess this is a long way of saying...

Buy a car with low miles, take care of it, and in the longer run it will pay off.

 

Except these cars are getting older than when you bought yours, and like your car, the miles have been put on the majority of them, making a low mileage car rare, and much more expensive. In fact from the data shown above, slightly under 15% have LESS than 40,000 miles on the odo, and they can be found, but expect to pay a healthy premium (all cars under 40K miles were priced at $39K). The average odo for ALL 996 C4S cars analyzed was 64.5K miles with an average price of $33,370. There is some anecdotal evidence that low mileage MKI and MKII cars may be more prone to IMSB issues. That said, the premium for a low mileage car, and the need to put in the IMSB upgrade as insurance, probably isn't worth it - since it will continue to depreciate as miles are put on. IMHO, find a car at a lower than average price with average or slightly higher miles (the graphs above show that it is certainly possible), put in the IMS bearing upgrade, maintain and drive it. In the end, the overall expenditure should be lower, as a low mileage and a high mileage car will probably require the same routine maintenance and costs simply due to age, yet the money is saved up front.

 

DaveCarrera4, that's an awesome analysis and I appreciate you taking the time out to provide the data. It definitely makes me feel a lot better.

Arin, Olga was a beauty. You and DaveCarrera4 reminded me of something I used to preach to buyers that would try to low ball me on cars I would sell basing their offer on kbb and not market value. I guess Porsche value is still all new to me, and I need to get in tune with it.

 

I have to wonder if Porsche population are a bit mental constantly worrying about miles, condition, pedigree and resale. Do they drive their cars at all?

So ridiculous to worry about resale on a 10 year old car, it's downright funny.

147k of hard driven miles and still getting so much fun out of it. The value proposition on this car is off the charts. Consider that most people will never feel the joy of automotive nirvana as this.

Cheers

 

Unless you want to buy an Enzo and not drive it, pretty much any car that you actually drive will be a depreciating asset. I love my C4S, but it's ultimately just a car.

 

wow 147k, great! Did you notice the one high mileage car over 160k on the chart? Awesome, I hope he tracked it and drove the hell out of it.

2003 Carrera 4S Speed Yellow / 1955 356 Continental 1500 Rust Red

 

It's really plain and simple. You can all thank KK for the values and the 550+ 996's in inventory across the US.