Less

 

I had an IS300 with a 2jz gte swapped into it with a single, and was on MY.IS and the prices of them started dropping below the 10K point and all hell broke loose on the forums. Now, the difference is that these cars are still relatively expensive for what they are.

I will say though, that the culture improves as more people buy the price falling cars and join the forum and get creative. It is kind of cool to witness but you want to be gone when the dust settles lol.

 

Went to the Manheim dealer auction Wednesday to buy something to play with then sell. 1998 Boxster, white over black, 5 speed, 41,000 miles, above average condition but nothing special about the car other than the low miles. Not a lot of curb appeal. Priced out at $8,850 on the Manheim price guide. Actually sold for $10,600. The dealers are loading up their lots right now getting ready for tax refund season. The seasonal price fluctuations of the used car market will increase prices (slightly, don't get too excited) starting in mid-February and lasting til early May. So, if you're thinking about selling, the next 3 months are your best time of the year.
BTW, I passed on it. Bought a high mileage 2006 Saab 9-7x (re-badged Chevy Trailblazer), top of the line model with every option including DVD player, in above average condition (3.7 on Manheim's 5.0 condition report scale) for $2,900. It's almost baseball season, so needed something to haul my 14 yr old son's baseball team around in. Plus need something for him to drive this fall when he gets his license. You guys gave me such a ration of s*** a few months ago when I asked for opinions on handing down my 142k+ miles 99 C4 to him and upgrading myself to a 996TT - see what you made me do?

 

Huh?!?

 

Basically he had a Lexus IS300 car model that he swapped a Toyota Supra motor into in which he converted the twin sequential turbos into a single turbo setup. Mad JDM yo!

 

I guess i could have explained that better lol.

I bought my IS300 when prices where high and no one modified them, and owned it for long enough to see prices fall and people dig really deep into them. It was neat to see all the cool stuff people did with them. However I did witness a flood of ricers take over and start modifying them in bad ways as well. Hopefully they dont become the next e30 or civic in another 5-10 years.

 

Been there, seen that, but in the B5 Audi S4 world (the old twin turbo ones). Prices dropped to the point where any flat-brimmed, tight pant douche rag could afford one, and they would subsequently slam it to the ground on wheels that don't fit and then compliment that with a bunch of Chinese-made "performance" parts off of Ebay.

On a high note, because of this the price of a nice, unmolested B5 has started to go up.

I predict something slightly similar to this will happen with 996s, but all the infamous m96 issues will actually work in its favor when it comes to this because it will keep people away who would rather spend their money on things besides maintenance.

 

I bought my 2002 a year ago for $27,500 w/62k miles. 4 years from now with 100k miles on her I'd be very happy to get half that. Around $13k. But I'm in it for the long haul so it doesn't matter.

 

^ For $13k Ill take it off your hands.

 

In 4 years?

 

Ha. Reading owns me. I blame the newborn at home for my poor reading abilities.

 

As mentioned earlier, the combination of internet hype and Porsche in denial about IMS defect sent values plummeting downward. And rightfully so. However, now that the IMS has a fix thanks to LN Engineering's maintenance fix and Vertex's permanent fix, there's no reason why 996 values won't begin to move upward and stabilize with its other 911 brethren. Outside of that very serious issue (RMS is not deadly), there's no reason why 996 values won't rebound.
One thing to always remember, its a 911.
Cheers.

 

I suspect that many Rennlisters underestimate the impact that the basic laws of supply and demand have had on 996 values. History shows that an easier to drive and live with sports car, combined with favorable lease and loan rates, created a tremendous bubble of productivity and sales, saving Porsche from potential bankruptcy or purchase by Mercedes or any of the other car companies hovering like buzzards in the early to mid-90s.

The Facts and the Math:
Porsche produced 68,000 or so 993 models of all types between 1995 and 1998. From 1998 to 2004 Porsche produced around 175,000 996 models of all types. Yes, there are a few more years of 996 production, but sales averaged 17K/year for the 993, and 29K/year for the 996. That is nearly a 70% increase in sales.

Simply put, there are a whole lot of 996s available for sale. So, in addition to the possible (and unquantifiable) impact that repair problems and any lack of cache may have had on the 996, simple supply and demand tells us that values will be less.

 

Pretty much nailed it with that one.

 

Ha! I thought I recognized you...I was on the B5 S4 forums (fora?) on AZ for a long time (screen name audimeister) and built an RS4'd/Cayenne braked/coilovered monster. God, how I miss that torque. But, the handling of the 996 is soooo much better. Maybe I need a tt/Gt2 conversion...

I always buy cars and motorcycles a gen or two old and fully depreciated. I pick premium euro stuff (mostly Porsche, Ducati, etc) and do a rolling restoration/upgrade program for a few years. In most cases, I have come out ahead or breaking even, even accounting for the upgrades (or the really valuable stuff that is easily removed gets sold separately.)

I pay cash, so no real interest drain or depreciation occurs. I believe that the 996 is fully depreciated. I bought my aero (one owner, 130k fully documented dealer maintained and inspected miles) for $15k a year and a half ago. That's a lot of car for the money.

Scarcity is one factor driving resale value relative to other Porsches. Obviously the M96 horror stories and rebuild expense will keep downward pressure on values. It's why '80s Testarossas and Audi RS6s can be bought for reasonable money: the owner is dependent on dealers (or expensive specialists) for frequent and dizzyingly expensive maintenance. The good news is that Porsche built piles and piles of Boxsters and 997s that share 80%+ of their hard parts with our cars, ensuring a near endless supply of good used spares in our interwebz-enabled world. It also means that DIYers can take advantage of all the R&D that went into the platform for the 15 years (give or take) that it was in production, and build a Mr. Potatohead car with exactly the features and performance they want.

Boxsters will provide a backstop to 996 values. No matter what the books say, a solid Boxster (any year) will always find a buyer at $10k. They're just too f'ing good of a car at that price for someone not to buy it.

So, I love 993s (when I see RS Clubsports, I feel funny in my pants) but may never own one because I don't think they are a good value. Does that mean that good 996 values won't level out for a while and even tick up in the next few years? I think that casual owners of 996s will scrap them when presented with repair bills (for collision or mechanical damage) that could equal the value of the car. This means scarcity will go up, as will a steady supply of parts.

Look at the '74-'77 911's: styling condemned when they came out, horrible magnesium engine case problems, catalytic converters and air pumps that strangled and destroyed engines, tensioner failures, etc. Many were raced, crashed, scrapped. Now even those values are going up.

Same thing will happen here.