5CHN3LL

Actually, the practice of spending more money upgrading your car than it was worth when you bought it is very common except to brands where the owners are not known as DIYers/motorheads/(your favorite expression here).

People love to throw the "ricer" label around, but you just have to appreciate the $$ that went into the build when you see a 1200HP Supra going down the drag strip... or an American V8 with a foot-high stack of blower and air scoop sticking out out the hood. I put at least $10K into my Hyundai Tiburon, and one of the guys I wrenched with back then had nearly $40K, with a built block, supercharged, meth-injected, monster that ate V8s at the drag strip all night long.

People accustomed to buying new cars are unaccustomed to spending money on their cars, and for many people, the desire to get into a 911 means buying a car that's gone through a couple of owners.

I bought my 911, in part, because every installed upgrade was the best possible quality, the previous owner had plowed at least $20K into the car, and there's nothing about the car I want to change because it's EXACTLY what I hoped to find. Had that not been the case, I'd be dumping money into it...and if replacement motors were cheaper, I'd also be busy strapping a blower to it for $$$...

Imo000

You still have the Tiburon?

NineEreven

Or... you spend money on your car because it brings you joy and excitement as a hobby and you couldn't give two turds what the car is worth before or after your done modding it.

alpine003

+996

The true enthusiasts don't care. Same reason why guys mod Tiburons, Hondas, and such for BMW or Porsche money. At the end of the day people may see it as just another Hyundai or Honda and those are the people that will never "get it ".

tks12

that was my point when I said people have too love their car to drop that kind of money into one that isn't worth that, to me, this car is just my wives extra daily driver,
it is not one we would dump a bunch of cash over what it is worth and hope it doesn't get totaled out next week by some idiot texting and driving,
now if it were a turbo 996 or a car she knew she wanted to keep forever, that is a whole different story.... but her cars get miles so she usually trades them around every couple years. (100 miles a day and several trips out of state each year adds the miles up quickly)

building hopped up cars and bikes literally my entire life, I know exactly what one means by dumping more money into a car than it is worth because you love it

Flat6 Innovations

Again,
Its hard to find a car this good for only the amount of money that it costs to repair the engine. I hear that daily.

V8Boxster

Just wanted to post my experience selling a core to Flat6 Innovations. Last week I sent an e-mail asking him about buying my engine. This week I have a cheque and am depositing it.

Fast 'n painless. Thank you!

wucash

If that's all you care about I would have had shipped your core at my cost and Fedex you $100 in unmarked $5 bills next day by 8am. How much was the cheque for?

mklein9

If your use of cars is to buy and sell them, you should look at them by their market value. The primary cost will be depreciation and the cost of the transactions. A prior post showed that a 2003 with 80k miles depreciated by $50k, or $0.60/mile or $5k/year. Add in maintenance of $10k if you're (very) fortunate and the cost is $0.73/mile. A 997 will not have depreciation that high, and maybe we can say the cost is $0.50 - $0.60/mile.

If your use is to drive them, you should instead look at the cost of the "service" they provide (driving utility + enjoyment). Here there are more options. If you get one where price is 30-35% of MSRP then depreciation has slowed a lot, and the primary cost is maintenance. My guideline is around $0.30 - $0.40/mile without any unusual expenses, out of warranty, and into "mid-life" where clutch, water pump, etc., are normally occurring costs at appropriate intervals. Now, say the engine blows up and a rebuild is $20k (as a round number). If you count on keeping it for 100k miles that adds $0.20/mile, which puts it right in the 997 cost/mile range. But the 997 has most of the weak points of the M96 engine that the rebuild largely eliminates. So for roughly the same price you get (if you get a Raby reconstruction) similar or greater power as the 997 and much better reliability for the long run for the same per-mile cost as a 997. Hmm, same cost, possibly better performance, long life.... And maybe there's even a sales price bonus later, who knows.

This is also why I'm about to do a $1k timing belt/water pump replacement on a Honda with 210k miles worth approximately zero. That car has cost, over the last 80k miles, about $0.05/mile in maintenance.

Gonzo911

I didn't know there would be math on this quiz!

Maybe I should have paid more attention to my Econ classes, but I would still cut my losses and "upgrade" to the newer car. The difference in retail value between the 996 and 997 alone makes more sense to me.

tks12

I'm with you on this one, the first time someone drops 10 20k into their car and it gets totaled out and they get a check for nada from the ins company, they are going to wish they had never lost that other 10k they just put in the engine.

they may have fixed our car, or found the issue I say may have lightly as intermittent as it was...

we looked at a 2011 997 Cab, the trade in offer on this 996 was, well, pretty dang low politely speaking, considering they would have it back on the lot fore 25k, so we are selling off two of our cars now, and might get the '11 if it is still there, when these both sell, if not it might be a sl, the wife still likes the 911 series but it will depend on what we get the best bang for the buck SL or 911 cab,,, I told her she could get a "everyday" type of car, BWHAHAHAAHAHAHA HAHAHAHA Not NOW! not after haveing a Porsche and a Mercedes, a GT (btw her other car is a 2011 GT convertible mustang loaded to the hilt)

Flat6 Innovations

That's happened a couple of times already.. Once on the track and once on the street that I know of.

In one case the car was sent to the scrap yard after the engine was removed and was then fitted to another car that had a broken engine. It's still on the road.

The other case found the car getting parted out and the engine sold for more money than the purchaser paid for it. He sold it to a customer of ours that didn't want to wait the amount of time that was required.

tks12

did you arrange that? or did they find each other on a forum?

Flat6 Innovations

eBay...

onewhippedpuppy

You can buy a nice 996 for $20k today, drive it for a few years, and likely sell it for nearly the same price assuming that you took care of it. You can buy a 997 for $40k today, drive it for a few years, and likely sell it for $30k. The 997 is still very much depreciating, the 996 is beginning to bottom out. Maintenance costs for each are very similar. All things being equal, you will lose less money on the 996.