MJones

Drive them and enjoy!

Steve in FL

docjackson: No need to explain Porsche depreciation in today's market to me. I bought a 2002 Boxster S that had a window sticker of $63K in October of 2001 and 18 months later I was told if I sold it for $41K I should be happy. Despite that unpleasant economics lesson I still ordered a GT3 but it did take some time to rationalize and the deferment of buying a larger house (my real estate misadventures are another story). Not because I expect it to be an investment or depreciate less but because to me it represents what a 911 should be - a car bred on the race track but civilized just enough to drive every day. I plan on enjoying my GT3 on both and parting with it in my will. Being on the south side of 40 I'm in no rush for the latter . If someone is buying a GT3 for some other reason, caveat emptor.

docjackson1

steve-i hear you. the gt3 will provide a high level of enjoyment for you, and i wish you many years of fun with the car. but, like your boxster s, those that wait a year (or less) to buy a gt3 will probably be greeted with a discount. for those who say "no way", think back to 2001-2002-did anyone even imagine that the 12 month wait for a tt would turn into today's market? how about all the people waiting to pay full msrp on boxsters when they came out? but i certainly can see why people get first in line to pay higher prices-there certainly is a price for exclusivity.

Steve in FL

docjackson: No argument that for most models waiting a while for the "trendy" buyers to get out of the market is the smart approach. Having been burned by PCNA when they went, in one week mind you, from telling dealers to gauge interest to "nevermind" on the original GT3 I think "get it while you can" is the key to my current order. Sure I'd have liked to get a few thousand off but I'm paranoid enough to think we may not get another Porsche like the GT3 here in the US. MSRP is a small delta to pay for the peace of mind of knowing my car is on order, and ordered just the way I want it.

docjackson1

steve, no one can argue with your reasoning. if we were all practical, we would drive small fords to work. as i said, there is a price to exclusivity-all of us have paid it, one way or the other. that is what you work for-enjoy your car.

docjackson1

has anyone leased a gt3? what were the terms?

Karl S

I didn't lease but my dealer tried to talk me into a balloon loan that operates similar to a lease. The terms were:

Interest rate: 5.49%
Length: 39 months
Monthly payment: ~$1900
Balloon payment/residual (39th payment): 51% of MSRP

At the end of the loan they give you 3 options: refinance the balance at the same interest rate, pay it off in one lump some, or hand them the keys and walk away.

They allowed 15K miles per year and had all the usual caveats about turning in the car in good condition. The difference between this and a lease is that you get the title on the car and can deduct the property tax, etc.

I didn't take it but the terms sound similar to what was reported yesterday.

Karl

docjackson1

not a great deal, huh karl?

Karl S

No, I didn't think so. The finance guy originally tried to entice me but saying that the interest would be tax deductible. When I pushed him on it, he came back saying that deal was only available for cars with an MSRP of less than $85K. Given this is a Porsche, Audi, Mercedes dealership where probably half the cars they sell have an MSRP above that number, you would think he would have know that.

Karl

Greg Fishman

I wouldn't trust banks to be able to forecast residuals with any accuracy. They are all over the place and for different reasons. A car like the GT3 might (in the banks eyes) be harder to sell than a Turbo and they want to insure they don't get one back that they have to sell. My bank is getting burned to the tune of $10-15K on a ML430 I am giving back to them. In the last few years I have rarely seen a lease/baloon deal that is a better option than buying a car outright. IMHO.

redcab

IF you're really confident of a high residual, the way to buy an expensive car like a GT3 or TT is with a home equity loan. The interest rate will be less than a lease, and the interest on the first $100K of principal is tax deductable (at least here in the USA). You decide your monthly payment based on steadily paying down the principal to the nth year residual. If you really believe in a high residual, this is the way to go, keeping your real money invested in real investments (not cars).

The flip side of this, is to lease a car that has an seemingly unnaturally high residual. The bank commits to buy the car back at that price and you get to make proportionally lower payments (assuming that the interest rate is market competitive). Then when the lease is up, you get to know you walked away from a car that has a market value much lower than what the bank has into it! (But don't cry for the bank too much, they were making money on your interest payments all along the way).

Several years ago I leased one of the early Lincoln Navigators with a 63% 3-yr residual. By the time I returned it, gas prices had doubled and they were selling for only 40% of the capitalized cost. Better out of the bank's pocket than mine!

docjackson1

redcab, i agree with you. if you are going to buy, buy a car with a high residual and use your home equity loan. if you can, keep away from cars with low residuals.

JasonAndreas

701 RS Americas were produced and you could drive one out of the showroom for as low as $49k.

docjackson1

if that's the case, the rs didn't have too much difficulty holding on to it's value, as there was not much value to start with.

PogueMoHone

Your information underscores my position.