Hello,
I am a new member and have been reading and learning about 996 and 996 turbo. Long time ago a had a pristine 1988 944s. It was an excellent handling car. Last 15 years I have owned several BMW's. They are great daily driver cars but I want a Porsche as a weekend car. I found a clean low mileage 2003 targa. I test drove it and I was impressed with the acceleration and handling. After getting opinions from the forum members I decided not pursue the targa. Now am looking at a 2004 turbo 3 owner car with 25K miles. Dealer is asking $53.9K. It has full carbon interior, heated seats, navigation, clear bra, cd changer, Bose and other stuff. As far as I know it's all stock except K&N air filter. I didn't see the car yet since it's couple of states from me. What do you think is a good price to offer contingent that I like the car and it passes PPI? Price range for lower mileage cars seems to range from near $50K to $65K.

 

Every car is different, but assuming great condition, upper 40s would be reasonable. Also, lose the K&N. The stock airbox is more efficient and you won't risk fouling the MAF by over oiling the filter.

 

If I was to sell my '04 Cab I'd need at least $56K for my 22.8K mile example. Looks and smells new, not driven in rain or parked in the sun, all books, new tires, nice options, no stories. (for reference only)

An '05 Turbo S cab, 33k miles, CPO sold at the dealer here Saturday for $67K

A couple of tips from a Porsche sales pro in the family that have helped me.

1. Find a car you like everything about
2. Have a walk around inspection by the sales person or friend,
make sure books and service records are there, tools jack, spare
3. Ask lots of questions, get close up pics of areas in question
4. Get the car on a lift, have it looked at underneath, ask questions
5. If all good to this point, arrange a thorough PPI, pay $175-$300
6. If it passes, fly out and drive the car, inspect it closely, make sure you love it
7. Negotiate price

Too many people want to know what they should pay for a car they may not even like and don't really know the condition of. Get everything else out of the way first before price is even brought up. Become an informed buyer so you will have an idea what a fair price is before looking at certain cars.

Finally, the top tier cars will command a premium, average nice daily drivers will reflect book prices, the bargain priced examples are for bottom fishers.

Good Luck

 

Based on the fact that they only made 298 turbo coupes in 2004 they are more on the rare side. I don't know how much value, if any this adds. I paid more than the asking price you mention above for my 2004 back in April of this year with 25K miles. They dealer was asking $65k, I paid far less. My car had an original MSRP of $165K and has the X50 and PCCB's (some like, many don't). Basically the same as a 2005 Turbo "S". My car also came with a 24 month CPO warranty from Porsche which was worth a lot to me personally. I would say if the car is a desirable color combo and very clean it would be reasonable to pay high $40's with a very solid PPI. You are in a stronger negotiating position because the selling season is winding down so keep that in mind.

 

Just another point of reference... 18 months ago, I paid $53K for a 2004 cab (not X50) with a full Porsche CPO. KBB at the time was $62K. NADA and Excellence were at $58K. NADA Wholesale was $49K.

If it is at a dealer, you have better negotiating leverage (IMO). Dealers are not emotionally attached to the cars. They just want to make a buck. You can just about bank that the max the dealer has in the car is NADA wholesale. Negotiate based on that.

The longer the car is in stock, the more they will be willing to come down to get the inventory turn. In my case I watched it online for about 3 weeks. I waited for them to drop the on-line price, which was an indicator they wanted to get rid of it. Then went in for a test drive and negotiations.

My target was $52K, but I had to go to $53K to get the CPO.

Good luck.

 

Excellence magazine who takes what buyers actually paid provided this range:
Low $37,600
High $50,300
Just a reference.
http://www.excellence-mag.com/

 

I just bought an '04 and I paid $51,500 plus shipping. I had been looking for about 6 months prior, so I felt comfortable with what I paid. I felt it was worth a few extra thousand to buy a one owner, low mileage (28,000) car.

I think the Excellence magazine is a good guideline, but I have yet to see anyone who paid anywhere near the low end amount for a well taken care of 2004tt. As stated, I have seen dealers asking in the mid $60's for these cars.

 

Thanks for the response. Today I talked with the dealers used car manager and he described the car in detail as much as he knew. He stated that car was traded in for an Aston Martin. I decided to offer him $50K and trade in my BMW. He will get back with me tomorrow. I think I asked too much for my car but see what happens. If he comes close I would be willing to drive out and test drive the car.