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As part of my education I wanted to get a sanity check on this car. It's the 325hp 3.6 997.1, 6 sp - its in the colors I prefer but the mileage is little high @ 68k - I suspect a new clutch will be needed soon. Price as if there were no error codes and a kosher over rev and PPI report.
Thanks everyone.
PS - can anyone that has a working VIN link get this to work and post in the thread ? I have Firefox, cleared cookies and tried IE but still can't get it to work. TIA
OK, I see the Ask price of $35k. To me it looks like a really nice car for the mileage. Don’t sweat that it’s a base Carrera - it’s got all the power you need. ‘Sides, if you really have to have more power if you buy it right you should be able to trade up later with neglible pain. Here’s two things I found helpful in my hunt: 1) 2017-2018 Buyer’s Guide from Excellence Magazine, and 2) PCA “Test Drive” 6 month membership that gives contact access to member ads.
Last edited by swingwing; 04-27-2018 at 10:55 AM.
Reason: Changed wording.
if you buy it right you should be able to trade up later with neglible pain.
Several people in Rennlist and the market appears very soft for red interiors, I've seen several cars with red full leather interiors 4 months + for sale. This is a consideration for upgrading and resell later even if unplanned.
The guys at RAC tell me white cars with normal colors sell in hours and that a lot of buyers don't like silver. I guess I am old fashioned.
I agree in a principle except when looking at Swingwing's 997.2 with only 32k miles bought for $42 - this car doesn't merit that price IMHO unless that's the 'all in price'
30,000 extra miles @2500 per ($7500), better engine, more like a 2008 S in specs (hp, brakes, etc) that's got to be worth $5-7k - so reversing down from Swingwing - this car should be at $28-30k which is what they probably paid at auction. Motor Trend states the same. (2007 so close enough)
With a little discount, a new clutch at sellers expense, and reducing these insanely excessive document fees of $699 (apparently a Florida grift) - the all in should be $35k. All based on a successful over rev report and PPI.
As someone guilty of running an excel spreadsheet with average miles, sales prices, days listed ect, let me tell you that ultimately while that data is helpful in recognizing value in the market, ultimately the decision to buy needs to be significantly emotional. If you get that feeling when you see the car that this is what you want to drive, you need to be reasonably willing to throw caution to the wind because the market can change in a hurry, and by the time you find something that close to what you want again, the winds may have shifted. This happened to me years ago on a 944. I always wanted a 944, they were dirt cheap, I didn't have a lot of excess money at the time, and I passed on a beautiful 944 S2. By the time I got back to looking a couple years later under 100k mi 944S2 were going for double the one I passed on!
This actually led me to discover how much the market had bottomed out on 997s. So I started bidding on an 06' 997 on Bring a Trailer earlier this year and let it go for a couple thousand more than my "gut" budget (pre-research), and just a few hundred more than a last minute bid I almost placed. It wasn't the perfect car for me, but I have taken several longer car trips since and I know I would have learned more about the cars by having one and enjoying it than making spreadsheets about it. Such is life!
Last thing I will say is I am personally done with this attitude of buying a car based on what the next guy will pay for it, sure we all dream of at least breaking even on our purchase costs, but ultimately it is a hobby and those cost money. People don't have any problem throwing big dollars down on golf and other hobbies with no residual value at all. So try and remember the joy of what you are looking to buy. If we were all a little less afraid to buy what WE are going to enjoy the car world would be a little more interesting.
I'd say if you like that color combo, make them an offer contingent upon PPI results. Looks really nice. Start negotiation with the potential for short-term maintenance in mind, as you say. Clutch may or may not be needed soon. I'd make all offers "out the door". As someone said above, that's all that matters. If they wish to account for $699 dealer fee or whatever on the paperwork, fine, as long as the net price is favorable in your view.
As an aside, looks like that car has been for sale for about a month - not exactly flying out the door. I find that a little odd for a manual coupe with those miles with $35K starting point. Doesn't necessarily mean anything, but could be others have passed on it for one reason or another. This is where you have to balance doing your homework to the extent possible (PPI) while not hesitating unnecessarily - that is, if you're serious about the car.
When you see an S version on the street would you wish you'd waited to buy one rather than a non-S? In my case, I knew I'd wind up looking for an S - so I waited until I found one. But I do really like the red/silver combination.
Last edited by sailorlite; 04-28-2018 at 12:20 AM.
Sailor - maybe post purchase regret with the S but I would be OK with a .2 and 345 and the rock solid engine rep.
I am going to pay for an over rev report and based on that being acceptable get the PPI. I will have a set all in price with the dealer when I go to negotiate.
As someone guilty of running an excel spreadsheet with average miles, sales prices, days listed ect, let me tell you that ultimately while that data is helpful in recognizing value in the market, ultimately the decision to buy needs to be significantly emotional. If you get that feeling when you see the car that this is what you want to drive, you need to be reasonably willing to throw caution to the wind because the market can change in a hurry, and by the time you find something that close to what you want again, the winds may have shifted. This happened to me years ago on a 944. I always wanted a 944, they were dirt cheap, I didn't have a lot of excess money at the time, and I passed on a beautiful 944 S2. By the time I got back to looking a couple years later under 100k mi 944S2 were going for double the one I passed on!
This actually led me to discover how much the market had bottomed out on 997s. So I started bidding on an 06' 997 on Bring a Trailer earlier this year and let it go for a couple thousand more than my "gut" budget (pre-research), and just a few hundred more than a last minute bid I almost placed. It wasn't the perfect car for me, but I have taken several longer car trips since and I know I would have learned more about the cars by having one and enjoying it than making spreadsheets about it. Such is life!
Last thing I will say is I am personally done with this attitude of buying a car based on what the next guy will pay for it, sure we all dream of at least breaking even on our purchase costs, but ultimately it is a hobby and those cost money. People don't have any problem throwing big dollars down on golf and other hobbies with no residual value at all. So try and remember the joy of what you are looking to buy. If we were all a little less afraid to buy what WE are going to enjoy the car world would be a little more interesting.
This forum is littered with people who seem to make full time work out of analyzing pricing of these cars. For some they never seem to get cheap enough and they just keep dreaming and driving their old bimmer or whatever is in the garage. Same issue discussed in this current thread and countless others in the past: https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...ta-is-10k.html
To each their own but I just can't think that way. Life is short and full of unexpected events. With that in mind I'll gladly pay reasonable market price for a clean car I really want rather than spending months on end depriving myself of the excitement of owning that car, creating spread sheets and other statistics hoping to save $1,500.
Just guessing, but I think it's the thrill of the chase and/or participating in a community virtually on the 'net via forums.
I get the engineer-analisys mentality and analyse the crap out or everything myself, but it seems like recently a lot folks who would like to own a 997 or other can't justify, may be stretching or just don't want the dream to end.
Read, learn and balance your wants / needs with your budget. It's only a car.
Originally Posted by sandwedge
This forum is littered with people who seem to make full time work out of analyzing pricing of these cars. For some they never seem to get cheap enough and they just keep dreaming and driving their old bimmer or whatever is in the garage. Same issue discussed in this current thread and countless others in the past: https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...ta-is-10k.html
To each their own but I just can't think that way. Life is short and full of unexpected events. With that in mind I'll gladly pay reasonable market price for a clean car I really want rather than spending months on end depriving myself of the excitement of owning that car, creating spread sheets and other statistics hoping to save $1,500.