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I'm leaning towards the basalt 997.2, but I noticed on the build sheet it has the p77 manual seats. The dealer listing says it has power seats and driver memory, but that's wrong according to the build sheet. My job requires us to valet every day, so I think I'd go insane with someone messing with my manual seat every day. Anyone know a company that sells OEM power seats? I haven't had much luck finding any.
Comfort versions are in the Marketplace here often if you're looking for black, but you don't want those. You want the adaptive sport seats and they come in full power with pneumatic side bolster adjustments and in manual versions where fore/aft and up/down are manual, but recline is power. I have the full power ones. LA Dismantlers sometimes has a pair, but they'll run you about $4k for the pair. The manual ones are worth about $1,600-$2,000 per pair. Comfort seats are $800-$1,000 per pair.
Hard to tell from the pics on that 997.2, but it lists memory seats. I would not sleep on that car, a one owner car is very desirable and now everyone on here has seen it!
Hard to tell from the pics on that 997.2, but it lists memory seats. I would not sleep on that car, a one owner car is very desirable and now everyone on here has seen it!
Ah good point. I deleted the link from the first post.
Build sheet seems to contradict the dealer's post. Memory seat is pretty important to me, so I think I'll wait a little longer to see if anything else surfaces.
Probably get stoned for saying this but have you considered a 981 Cayman S? Unless you need a back seat, they make a GREAT first Porsche and, honestly, the driving experience feels more like a sports car.
Ah good point. I deleted the link from the first post.
Build sheet seems to contradict the dealer's post. Memory seat is pretty important to me, so I think I'll wait a little longer to see if anything else surfaces.
I didn't get a chance to look at the link this morning as I was flying. Send it to me via PM or by email to petza914@gmail.com and I'll take a look to see what I see. Don't worry, I'm not in the market for another 997.
I will +1 on the 997.2 S.... The 991 cars are great too, but it is true about the low torque in the base 991 3.4 that makes 350 hp. Loves to rev and quick going full throttle 5000-7500rpm... But that is the rub. if you want the car to feel quick you gotta keep at full boil. The 997.2 S has much more usable torque for city driving and that torque makes it more enjoyable just cruising around town and at lower rpm. You don't have to be that annoying high revving driver to enjoy a good sense of speed.
Drive all 3 and then come back and ask us for advice. I suspect you will be in a position to make a decision without the Peanut Gallery. All great choices, just depends on what you want.
Welcome! Whatever choice you make your only regret will not be making it years ago.
That being said, since you are on the 997 forum you should expect to know my answer: 997.2 C2S all day long man! Finding a good example 997.2 is also going to depreciate far less than a 991.1 in my opinion.
My biggest question is where on earth are you finding low mile 997.2 C2S's for $45-50k...??? It's a stretch to even find a low mile C2 for that. Most .2 C2S I see with <45k miles are listed at for high 50s, low 60s.
He did find one though - under $51k with low 40s mileage - good for you OP. I'd jump on it. Put down a deposit pending a PPI so you don't lose it.
Looking further at the photos, I think all S cars came with Memory Seats - but maybe I'm wrong about that. The seats in the pictures are definitely Adaptive Sport Seats, but what's unclear is whether they're the adaptive sport PLUS versions that are full power or the Adaptive Sport Manual versions where only the recline function is power.
Here's some empirical data. Unless a PO actually swapped the seats in the car, it's very hard to find the manual versions of those seats with the leather seating surfaces, and not alcantara in that area, which is how most GT3 were done and those are manual versions to save the weight. The full leather manual ones are easier to find if you source them from a 987 Boxster or Cayman rather than a 911. That's where I got the pair that's in my 928 and the one I use as an office chair. But here's the thing - those seats in the pictures have the red deviated stitching which matches the steering wheel, dash, door handles, etc so extremely likely they are the original seats from the car, and if my first statement is correct about all S cars having memory seats standard, then I'd say you have a better than 90% chance that the seats are the expensive full power Adaptive Sport Seat plus versions and not manual versions (it is a little odd to me that the stitching on the PCM side panels is standard grey though and not red also). In my 6 years on here, I've only seen leather adaptive sport seats with red deviated stitching come up for sale twice - one pair was from a guy that was selling his complete black leather with red stitching interior and the other pair were some that didn't start out that way and someone tried to color the non-red stitching red, and it pretty much turned out pink - they were for sale forever and very cheap for sport seats.
Anyway, if you get the dealership to send you a photo of the driver's side door, that's where the memory buttons would be (black button at the bottom of the driver's side door speaker).
Adaptive Sport Seat Plus versions have the buttons shown on these seats. The two on the very front are the pneumatic side bolster adjustments (bottom on for the seating surface and top one for the backrest portion). Then you have the buttons that are shaped like the seat - horizontal one does fore/aft, and front and rear height, with the angled vertical one doing the recline. Then the round one is the lumbar support for the backrest. With memory seats, all of the setting for all of these switches are remembered.
If they're the non-power versions, they look like this. The power recline swtich is the same. The large silver lever handle is what lifts the rear of the seat to change the height / angle, and fore / aft is done by the release handle in the front next to the top of the fire extinguisher.
For regular use, these versions of the Adaptive Seats are the best Porsche seats - the carbon buckets are better for track days but not as comfortable or adjustable. The shoulder supports that stick out the sides of the back are the best part and they sit deeper than the standard or comfort seats too. I sit in one for hours at a time at my desk. Even hooked up a 12v alarm back-up battery so the power recline works
I ran a carfax report on my favorite option and it had reported damage that was not the result of a reported accident (with some explanatory note about how not all damage is caused by accidents, whatever that means). I'm thinking they must have hit something stationary. I've asked the dealer for more info. But it makes me nervous. Is it ever ok to buy a car with reported damage? Is there an increased chance of mechanical issues from the impact that may not be apparent in a PPI?
A thorough PPI should find anything that might be an issue, but that means paint meter, looking for overspray, maybe checking alignment and if it's off trying to bring it into spec to verify that's possible and something isn't bent. I wonder if that category could also apply to water damage from flooding, which in my opinion is worse than a minor accident when it comes to future problems. I wouldn't disqualify the right car from light accident damage - it just needed to be fixed correctly. That might help account for the slightly lower price though.
More often than not the issue is less so about the damage itself than it is about the resale whenever you go to sell the car. Porsche buyers tend to be a persnickety bunch.
A thorough PPI should find anything that might be an issue, but that means paint meter, looking for overspray, maybe checking alignment and if it's off trying to bring it into spec to verify that's possible and something isn't bent. I wonder if that category could also apply to water damage from flooding, which in my opinion is worse than a minor accident when it comes to future problems. I wouldn't disqualify the right car from light accident damage - it just needed to be fixed correctly. That might help account for the slightly lower price though.
Good point; I will be sure to look for those things.
And I'm not sure they are baking that into the price. I've found quite a few c2s models at that price point (around 50k) with clean carfax reports. Here's one for $48k that I'm not considering, so I'll share the link. LINK
edit:
And here are two more links (though one has more miles at 50k, but the asking starts at $45k, so negotiated price would be even lower) LINK2 LINK3
A thorough PPI should find anything that might be an issue, but that means paint meter, looking for overspray, maybe checking alignment and if it's off trying to bring it into spec to verify that's possible and something isn't bent. I wonder if that category could also apply to water damage from flooding, which in my opinion is worse than a minor accident when it comes to future problems. I wouldn't disqualify the right car from light accident damage - it just needed to be fixed correctly. That might help account for the slightly lower price though.
That category does not apply to flooding. Typically if something catastrophic happened it will also be explicitly written in the notes. Worst case scenario for that type of damage is something like a tree falling on it, but it will almost always say so in the notes. It was almost certainly something minor that the owner chose to go through insurance for, which is why the carfax was generated.
11-15-2018, 01:26 PM
