I found mine on Autotrader early this year, but I had spent quite a bit of time on Cars.com, CL and even Facebook up to that point. You don't always get the best sellers on FB, but it's worth a shot.

Value wise, I've seen stuff all over the place. The Penske-owned dealer near me has some 997s for sale at ludicrous prices. I ended up with a 19k mile 997.2 C2 6-speed, which I arguably overpaid for for slightly. Ultimately after a few months of searching, it was the only private party 997.2 6-speed I could find in my area. Factoring in no sales tax and no travel/shipping costs, I figured it would all even out. The car was a similar situation though - seller started high and slowly lowered the price over the course of several months. Unlike most people, I didn't go for the PPI. Will I regret it? Time will tell...

 

I suggest keeping your eye on www.pcarmarket.com. Also worth a membership to PCA to watch their ads. I found my car for sale by a long-time PCA member on Pcarmarket and I highly recommend trying to find a car sold by a PCA member.

Happy hunting and best of luck!

 

Yeah I've seen that site before but the whole auction mechanic and essentially buying sight unseen gives me the Willie's LOL

 

I would guess it's worth around $65k in excellent cond.

A PPI is a must however. If all looks good I'd offer $60k. Prices seem to be moderating with the economy.

The .2s are future classics so keep that in mind. Join PCA and ask about dealers or indys in the area for a PPI.

I found mine (CPO) with a Google search at a dealer 500 mi away. I bought it sight unseen with the agreement they deliver it

and take it back if I didn't like it. I don't recommend buying anything sight unseen, but this one worked for me.

Mine is a 2011 C2S 6 sp coupe that I knew would be gone in a couple days max.

 

^ found mine this way.

Couldn’t be happier.

 

I suggest chilling out for another month and waiting for the usual upswing in used Porsche's that hit the market after summer and throughout winter/early spring.
This trend has been happening for the 38 years I've been buying Porsche's.

 

^^This^^

I bought both of my Porsches the last week of November and 1st week of December for outstanding deals. One as a CPO in '19 and another from a private seller last year. It's a sellers market but there will be deals to be had when the weather turns.

 

I know, it's like a broken record but nobody seems to come up with a good explanation for the general manual premium repeated here time and again. This is given the fact that Porsche has built around 80% PDK cars vs. 20% manuals for 14 years now since the PDK was introduced. Some even have it at 90% vs. 10%. Porsche has long had a reputation for being greedy and market savvy. Squeezing every last penny out of every last car. So why have they kept building cars with transmissions at an 80% vs. 20% ratio in favor of PDK's for 14 years if the manual had been that much more desirable over all these years?

I really don't care other than the lack of logic here which may be misleading to some first time buyers. Die hard manual buyers will obviously pay a premium for difficult to find manuals. And why are they hard to find? Because Porsche has built cars for the last 14 years that dealerships around the world have asked for based on what their customers have been asking for. And a majority obviously has not been asking for manuals. 14 years is enough to establish a reliable trend for a car builder notorious for greed and the bottom line imo.

As I've said numerous times, I think it's misleading to make a blanket statement that a 997.2 with a manual is worth more than a 997.2 with a PDK. Yes....a manual is worth more to a small segment of buyers fighting over a small number of cars but not to the majority of buyers. If that was the case, the past 14 year production numbers would look very different to what they are. PDK's are more expensive than manuals but if manuals as repeated here carry such a premium, wouldn't Porsche charge the same for a manual as they do for a PDK even though a manual is much cheaper to build?

 

Seems like the folks buying manuals are more passionate about driving and don't care if the PDKs are faster. I want to be more connected with the machine.

The more analog the better. I also do my own maintenance and you can work on most analog stuff. Don't think I will ever buy a new car again,

especially a 911, you have to have all systems checked at the dealer with a proprietary computer. I will drive the 997 'til I can't push in the clutch any more.

When I buy my second one, it will be air cooled.

 

Yeah, my reasons for wanting the PDK are a) it's a requirement for the wife to be able to drive the car and that's a condition of me being able to buy a 911 in the first place and b) I mean for this to be my daily driver and I have an annoying commute with significant portions in stop and go traffic and my current manual transmission vehicle has been enough to illustrate that the manual becomes less engaging and more annoying in those conditions which if I'm honest will be a non-trivial percentage of the miles I put on the car. I figure for the weekend spirited driving and occasional track day, I'll just have to accept that compromise. Besides, as you point out, I can justify it to the auto enthusiast in me with the "well, technically it's faster" bit

 

Just be careful if financing.....APRs will not be dropping for sometime. I paid a premium for mine due to condition, mileage, manual and factory Aero. I purchased at a dealer net loss (-$500 than what they had in) but was financing so did it before rates started getting nasty.

 

for financing - lighstream is still pretty good option. 5% unsecured up to 60 months. it makes it easy if you want to finance from a private seller, you're basically a cash buyer to them.

 

Like They always say, buy the best one you can afford that meets YOUR requirements. But don't blow 7-10K on any overpriced car.

If you didn't have that second consideration (which I totally understand) I would have encouraged you to beg your wife allow you to buy a MT so that she could learn the Dying Art on a 911... which would surely be a magical experience. Prior to my 997, my fun car was a 2011 BMW 335is coupe. I bought that car barely used from a BMWCCA guy and it was a real gem. Against all of my automotive instincts and coming from an S2000, I bought a DCT not a MT because I was living in South Florida and spending a ton of time bumper-to-bumper. I was intrigued by the notion of choice and it was a good call for me at the time. I actually enjoyed the DCT very much and PDK is even more effective and enjoyable. When that car was totaled out in 2020 because I was hit by a teenager, I got a MT 911 because of my tastes and circumstances at the time. You do you and it sounds like you'll have a happy life and happy wife. Just watch out or you'll find yourself in the same situation as @Petza914 and need another 997. Though, there are certainly greater tragedies.

Hope you find the right one, man.

 

As mentioned, that situation isn't bad, and starting with the PDK when you're ready for #2, that can be her car as you park your new 997 GT3 next to hers

 

I won the lottery with my wife.

She bought a 1958 Rambler Wagon with 3 on the tree as her first car in the mid-90’s. She grew up around cars, her dad wrote articles Hemings Publications and would always have manufacturer demo cars around the house..

She has owned manuals most of her life.

So she enjoys C&C, Radwood and the Porsche meets with me.