We stopped by the dealer this afternoon to look at the Cayman and 997. Since it was too late in the day to test drive (rush hour) we just got brochures, talked, and sat in a few models. The factory warranty is up on my 996 at the end of the year so I'm considering my options - the reason I'm thinking now is that if I'm going to keep it a while, I'll extend the warranty and its cheaper now rather than later.

Anyhow, enough backstory. So I'm talking about the Cayman (budget) or the 997S (no need for the 4 in GA), and the salesman is talking me down into the standard 997. In his opinion, the extra hp and few extra options isn't worth the extra $10k.

So what do you guys think - is it worth it? And how much better is the base 997 than the base 996? He says a lot and all the magazine reviews do give it a lot of praise. My wife really like the Cayman (she likes both), and it is nice and I know it handles great, but I really like the 911 better. I'm just trying to be reasonable since I flip cars about every 12-15 months, so there's no guarantee I'll keep the 997 long term.

Comments?

 

Maybe they have more standard 997s available than 997S'. Either car is great, but I wouldn't trust the motives - or indeed the knowledge - of most car salesmen. I know that there are exceptions to that rule, but for the most part they just want to shift inventory. Personally, I think $10K for 30 extra ponies, PASM, bi-xenons etc, etc is a good deal.

 

If you trade cars that often you need to realize that the winning car combination in the 997 is the S model,--I would guess that they ae outselling the 997 by a fair margin. Thus, at trade in time, they will not be in as big a demand. But,--if they want to DEAL with you then go for it. I suspect they are holding more allocations for the basic model or have more of them on hand.

Dan

 

If you can afford it - the 997S can't be beat but I would rather get a 997 over a Cayman S...

Good Luck! ;-)

 

Extra 10k is completely worth it. That 30 extra hp makes a different. Plus you get a diiferent engine, 19" wheels, PASM, Xenon, and the bragging right. I suspect that resale value is better. If you don't spend that 10k, you will always ask yourself what if.

My opinion is to stick with the Cayman if you don't want to spend the money. But if you get the 997, go for the S.

 

If you can comfortably afford it, get the S. Like all the aforementioned posts, the extras are well worth it relative to their cost separately. Otherwise, definitely take the 997 over the cayman s.

 

for me I didn't think the other $ 10,000 was worth it because I plan on doing some mod. to the car, diff wheels, shocks, engine mods. S.C. so I going to spend my money there. in the end my car will be much faster for about the same money, (I hope)---------------mike

 

I'm-----------

 

If you can blow an extra us$10K get the S. You won't wake up some day and discover you were a fool for doing so. OTOH, if you get the nonS you *may* wake up some day wishing you did blow the extra us$10K. How do I know? Because there are some options I "wish" I got for my S and didn't. I guess it's rare for owners to wish they had fewer options after owning and getting used to their particular car after a while.

 

I would not rely on anything a car sales person says!

You have to wonder, why he had rather sell you the base carrera and not the S. Does not make any sense to me; assuming that he would get a higher commission on a higher priced car.

 

If you are only shopping due to your current warranty, not more performance then the base 997 may make you happy for the 12-15 mo. average you run on a car. However, IMO from driving all of the cars mentioned the 997S is best driving (porsche) experience of them. You may want to keep it longer.

Corporate Porsche and the sales persons are suspect, the product is outstanding!

 

In my opinion, the sales person was trying to sell this person the car that would 'best' suite them. After all, going from a Cayman S to a 997 is a little jump. The sales guy/girls best tool is their ears. Sometimes people 'want' things that won't really do them justice. Great sales professionals want to build a relationship for life, not a just a sale.

But I agree, if it's a car that you're going to keep longer, go with the S. The S also has higher residual values, and better resale. But come on, the 997 Carrera is an Outstanding Automobile, even more so then the Cayman S. Either 997 or 997S , you can't really go wrong.

 

Go back to the dealer and drive the Cayman, 997 and 997S.

We know what we like. You need to find out what YOU like.

 

Driving them is the only way to find out which is best for you. One of the magazines said if you could afford the extra money for the S you should get it. If you couldn't, you wouldn't miss the extra power unless you drove them back to back and you would be happy with the standard 911. Again, that was the editor's opinion and yours is the only one that matters.

Alan

 

Holli82 is right for my personality type! Analysis asside...keep driving demos until you find one that occupies all the extra thinking time in your day. That's how I ended up with my car, at the time I was shopping for a 'weekend car' I was intent on buying a new 996 with an advertised 15k discount (end of 04) and made the "mistake" of driving the 997S that was left there by the orderer. The 997S obsession began, I use the 997S as my DD.