fenway71

I'm getting conflicting advice from various dealers on what I should be for my first ever 911 (and first ever Porsche). One dealer recommends the base Carrera since I don't intend to use only for street driving. He has one in stock that I'm drueling over because of the color (slate gray / wood interior) but it strikes me as pricy because the colors aren't cheap. Does the color influence resale value much?

Another dealer recommends the 997S because I get a more powerful car that possible resells higher.

I'm confused. I'd like to keep the price around $85K.

kauai_diver

My first Porsche is the 997S and I love it. No one talked me into a base or an S, I knew what I wanted from the start.

Whats with this "first porsche" concept, we need to progress slowly till we graduate to a cgt is that how it goes?

Edit: sorry if that came accross as a bit harsh, as stated I dont think you could get an S for 85k out the door if you live in a state that has sales tax.

Eggplant Cab

Well with your budget, depending on where you are out, out the door even with 7% discount, a S is going to be hard to get with sales tax etc. In CA, whatever discount I got went right back to sales tax, 8%.
First I'd price what options you want then compare with the S which includes a few options you may want. Then add the 29 hp and bigger brakes as bonus. Never buy a car for resale value because there is no way that you can tell what will happen in the future. Also I would go to a Porsche PDE to test both S and base to see which one you like. The S is nice (I got it because of X51).

Alan Smithee

Depends on your wants...if you like unique colors, luxury options, and fancy trim, go with a loaded base car. If you've got to have the highest performing car for your dollar, get minimally optioned S.

Resale as a percentage will be about the same for either a base 997 or 997S. Options such as special paint and wood trim will net you close to nothing in value when reselling...so if resale is a priority for you, go with a minimally optioned S for your $85k.

MJones

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a Base 997!!
It will accomplish ALL of your street driving needs.

Take the ultimate test drive...
Attend PDE
http://www.porschedriving.com

cvazquez

DITTO!

devon7

I have to agree with MJones on this, the base 997 is a great car.

I've had an S for a year and love it to bits - but after spending a couple of days in the standard Carrera I really wonder whether it wouldn't be a better car as a daily drive.

The S model is the one to get all the accolades with the press and so the base model often seems to get overlooked. Maybe that reflects in the potential resale value?

Bob in NY

If you're buying new, I doubt a well optioned S can be bought for low 80's. You can get a pretty loaded Carrera for low 80's or buy a preowned low mileage S for the same $$

cvazquez

I figure that the base 997 will always lack behind the price of the S. I would say 10K, which is the savings of getting the base. So taking the cost of the base 997 into consideration, I believe that the base will hold its value same as the S, but again 10K less from the S potential resale value.

Honestly, I did not feel that much more HP to justify the additional cost associated with the S.

Here is how I look at it... an experience driver with the base will beat a less experience driver with the S.

fenway71

Great advice all. This is an awesome forum.

Well, I'm off to my 3rd and final dealership tomorrow and plan to test drive both models there. By tomorrow night, I may become a proud member of the Porsche family. Woohoo!

Deven

The other way to look at it is if you want Xenon lights, 19" wheels, larger brakes, PASM (ie if they were not standard would you get them) then the 'S' becomes a no brainer, because the cost difference between the 'S' and non 'S' then becomes less than $5000. And for 5K, getting a 3.8 engine than can be modified with the X-51, and has ~30HP more than base is a 'bargain' (especially since Porsche charges another $15000 for the X-51 which gets you another 30 HP). If you do not want any of the above mentioned options, then paying 10K may not be worth it.

brian-pdx

Get the S. You won't have to ever think about it again.

cvazquez

Great advice!

cr2000

Agreed. If you get the base, you're gonna want more. Why do that to yourself over 6-7k? That's chump change when you're already spending 85k on a car.

cvazquez

I have the base and love it!