breakdown

Hey guys,

I'm starting to seriously look for a 2005 or 2006 Carrera S now that I have my funds in place. I'm from Canada and I'm shopping for a California car. I have family in LA that will help me take care of the transaction.

How much should I expect to pay for a car in good condition with average miles and options?

Also, where else should I look besides autotrader.com? I'm not familar with the most popular sites used in the US.

Thanks

rpalomo

55 -60 k depending on options..get certified

Patriot

Porscheusa.com and cars.com.

hoffa

If you are buying from California you HAVE to shipped out of state otherwise you will be forced to pay taxes in Cali. Based on all my research when i went shopping you couldn't buy it, fly down and drive it home. At least this is what I was told. Shipping isnt too bad... TFX international has a good rep.

alexb76

Gotto ship out of CA not to pay taxes. I'd also go for 2006 instead of 2005. Maybe a few more thousands, but you will get a newer car with less first year issues.

Kuhan

In my search so far, I have noticed that mileage plays a large factor in the starting prices for these cars. I've seen older cars with lower miles priced higher than younger cars with higher miles.

Colour also seems to be a factor - guards red cars seem to be on the lower end of the price scale.

How's this for a range:
Car 1, 2008 S cab, 8k miles, seller wants a fast sale, price $35k
Car 2, 2008 S coup 21k miles, tip, CPO dealer, lots of lovely options (nat leather, wood trim), price $73k

Of course the low end is an exception to the rule, I would say you are looking at a safe minimum of $55k for a 2008, $50k for an 07 and $45 for an 06.

utkinpol

2008 for $35k must be a salvage title.

Kuhan

I would have thought so too but the carfax came back clean.

I'm sure something is up though as the photos show the car to be ruby red metallic but the carfax notes the car as white!

hoffa

scam.

alexb76

SCAM!

Be very careful, once I almost paid for a car that totally checked off on Carfax, with solid eBay rating... just stopped after they guy asked to pay deposit into a Bulgarian bank account!

It was also $35K!

beachview

Ill take 10 @ 35k

akim47

For an S, add about $5K to each of those numbers...

Edgy01

Remember that Carfax is not reliable.

Suggest you avoid the 05 cars -- there are several issues that mark the first year cars as not that great a deal. The value on these cars has been bouncing back, Early two years ago a friend bought a MY06 Carrera S coupe with average options and low miles for $50K with CPO warranty.

Alstoy

There was a great article in Excellence about a guy who bought a CA car and drove it back to Toronto. You being in BC should make it even better. I saw a lot of Porsches in BC last summer and the roads are nice too, so you should have lots of fun. My experience with an '05 has being great. This has been one of the most reliable cars I ever owned. It has never needed an extra drop of oil, in all the years I have had it. I have a couple of friends that have '05s and they have the same experience. This is a limited pool of people, so my experience may be diffrent than Dan's; who certainly knows more about Porsches than me. Any good owner will have all the records and be a bit of a Porsche nut. Just look for that and you should be safe.

Cheers

Edgy01

As with all Porsches, some do better than others. (Mine likes oil--and is a 06 model). Some manufacturing issues came to light on the early 997 models--from MY05. Much of the issues have been sorted out over time with service visits--and some issues (minor) will never get sorted out.