You can definitely get a base 997 for low 30s. I just drove one the other day with about 69K in miles and it was very clean with nice upgrades - $32K. The S is about $35K plus depending on mileage. My assumption will also be that going into 2015 - pricing will continue to decline for 996s and 997.1s.

 

I've been in the leasing world with my last few cars, so I haven't had a car with mileage in a long time. What is a safe number of miles for a 997.1?

 

I'd sell my 05 base with 54k miles for $35k. So no, your budget is not unrealistic.

 

I'd get a 996 C4S for that kind of money...or a 4-5 year old Cayman S.

 

Just me for that budget I would go Boxster/Cayman S