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Hey guys!
It's been my dream (and my father's) to own a 911. I recently got to a place where I can afford one, and have spent the past month reading damn near every thread on this forum
When I first started my hunt, a friend of mine let me borrow his base 996- although it was a bit janky inside, that car was amazing to drive. I'd never driven anything like it and immediately fell in love.
If i'm going to drive a porsche, it's going to be MT, so I found a dealership with a '13 991 MT and went for a test drive-- hated it. I felt like I was driving a lexus, really disappointing. After reading the forums and talking to a couple of salesmen, it's apparent that the 997.2 c2s is what I'm looking for. I very much want a tactile car that I have to actively drive, but that also has a decent nav and bluetooth.
After a couple of weeks searching, a perfectly optioned '09 c2s, in meteor grey (my preferred color) came up on cars.com at a huge local toyota dealership. I went to look at it before they had done any work to it. I couldn't drive it because it needed new tires and brakes, but it seemed like a good deal on exactly what I wanted so I put down a non-binding deposit. They've got it cleaned up, so I'm going to go drive it tomorrow. Knowing myself, I'll most likely write a check for it.
I'd like to get a gut check though. The car has a perfect carfax, and was previously CPO'd, no longer though as I'm buying it from the Toyota dealership. It's got 60k miles. I'll be paying $43k, including new brakes and tires all around. I spent an hour going over the car and could only find 1 chip on the exterior-- the front was protected by a clear wrap.
Here's the options:
meteor grey metallic
black sport seats
adaptive sport seats
self dimming mirrors
heated front seats
19” carrera classic wheel
wheel caps with colored crests
dynamic cornering lights
bluetooth phone interface
sport chrono package plus
navigation module for pcm
bose high end sound package
floor mats in interior color
universal audio interface
total: 98,885
I walk to work, so the car will see very few miles-- maybe 2k/year. With that consideration, my thoughts are that paying the CPO premium for a 50k warranty doesn't make sense. However when I told the other salesmen I had been talking to that I was buying a non-CPO car they freaked out, but were hand wavy at the specifics.
I don't see that many MT meteor grey c2s's, and this seems like a fair price-- but as a first time porsche buyer, the salesmen have put some doubt in me about a non-cpo car.
Anything anyone could share would be really appreciated. Should I hold out for a lower milage car? Should I hold out for a CPO'd car? I can afford more, but only if there is a point. Can I just buy the car and have fun?
First off, it would be advisable to have a Pre-purchase Inspection done either at a reputable Porsche Indy shop or at a dealer. If the brakes and tires were gone and not replaced, it may indicate that other maintenance has been deferred. With a manual, you'll also want an over-rev report pulled; generally Range 1 and 2 aren't an issue, but anything in the higher ranges would be cause for concern, especially if they have happened in the last 50 operating hours. (A quick search will show you how to interpret any over-revs that show up).
As previously said, if tires and brakes are gone this does not sound good to me. At least it does not give me some confidence that the car was well maintained. Maybe there is nothing to worry about but do a proper PPI to avoid disappointment (expensive) later on.
Boy, I hope you drive it more than 2,000 miles a year. These incredible cars are meant to be driven. Good luck, in my opinion, I would look for CPO car. They are out there, I just got one with 27,000 miles and love it.
$43K for a C2S with new brakes and tires is a good deal if the car is mechanically sound. Like others have said, do a pre-purchase inspection just to make sure. There is a 6-year or 60K mile service that is supposed to be done on these cars, so since you are looking at a car with 60K miles, you ought to see if you can negotiate that in to the deal as well. I'd lobby for an oil change, a drive belt replacement, pollen filter replacement, and I'd want to see maintenance records to verify the spark plugs were changed. If not, I'd throw that in too. If you can get them to do that work, or pay for it to be done at a reputable Porsche dealership or independent shop, I think it is still a good deal, even if you paid $44K or so.
I was in a fairly similar position as you about 5 months ago. I'd wanted a Porsche since my childhood and finally decided to get one. I have another daily driver, so the car I was looking for would only see 5K-7K miles per year, which gave me a little tolerance to buy a car that had a few more miles on it. I've got some ability to do my own DIY maintenance, so wasn't scared off by expensive oil changes since I planned on doing them myself. I had a rough budget of $50K to spend. I definitely wanted a 997.2 for the new DFI and PDK (my wife's only condition was that I get the PDK so she could drive it sometimes too) but was less concerned with C2S vs. C2. I found a nice C2 that had a few aftermarket bits that I would have actually done myself (clear bra, suspension work, Tubi exhaust) and that had been owned by an enthusiast who was **** about maintenance. It had 51K miles, which wasn't a deterrent. I did not get an aftermarket warranty and the car wasn't CPO'd. These were risks that I took, and I'm hopeful I don't get bit by them. It was the exact color I wanted, and I paid $46,500 for it. Maybe a little high... but it isn't often you find the exact car you're looking for. So again, I definitely believe that the fact that you've find a car in the right color, for a good price, and in a good area is a plus, and if you can negotiate some of the maintenance items in and it checks out through PPI, you've found your car.
Here's a gratuitous picture of mine, just to help motivate you a bit.
If I had stumbled upon this car last year before I found my .1, I would have bought it, sight-unseen, even, if it passed a PPI.
The closest one I found was a loaded black on beige leather '09 C2S PDK in Georgia for $45k and a rebuilt title, and that thing sold quick. Every other '09 C2S was in the high 50s, low 60s.
If I had stumbled upon this car last year before I found my .1, I would have bought it, sight-unseen, even, if it passed a PPI.
The closest one I found was a loaded black on beige leather '09 C2S PDK in Georgia for $45k and a rebuilt title, and that thing sold quick. Every other '09 C2S was in the high 50s, low 60s.
Depreciation is typically around 8K a year. Thus his car was probably a 51k car or so last year. A quick check of cars.com shows quite a few C2S' available for under $50k now.
Depreciation is typically around 8K a year. Thus his car was probably a 51k car or so last year. A quick check of cars.com shows quite a few C2S' available for under $50k now.
Agreed, one year ago, or even last may this would have been a screaming deal. Now its just a good/great deal depending as long as ppi checks out.
Good Luck!
And I bet it gets driven more than 2k miles a year if you buy it.
01-05-2016, 04:13 AM
Making first P-purchase-- sanity check please :)
