Hi all. New to the 997 forum.

I've been offered a 7.2 GT3. 11k mi, full exhaust, PCCBs, OEM perlon buckets plus original sofas but otherwise lightly optioned. Original paint, mint condition, two owners. Light tracking by second owner. Haven't PPI'd but would if I proceed.

Negotiated price is just above where I'd like it to be. Given that I'm in no rush and GR is not my color, would you wait to see where the market is next year or pull the trigger now? At this point, acquiring a 7.2, ideally an RS, would be a forever car. I could buy this one now and fall in love with it or look for an RS to trade up to. Or I can just take a pass and look next year.

7.2s have appreciated a lot over the last couple of years so wondering if prices are set to adjust or if they'll stick given the small production numbers.

Thoughts?

 

I don't think any of us could have predicted what happened to the car market over the past couple of years, so predicting what's going to happen in the future is not easy either. If you like the car, I'd highly consider it. When buying used, you may have to settle on color and a couple of options if you want the condition to be up to your standards.

My personal take is that the market will continue to soften (hopefully), but that 997 GT cars will likely not soften as much as other cars due to them being older, lower production and offering a very unique driving experience. But if you look at the market today vs six months ago, it's softer. I think that will continue.

Regarding buying this and moving to an RS, I really don't like settling. So if you're planning to get into an RS eventually and you could do so within a year, I'd wait. I'd prefer to go directly to the car I want rather than having an intermediary car if it means only waiting a year or so.

Feel free to post any questions you have related to the car itself, plenty of people on here with the knowledge to help.

 

If you 100% have your heart set on the RS, I'd say just keep saving/looking for that. Between due diligence, shipping, tax, title, registration, insurance, and maintenance/repair, it probably won't make sense to keep another GT car for only a short period of time.

 

As an inverse opinion, if it feels good I would say go for it.

My 7.2 GT3 with the 4.0 clutch/ LWFW setup accompanied by the light suspension modifications gives me what I feel is 90% of the RS for a fraction of the price.
I’ve got very light seat time behind the wheel of a 4.0 and a 7.2 RS but nothing extensive.
The price differential of the NB to RS for me personally isn’t there, but if money was no object there’s no question I’ll take the RS. It’s very special.

Guards red shows so well on these cars also.
I’m sure as we all know, value of these cars is a shot in the dark but if you want to enjoy something now and consider it an upgrade when/ if you switch to an RS and have an appreciation for what either car offers I can say you won’t be disappointed.

 

hard to answer the question without knowing the price. obviously, there is pressure on pricing to go lower, and it has. i am guessing it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future given the macro issues at play and the general direction of the broader car market. Also, if you want an RS, don't settle. You will likely regret it down the road.

In a nutshell, if you're paying the prices from 1-18 months ago for one of these, you'd be grossly overpaying buying now.

 

Thank you for the quick and thoughtful responses guys.

- Not set on an RS. I like the idea of owning a pinnacle GT car. On the other hand, I'd likely enjoy the non-RS more since I wouldn't worry as much. Price is not an issue. Value is.
- I like GR. I'm just not a GR guy. I could come to love it or I could get a liquid wrap. I'm not discounting it too much on the basis of color.
- Regarding price, I'm in Mexico. The brand came here in 2002. Most Mexicans like buying new. There are fewer guys here that appreciate heritage so a 7GT3 is widely considered just an older car and lower in value to a 991.1. This car is worth $115k here. The seller won't budge on $125k with the extra seats. One thing to consider is that here are probably 50 7.2GT3s and fewer RSs in all of Mexico. So there's that too.

I'm still kicking myself for selling my pedigree'd C4S with 35k mi in 2008 for like $60k. I don't want to have a repeat of that. But I also hate overpaying for anything. And with everything going on, it feels like I could be.

 

Well that's an interesting one. Can't you import one from Europe? 997 GT3rs are much cheaper there and if you can bring it into Mexico, that would be the way i would go. $125K isn't bad for the car you're looking at though, although my frame of reference is the U.S. market, which is highly inflated compared to the rest of the world.

 

It was an easy question for me to answer, however I'm an engineer and split my experience 50% in driving and 50% in prepping the car for the driving . If the resell of the car drops 20%($30,000) in 6 months will you just be "disappointed" or will you feel like you actually got gut punched? IMO there is no harm in waiting until there is a general perception that the whole market (not just 997gt3s) has hit bottom... but by then you will have missed the bottom. Will this particular car 'rebound' faster than most when everyone is on firm footing again... probably but like I said, can you stomach the above.

Want help justifying...?

In 11/2019 when I bought my first GT3 the "best" I could find after shopping for 2 years was $115k (Black 11k mile PCCB + Full Leather) and $125k (14k mile White PCCB + Full Leather +CPO)... I bought the black because I wanted $10k in Dundon.

In 11/2019 the DOW was 28,000 (36k today)

So its up 28% since then...using that math you should still feel good about spending $147k (Black) and $160,000 (White) of similar spec/mileage

So that doesn't mean that the market wont tank again or we arn't headed to WWIII but you can at least feel confident that if a 997GT3 drops in value its doing so relative to everything else in the world.

Plus Mexico Drive Resort Grand Opening is next year... so you need it by then and I need a buddy to get in good with Mr. Slim

 

Importing cars to Mexico is not so easy. Likely not an option.

Price is not too bad but I'd hate to overpay for something that may drop and will be difficult to get out of, as much as that seems ridiculous from the US market perspective. If I buy it, I'm marrying to it.

There aren't many places to enjoy this car here so the plan is to take it up to CA, likely NorCal, and play with it there.

 

Don’t settle. If you don’t really love the color, or you don’t feel comfortable with the price, don’t buy it. Buy what you really want, even if that means holding out a bit.

 

Haha. Yes please!

It won't be the end of the world. I feel whatever it loses it'll gain back long term. And with such few of these cars here and most in the hands of recession-proof collectors, I have to factor that in as well. OTOH, Do I need one more toy going into the recession or would I like to keep that in my dry powder stash?

Touche! I didn't know the word was out up north.

 

If it was meteor gray, I probably own it by now. Nice car.

 

We shall see, we have so many similar options here like Spring Mountain in Vegas etc. I just don't know how much US tourism MDR will get because we cant easily bring our own car, but I'm pretty intimate with the project so looking forward to it.

 

Nice! Can you not get the permit and get your car shipped from the border? That's my plan in reverse. I get one year in the US. US and Canada cars get 6 mos in Mexico. I haven't taken a tour of MDR but I'm in touch with them. Their sales team is obnoxious.

 

I almost assumed bringing a Euro car into Mexico would be a non-issue but maybe not. Nonetheless, $125K for the car you're looking at based on US market pricing is a good deal. The buckets are worth $10K+ alone so again, not a bad buy. Not sure what they were selling for prior to COVID, so hard to say how inflated that number is in comparison. The more glaring issue is that you seem to not love the color, and you really want an RS, so you have to weigh all of that against the limitations you're working with - i.e. probably not a lot of cars to chose from in your market at any given time, and probably much less so on an RS, particularly if you're not shopping with a blank check approach.