Buying a 981, red flags?

[paulguitar]

981Boxess said:

elan362 said:

If you were in Glasgow I would help you DIY.

What a nice offer

Indeed it is, and frustrating I'm in Shropshire

[MitchT]

DJMC said:

MitchT said:

Notwithstanding the fact that I'm currently looking for a BMW 440i, this lovely Cayman caught my eye...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202311304...

I'm not much of a Porsche expert so I don't know if these are affected by the bore scoring and IMS bearing issues that I've heard mentioned. Nor do I know how reliable the PDK and PASM systems are. At least this one doesn't appear to have PADM, which I'd consider a blessing!

I'll watch the thread with interest as I may yet be swayed by a nice 981!

As an owner myself, that's a £25k, absolute maximum, car.

Now reduced from £35k to £29,900. Starting to get a little interesting!

[Ed.Neumann]

I agree, it is £25k car.

There was a 981 S in the same colour combo that was £35k for sale in Suffolk for ages, PDK, PASM, PSE but 89k miles, it was then dropped to £30k, then £28k, then £25k, then when back up to £26950 and sold. Came back on the market a couple of weeks later and still for sale now at £25500, in Derby I think it is from memory.
I only remember it as I love the colour combo.
Great looking car, but at 90k miles I think it needs to be £20-22k and a buyer who will do 3k miles a year in it, or just accept that it could be worth £10k in 3 years but who cares if it has only cost you £20k, so put another 80k miles on it.


So many cars have now been on sale for a year or more. More so 991s.

12 year old 991 Carrera's with 80k miles on them need to be £35k now to really move, the ones at £40-42 are all sat there. Many keep popping back on the market, often no cheaper.

[MitchT]

Ed.Neumann said:

Great looking car, but at 90k miles...

This one has 52,500 miles, unless we're talking about different cars.

Interestingly the insurance on this, for me, is £364. I was also looking at a BMW 440i, which comes in at £550! A BMW 420i is only £4 less on insurance than the Porsche!

[Ed.Neumann]

MitchT said:

This one has 52,500 miles, unless we're talking about different cars.

Interestingly the insurance on this, for me, is £364. I was also looking at a BMW 440i, which comes in at £550! A BMW 420i is only £4 less on insurance than the Porsche!

We are, sorry, I was talking about the 981 Cayman S in the same colour combo that has been on sale for months now, and prices up and down like a yoyo.

I was just agreeing with DJMC that the now 10 year old 2.7 linked should be a £25k car now, not £30k.
Unless that colour is worth £5k more to you, which is may well be, which is fine.

I just find it hard to justify the prices at the mo on these when you could buy an early 981 for sub £25k back in 2019. Here we are four, nearly five years later and they are 5 years older and more money.


Also, I would take a 718 over a 2.7, if going NA then it would be the 3.4 for me personally, the 718 drives so great, I just can't get my head around the 4 cylinder thing. Nothing wrong with it, feels lighter, steering much nicer, handles better, even sounds nice, just I would prefer a 6 cylinder and it stops me buying one.

I very nearly bought the carmine red 718 that Stockport Porsche had last month, had some nice options, 29k miles and we agreed £32k, but, I couldn't do it as I kept thinking I would regret it being a 4 cylinder. Stupid, but there we go. But it would have been a good buy, 2018 car, 2 years warranty, just had a major service, and even had full PPF. I was amazed that it hung around for nearly 3 months, at £33k advertised it was a good £4k cheaper than any other 718 Cayman at an OPC.

Exeter have a 718 Cayman S for £34k with 44k miles on it, with all the benefits of buying approved used. Plus you get Carplay etc. which is great if a daily.

Edited by Ed.Neumann on Sunday 12th May 23:17

[981Boxess]

Ed.Neumann said:

I just find it hard to justify the prices at the mo on these when you could buy an early 981 for sub £25k back in 2019. Here we are four, nearly five years later and they are 5 years older and more money.

You don't have to justify the prices.

If you are looking to buy one and you think they are overpriced buy something else.

If you are selling and you think they are selling for too much sell your one cheap.

[DJMC]

WBAC have increased their offer on my 2014 2.7 981 by 10% over the last 6 months, not that I'm selling.

As we draw closer to the end of ICE models their used prices will no doubt carry on rising as the Boxster/Cayman EV stockpiles at OPCs, a la Taycan.

[Ed.Neumann]

981Boxess said:

Ed.Neumann said:

I just find it hard to justify the prices at the mo on these when you could buy an early 981 for sub £25k back in 2019. Here we are four, nearly five years later and they are 5 years older and more money.

You don't have to justify the prices.

If you are looking to buy one and you think they are overpriced buy something else.

If you are selling and you think they are selling for too much sell your one cheap.

Of course.

We can only ever talk from a personal perspective, I presumed that goes without saying.


You don't have to buy something else, just need to wait a few weeks and buy one of the ones that come up in the spec you want at a price point you want.

I'm not really knocking the prices, I don't think they are too far out, just a few cars that are that are, and it is obvious they are because they are then sitting for months and months or even a year.

I think we are probably getting to the point where prices, especially for the NA cars, are levelling out and will be a cheap ownership experience, in the way of deprecation anyway, even if prices are the same as five years ago.



What we are seeing with post 2009 911 and Cayman/Boxster prices is strange, normally we see them drop really low, like £10-15k low and sit for a while, then when people start to spend lots on the bits that need replacing as these cars hit a certain age prices go up to account for that, then when prices go up people start to get that FOMO which in turn pushes prices up even more, slowly, but over 5-10 years it can be quite a steep climb as fewer and fewer become available.

However, it seems these post 2009 NA cars the prices have gone up before they hit the really expensive years, that 15 year old sort of age.

An other thread on here with a 997.2 Carrera at £60,000 I find strange, drive a 991.2 Carrera back to back with that 997.2 and not sure paying more for the 997.2 makes a lot of sense, definitely some rose tinted glasses there with the 997.2.

This can be a good thing though, if a car is still worth a decent amount owners tend to then to spend what needs to be spent on them to keep them factory fresh, when they get to sub £10k many find it tricky to spend 50% of the cars value on a service and a suspension refresh.

My gripe is many of the cars out there are now feeling tired but sellers are asking the same as one that looks and drives like new, and then they say "Well it is an old car now." Hence why when looking people need to go out and drive a good one so they don't get their fingers burnt.
There is no reason for a 15 year old car not to drive like new, or a car any age, just not sure all the sellers understand this.