997 Carrera S, Investment????

[mollytherocker]

It would certainly not be a good financial investment.

A quick scan of the 997 (and 996) classifieds will give you a feel for the likely depreciation.

The question is, how important is this to you? How much do you want to lose?

MTR

[rimkah]

Tydeides said:

tyeo86 said:

£5k why and wot on earth did you have done?

Minor Service and 4 new tyres £2,200
New rear tyre (tyre was slashed by yobbo) £350
New brakes (disks and pads all round) £1,700
Left front suspension top mount split £580
Steering track rod arms £175
Handbrake adjustment £70
Exhaust rattle £150
Engine coolant bung washer £145
Total £5,370 (admittedly OPC cost)
I was a bit disappointed in that all the above came under wear and tear; i.e. I have a full Porsche warranty that covered none of the above.


My car was £92k five years ago; it's not a cheap car to run. It's a fantastic car, and at sub £30k I think a good 997 is a great opportunity. However don't convince yourself it's an investment! The costs are very real (including top end car tax, insurance, club membership, tracker fees.... as I said it eats cash!)

Sounds about right

[911p]

Certainly not an investment, the non GT watercooled models are only going one way, and it's not up.

[khushy]

tyeo86 said:

Afternoon Guys,

Thinking about buying a 997 Carrera S shortly. Anybody out there believe they will hold thier value or could I be buying one for £20k in one years time.

car - investment - hahahahahaha

[Waitforme]

Tydeides said:

Minor Service and 4 new tyres £2,200
New rear tyre (tyre was slashed by yobbo) £350
New brakes (disks and pads all round) £1,700
Left front suspension top mount split £580
Steering track rod arms £175
Handbrake adjustment £70
Exhaust rattle £150
Engine coolant bung washer £145
Total £5,370 (admittedly OPC cost)
I was a bit disappointed in that all the above came under wear and tear; i.e. I have a full Porsche warranty that covered none of the above.

Full warranty and all of the above is wear and tear ... possibly £1500 - £2K dearer than an indy and this is on top of the £1300 or so for the warranty.
Keeping a rainy day fun is looking like a better option methinks.

Sorry for going off topic. As others have said , non GT 997 prices are only going one way.

[SteveM46]

I just have to have my two penn'orth in here. Much as we love our Porsches, they are 'just' cars; the fact is that they will depreciate less in % terms than pretty much any other modern (non-classic) car, and if you were going to plough £20k, £30k, £40k or more into a car then you will lose less with a Porsche than with prestigious marques like BMW and Mercedes, and a LOT less than if you purchased a Ford, Vauxhall or other commodity brand.

Yes, the running costs are higher, which is the price we pay for loving our Porsches, but to think you can buy a modern 2nd hand car and not see it depreciate is just silly (ok, unless it's a GTx etc). However, console yourself with the fact that it is one of the lowest depreciating cars you can purchase and you're in the right mindset to do the deal.

IMVHO.

[uktrailmonster]

As above, once you get off the steepest part of the depreciation curve I think these cars are a relative bargain. I'd rather put £25K into a 911 than say a newer Audi/BMW/Merc or a brand new top of the range Ford/Alfa/Renault etc. With a £25K 911 I'd expect to lose around £10K in depreciation over 5 years putting 7K miles a year on it - based on researching book prices rather than a total guess. Factor in running costs of around £2K pa (ex fuel) and it works out at a total cost of £20K over 5 years. Not bad for a £70K thoroughbred. Personally I think 997s are still a bit on the steep side for my liking. Nice examples are still well over £30K with a fair chunk of depreciation still to come, especially newer ones still over £40K.

[Diesel130]

uktrailmonster said:

With a £25K 911 I'd expect to lose around £10K in depreciation over 5 years putting 7K miles a year on it - based on researching book prices rather than a total guess.

That's a little optimistic. My experience was my £26K 911 bought 4.5 years ago, putting on about 5K per annum has depreciated approximately £15K - i.e. now worth around £11K.

My VW Golf TDI, however - bought new for £15.5K in 2002 - has 115,000 miles on it, and has not depreciated £15K.

[Nano2nd]

Waitforme said:

As others have said , non GT 997 prices are only going one way.

2 people have mentioned this, as far as i can see GT prices are only heading downwards too(exception of the buyers premium on the RS4.0)

[SteveM46]

Diesel130 said:

That's a little optimistic. My experience was my £26K 911 bought 4.5 years ago, putting on about 5K per annum has depreciated approximately £15K - i.e. now worth around £11K.

My VW Golf TDI, however - bought new for £15.5K in 2002 - has 115,000 miles on it, and has not depreciated £15K.

We're talking about percentages, not absolute depreciation costs!! Blimey, if I spent £300k on a Rolls Royce Phantom, I would be delighted if it 'only' depreciated £15k in 4.5 years! More likely, it would have lost £100k-£150k!!!

Yes, your 911 has lost nearly 60% in 4.5 years, but this is a rate of depreciation of just over 9% per year. Your Golf would need to be worth £2.5k today to have depreciated at the same annual rate over the last 11 years. Is it worth that much?

[Mermaid]

Nano2nd said:

2 people have mentioned this, as far as i can see GT prices are only heading downwards too(exception of the buyers premium on the RS4.0)

Too niche a market, and relative oversupply of as good but more practical cars - many from Porsche so I agree even GT cars will suffer.

Air cooled RS cars probably immune from the downward path.

[uktrailmonster]

Diesel130 said:

That's a little optimistic. My experience was my £26K 911 bought 4.5 years ago, putting on about 5K per annum has depreciated approximately £15K - i.e. now worth around £11K.

My VW Golf TDI, however - bought new for £15.5K in 2002 - has 115,000 miles on it, and has not depreciated £15K.

I guess it depends on how good your original deal was and the year/mileage spec of the car etc. I've based my £10K depreciation on comparing a 2004 C4 @ 40K miles v a 1999 C4 @ 70K miles in today's market (so actually I meant 6K miles per annum). This should be a bit pessimistic if anything as this includes the drop from facelift to non-facelift versions. Maybe the recession has hit your own depreciation harder?

As for your Golf, it might not have lost £15K but it's not exactly a premium high end sportscar. Not having a car at all is great for depreciation but you lose out on the driving experience.

If you want totally depreciation free motoring, try a classic 911. I've never lost a penny on a pre 89 car and made a very big return on one particular car over 5 years.

[utgjon]

"If only we knew" back then what we know now...

Came across this thread looking at 997 running costs, makes for quite a fun read with the benefit of hindsight!