Ceramic Brakes - worth anything extra second hand?

[finmac]

Considering two different 997 Turbos. One has ceramics and one has steels.

Spoken to a pal in the trade who reckons the ceramics are a "nice to have" but not worth much if any premium on a nearly10 year old car.

Interested in people's opinions?

[Twinfan]

Nice to have if you have pockets deep enough to replace them when they wear out or if they get damaged.

Me? All things equal I'd buy the car with steels.

[88racing]

Would put me off a car.

[Phooey]

No S/H value

[Koln-RS]

Yes, I believe they add some value on the Turbo and GT models.

Of course, as with many options, it depends on the buyer. Some will only buy a car with pccbs, others may not care.

[Dr S]

PCCBs are great as long as they are in top condition. The replacement cost is massive. Needs a very close look to decide. If that is not possible, I'd go with steels

[Fl0pp3r]

You will pay more for a PCCB equipped Porsche from the trade - possibly less so in a private sale I guess.

This is with good reason as their performance in terms on durability and savings in unsprung weight at the corners are definitely perceptible.

Ceramic market has evolved in the last few years - you can now have your existing PCCBs refurbished by the likes of German outfit SICOM for less than a set of replacement steels.

http://www.ceramicdiscrefurbishment.com/pricelist....

Check it out.

[finmac]

Interesting comments.

I take it those prices are per disc?

[Dr S]

Fl0pp3r said:

You will pay more for a PCCB equipped Porsche from the trade - possibly less so in a private sale I guess.

This is with good reason as their performance in terms on durability and savings in unsprung weight at the corners are definitely perceptible.

Ceramic market has evolved in the last few years - you can now have your existing PCCBs refurbished by the likes of German outfit SICOM for less than a set of replacement steels.

http://www.ceramicdiscrefurbishment.com/pricelist....

Check it out.

Thanks for sharing this

Only irritating thing is if they show a 7.2 RS with red calipers to promote their cearmic disk refurbishment...

[Fl0pp3r]

No worries - i was keen to understand implications myself as i have a pccb eqipped car too...

SICOM's UK spokesperson was vocal on another pccb oriented thread on here and explained the typical scenarios. They actually supply the Ferrari GT works cars, which is a good sign in my book, and there's at least one very happy PHer who's had theirs done.

Yes that's c. £700 per disc to refurb, which compares fairly well with the more expensive (track ready) steel setups you are going to want for equivalent stopping power and endurance (c. £600++ per steel disc). Plus you may or may not have to replace your calipers of course...

Horses for courses at the end of the day, and many do swap out for steels if they're doing LOTS of trackdays/competitive motorsports, but theres no reason to be completely put off by replacement pccb costs now imo.

Yeah i noticed their 997.2 RS mule has the wrong colour calipers too but i'm sure there's a good reason!

The FAQ is worth a read - http://www.ceramicdiscrefurbishment.com/faq.html

Edited by Fl0pp3r on Monday 2nd May 23:58

[Adam B]

Bought a 997 turbo recently, PCCB were definitely on the nice-to-have list and would not have paid anything material for them, maybe £500. They would require a full check before I bought too.

Sports chrono and adaptive sports seats were my only must have options and that didn't limit the choice much. PCCB did.

[DKL]

I found pccb gave no dust so kept the wheels clean. Obviously worked well although they did squeal like a pig after the car was left out in the pouring rain one night.
However I was terrified of tyre places slipping and costing me a fortune. Not everywhere has experience of them and you can imagine the fun trying to prove they'd slipped with a wrench and taking a chunk out of a disc costing a lot to replace.
I wouldn't really want them again and certainly wouldn't pay a premium for them. I suppose it everything else was correct I wouldn't stop the deal.

[DiscoColin]

They have never really commanded a premium to private buyers in the used market and for historic reasons there are generally at least as many potential buyers who view them as a negative as do a positive. If the car hasn't been tracked more than a couple of times they shouldn't be anything to fear though and they are a nice to have on a road-only car IMHO.

[Why negative - because while for older cars people used to just swap for aftermarket steel when they were spent or damaged, if someone wants to run their car in warranty (which is now possible out to 15 years old) then they have to retain PCCB rotors or (at least officially) have the factory parts swap to steel (including the red callipers). It theory I would expect it to be a non-issue if you had a Sicom refurbishment and didn't tell your OPC though - but that is just in theory. Also remember that a lot more buyers know about the historical issues with PCCB than the current refurbishment or alternatives which are now available. There is still plenty of fear and aversion out there. A few prefer the pedal feel on steels too (though a similar number claim to favour the feel of PCCB)].

[Adam B]

I know it's illogical but something would put me off a car that had PCCB from new swapped over for OEM steels, rather than having the same steels from new

[Koln-RS]

Adam B said:

I know it's illogical but something would put me off a car that had PCCB from new swapped over for OEM steels, rather than having the same steels from new

Yes, because you would only swap pccbs for steels if you were doing a lot of track driving.