911: Newer car with high mileage vs. low mileage older car?

[xniting]

Hello all,

I recently moved to Dubai and looking to buy a used 911.
Local Porsche approved stock has the following 2 cars:
997 Carrera 4S, first registered Oct 2008, mileage = 20K miles
997 Carrerra S, first registered Jan 2011, mileage = 44K miles

They are both of similar spec and priced closely.
Any opinions/advice on which would be a better buy (and why) would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

[DKL]

The newer car will be post IMS issues so that would be where I'd go. Post 09MY I think, worth checking.
Also might depend on how many miles you do - a newer car with higher miles might only have average miles when you come to sell if you don't do many.

[Raitzi]

Both are gen2 so nothing major here but I would go for carrera S over 4S. Better resale value and 2wd has also better steering feel and it is lighter.

[jakesmith]

2s better resale than 4s??
This is a total no brainer tbh, the newer car every time for me

[Mario149]

If both cars were the same model, I'd go for the older car all day long. As the car reaches middle age (say 6-9 years old), mileage will be more important than age IMO (it is for me). All other things being equal (like service history), I'd much rather buy a slightly lower miles (say 60k instead of 80k), older example Porsche at that age than a newer one with more miles on it.

BUT, I'd personally want the 2S over the 4S so there would be some negotiating to do on price of the 2S for me

[Technomad]

Mario149 said:

If both cars were the same model, I'd go for the older car all day long. As the car reaches middle age (say 6-9 years old), mileage will be more important than age IMO (it is for me). All other things being equal (like service history), I'd much rather buy a slightly lower miles (say 60k instead of 80k), older example Porsche at that age than a newer one with more miles on it.

BUT, I'd personally want the 2S over the 4S so there would be some negotiating to do on price of the 2S for me

I went through exactly the same process (except the models were the other way around) and went for the older, Manual Gen 2 C2S with 13k over a PDK C4S with 33k. Very glad I made the decision I did. I've also had a brand new 981 Boxster/PDK as a courtesy car for the last couple of days - highly competent piece of kit, but it was such a relief to get back into my 997 and get some real feel back...

[xniting]

Many thanks everyone.

[Mario149]

DELETED: Comment made by a member who's account has been deleted.

This^^ I think is very true

DELETED: Comment made by a member who's account has been deleted.

Also this^^ I reckon. Looks aside, if you're after the last word in lap times or the slightly spurious "I'm a lot faster on a wet day in january with 4wd" etc then the 4wd is the one to go for. But I can't help think that if you're after the *911* - rather than just performance car - experience (or as much as can be attained of it in the modern 911s), then the 2wd version is the better way to go saving yourself a heap of cash, some of which you can spend on a set of winter tyres if you feel you're being too slow in January.