911 carrera 3.2 is it a depreciation proof car?
Discussion
I was recently told by a porsche enthusiast.If you buy a 911 carrera 3.2 1987 onwards in good condition with the g50 gearbox and a well maintained engine,the car will hold it's value and probably go up in in value in the future a little if kept in the correct condition. I ask this because i am currently about to buy a 2000 boxster which will obviously depreciate .I am now thinking i should possibly consider buying a carrera because one it's a proper porsche as they say and two it will hold it's value.What do you guy's think should i just stick with the more modern boxster.This will be my first porsche so any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Or if you can find the extra for bigger intitial outlay & have the patience to wait for a car to come on the martkey you could get a 3.2 Club Sport.
They have less creature comforts, but are a better drive & if you get a good one & look after it you could as I just have, enjoy depreciation free motoring, with less to go wrong helping on running costs as well.
They have less creature comforts, but are a better drive & if you get a good one & look after it you could as I just have, enjoy depreciation free motoring, with less to go wrong helping on running costs as well.
A club sport is depreciation proof - in fact probably appreciating!!
A standard car no!! Dont buy a 3.2 because you think you wont lose money on it. I recon they dropping by about 1k a year. plus it will cost you to run, and if you put miles on it (why else would you buy it) it will be worth less.
I've had mine for 6 years now. Bought at the top of the price band for an med mileage car, now is over the 100k mark, I guess it is has dropped by 30% of its value in 5 years, so 6% per year.
Think about it. There are plenty around, plus plenty of SCs and plenty 964s. The 993s/996s are dropping in price, so this will force the old models down. Until the 3.2 becomes collectable as a classic, say where the 3.0 Carrera is then I dont see this stopping. One day 3.2s will be as cheap as SCs are now. Right now the SC is the bargin car. 6years ago, I could have bought a club sport for 2k more than my 3.2 now they are at least 10K apart, equally I could have bought a 3.0 Carrera for peanuts, now they are the same price as a 3.2.
I love my 3.2 and would encourage people to buy one, you might not lose much, but dont kid yourself its depreciation proof.
Rant over!
A standard car no!! Dont buy a 3.2 because you think you wont lose money on it. I recon they dropping by about 1k a year. plus it will cost you to run, and if you put miles on it (why else would you buy it) it will be worth less.
I've had mine for 6 years now. Bought at the top of the price band for an med mileage car, now is over the 100k mark, I guess it is has dropped by 30% of its value in 5 years, so 6% per year.
Think about it. There are plenty around, plus plenty of SCs and plenty 964s. The 993s/996s are dropping in price, so this will force the old models down. Until the 3.2 becomes collectable as a classic, say where the 3.0 Carrera is then I dont see this stopping. One day 3.2s will be as cheap as SCs are now. Right now the SC is the bargin car. 6years ago, I could have bought a club sport for 2k more than my 3.2 now they are at least 10K apart, equally I could have bought a 3.0 Carrera for peanuts, now they are the same price as a 3.2.
I love my 3.2 and would encourage people to buy one, you might not lose much, but dont kid yourself its depreciation proof.
Rant over!
h_____ said:
A club sport is depreciation proof - in fact probably appreciating!!
A standard car no!! Dont buy a 3.2 because you think you wont lose money on it. I recon they dropping by about 1k a year. plus it will cost you to run, and if you put miles on it (why else would you buy it) it will be worth less.
I've had mine for 6 years now. Bought at the top of the price band for an med mileage car, now is over the 100k mark, I guess it is has dropped by 30% of its value in 5 years, so 6% per year.
Think about it. There are plenty around, plus plenty of SCs and plenty 964s. The 993s/996s are dropping in price, so this will force the old models down. Until the 3.2 becomes collectable as a classic, say where the 3.0 Carrera is then I dont see this stopping. One day 3.2s will be as cheap as SCs are now. Right now the SC is the bargin car. 6years ago, I could have bought a club sport for 2k more than my 3.2 now they are at least 10K apart, equally I could have bought a 3.0 Carrera for peanuts, now they are the same price as a 3.2.
I love my 3.2 and would encourage people to buy one, you might not lose much, but dont kid yourself its depreciation proof.
Rant over!
I bought my first 3.2 and sold it 2 years later for £500 more than I paid for it.Six months ago I bought my 2nd 3.2 and prices for a good example were the same if not higher.
There are plenty of 'very avaerage' 3.2's around which will require £'s to be spent on them, but not so many good 3.2's. Buy a good 3.2 and it should be depreciation proof.
Hitting the 100k mile mark does seem to devalue 3.2's, so buy again you could always buy a good one which has gone past this mark and benefit from the reduced price.
On any car you're going to have running costs and 3.2's aren't cheap to run, but then neither are most performance Audi's/BMW's if looked after properly (not just getting the minimum stamps). There are a number of good independent Porsche specialists who will do a great job at a reasonable cost.
A Club Sport currently costs over twice as much as 3.2 (Andy Tims car just sold for £30k) and although it is limited to 53 RHD examples and on a high at present, I'd be careful before investing in one as this could be a peak and you'd have alot more to lose if prices did soften.
Bottom line is a 3.2 is a great drive, you won't loose £3-5k per year in depreciation like alot of newer sport cars (Boxster S included) as the number of good cars are limited and as time goes on the numbers of good examples are only going to reduce.
I bought mine to drive and enjoy the benefits of having a nice classic 911 without loosing an arm and a leg in depreciation.
Is the 3.0 Carrera really that sought after? I cannot understand why...
I've only ever lost money on one Porsche - £250 on my last 3.2 - an lhd cab that I owned for 2 years and sold last winter.
My own opinion is that if you buy right, it doesn't actually mater how many miles the car has on the clock - you should be able to sell it after a year or so for pretty much what you paid for it. There are too many variables, as others have said, for you to expect any car to appreciate.
I do believe that as the miles pile on 3.2s, so the majority of buyers and all professionals who inspect these cars, are going to want to see evidence of a top end refresh - broken head studs seem to be the norm as the miles increase, although my friends in the trade have seen cars with as few as 40,000 miles on the clock with broken head studs, so I guess every potential buyer ought to be happy that the car they are buying isn't afflicted by this malady, regardless of how many miles it may have covered!
I've only ever lost money on one Porsche - £250 on my last 3.2 - an lhd cab that I owned for 2 years and sold last winter.
My own opinion is that if you buy right, it doesn't actually mater how many miles the car has on the clock - you should be able to sell it after a year or so for pretty much what you paid for it. There are too many variables, as others have said, for you to expect any car to appreciate.
I do believe that as the miles pile on 3.2s, so the majority of buyers and all professionals who inspect these cars, are going to want to see evidence of a top end refresh - broken head studs seem to be the norm as the miles increase, although my friends in the trade have seen cars with as few as 40,000 miles on the clock with broken head studs, so I guess every potential buyer ought to be happy that the car they are buying isn't afflicted by this malady, regardless of how many miles it may have covered!
First things first - drive both cars and decide what you prefer and what option fits best with your life. I have a Boxster S and am currently actively looking for a G50 3.2 - this is an additional purchase because I don`t see them as alternatives!
If you intend to use your Porsche as pretty mainstream transport throughout the year, parking on the street, using in all weathers etc etc then I suggest the Boxster would be a better choice. If it`s more of an emotional, fairweather choice then look at a 3.2...
If you intend to use your Porsche as pretty mainstream transport throughout the year, parking on the street, using in all weathers etc etc then I suggest the Boxster would be a better choice. If it`s more of an emotional, fairweather choice then look at a 3.2...
rubystone said:
Is the 3.0 Carrera really that sought after? I cannot understand why...
It isn't all that sought after in fact, but perhaps it should be. In its favour it has a lovely engine and fully galvanised body, pretty light. On the minus side, it has the impact bumbers and so nevers looks quite 'classic'.
riverproaudio said:
Only buy a Porsche if you love to dive it! Don't buy it as an investment of money but think of it more as an investment of joy!
Drive on.............
What he said. If you want to make (a bit of) money, leave the cash in the bank. If you want to spend the next couple of years grinning like a monkey on acid, buy the car you want. Good luck.
h_____ said:
A club sport is depreciation proof - in fact probably appreciating!!
A standard car no!! Dont buy a 3.2 because you think you wont lose money on it. I recon they dropping by about 1k a year. plus it will cost you to run, and if you put miles on it (why else would you buy it) it will be worth less.
I've had mine for 6 years now. Bought at the top of the price band for an med mileage car, now is over the 100k mark, I guess it is has dropped by 30% of its value in 5 years, so 6% per year.
Think about it. There are plenty around, plus plenty of SCs and plenty 964s. The 993s/996s are dropping in price, so this will force the old models down. Until the 3.2 becomes collectable as a classic, say where the 3.0 Carrera is then I dont see this stopping. One day 3.2s will be as cheap as SCs are now. Right now the SC is the bargin car. 6years ago, I could have bought a club sport for 2k more than my 3.2 now they are at least 10K apart, equally I could have bought a 3.0 Carrera for peanuts, now they are the same price as a 3.2.
I love my 3.2 and would encourage people to buy one, you might not lose much, but dont kid yourself its depreciation proof.
Rant over!
If it's so easy to get hold of decent 3.2s. why did it take Burriana so long to find one.
In my opinion, the only people who say that 3.2s depreciate are the one's who paid too much in the first place. Buy well and you won't lose money.
As for running costs, a 12k service is around £300 - I reckon an average year will cost £500-700 at a specialist and only exceed that if you need major work doing. Is that more than a Boxter?? If you take into account the lack of depreciation it can't possibly be. And now you have a proper 911 from their hayday - what could be better.
Oh, and the difference between a late 3.2 and an SC is that you only have a 3 year window of cars made with the G50 gearbox before they completely revolutionised it with the 964. If you want a 911 that is pretty much as per the original design and with the much sought after G50 gearbox then you only have 3 years of 3.2 Carreras to choose form and that's why they'll always be valuable.
cuneus said:
If it's so easy to get hold of decent 3.2s. why did it take Burriana so long to find one.
Clue:
"ARE THERE GOOD 911S FOR £13K?"
>> Edited by cuneus on Friday 17th February 10:26
You didn't do your research very well - this is what he bought and will almost certainly be worth the same in 2 years time.
GPW, 1988, 87,000 miles, fully stamped history with a receipts/documents file to match, well known and vouched for car by Strasse, in great condition with a truly immaculate interior, 9 months test, 6 months tax, £13,500 ... including plate.
Don't believe the hype about the G50 versus the 915, if well looked after the 915 is fine. As per the other guys, don't buy it as an investment, buy it to enjoy. I've got a 1986 3.2 Targa SE with 915 box, have put 9000 miles on it since October and as it happens it's worth slightly more than I paid for it, mainly because I negotiated the price well.
It has been and will continue to be a hoot and still puts a huge grin on my face when I see it on the drive or when I turn the ignition on or when I flick it through a sweet left right corner near my house with just a twitch from the rear to let me know I've got it right!!
Good hunting
It has been and will continue to be a hoot and still puts a huge grin on my face when I see it on the drive or when I turn the ignition on or when I flick it through a sweet left right corner near my house with just a twitch from the rear to let me know I've got it right!!
Good hunting
FUGatso said:
Don't believe the hype about the G50 versus the 915, if well looked after the 915 is fine. As per the other guys, don't buy it as an investment, buy it to enjoy. I've got a 1986 3.2 Targa SE with 915 box, have put 9000 miles on it since October and as it happens it's worth slightly more than I paid for it, mainly because I negotiated the price well.
It has been and will continue to be a hoot and still puts a huge grin on my face when I see it on the drive or when I turn the ignition on or when I flick it through a sweet left right corner near my house with just a twitch from the rear to let me know I've got it right!!
Good hunting
Yeah, but we're talking depreciation here and there are loads more pre '89 915s around than G50s, which is why G50 cars are far less likely to depreciate.
In terms of depreciation, clearly the 3.2 will lose less money than the Boxster, but if you don't like driving it (very different to a modern car) then that's not much consolation. Personally, I love my 3.2 and wouldn't swap it for anything else (that's not to say I wouldn't mind ADDING to my garage with additional 911s!) but ultimately you need to buy the car you want or it could sour your experience. Good luck and remember to come back with pictures when you eventually get something.
ettore said:
First things first - drive both cars and decide what you prefer and what option fits best with your life. I have a Boxster S and am currently actively looking for a G50 3.2 - this is an additional purchase because I don`t see them as alternatives!
If you intend to use your Porsche as pretty mainstream transport throughout the year, parking on the street, using in all weathers etc etc then I suggest the Boxster would be a better choice. If it`s more of an emotional, fairweather choice then look at a 3.2...
Indeed. They are completely different cars. Chalk and cheese. Relative to each other, one is a tractor, one is a Honda.
ettore said:
If you intend to use your Porsche as pretty mainstream transport throughout the year, parking on the street, using in all weathers etc etc then I suggest the Boxster would be a better choice. If it`s more of an emotional, fairweather choice then look at a 3.2...
I'd disagree with this as I use my 3.2 everyday it's never failed to start and I park it on the street. In fact the impact bumpers are one reason I'd put the 3.2 forward for parking on the street, your car is protected against those who can't park unlike the Boxster which just gets scatched and dented as it only has plastic painted bodywork.
Go and drive both, the 3.2 is quite a shock initially as it's raw and the steering is heavy, but once you get on the open road it really comes alive. I've driven a Boxster S and although it's a great car didn't feel that special to me, plus they're not exactly exclusive (a victim of their own success)!
Gassing Station | Porsche General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff