Dealer Prices Increased For 981 CGTS - Reaction To 718 GTS?

[Twinfan]

Nothing to do with fashion for me - it's the link to the GT cars. I drove a 997 GT3 4.0 RS in white with an alcantara interior and my white CGTS is the closest I'll ever get to owning one unless I win the lottery

[ooid]

Well, looking at these depressing lists I probably missed the bargain of the century. I've been offered for a basic spec 981 GTS brand new in 2014 by my OPC nearly 53k. That would have been almost zero depreciation after 4 years of weekend use.

Great looking cars.

[Twinfan]

True! Depends how basic spec it was as to whether you could have lived with it for 4 years though...

[tedblog]

There is a great comparison 981 gts vs 718 gts article in this months 911 and Porsche world mag .Didnt realize the 718 gts lapped the ring 16 secs quicker than the 981 gts, i thought it would be closer than that?

[TDT]

tedblog said:

There is a great comparison 981 gts vs 718 gts article in this months 911 and Porsche world mag .Didnt realize the 718 gts lapped the ring 16 secs quicker than the 981 gts, i thought it would be closer than that?

Primarily one word reason for that......Torque...

[Twinfan]

Yep, torque wins races. Possibly a tyre advantage for the 718 as well if it had newer Pirelli N1s or Michelin N0s fitted.

The speed of the 718 has never been questioned, but it seems to be all that can be used in the 981 vs 718 discussion. 16 seconds quicker round the 'Ring would not compensate me for the loss of the NASP engine response, linearity, screaming red line and overall sound. To others it will, c'est la vie

[Heathrow]

16 seconds quicker is a lot! The 981 GTS is no slouch.

On pricing, the 981 GTS may look expensive relative to list price but there is very little out in the market which is similar (n/a, 6 cylinder, mid-engined, practical, sports car come GT car, 2 seater) and for me is well worth the money even at £60k. This is a very very competent car in all conditions. However it is a very strange market whereby you can buy an almost identically spec'd Cayman S with a bit less power and a bit less alcantara for £15k less.

As always, you pays your money....

[bcr5784]

Twinfan said:

Yep, torque wins races. Possibly a tyre advantage for the 718 as well if it had newer Pirelli N1s or Michelin N0s fitted.

The speed of the 718 has never been questioned, but it seems to be all that can be used in the 981 vs 718 discussion. 16 seconds quicker round the 'Ring would not compensate me for the loss of the NASP engine response, linearity, screaming red line and overall sound. To others it will, c'est la vie

I don't think the lack of cylinders, the noise or turbo lag would be an issue for me on track and I'd probably prefer it to my 981 there. Different matter on the road...

[tedblog]

If you can read the article , its very unbiased , postives and negatives etc for both. Its just not torque though they say chassis better etc , both are great well worth a read.

[bigtime]

Heathrow said:

16 seconds quicker is a lot! The 981 GTS is no slouch.

On pricing, the 981 GTS may look expensive relative to list price but there is very little out in the market which is similar (n/a, 6 cylinder, mid-engined, practical, sports car come GT car, 2 seater) and for me is well worth the money even at £60k. This is a very very competent car in all conditions. However it is a very strange market whereby you can buy an almost identically spec'd Cayman S with a bit less power and a bit less alcantara for £15k less.

As always, you pays your money....

Good point - However, is there much difference in the performance and noise between the 2 if the S has a sports exhaust?

[Twinfan]

I believe the GTS has a different fuelling map with more crackles/burbles on the overrun. Some say it's too much and 'fake', others like the extra audio enhancement

PASM was supposedly tuned differently for the GTS according to a couple of articles at the time, but how you'd confirm that now I don't know.

You don't buy a GTS over an S for the extra performance really, which a well specced S will pretty much match (if you can find such a car, they're not common!), rather you buy it for the package as a whole. If you're happy to lose certain options that aren't specced on the average S (e.g. Sports Chrono) or you don't want/like alcantara or contrast stitching, then an S is a good buy. However, if that S loses £10k more than a GTS over the next few years it might be not such a good buy after all when you take into account the total cost of ownership.....

[tedblog]

bigtime said:

Good point - However, is there much difference in the performance and noise between the 2 if the S has a sports exhaust?

The GTS does have the induction sound piped into the cabin from the air intake box which you cant have on the S

[gr8jon]

Rather than a response to the 718 reviews, isn't the price increase fairly normal for OPCs starting the new year/quarter? I've seen other models that have risen.

[bo duke]

It’s possible, I’ve only really been looking at GTS. Is that A Thing then (putting prices up after Xmas, when most folks are skint)?

[shiggy]

prices seem stable to me.

still cant see the exact spec i am after. GTS in Wolverhampton with leather - not sure how this is viewed on residuals..

[JasonSteel]

Heathrow said:

it is a very strange market whereby you can buy an almost identically spec'd Cayman S with a bit less power and a bit less alcantara for £15k less.

i've read this a few times on various threads but nobody has ever managed to show an actual example of this.

so let's say the average price of a GTS is £60k (around the same as this time last year). this one at OPC Wolverhampton is closest to that price:

2015 car
15,942 miles

optional equipment:

20-inch Carrera S wheels
Adaptive Sports seats Plus (18-way, electric)
Bi-Xenon-Headlights incl. Porsche Dynamic Light System Plus (PDLS+) with dynamic high beam
Black GTS exterior package
Carbon interior package (with leather interior/with PDK)
Centre console trim in carbon
Electrically folding exterior mirrors
Elimination alcantara
Full colour wheel centre caps
Guards Red seat belts
Guards red instrument dials
Light design package
Mobile phone preparation
Multifunction steering wheel
ParkAssist (front and rear) with reversing camera
Porsche Communication Management (PCM) including navigation module
Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK)
Porsche Torque Vectoring (PTV) incl. mechanically locking rear differential
Rear Wiper
Rooflining in Alcantara
Seat heating
Smoking package
Sound Package Plus
Speed limit display
Steering wheel heating
Wheels painted in satin black (complete)

now here are the 2 cars from OPCs closest to £45k:

car no.1

mileage 9300
2013 car (yes, 5 years old)

optional equipment:

20-inch Carrera Classic wheel (vs Carrera S in platinum)
Floor mats (i know, this is a big one)
ParkAssist rear
Porsche Communication Management (PCM) including navigation module with universal audio interface
Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK)
Rear wiper
Seat heating
Sound Package Plus
SportDesign steering wheel
Sports seats Plus (2-way, electric)
Top tinted windscreen
Wheel Caps (another biggie)

car no. 2 (£45,500)
2016 car
20,438 miles

optional equipment:

20-inch 911 Turbo wheels
BOSE® surround sound-system
Mobile phone preparation
Multifunction steering wheel
ParkAssist (front and rear)
Porsche Communication Management (PCM) including navigation module
Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK)
Seat heating
Smoking package
Two-zone automatic climate control

and that's it. no body style upgrades, no extra power, no PASM/X73, no sport chrono, no alcantara, no GTS packs, no sports seats and no dynamic headlights, all of which are standard on the GTS. the £45k S'es available are pretty much basic spec cars.

nothing wrong with a base spec S at all by the way but it shows that there is no way you can get an S with an "almost identical spec" as a GTS for £15k less.

[Twinfan]

Well said Jason. There was one "unicorn" spec S up for sale around 6 months ago and that was £52k(?) from memory.

I'm not sure there are many Ss out there of comparable GTS spec, therefore the suggestion that you can get the same as a GTS but £15k cheaper in an S are complete bobbins!

[bo duke]

I guess you can buy an older 981 S (2012, vs 2014 for the earliest GTS) so the perception is that average prices are much lower.
But restrict the search to 2014+ and stick a few choice options on (like the unicorn car) and the price goes up.
And its easy to underestimate the number of options on GTS / low probably of finding them all on an S / cost of adding them in the first place:
- Base Price: Cayman GTS Manual: £55,397
- Base Price: Cayman S Manual: £48,783

- PASM: £971
- Sport chrono package: £1,085 for manual (£1,376 for PDK)
- Sports exhaust: £1,530
- Black exhaust tips: Not available on S
- Power kit (+15 HP): Not available on S
- Middle radiator: Not available on S
- Sound symposer: Not available on S
- 20-inch Carrera S Wheels: £971
- SportDesign package (front/rear bumpers): £1,728
- Smoked tail lights: £299
- PDLS (Black Design): Not available on S, silver design is £477
- Sports seats plus: £1,291
- Full leather/alcantara interior: Not available on S, closest is full leather for £2,156
- Rooflining in alcantara: £684 (may have become standard later?)
- SportDesign steering wheel in alcantara: £259 for manual (£397 for PDK)
- Gear shift lever in alcantara: £405

So thats £10,970 of options on a manual, even more on a PDK. Before you even start adding PCM, climate, parking sensors and all the other stuff a lot of people would add to any 981.

[bcr5784]

bo duke said:

I guess you can buy an older 981 S (2012, vs 2014 for the earliest GTS) so the perception is that average prices are much lower.
But restrict the search to 2014+ and stick a few choice options on (like the unicorn car) and the price goes up.
And its easy to underestimate the number of options on GTS / low probably of finding them all on an S / cost of adding them in the first place:
- Base Price: Cayman GTS Manual: £55,397
- Base Price: Cayman S Manual: £48,783

- PASM: £971
- Sport chrono package: £1,085 for manual (£1,376 for PDK)
- Sports exhaust: £1,530
- Black exhaust tips: Not available on S
- Power kit (+15 HP): Not available on S
- Middle radiator: Not available on S
- Sound symposer: Not available on S
- 20-inch Carrera S Wheels: £971
- SportDesign package (front/rear bumpers): £1,728
- Smoked tail lights: £299
- PDLS (Black Design): Not available on S, silver design is £477
- Sports seats plus: £1,291
- Full leather/alcantara interior: Not available on S, closest is full leather for £2,156
- Rooflining in alcantara: £684 (may have become standard later?)
- SportDesign steering wheel in alcantara: £259 for manual (£397 for PDK)
- Gear shift lever in alcantara: £405

So thats £10,970 of options on a manual, even more on a PDK. Before you even start adding PCM, climate, parking sensors and all the other stuff a lot of people would add to any 981.

If you really want all that stuff, then buy a GTS . But if you are a more level headed buyer you'd have to ask yourself whether you'd pay much (anything?) for some of it. And some of it - like alcantara gearlever and wheel (and for me 20" wheels, Sports exhaust, though many will take a different view ) you might prefer not to have. Personally there is only PASM and the sports wheel (not in alcantara) that I would choose anyway.

[Milnsey]

Twinfan said:

True! Depends how basic spec it was as to whether you could have lived with it for 4 years though...

Even a basic spec GTS still a very pleasant place to be, not exactly a Ford Anglia!