Porsche prices when new 993 v 996

[Glenn McMenamin]

I read in a mag the other week about how much a 993 turbo, and turbo S were when new, as i remember the turbo cost more then than the 996 does now (or did)
And as for the S, i thought a saw that it was over £120k !!!


How come the 996 was cheaper ???

Does anyone have a comprehensive pricelists for the 993's inc Rs's and the like ??

God knows how much a GT2 must have cost new ???

G.

[verysideways]

If you have an old copy of autocar, say for example from late 1996, that should contain all the list prices for the range at the time, which i would presume to include the boxtster and s, the 993 C2, C4, RS, TT, C4S, and possibly also the GT2.

Remember also that when the 996TT was launched it was the same money as it's predecessor (near enough) at 99k. But around the time they started delivering RHD customer cars they announced a price drop from 99k to 86k, which they applied to cars that were already "deposited" as well as new orders.

VS

Memory like a sieve for some things, but strangely not when it comes to pork...

edit: sorry, forgot the 993 targa in my list above (too early for Turbo S and C2S i think).

>> Edited by verysideways on Wednesday 27th April 14:25

[cyrus1971]

Interesting question – hope this does not come across preachy or teaching anyone to suck eggs but I reckon the answer may be about quality though and not cost ?

In the mid 90’s Porsche went to a Japanese car giant for mass manufacturing “understanding”. They came home with some (back then) innovative approaches. The challenge always being maintaining or advancing Quality while maintaining or lowering Cost. The 993 and all that proceeded it is a text book example of high Quality at high Cost. Porsche went through their products end-2-end applying their Japanese learning’s and to cut a long story short derived the Boxster and 996.

They were ripe for it because for years they had “old fashioned” values. Porsche was on the cusp of bankruptcy in early 90’s and there is nothing like your P45 in the post to focus the mind :-) and so they remembered a manufacturer must replace a product with new ones that are either (1) Better or (2) Cheaper – for the same performance. A similar rationalisation exercise run now would probably not return them the same dividend.

Truth is of course Quality of wear and tear items like a car can really only be assessed years down the line and we are now seeing that 996 has way more issues that the 993. So what price quality ? However Porsche definitely got the balance right, well everything right really –design, manufacturing, brand, product, sales – the whole lot. Sales = profit, so ultimately it is getting everything right an maturing their whole business that enabled them to sell better products for less cost.

P.S – I am aware there is a lot of opinion in this reply !

Anyone know who the Jap car giant was ?

>> Edited by cyrus1971 on Wednesday 27th April 14:48

[verysideways]

Spot on - i seem to remember reading somewhere that the cost of making a 993 shell is about three times what the 996 shell costs to make, and that the build time of a 993 involved something like 5 times more man hours than the 996 equivalent. Ouch!

VS

[wax lyrical]

cyrus1971 said:

In the mid 90’s Porsche went to a Japanese car giant for mass manufacturing “understanding”. They came home with some (back then) innovative approaches. The challenge always being maintaining or advancing Quality while maintaining or lowering Cost. ...Anyone know who the Jap car giant was ? >> Edited by cyrus1971 on Wednesday 27th April 14:48

...Nissan. But I'm not sure I agree that the 996 has significantly more issues than the 993 (as the cars age). My car's a '99 with 87k on the clock now and still feels fresh. Sports suspension and sports exhaust even give it the feeling of rawness that people say Porsche dialled out with the 996.

Mine's the last of the hard-core watercooled models - no glovebox and NO CUPHOLDERS!

[paultje]

Had a lecture once from a business 'specialist' who worked for Porsche with a view to cut costs. He studied the methods used by Toyota who, at that time were considered to be the most efficient car manufacturers on the planet (when VW had 20% referalls from the production line- Toyota had virtually none!) This guy was GIVEN a 996 as a bonus by Porsche for cutting costs thru' revised production methods. Hope it hasn't had RMS problems...that would be poetic justice!!

[marx]

993 GT2 was ~£135K and the RS was £69K in 1996. Compared to 993s, Boxsters and 996s were designed together from scratch, share many parts and sell in much higher numbers so they'll be more profitable for Porsche. They should be cheaper to run than 993s too. I think Boxter roof motors are about 1/3 the price of 993 motors, for example. Major stuff, like engines, are cheaper to replace too...

[welshchris]

Here are come scans of my original 993 price lists from August 1st.1995 - interesting reading!

Basic 993TT = £93950.00 including VAT



www.chris.parry.clara.co.uk/993prices1.jpg
www.chris.parry.clara.co.uk/993prices2.jpg
www.chris.parry.clara.co.uk/993prices3.jpg
www.chris.parry.clara.co.uk/993prices4.jpg

Chris

[cyrus1971]

paultje - just seen pic of your 993 - stunner - really works with the non-standard wheels. Good call.

[gfreeman]

wax lyrical said:

[quote=cyrus1971] But I'm not sure I agree that the 996 has significantly more issues than the 993 (as the cars age). My car's a '99 with 87k on the clock now and still feels fresh.

I agree... Just cos some tarts on here worry about a nanodrop of oil and start crying 'RMS!!'.....

Don't forget, the 996 was introduced in the last century as well - and is getting on for 6 years old. They not only feel fresh, they look fresh.

[gfreeman]

And another thing.... my old 944S2 came with it's original receipt

1989 and over £40k!!! - wot's that in today's money???

[verysideways]

I have the original receipt for my 993TT - back in 1998 the original owner paid over 300,000DM.

If you check the exchange rate from back then, that equates to about £105,000.



I'm the 3rd owner, and paid a third of that

[slim_boy_fat]

gfreeman said:

And another thing.... my old 944S2 came with it's original receipt 1989 and over £40k!!! - wot's that in today's money???

Funny that my 944turbo was £45,000 in 1990. And you still get tw@ts today talking about the 944 s the poor mans Porsche..

I wish I was poor enough to afford a car worth that. Probably equivalent to £70,000 today

[AC79xxx]

cyrus1971 said:

paultje - just seen pic of your 993 - stunner - really works with the non-standard wheels. Good call.

They're 17" Boxster wheels, I've got a set of those on mine. They're nice to look at when there's no brake dust on them but are an absloute arse to clean

>> Edited by AC79xxx on Thursday 28th April 17:03

[paultje]

cyrus1971 said:

paultje - just seen pic of your 993 - stunner - really works with the non-standard wheels. Good call.

Ta Very much...bought them second-hand from Jasmine at a show...they fitted them too!! They are 17" Sport Classic Alloys (mk.1) ...And yes they are a bugger to keep clean!!