987S Residuals
Discussion
Took my 15 months old 987S back to the supplying OPC today - with a view to trading up to a used 911 996 Turbo Coupe, priced at £74,995. The offer for my car, which cost me £51,300 was....................
................£35,000! Taking into account my monthly finance payments, but excluding running costs, the 987S has cost me nearly £22,000! Don't let anyone tell you that the Boxster has strong residuals - or that options are worthwhile; it hasn't - and they aren't! I expected a loss, somewhere around £8000 plus my finance costs - a total of around £13,000 - but no, £22,000 loss.
So what am I going to do? Probably sell the Boxster and get out of what I thought was a premium brand - and return to the sanity of mainstream motoring!
Del
................£35,000! Taking into account my monthly finance payments, but excluding running costs, the 987S has cost me nearly £22,000! Don't let anyone tell you that the Boxster has strong residuals - or that options are worthwhile; it hasn't - and they aren't! I expected a loss, somewhere around £8000 plus my finance costs - a total of around £13,000 - but no, £22,000 loss.
So what am I going to do? Probably sell the Boxster and get out of what I thought was a premium brand - and return to the sanity of mainstream motoring!
Del
Yes I am afraid to say I was hit very hard with our Boxster when trying to trade it into an OPC. What was interesting when I drove the 987 last year was they were telling me that 986 prices had sufferred towards the end, but not to worry as the 987 residuals were just like the levels when the Boxster first came out.
I am afraid to say that I will probably never have another prestige car (unless it is a used one), bizarely it is the german prestige stuff that I have been hit hardest with.
I am afraid to say that I will probably never have another prestige car (unless it is a used one), bizarely it is the german prestige stuff that I have been hit hardest with.
Harsh but that's new cars for you I guess. But realistically an OPC isn't going to offer you £43K for a used (albeit only 15 months) Boxster? A brand new Cayman costs that much, although admittedly with not a jot of options...I suspect that the Cayman has further whacked the used Boxster prices as there is some overlap in buyer profile...
The other hard lesson I have learnt is not to plunder the options list. If you are going to buy a car with options, make sure you are buying them purely for your self and not with a view to getting your money back at the end. Obviously I know there can be exceptions to this rule, but in the main from experience it's a good one to stick to.
james_j said:That's exactly the way Porsche want you to see it..... I've been bitten many a time. The biggest problem is, that people just don't buy 30k+ cars from private punters.....I've tried to sell 5 prestige cars in the last 4 years - all 40k+ (4 of them Porsches) and I've only sold 1 of them (the non Porsche..!) I've had to hit the dealer bid in all cases, even tho' the cars have been significantly below forecourt prices and all with manuf. warranty....Unfortunately the story get no better with used cars, that is until they get down to cash buyer levels - ie; under 30k ish.
In my experience, what is meant by "low residuals" is what you paid for your car originally minus the price of it on the forecourt after you've got rid of it.
Porsche have massive o/heads and stringent working practices, that's why the dealer bid to forecourt prices are so high.
"the biggest problem is, that people just don't buy 30k+ cars from private punters"
I did - a 993 C4S. My first Porsche. I just made sure the car went in for a 111pt Porsche inspection and Porsche warranty as part of the deal. Inspection through up nothing but a missing bolt and I got the price of both deducted of his sale price. Seller got his money - I got the car I wanted with an inspection and a Porsche warranty to give some peace of mind. I also did full HPI checks etc.
But you're right - few people do this - I know some of my friends seemed surprised that I'd done so...
I did - a 993 C4S. My first Porsche. I just made sure the car went in for a 111pt Porsche inspection and Porsche warranty as part of the deal. Inspection through up nothing but a missing bolt and I got the price of both deducted of his sale price. Seller got his money - I got the car I wanted with an inspection and a Porsche warranty to give some peace of mind. I also did full HPI checks etc.
But you're right - few people do this - I know some of my friends seemed surprised that I'd done so...
I bought a new standard 987 from an opc in march 2005 for £37000. The salesman knew I was on a budget and suggested the options I should have. I have not incurred any finance costs and was offered £31000 trade in against a 911 at a well known independant in December. I was pleased with that offer, it was what I had anticipated but decided to stick with the boxster.
Lets look at this another way, put yourself in a prospective used Boxster purchasers mind....
How much would you want to pay for a 15mth old well specified Boxster S from an OPC?
Answer: about £40k
Anymore and you'll think I'll buy a brand new one (be it not aswell spec'd) for a couple of grand more
Factor in a margin of £5k (SCREEN PRICE!!!! which even IF achieved is less than a 15% mark up! (chances are you business makes far more!, the reality when haggling and costs have come out will be near 6-7% mark up) and there you go £35k valuation
>> Edited by mustard on Saturday 28th January 18:15
How much would you want to pay for a 15mth old well specified Boxster S from an OPC?
Answer: about £40k
Anymore and you'll think I'll buy a brand new one (be it not aswell spec'd) for a couple of grand more
Factor in a margin of £5k (SCREEN PRICE!!!! which even IF achieved is less than a 15% mark up! (chances are you business makes far more!, the reality when haggling and costs have come out will be near 6-7% mark up) and there you go £35k valuation
>> Edited by mustard on Saturday 28th January 18:15
mbutchers said:
The biggest problem is, that people just don't buy 30k+ cars from private punters.
Only out-of-warranty. If it was in-warranty and came back RAC-inspection clear, I would have thought that was the best way to buy. Certainly if/when I find myself in that market it's what I'll be doing.
Guess I'm just weird then...
havoc said:
The biggest problem is, that people just don't buy 30k+ cars from private punters.
Only out-of-warranty. If it was in-warranty and came back RAC-inspection clear, I would have thought that was the best way to buy. Certainly if/when I find myself in that market it's what I'll be doing.
Guess I'm just weird then...
There are people that will happily buy high value cars on a private deal. I bought my last Porsche privatly and sold it privatly a year later. The purchase and sale prices were both north of £70k. Everybody saved a stack in OPC mark up.
Just have to be careful who and how you exchange funds etc.
Chers Jonathan.
Alternatively negotiate a sale-or-return deal with an independent firm. You agree a sensible window price for the car with the sales guy, they sort out the finance etc. (presumably getting commission if the new owner opts for finance) and you pay a fixed amount to the sales firm.
Smaller garages will often do this if it's a good car and looks good on their forecourt (i.e. attracting more than just those interested in Boxsters).
You have to balance whether the garage's commission cost is worth the increase in market - people are wary of buying 30k+ cars privately and, also, many tend not to have that sort of money as cash and want to finance it. And many people still don't know that you can sort out car finance yourself and don't need to accept the dealer's favourite broker.
Whatever - I'd steer well clear of accepting an OPC's bid, if you have to sell to a garage in full then an indie like Henry who buys rather than SORs cars would probably offer better purely as indies don't need the same margin as OPCs. No affiliation with Henry and I haven't bought (or sold) cars through him, just noted his recent comment about buying his stock rather than SOR.
Smaller garages will often do this if it's a good car and looks good on their forecourt (i.e. attracting more than just those interested in Boxsters).
You have to balance whether the garage's commission cost is worth the increase in market - people are wary of buying 30k+ cars privately and, also, many tend not to have that sort of money as cash and want to finance it. And many people still don't know that you can sort out car finance yourself and don't need to accept the dealer's favourite broker.
Whatever - I'd steer well clear of accepting an OPC's bid, if you have to sell to a garage in full then an indie like Henry who buys rather than SORs cars would probably offer better purely as indies don't need the same margin as OPCs. No affiliation with Henry and I haven't bought (or sold) cars through him, just noted his recent comment about buying his stock rather than SOR.
delbox said:
Took my 15 months old 987S back to the supplying OPC today - with a view to trading up to a used 911 996 Turbo Coupe, priced at £74,995. The offer for my car, which cost me £51,300 was....................
................£35,000! Taking into account my monthly finance payments, but excluding running costs, the 987S has cost me nearly £22,000! Don't let anyone tell you that the Boxster has strong residuals - or that options are worthwhile; it hasn't - and they aren't! I expected a loss, somewhere around £8000 plus my finance costs - a total of around £13,000 - but no, £22,000 loss.
So what am I going to do? Probably sell the Boxster and get out of what I thought was a premium brand - and return to the sanity of mainstream motoring!
Del
Keep it. That's my current strategy. When I looked into getting a 987S to replace my MY03 986S. Its got 20K miles. Virtually no stone chips/paint blemishes. Its interior could be new with the replacement of the mats (£50). I was offered around £20K (+ a bit) for it. It was £45K new and is three years old, just gone. Ha ha ha. I said to myself.
To be fair - as a percentage that's not so bad. Still worth 45% of new at three years old. But in absolute terms it makes it a depreciation stone. So. I'm keeping mine. Its perfect. I've had all the niggles fixed. And maintenance just doesn't cost that much.
When its six years old maybe I'll look at the curve again. Guess what? I'll be able to sell it privately for £15K. That means this coming three years is going to cost peanuts in comparison.
I reckon over the six years it might even be good value motoring. It should certainly be good value "prestige" motoring.
Sorry to hear you've been offered such a low price but unfortunately when you overspec a new car, you're kinda asking for trouble.
When I bought a S2 Elise 111S with hardtop amounting to £30k, I sold it back to Lotus a year later at £22.5k so if the bid didn't take into account the additional £1750 hardtop which was hard to swallow. Still if I still have the car now I reckon it'll only be worth £14k...
With that in mind I bought an M3 afterwards at £41k with folding mirrors, armrest, CD and 19" wheels as the only options, ran it for 16 months and managed to sell the car back to the dealer for £35k in June 2004 which I felt pretty good about considering the bottom has pretty much fallen since. I'd have lost a further £10k now if I was selling up now.
I doubt I want to puchase a new car now, will be planning to get myself into a used 996 GT3/TT/GT2. I've learnt my lesson.
When I bought a S2 Elise 111S with hardtop amounting to £30k, I sold it back to Lotus a year later at £22.5k so if the bid didn't take into account the additional £1750 hardtop which was hard to swallow. Still if I still have the car now I reckon it'll only be worth £14k...
With that in mind I bought an M3 afterwards at £41k with folding mirrors, armrest, CD and 19" wheels as the only options, ran it for 16 months and managed to sell the car back to the dealer for £35k in June 2004 which I felt pretty good about considering the bottom has pretty much fallen since. I'd have lost a further £10k now if I was selling up now.
I doubt I want to puchase a new car now, will be planning to get myself into a used 996 GT3/TT/GT2. I've learnt my lesson.
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