hi everyone
this will be my first porsche purchase. I'd really appreciate your advice:
I have the option of getting a 4 year old carrera S in automatic vs. the same model/year in manual. Both have low miles, the auto has 5K and the manual has 25K. Both are "certified pre owned". I like both and am fine with either automatic or manual. this will be a daily driver.
1. from the perspective of re-sale value, i.e. if I drive this for 3 years and then sell it, which would sell more easily, the automatic or the manual transmission?
2. if a car is "certified pre owned", should I still have an independent third party mechanic take a look before or right after buying? or is it safe to go forward and buy it without worry?
3. over the next 5 year period, what would you estimate the maintenance costs to be? for those who are familiar with corvettes, how would that compare with the maintenance costs of a brand new corvette grand sport (that is not tracked, driven lightly as for short commute in California) ? Yes, believe it or not, I am cross shopping porsche vs. corvette. Don't worry, i'm leaning towards the porsche.
thanks for your advice. Feel free to post here or to email me at
[email removed]
Fist off, what exact model year are we talking about here?...2008 and below or 2009 and above? Prett big differences here in regards to your choices.
If for the automatic you are talking the Tiptronic (and not the PDK) then IMO I would go with the manual for sure. The Tip is not a bad transmission at all but just not that sporting compared to the manual or later PDK. For model years 2008 and below a manual will always be easier to sell.
If they are both CPO cars that is a great place to start, although there could be better deals in the private sector and then you will have some money in your pocket for anything that goes wrong. I would not worry about a third party inspection on a CPO car, but would strongly recommend one for any others.
No doubt about it, a Vette will pretty much always cost less to maintain compared to any Porsche,...not because a Porsche is less durable, but due to the fact that parts and service for them are higher. Do the work yourself and the difference will be greatly reduced. Find a good one, and a Porsche can be a very reliable car, but if and when something does go wrong you will need to be ready to part with some $$$.
Good luck with your choice, both the CS and Vette are great cars, the Porsche is just a bit more special all the way around.
Congrats adam123 on your soon new purchase!
I recently purchased a CPO 2008 Carrera. I debated whether to get a PPI and eventually did get one for the car. I'm glad I did.
The PPI was very thorough. The car goes up on a rack and is inspected head to toe. The PPI examined mechanical and cosmetic things I could not; for example repaint and clutch wear. You should get a nice report and pictures can be taken of any "issues."
It is good to know what you are getting into before taking the plunge. Also, you can use the PPI with the dealership as a negotiating tool or to correct problems prior to purchase. My car had undergone paintless dent repair, and the clutch was starting go out. I had several other things fixed on my CPO car prior to purchase, that were only discovered through the PPI.
A CPO is not a panacea. The dealership decides which cars (within certain parameters) it wants to CPO. The CPO does offers additional warranty, excluding wear items, but some vehicles may still be CPO eligible with repainted panels, paintless dent repair, or maintenance that may have been less than timely.
As to manual vs. a Tiptronic; I agree with Atlas. I'd go a manual. I love the interaction of driving a car with a manual transmission.
I have no experience with a Vette, so I can't help you there! I do know Porsches are expensive to maintain and repair...
Good luck with your search! :cheers:
We have both a Cayman and aCorvette. I have driven several 911s buthaven’t owned one. To me the 911 feelssomewhere between the agile light quickness of the Cayman and the more plantedand powerful Corvette. All 3 are greatfun! Both of our cars have manual transmissionsand we wouldn’t own anything different just to potentially get a few hundredextra at trade-in. Buy the car andtransmission you like best.
We did get a PPI on the privately owned Cayman we bought whichshowed no problems. For me on a CPO car itwould depend on the age and mileage. Iwould want it on an older or high mileage car.
