2002 C2: which car would you pick? help!

I have two potential cars that I am interested in: 2002 white C2 18500 miles from a used car dealership. $54000, with 30 day warranty (extendable through GE warranty services for a fee) or 2002 white C2 35000 miles from an official Porsche dealership. $56500 with Porsche's used car warranty. Similar condition, assume similar options, etc... which would you choose? The low mileage is so tempting, but I feel safer buying from an actual Porsche dealership.

OK this should be a no brainer..Buy the one from Porsche, chances are you can get it down to the same price as the other, and you can build a good relationship with the dealer seeing how thats where you bought it. A good dealer is like a good friend , they will go to bat for you when and if needed.

I agree, buy the one from Porsche. But, tell them about the other deal and try to work the price down a little more.

cpo all the way!!!!!!!!!!

Are these cabs you are looking at? I ask only for pricing info.

The one from the dealership for sure.

I'd take the car with lower mileage. You should be able to get them down a few thousand bucks on the price, but why in the world would you opt for a car with almost twice the mileage, no matter who is selling it? Lower mileage reflects in every area of the car - interior wear, mechanicals, rock chips, etc., so go lower mileage. As Kilgrit said, it's a no-brainer, just the other way.

I take 35,000 and a warranty - if it's not a cab, you should be able to get the price down a bit from there - I bought my car with 40,000 miles and it feels new.

Depends on the cost of the GE warranty and it's coverage limits.

C P O

The GE warranty is $3000 for 3 years 15K mi. covered each year. Bumper to bumper warranty... the CPO warranty is also extendable for a fee.

oh, this pricing is for a coupe.

Don't be swayed by mileage alone - that really doesn't mean a whole lot.. it's all about how well it was maintained and if it was beaten on and abused. I'd rather own a car that was a daily driver and maintained as such, rather than a garage queen taken out only on weekends for spiritied driving.

go with the lower mileage and take the extended warranty. As soon as you buy take it to the local Porsche dealer and have them do a FULL inspection (ask about the RMS) or better yet just shell out $90 for the Full inspection before you sign on the dotted line. If you are seriously considering a $55K car $100 for an inspection is no biggie. Is this a daily driver?

it is not planned to be a daily driver... but may become one in the future.

I'd take the lower mileage car and buy the GE warranty. Add the extra 3k and it's still only 1k more for 20,000 miles less. This will reflect dramatically in resale value down the road. Most people are right on here that it's more important to get the better maintained car, but when it comes time to sell most buyers look only at miles for this answer, no point in trying to fight that if both cars are good.

Well said!!!

Sounds like both cars are over priced? But if you want to pay to much for them, then get the one with lower mileage if the condition and maintenance history are in the same ball park. Better yet, start looking at private party deals. You should expect to pay somewhere around Kelly Blue Book "Good Condition" for a primo private party car. Take the six to ten thousand dollars you are going to save, put it in maybe a CD or whatever, make a little interest, and if you need some mechanical work done, you've got the funds. Good Luck, Tom L 2002 C2

I don't know.. I never buy a car with any consideration to reselling it and it's resale value. I know that sounds bad - money wise - but I don't want to drive around worrying about how the next owner is gonna think about it. So, if I want to drive back home to Michigan from San Diego, I'll do it and just not care about those thousands of miles I'll put on. I've made that trip several times in various cars I've owned. They are good, fun miles, and I buy cars for the SOLE purpose of driving. All I care about is how reliable it is, and how much fun it'll give me. If I get any money back when I'm done with a car, well, that's just a bonus. Just get the one that is the "tightest". Get the best combo of tight engine and tight suspension. Maybe one of the previous owners lived on a road to work that took him thru the city and across somewhat bumpy roads. The other guy drove on a smooth road to/from work, so his suspension wasn't getting a work out just driving in a straight line.. and so is nice and fresh and "tight". Little bumps, uneven roads, potholes, hard corners, etc.. can/will contribute to a suspension getting worn out MUCH sooner than another identical one.

CPO ONLY

Nice way to live Torrente! I'm not suggesting that he baby the car once he owns it, only that between the two the one with 20,000 miles less is the better "value" in most of the worlds eyes.

Assuming the cars were driven with equal "vigor", how in the hell is a car with twenty thousand more miles even in the discussion? CPO this, CPO that, Porsche dealers are insanely profitable because they make you think you need it - barring a catastrophic failure, the lower mileage car is the better car.

Assuming GE is a respectable warranty company, I'd go with the 20k mile 996. I'd haggle a little more for the price or wait until February when more will probably be for sale.

oddly, i went to drive the 996 with 32K on it, and it drove better, the interior was "tighter", and the car was smoother to shift... I would have thought the car w/ 18K mi. would perform better.

I'd go with the CPO for sure. I was burned by an aftermarket warranty before (in the 80's) and made a promise to myself to never buy one again. The company went out of business and the warranty was worthless. Although I doubt you have to worry about GE going out of business, what happens if GE decides to sell their aftermarket warranty to another company? Will the new company honor the warranty? Does the warranty cover everything the CPO warranty covers? Many 3rd party warranties provide less coverage than the factory warranties. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I'd stick with the factory CPO warranty. My $0.02

I bought an 03 coupe in November. The prices you are getting seem a bit high. There is probably some negotiating room in there on both cars.

so which did you choose?

I went with neither, I found another C2 from a private party that is an 04, so it has factory warranty, and it has lower mileage that both the others! I got it last week!

Congrats...enjoy!! AND Post some Pics!!!