2002 996 C2 - What is it worth?

Hi: I am looking at a 2002 C2 with 70+K miles. Has all books and records, all standard maintenance performed. 2-owner. Porsche CPO to 9/2008 or 100K miles. New clutch, new transmission at 70K miles. 2 RMS issues fixed under warranty. Very few options. GLH exhuast. What do you think the car is worth. How valuable is CPO? Thanks

Anywhere between $38.000 - $42.000

Sounds rather like my car. I would guess and hope it's worth ~$38k+. CPO premium seems to be ~$2000-3000.

Simon: I am going to be tracking it extensively. Looking at putting in racing seats, rollbar, 6-point harness and JIC suspension.

I've recently seen 02 with 40K miles and extensive options going for $39K and without CPO. CPO is worth $2000 so I would guess that $38000 to $40,000 is about right.

The value of the CPO may become questionable. If (say) you put a piston through the block, PCNA may claim that the warranty has been invalidated. FWIW, after a CEL came on as I returned from the last Silver State, I whipped out the rollbar and GT3 seats, showed up at my dealer with my best smile, and got ~$2800 worth of new catalysts, so YMMV.

It is the mileage that is a killer. A CPO 35K 02 with the typical options (Bose, Xenons, pwr seats, 18" Carrera wheels) will be in the mid to upper $40's from a dealer. One with 40K at $39K from a dealer is very low. If there is no CPO, there is probably a reason for it.

agree w 02 carrera, mileage is real high for a 4-5 yr old p car. hope u plan on keeping it for a while or else u'll have a hard time selling it later. i'd not pay a penny over $40k for it. probly somewhere around $38k if it's in excellent condition.

Not sure I agree that the mileage is high. 5 year old car with 70K miles = 14,000 miles per year. The strange thing is that if this car had 30K miles some would say the "mileage is too low, stay away from that car." Rhetorical question... what is the "correct" number of miles to drive a P-car per year?

No one would say stay away from a low mileage car. It is just the market does not support high mileage cars. Very low mileage cars tend to have a premium that comes with them. Some cars, like GT3s, are expected to have low miles. I am seeing many 04' GT3's for sale right now. Most have 16K or less mile and they are all selling in the high 70's. Back in early 05', there was an 04' GT3 with 50K miles for sale locally. Low mileage 04's (< 5K) were still selling used for close to list. With 50K miles in one year, this one sold for $69K. I would not expect to even be able get for a 50K mile GT3 today. An 02' with 70K miles is not typical on the used Porsche market. 14K miles a year may be acceptable for a Camry, but not for these cars. An 02 with 30-45K on the other hand is very typical. Most dealers won't even take that high mileage of a car and try to sale it. They would just wholesale it instead. Is it good or bad to get a high mileage car? It depends on the purpose. For a track only car, it is a great option. You are going to take a beating on the resale anyways from the track wear and tear, so why not have someone else do it up front? If you are looking for a daily driver to have for a couple of years, it doesn't make sense to go with the high mileage car. Add more mileage will only make it that much harder to sale down the road.

i would pay as high as $36, assuming it's perfect condition. if there's small things like stone chips/door dent, discount it accordingly.

Thanks for all the input! I am not concerned with the mileage, and I understand depreciation with water-cooled Porsches (I just sold a 996TT -ouch) The seller is a forum member and seems to be honest and forthcoming with this car's history. The car has had collision damage back in 2002. The only thing that worries me is 2 (or 3) RMS repair issues. The owner has come on Rennlist with frustration on this issue, and even stating "maybe I need to pursue an engine replacement with PCNA" The car has no RMS at this time, but it would be a major concern. He is asking $35K. The car is in the classified section on Rennlist.

collision damage + 2~3 RMS? i wouldn't touch it. unless it's so cheap what i can use the $$ i saved for an engine replacement.

The collision damage would worry me. However, the RMS repairs would not. I looked at many cars during my search and most had their RMS repaired at least once. If it hasn't happenned, it just may down the road.

I guess it depends on what kind of collision, I would not worry about a fender bender, does the seller have pictures of the car after the accident??

Personally, I won't touch a wrecked car...even for track only purposes. I wouldn't be that concerned about the RMS as long as it is fixed. I had my car in 3 times for this. The first time they thought it was RMS and replaced the RMS and IMS. Leak continued. They found the IMS housing warped. New seal and housing. Again leak continued. Third time they found the inner bushing for the IMS failed. IMS was wobbleing and worn out the housing again. New IMS bushings, IMS, seal and housing. No problems since then.

RXDOC - sold your beautiful TT????? and now you want a C2 996. this puts you in my territory oh i'm excited about the '07 track season indeed!!! -Robert

Hi Robert: Yes, sadly the TT is gone. I was sorry to see her go, but just couldn't justify such a rapidly depreciating car just sitting week after week. I was barely driving it other than 6-7 DE weekends a year! I am not certain what I am going to get maybe a 3.6 996 or a 987S. I love the 996 power but also the 987S handling. Whatever I get, it will be less than 1/2 the price of the TT. I wasn't learning much on the track with the 500HP AWD TT. The HP and Torque and AWD and PSM and ABS corrected all my mistakes. BTW, they are repaving RA as we speak. It will be fun on all new surface.

This site is great but i do have to laugh. When I posted my question about value, I was told it was barely worth 30K. When RxDOC asks, the price goes up to almost 40K. Any way, the car was NOT wrecked! There was some front right body damage. There was no frame damage. The seams are all original and the putty is all original. The suspension was inspected when I first bought the car, and A very reputable indy could not tell that there was any damage. If components were replaced, the car was only two weeks old and the new ones were indistinguishable by 14000 miles. Regarding engine replacement, I only questioned it because I heard that 3 RMS = new engine. This is clearly not the case. I did question the dealer about the tolerances of the RMS and was told it was fine. After the last replacement with the new tranny(71k), when I thought it was leaking, they told me the Intermediate shaft seal was leaking, and the service advisor thought that this may have been the problem when they did it at (60k). They Did not need to replace the RMS with the new tranny at 71K. It was not leaking and the oil i saw was from the shhaft seal. I do not know if there are degrees to which the RMS can leak, but there has never been one drip of oil on the ground. I just saw some seepage under the seam between the engine and gearbox. I really used the seal change at 60k to get the labor charge for the new clutch!!

Hi Jeff: This post was started, with good intentions, to gather some wisdome from this forum. I am sorry that you have felt you had to defend your cars' value. You have been very honest with all the issues. I will pm you. Thanks

Thanks for the PM. I was just clarifying the facts. I know what I have, and I understand the skepticism of other who do not have the advantage of seeing and driving it. I would be skeptical of a car with this history as well. That is why I have been completely honest up front and feel I have listed it fairly. I have sold two cars on ebay, (100%feedback same same user name 42empress) and not being completely honest with this type of sale will only create mistrust and a breakdown in dialogue. Anyway, as I told you privately, my thoughts of wantng something else for DD is quickly wearing off. Thanks, jeff

yes! get a regular 996, you'll feel like you're driving a miata

Hey Robert: It will be a very strange feeling for sure, coming out of turn 7 into the backstraight at RoadAtlanta, flooring the gas pedal, and not having the 500HP and AWD to blow past almost every other car on the track! Maybe now I will have to learn how to drive!