What is a fair asking price for '02 4S Coupe TIP, 17k miles? Sell now or in spring?

Garage space requires the sale of one of the Porsches. Reluctantly I am starting to prepare for the sale of our 2002 Carrera 4S Coupe TIP, 17,020 mile. It is in excellent condition. Great color combination, rare Forest Green Metalic with Natural Leather Brown Options include: Natural brown leather, heated front seats package, Tiptronic S, rear window wiper, wheel caps with colored crest, natural brown floor mats, custom contrast special stitching F/R seats, AM/FM radio with CD. Total MSRP was $89,650 I am the 2nd owner. I purchased the car with 7,200 miles in December 2003. It now has 17,020 miles. All service records available. I replaced the battery this year. Car has been always garaged, never on a race track, never smoked in and has been driven on a weekly or bi-weekly regular basis. Last oil change was at 14,500 miles. Tires are in great shape and all the wheels are in great shape without any scrapes or scratches. The car has no dents or scratches. There are 3 keys with the car, I wallet key and 2 with remote buttons. I purchased it with TIP because I thought my wife would drive it more frequently and because some reviews from people I highly respected claimed it to be brilliant. Well it is really brilliant. If you never tried a Tiptronic transmission tryone before rendering judgment. You can change from automatic to manual mode with a push of the thumb switch on the steering wheel and it stays in manual mode for ~10 seconds unless you change gears again. What do you guys think - should I sell now or wait for the economy and the flowers to bloom in the spring? mike

Nice Car. Forest over natural brown is a great color combo!!! Tough question, tough choice. Here in Vegas there are two C4S's for sale. One is a 2002 the other a 2004, both manual. The 2002 is in the mid 40's the 2004 is in the high 40's. Both have been for sale for some time. If you wait until spring the car is just that much older and worth even less. Plus by spring more 2005 and 2006 997's will be off lease flooding an already flooded water cooled 911 market. While some love Tips, the resale of a Tip is on average $5,000 less than a manual from what I've seen. Honestly, I think if you sold now you would get somewhere in the low 40's. If you wait to spring, high 30's. With GM not giving credit to anyone with a credit score less than 700 and BMW offering .9% financing on 2008 M3's, even Porsche dealers are cutting prices on new cars upwards 10K. Qualified buyers for resale P-cars are going to be in short demand and those that are qualifed will have their pick of the litter and expect an amazing price. Just my 2 cents.

I would agree with kevjandon, waiting until spring won't help matters. With the new PDKs out there, the Tips will look less and less appealing. The color combo may be a bit more difficult to sell--but some might pay a premium for it. I'd guess low 40's at this time. good luck with sale. What is replacing the C4s?

I'd agree with above - 42-44 sounds about right. But as already said - if you wait too long more 997s will be in the market as 2005 leases mature etc, plus people who can afford these cars are getting their pick. Glws. Post some pics - would love to see the color combo

It sucks very much. I would venture to say if you were to trade (which I know you aren't) they probably would offer somewhere around $25,000 for it. In these HORRIBLE times I would guess that $30,000 would be a fair price for it. SO many cars being available being the main problem holding prices down below where they should be.

If it has a warranty I would say the price should be higher. The low miles are great, but I don't think that factors in too much as motors can let go with virtually any mileage.

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Yup, those things are like ticking time bombs OHHH NOOO not another trip down THIS ROAD!!

After driving a Porsche you cannot give them up - at least I cannot. I am keeping my '91 C4. Here are some pics of the 2002 C4S. I for one find the inside color very important and like a warm natural color. I realize this is not everybody's cup of tea.

Not worth selling IMHO - you're better off keeping it. Kind of like watching stocks take a plunge; you only lose if you sell. Looks like a beauty - I'd keep it and drive it if I were you.

Like I said, beautiful color combo to me at least! All it is missing is a wood gear shifter and brake lever.

I agree with you. I really like that interior.

me too. i dig the color combo!

What is the warranty situation on it? The issue you're going to have is that a) a lot of people do not like green cars (personally, I think this color looks AMAZING on ever P-car I've ever seen); b) a lot of people like a more monochromatic interior (again, I love it); and c) (as others have stated) the market is getting flooded with these cars. Yours is an exception, though, as it is a TIP, and it has low mileage. All waiting is going to do is drive the price down. 09s are out, they're crushing 05-08 prices and it will just trickle down from there. For example, there is a nice certified (2 year Porsche Warranty) 05 Carrera Tip (Silver/Black -- very common color combo, but good for resale) with 36k miles at a dealer in Chicago listed at $49,900. I'm sure they'll let that go for $45k. Does the C4S have its advantages over the above car? Of course it does. But the 05 is a newer body and a lot of people choose this over the benefits of AWD, etc. that your car affords. That said, I'm tracking your auction on eBay closely. We may need to talk off-line. :-)

Start where you think you should. Maybe upper 40's. If you are on ebay, that's one thing. If you are advertising elsewhere, the response will tell you if it's right. The MSRP is irrelevant. I just purchased an '02 C4S with 29K miles for $43,000, and it's everything I wanted. I was looking for it for 6 months. Folks are going to look for a Porsche, especially a C4S, because they want one - not because they need a car. Your car is very unique (relative to the herd out there). Someone out there will be searching for your car, they just haven't found it yet. All of the economy stuff makes a difference, but we can't do anything about it. If you really have to sell your car, that's a bummer. However, you and a future owner will eventually find a common ground. Good luck, Steve

I think upper 40s would be a very tough sell with early 996TTs starting at the $40k mark these days.