Is a speed yellow 996 worth less than other 996s?

I know that sounds like an odd question but please bear with me. First off, I like speed yellow. I know it is not the color for everyone. Do you think because the color is a 'no go" for a large part of the population that it might demand a lower price? Many folks buy such a wild colored car for the "look at me"factor. I'm not one of those. I like it because it's different. Opinions? Thanks, Jim

I would probably pay $5k more for one, especially an aero or C4S.

For Speed Yellow lovers, they would pay more like Tippy said. For most buyers though there's no way they would ever consider buying that color. In general, unusual colors reduce the value of the car, and Porsches are not an exception.

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+1 Personally, I like the color.

I believe that common colors are more worthless,--silver, or a variation of silver,--so common that it's value is diminished due to commonality. It's for the ultimate conservative Porsche driver,--an oxymoron.

Well I happen to like speed yellow quite a bit. I didn't really consider the color until I saw mine, and then I was hooked.

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I think SY 993's one of the best looking cars ever. My 03 Turbo's artic silver which is a nice color but sort of well less exciting than SY. My Boxster's lapis blue which is nice but as dark a color as I'd care to own although I considered a basalt black Cayman or Carrera before I bought Turbo. (SY Cayman destroyed in accident shortly after I bought car which is why I was looking at various cars.) I would have bought a SY Turbo if I found one I liked. I considered a lapis blue one down in LV. Oh, found a very very beautiful Carmona Red Carrera 4S that I would have bought in a heartbeat but held back cause it had Tip. Not saying Tip bad but I've always had a stick and I wasn't sure I was ready for a Tip. But the car was simply beautiful. Black leather interior and it had the dark wood package. Lovely car. And frankly not a common color. I kind of like that. I like macadamia brown too and spotted a forest green (?) Carrera the other day. Nice color. Heck these cars look good in any color! Buy the color you like, and buy a good car under the color. If you like color when (if) you go to sell someone else will like it too as long as you keep car in good condition. As for price, value, selling I'd argue color of car I'm selling the best color and the price justified by the color of the car in part. If I was buying a car I'd try to knock price down cause of the "odd" or less popular or desirable color of the car the seller was offering. For a used car buyer generally color less important than price and of course condition. Sincerely, Macster.

When I was selling my midnight blue 993 I learned black was worth more and much easier to sell. So of course I bought a blue 996 !

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+1 I was looking at some more sedate colors, but the wife insisted that if I get a Porsche it better be in a bold color.

The salesman will tell you that a bright color such as red, yellow, etc. is harder to resell and therefore worth less at trade in.

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Yes they will, and then they will also tell prospective buyers that a red, yellow is much more desirable than the bland colors and thus worthy of a premium

I would love to have a yellow one - they are fairly uncommon. If there was a yellow one and a red one side-by-side for sale and they both had the same interior and other features, personally I would lean towards the yellow one. In my case, all they had was red + it had a newly installed reman. I DO like the red though - they are the fastest ones that Porsche made

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are the fastest. Sincerely, Macster.

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for the longest while. Never saw it out in the sun, always parked under carport and most of the time with a cover over car. But the other day spotted car out on the road in the sun. Beautiful color and car. Sincerely, Macster.

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Ain't THAT the truth!

I like yellow. Really wish that my Targa was Speed Yellow...but didn't want to wait for a yellow Targa to be available...with the scarcity of Targas that could be a very long time. Besides, Dad always told me not to buy a used car because of its color. He told me to check out everything about the prospective purchase...mechanical, body, history, etc...and then if I still liked it to stand back about 20 feet, look at it, and ask myself if I could live with the color. So, my Targa is Seal Gray. But, I still prefer yellow.

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Right. I love all the colors, but personally I just wanted a classic silver for my 996. So I don't think it lowers the value, but you could say it probably narrows the number of potential buyers. For those wanting a SY, it might even raise the value, just like the salesman says!

Speed yellow is just a beautiful color.

I like yellow too. Nonsense that it is worth less.

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...dang!

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White is the fastest colour. White paint is smoother, reducing wind drag hence a faster car

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yellow/black or red/black = sexier than the best looking supermodel.

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I agree with you on the yellow or red with black looking very sexy... But lets see here: Nope, sorry, I choose the supermodels. Although in a perfect world, I'd be a 19 year old guy with a cobalt blue 996 filled with girls that look just like that.

For me SY was a bit of a concession to the wife and daughter. It helped them "buy into" the deal.

is this a serious question?? The 911 is my third Yellow car and not counting the first one which was totalled by my dealer technician on a joy ride, the second one sold for a premium over other similarly spec'd cars (Audi S4 Avant). There will always be a market for (specially in a high performance coupe arena) unusual cars and they'll bring more money then a car where the buyer has lots and lots of choices. True that there maybe less people in the market for a SY car versus a silver one (part of the reason porsche paints more silver cars than yellow in the first place), but those who want it will pay more generally; a yellow Ford Escape not being one of those cars. My feeling is that you already have a car that gets attention. Why the hell do you want to detract from that . No such thing as an understated 911. I love them all. But you have to ask how much more will people pay for a SY widebody car without a sunroof and I hope the answer is LOTS

Speeding Yellow

As I understand it, only 4% of Porsches are painted speed yellow. Obviously there is low demand for the color. That being said, when I recently sold a speed yellow 2004 Boxster S, only one person called and he paid the (high) asking price. My conclusion is that few want it, however those that do may pay a premium. Speed yellow coupes look better to me - the convertibles look like a chick car.

Cliff Notes: the market is smaller, but the value is high to that market

Have an '04 GT3 in Speed Yellow w/PCCBs for sale, 11k miles on it.

IMHO, I think this color you really have to like. I mean you should not have any doubts about it to happily have it and drive it. I really do not like yellow car, but the the shade of speed yellow and the shape of the 911changed my mind. This color grabbed me the first time I saw it and never considered any other color since.

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well, to tell you the true. I might say the same 20 years ago but now, I realized that I was wrong. a red/black or yellow/black 911 doesn't know how to nag nor complain. On the other side, a supermodel can spin your head around for several months, but after that, she is just a girl as any other girl. Here, this might be a different story. If you own a bunch of supermodels to make money for you so you can buy a bunch of of 911s

I really like SY

FWIW, I spent close to a year looking at all colors of Porsches before I bought my SY 2003 Cab. Whenever I saw a SY it was 5k more for almost every body type. Finally I broke in an just paid the premium. Every time I saw a lineup of cars (no matter the type). The yellow cars always stood out. Take this test: Go to anyplace where you see a parking lot full of cars (preferably from above). Glance quickly and look away. Ask yourself how many blue cars do you remember?, red?, black?, white? Now think, how many Yellow cars? I bet you can even remember where it was parked! Next question... Are you the guy in that car? Do you want to stand out or do you want the modest Porsche that can hide in a crowd. For everyone that doesn't really know you, the first impression is that you are full of yourself and want everyone to look at you. For your friends, they know that 'you know what you like, and you worked hard to get it'. No compromises, get what YOU want!!!!

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to get car in color he wanted. Have pics. Will post if asked. Car is absolutely a stunner in orange. Sincerely, Macster.

Hey, Back in the spring when i was in the market for a 996 my budget put me at the low end of the price range. I would not buy a black car because they are too hard to keep clean. All other colors was acceptable. It seems like about half the cars were black and most of the rest were some variant of silver. There were a decent amount of the dark blue. I saw very few red, white, or yellow cars. Personally I love the yellow, even more so when the interior has the yellow seat stitching. I was lucky that I found a yellow car that met my criteria. Barry

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I believe that hits the nail on the head. The market is much much smaller. Now all of the Mortgage brokers, realestate agents, wallstreet types and scores of others are no longer in the market for their "fun car" because of the state of things. The only consumers left in the fold right now are those that are truly addicted to their vise.... and employed.

I LOVE the yellow. Same goes for white and red too

I have a yellow 04 C4S Cab Tip Black supple leather, and just love it, would not have a black or dark car. Had a black Boxster and after 2 years the paint chips in the front were visable and ugly, Black was hard to keep clean and never waxed right. My yellow does not show chips or swirls,always looks clean, doesn't show any dirt and shines. I was told that speed yellow and white is the rarest of the stock C4S Carrera colors. That only 5% of 04 C4Ss were yellow and only 10 were Speed Yellow, Cab, Tip. Just check AutoTrader for yellow cars and you will know how rare they are. As far as the Tip, with the paddle shifters, I don't miss the clutch, especially in freeway traffic and on hills. The shifts are quite quick with the paddle shifters, however I have driven some of the old Tips w/0 Paddles and it is a little mundain, not the same experience.

I'm from NYC, and have seen way too many yellow taxi cabs to think of buying a yellow car!

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Our dads must know each other. I got the same lecture 30 years ago when I was looking at a green celica gt lift. He concluded that i wouldnt be able to look at the green car, and made me pass on it. I think he was right, i liked the biege one i got much better. As for the OP, yes it is worth less, as is a brown car. I know this for a fact. When I told my wife i wanted to buy a used M3 she said "go for it, but what color is it?" when i told her yellow she asked if i was getting a screaming good deal because of the color, and if not a screaming good deal I should pass on the car and find one in a good color. so i guess yellow may be worth less to a happly married man living by the creedo "she who must be obeyed is always obeyed" On the way home from the purchase I dropped it off at the body shop so they could polish the paint a little more so it would look its best when we got home. she prefers to be seen in the blue astra over the yellow m3. my 6 year old loves the yellow.

as i mentioned before, the yellow has grown on me. It is funny when i am driving, you always see the kids looking at your car. I wondered why. Well, it occurred to me that when i was a kid, i dreamed about porsches pretty much every day. So, as a kid when you see one, you always look at it until it's out of sight. When it's a yellow one, they stop in their tracks. The wife loves driving it also. There is a back road that i take going home and once in a while i pass a yellow 987

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Incorrect. Silver and black Porsches adorn the 4 sale sites. Rare colours sell first and for more. Fact. That�s why the only ones left are black and silver�

you created an account just to make that post?? BTW i love speed yellow

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correct. I joined the party at just the right time to correct the colour blind folk 😎

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Lol prior to you, the last post was 2009 🤣🤣 very strange first post.

I just bought a speed yellow 996 turbo. Definitely worth more than a silver or grey car. Just got her fully paint corrected and detailed inside and out. Looks amazing.

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Bright colors are in demand, right now. But that wasn�t true back when this thread was started in 2009. Trends/styles change. 10-20 years from now the rare colors on a 992 will be silver and grey.

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Hmm, I only see 992s in various shades of gray around here. Literally no one has an interesting color.

Pretty simple concept �supply and demand� dealers like to stock cars that when new appeal to the largest audience but as the years pass there is a strong desire for unique colors including Speed Yellow. I have bought numerous unique colored cars especially paint to sample cars they always demand a premium over more traditional colored cars my current Porsches, Speed Yellow, Pastel Yellow and PTS Tangerine. Rich

Speed Yellow is "officially" a PCA Rennbow unicorn color for 996: https://rennbow.org/colorwiki/SpeedYellow Speed Yellow will always bring a premium, and exponentially more so with the passage of time. IE the oldest Speed Yellow examples (964) currently fetch the highest premiums over same-gen standard color comps.

Speed Gelb as we name it in Europe are one of the best colours. You see the sharp much better - my opinion, but I only have the Speed Gelb version. Need to buy one for comparring :-)

Paint to Sample can potentially bring higher premium than Speed Yellow, but that is indeterminate based on subjective taste. However Speed Yellow on any Classic 911 is always a "sure thing"

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brings back a 12 year old thread and disappears...

I put speed yellow just above guards red and Carrara white, or even Polar Silver (by far the best silver), but behind elite colors like violet chromaflair, savanna red or jade green. Sometimes I think I�d rather have it than anything, but I think that�s just because I don�t have it lol.

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oooh I mean Zanzibar red duh

for me yellow and red cars are very easy to appreciate but I wouldn't own one personally. but i still love them. I personally prefer all the standard colors to GR and SY. And PTS greys are some of my favorite Porsche colors. To say sports classic grey is equal to slate grey metallic would be silly. And I say this as a slate grey metallic owner. If I could have any color color it would be Mexico blue/riviera blue or one of the many beautiful PTS greens. In terms of value though, if a car is in good shape the flashy color is only going to help the value. If the car is in average/poor shape the flashy color is gonna look like dookie.

Speed Yellow is really it's own category, as I don't think its directly comparable with other colors; regardless of their rarity, or lack thereof. It's almost like Speed Yellow rises to "model" of 911. On the older cars Speed Yellow can literally add six figures to the price. Or at least that's what I'm seeing

where?

Subscribe to Speed Yellow IG feeds; a$tounding examples abound

I mean of cars selling for 6 figures over other colors

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I don�t have a spreadsheet handy but generally speaking you will pay closer to $160k for a 1992 Speed Yellow manual coupe, and closer to $60K for that same car in Black, White, or Red. Give or take a few $10K for either car in either direction.

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No, it isn't... It only gets 3 paint cans for rarity. "Unicorn colors" get 5 paint cans... per Rennbow "Speed Yellow is far more common in the 911 & Boxster/Cayman than it is in the 968 where it is exceedingly rare"... Hmmm... In fact, Ocean Blue Metallic gets 4 paint cans... How's that for ironic!?

it's like the guy said earlier in this thread. Porsche only made 10 Speed Yellow tiptronic cabriolets for the US in 2004... There is a reason for it.. What is once undesirable becomes rare and that makes it desirable for people who desire something rare. but its still the same car that was considered undesirable for its looks by most people. Some people like yellow things. Some people like rare things. Different strokes for different folks that is what makes the world go round.

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Speed Yellow is indeed designated one of the five “unicorn” colors for 996 by the PCA Rennbow Committee. It’s #4, see PCA.org link... https://www.pca.org/news/unicorn-col...86-996-edition

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I love speed yellow, but let's get real....it's not a rare color. violet chromoflair and ocean jade metallic are rare colors.... I don't think silver, white, black or grey will ever go away as being the preferred colors of the majority. Bright colors may be in demand simply because they are uncommon but there will always be more demand for basic colors

Speed Yellow is a “unicorn” color which means it is both “uncommon” and also “highly sought after” by Classic 911 collectors. Agreed Speed Yellow is not one of the “rarest” colors, which are often not even desirable at all.

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Classic 911 auction results historically demonstrate that the less common "skittles" colors (yellow, orange, purple, bright blues, bright greens, etc.) bring much higher market prices than "silver, white, black, or grey". This is incontrovertible. Conversely, for new car sales you are correct: the conservative, standard colors are always in much higher demand at franchise Porsche dealers. In other words: no one wants to drive a brand new purple 911 to work. But everyone wants to drive a purple classic 911 onto the lawn at Pebble Beach. Two entirely different markets. Horses for courses

Agree with that.

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This

[And I would kill for a seal gray instead of my attic silver :-) QUOTE=Another Don;6702533]I like yellow. Really wish that my Targa was Speed Yellow...but didn't want to wait for a yellow Targa to be available...with the scarcity of Targas that could be a very long time. Besides, Dad always told me not to buy a used car because of its color. He told me to check out everything about the prospective purchase...mechanical, body, history, etc...and then if I still liked it to stand back about 20 feet, look at it, and ask myself if I could live with the color. So, my Targa is Seal Gray. But, I still prefer yellow. [/QUOTE]

With Speed Yellow you buy the car over the phone as fast as physically possible. Then you fly or ship across the country, and discover what you bought: which is something somewhere between the winning lotto ticket and a Speed Yellow lemon.

i know it's a typo, but now i really want to see Attic Silver. A darker, dimly lit silver with dense shadows.

Speak of the Speed Yellow devil... https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...carrera-4s-60/

whew they better get to bidding if they want 100 thousand more dollars than this basic black car with double the miles https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...carrera-4s-57/

I know right!? Seriously anything under $200K is RNM IMO but what do I know time will tell... Did $173K, bit better than the last 4S in Blue at $110K: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...carrera-4s-35/

Saw this car today in person. It is amazing looking. https://www.highmarques.com/listings...-factory-aero/

Yup, Speed Yellow doesn’t bring the six figure premium on 993 like 964, but it still does pretty well eh?

Got in the Speed Yellow game today. Local 2002 C4S with just 25,000 miles, shows & drives like new, could not pass it up! A few shots. Thanks for letting me revive a thirteen-year-old thread . , .

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Nice buy!

Very nice Congratulations Rich

Took advantage of a great Fall Day here in Southern Colorado for a drive up to elevation and some more pics. Love this color on a C4S !! Last of the photo dumps..

Beautiful machine. Great snaps