996 depreciation... Not.

As much as folks complain about 996's holding value, potential costs if you lose an engine, etc., it still is one hell of a lot of car for not much in average ownership costs... Saw this beauty in the classifieds... 997.2 S Cab. Bought new in 2011 for $127K+, perfect, now asking $76K with less than 10K miles? THAT'S depreciation! Thought I bet that sweet GT3 RS in the background has held it's value a bit better...

The older a car is the less it depreciates has always been true. And the pricing of the 991 and the upsurge in prices on the air-cooleds has put the 997 and 996 in a very comfortable position. I bought my 1st-year 997 at the bottom of the recession, and after 5 1/2 years of ownership, the monthly depreciation has been about the same as a zero-down lease payment on a Camry. At the time I was looking at 996's, and had I not stumbled upon this one, I would have been happy with a 996. They are gorgeous cars. A Porsche is a Porsche.

Depreciation of the 996 is in-line with high-priced luxury cars. Take a look at E38 7 series, W220 S Class, Jaguar XJ, VW Phaeton, and Ranger Rover for some jaw dropping depreciation figures. Give or take, average 996 is at 25% of the original MSRP+tax value. This is in-line with market average. There are "halo" cars that stand out, there are also POS cars that collapse in value completely.

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They may be inline with other luxury cars (my 98 XK8 lost 50k in 3.5 years), but they aren't in line with 911s. The 993s and 997s are seeing an uptick right now (the former more than the later) while the 996 seems to be dropping again. It's more a fault of the "purist" snobs slandering the car because they don't like the lights and cooling system than any real fault of the car (yes it has some known issues, but the reported cases are a drop in the bucket to the number built). Sadly it looks like the 991 could be going the same way. God help those owners if something like the IMS crops up on them.

My goal is to own a 911, Boxster and cayman all at the same time. I hope they all drop some more. Personally, I don't care for the older air cooled 911 's. I'm not about to change to the air cooled bandwagon. I should have never sold my Boxster.

+1. Is it sacrilege to say I prefer the Boxster over the 911? the 911 has better interior and better seats, but the Boxster is the best driving car that I've ever sat in

Exactly! It has a very nice driving experience. If I ever come across a nice used Boxster for under $5k, I'm going to jump on it. It's a Porsche; you can't go wrong.

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I might be in the same boat. You can throw that car in any corner. 911 just turns... boring.

997's on an uptick? Not in my world... Except for GT3's. 993's and previous, definitely holding or upwards, but that's the collectors car market, not the drivers car market (yes, plenty of 993 owners will dispute that). 997 PDK's seem to be taking a particularly hard hit... Fueled perhaps by the backlash of no manual transmission in the 991 GT3, which started a mad rush to 997 GT3's, which is perhaps buoying 997.2 S manuals a bit more than the PDK cars for those who now can't afford 997 GT3's. I'm keeping my eyes open for a 2009 Cayman S PDK or 2009 997 PDK at the right price. I guess I'm not a purist... Cars are tools to be driven. And the test drive I took in a Cayman R PDK was pretty awesome. Zero hesitation to go with PDK at the right price!

I also disagree about the 997 appreciation. You can already get 2007 cars in sub $35k range. 997 and 991 will follow the 996 depreciation curve, Turbo and RS cars being the exceptions. 993 and air cooled cars are appreciating for few very specific reasons. One, they are air cooled. Two, good air cooled cars are becoming increasingly rare due to production numbers and age. Three, air cooled 911s were the "white unicorns" when they were being produced, and even more so now. With 996 you saw Porsche shift from exclusive niche manufacturer to a full line auto manufacturer. Today Porsche has full line of cars rivaling Mercedes and BMW. They have SUVs, sedans, coupes, roadsters and they are continuing to expand the line-up. Porsche is now becoming a "regular" luxury brand, and not a 911 "white unicorn" maker. This brand change removed a large portion of the 911 mystique and appeal. Bluntly speaking, base 911 will soon be seen as a base 3 series of sort (albeit very expensive 3 series). I am perfectly fine with this, I believe that Porsche did a right thing by moving into mainstream with its business. Porsche cars are capable and unique enough to satisfy my driving needs. Mainstream removes a lot of "look at me!" stigma that followed 911 before 996.

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Not that I'm looking at it everyday and tracking it, but the few times I peak at the 997s it seems that they are even with what they were last year or a 1-2k uptick. Not much and certainly nothing like the change in the 993 Turbos recently, but better than the 996 is doing (seems to be down another 5k since last year with sub-20k options getting more frequent).

997s are definitely coming down in my neck of the woods.

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Cheapest Porsche you ever buy will be the most expensive car you ever own.

Two seaters will never be "main stream" especially when they start at $50k and $75 for the Boxster and 911. Please don't call the 911 a four seater

I plan to buy a ten year old 991 ten years from now. I'll drive the 996 until then and no, I don't anticipate that being a problem. It drives better than when I bought it 5 years ago. I've maintained and modified it to my taste and it's just a bloody fantastic car. I for one welcome steep depreciation curves and I'm glad to hear that the 991 is heading that way. Maybe I'll get in sooner than later?

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While in some cases I am sure this is true I would suspect in most it is not. Especially when talking about the 996. Now I love my guards red 2004 c2 cab but my wife SUV cost almost 2 times as much and my f150 truck at least 50% more. I never heard "wow you can afford an SUV". But I sure hear it about by cab.

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What I'm wondering is why Porsche has to do this now? I can see why it was a necessity when they were independent but now that they're part of the VW Corp why do they need to break away from their original brand?

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If it were your business would you stop producing the lines that are your best sellers and profit centers? Look at the non-sports car lines as the funding for the sports cars, because they are to some extent. Besides that, VAG already has enough boutique marks under it's umbrella so it has to be a big win for them that Porsche can fund themselves by bringing in the high end buyers as well as a good mix of upper middle class as well.

I don't think it's a reach to expect the large displacement flat 6 design to eventually be replaced given the trend towards less cylinders/turbos and hybrid drive systems. I wonder what that will do to water cooled flat 6 Porsche values?