996 Turbo Pricing Guide

Hi all, I am a new member and I am looking for my first Porsche! Specifically, I want a 01-05 911 Turbo. The trouble is that I am seeing a great deal of mismatch between Kelley Blue Book pricing and asking price on different sites. So far I have only looked at two cars that were in my area and both were modified. I suspect that the owners were both desperate to recover the thousands they spent on the cars. I'm guessing they took the KBB value and added however much they spent on upgrades. My question to the community though, is what kind of pricing guidelines do people use to determine a fair value of the car? I thought KBB was a good standard but maybe there is a better way? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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I heard there is a website that sells cars... can't recall name.. they trade autos for money... try auto trader or something. 2. ebay.... do advanced search with completed and sold listining. it will give you a good idea what people are willing to pay and sell for, as they are completed transactions

What's your budget? I've seen TT's going from the the mid $30's for a decent coupe with a bit more miles 70k+ all the way to high $50's+ for a low mileage pristine 05' TT S cab model. I use eBay and cars.com to determine market value. Set your budget, be patient and don't settle. PPI and service records are key. Good luck.

Clearbook ( clearbook.truecar.com ) has IMHO far more accurate used car pricing than any of the other sites... That said, 996 Turbo prices are all over. Some owners are still dreaming they can get $50K plus for their early or mid year turbos with worn interiors and questionable mods. $35K will definitely buy you a nice example if you look hard enough. Sub $30K are mostly cars with stories... Through several auctions, deferred service work, body work, title issues, etc. My checklist: 1. Looks great, inside and out! 2. At least recent service history and no deferred maintenance. 3. Minor or no paintwork, clean carfax, everything works perfectly. I won't even bother with a ppi or more careful examination unless it passes those three...

I just went down this road. The less miles, stories and modifications, the higher the real world price. Miles especially matter. Think about "the other side" when you need to sell it - the lower the miles then the better, so try and get something that you can drive a lot and still have a good resale later. I bought a pristine 16K mile car for higher $ and I'm happy I did. If your use case is lots-o-miles and 4 season use, get a high mileage (60K+) stock car (stock engine) in the $30K's. They are quite durable if well maintained.

I think there may be an exception to this depending on how desperate the seller is but for manual cars you'll see the pricing as follows cars with stories <$33k >50k miles below $40k <50k miles >25k miles $42-45k <25k miles $45 -50k Subtract about 3k for automatic transmission cars. I also think that cabs may sell for less, but I think this depends on the region. Also I don't believe there is any or much value in upgrades or tuned cars at least to those looking for stock vehicles. At the end of the day I think one should try and buy a car that has been well cared for. This doesn't mean single owner, rather a folder full of receipts covering the typical maintenance items. I bought my car with 48k miles in Jan for $37k, but then spent 3k for the 60k mile service and a new coolant tank. I had a ppi completed and got a car that was solid low type 2 revs, no clutch pop out, and no rattle, but not knowing the history I went ahead and changed all the fluids and completed the 60k service which included new coils, plugs, fuel filter, and serp belt. After I bought the car and did some digging I realized that the car had been well cared for, having had a new clutch replaced at 40k miles, new accumulator, brakes, and a bunch of stuff covered under warranty. I ended up calling all the shops that had stamped the manual and that were in the car fax and most were happy to provide a summary of what work was performed. I also replaced a bunch of minor plastic parts as I wanted to make the car good as new.

Wow thanks for the detailed replies everyone! Lots of good info here that will definitely help me in my search. My budget for the car is up to $50k, but that is if I can find a REALLY good deal. Ideally I want to stay around $40k. Wucash some really good advice! I went on ebay and looked at 10 sold car auctions and compared the selling price to the Kelley Blue Book price. Turns out the majority of the auctions were only $100-$200 above/below the listed KBB value! The largest price differential that I was about $2000. I think I am going to use KBB as a good reference for my future 911 purchase. I'll also give Clearbook a try! A little off topic, but how good are the auto transmission of the 01-05 year range? I currently have a 2013 Infiniti G37S 7 speed auto with paddle shifters and I am not overly impressed with manual mode. Every time I command a shift via the paddles, the transmission lags about 500 RPMs. Apparently this is normal for the car and friends of mine tell me that other cars have the same deal. Is the auto in the 996 Turbo any good? Or should I just stick with manual?

I collected selling prices on over 80 cars, and developed a graph to show average pricing before buying my '02 Turbo in May. Miles matter in pricing, year not so much. Try to get an '02 or newer, some good changes occurred with the '02. Try to get the manual. They made the auto for affluent housewives ha ha. Go to the turbo forum and read up. They are not bullet proof as often claimed. PM me if you want the data. 2002 Turbo - Basalt Black Metallic / 2003 Carrera 4S - Speed Yellow / 1955 356 Continental 1500 - Rust Red

To MP87, as inferred by previous posts, my advice is: Don't fixate on price, fixate on condition and history. As many experienced rennlisters have noted, too many first time potential purchasers start their quest worrying over price instead of condition and history. (MP87...sorry, no offense meant.) relinuca

I am in this process currently. I'd agree with Ebay screen as a decent first cut to get a sense of market: input your criteria to the search, and then add every one to your watch list. You can then sort by ongoing auctions and "ended" auctions. You will also see that a very low % sell during their first listing (many start with reserves that get 0 bids, many others generate 20+ bids that also don't make reserve prices). Painting with a broad brush, the RL community likely more savvy than Ebay general public, but obv much smaller, so for proxy pricing, I think it washes out. I have the last 170 auction results for 911s (turbo and not) for years 2002-2007, but not in a spreadsheet. If I compile, will happily send. Good luck!

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I wouldn't leave out the 01's. Other then a some convenience additions glove box and cup holders there was no really special good changes in 02 that made it any better. I also wouldn't want the newer 03+ models that have MOST audio system.

Check out turbo forum. Best evidence of market value are market sales, not list prices. What price are the cars actually trading at? As far as listings go; classifieds on rennlist; 6speed; pca.org; excellence; and pelican are good sources. Some of my observations of the market: 01 tips sell for lowest price; manuals sell more quickly than tips; and well-maintained stock engine cars sell more quickly than cars w/o service history and are heavily modified. Good luck with your search.

DaveCarrera4 and HallEYA, would be great if you guys were willing to share your data. I'm in the early search process to move up, so would love to see the numbers.

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there was a pretty long list, think it was composed on the turbo forum not long ago, most importantly body stiffness, but most guys with an '01 will state their cars are no different...I'd go with the Porsche engineers on that one. JMHO 2002 Turbo - Basalt Black Metallic / 2003 Carrera 4S - Speed Yellow / 1955 356 Continental 1500 - Rust Red

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...and we all know that human nature states that the on you have is the best one.

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I suppose we all do that, ha ha...I did a lot of research before buying the Turbo, and the body stiffening upgrade with '02 model year was always mentioned... If you don't track the car, probably no big deal. 2002 Turbo - Basalt Black Metallic / 2003 Carrera 4S - Speed Yellow / 1955 356 Continental 1500 - Rust Red

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Don't think there are any Porsche engineers to go with. Just a whole lot of bulluey. Body stiffness was done first for on 2001 Turbo shell was the first to receive it. Marketing in 2002 done for the new 996.2 model was what you are confusing this body stiffness with. Here is one marketing review for the 996.2 2002 added Lockable glove box (Map pocket below steering wheel deleted) Cup holders & larger AC vents "Together with the integration of a new cup holder, the center vent has also been re-designed. The cross-sectional area has been increased by 20%, which improves interior ventilation." Bose (analog) sound system standard Flat non-glossy buttons, light switch Redesign instrument cluster with on-board computer (former 259) standard Hollow wheels (lighter then solid wheels -15 lbs) Different seat and memory functions, changes to the alarm system, and PCM differences 01, 02, 03 owner's manual lists the weight as 3394.9 lbs 02 brochure states curb weight at 3395lb,s the 04 brochure states curb weight at 3505 lbs for the coupe In 2003 the Convertible arrived, its reinforced B-pillars and other mods raising the weight by 70kg Compared with the 996.1 body Body 911 Carrera/911 Carrera 4 Bodyshell Extensive reinforcement measures in sill, roof frame and seat pan area increase the flectional and torsional strength by a further 25% on coupes and by 10% on convertibles. Apart from the wings, which have been adopted from the 911 Turbo, the bodyshell has been modified in various areas for model update purposes. The B-post has been modified to take the new belt tensioner and belt-force limiter. In the tunnel and seat pan area, an additional tube with side support has been fitted for lateral reinforcement. The tunnel area has been modified to take the new (Tiptronic S) transmission. The position of the transmission mounting on the body now corresponds to the 911 Turbo. A reinforcement tube has also been fitted in the side of the roof frame. Bodyshell 911 Turbo/911 GT2 Extensive reinforcement measures in sill, roof frame and seat pan area increase the flectional and torsional strength by a further 25%. The bodyshell has been modified in various areas for model upgrade purposes. The B-post has been modified to take the new belt tensioner and belt-force limiter. In the tunnel and seat pan area, an additional tube with side support has been fitted for lateral reinforcement. A reinforcement tube has also been fitted in the side of the roof frame.

Awesome, really good info here! Yeah if anyone has pricing data that they already compiled, I would be happy to see it! So it sounds like for these model years, manual transmission is the way to go. Anyone disagree and think an auto is better for racing at the track (1/4 mile, auto-x, SCCA, etc)? Also, due to the low availability of cars in my area, it seems like I will most likely have to buy a car out-of-state via the internet. I've never done this before so this will be a new experience for me. If anyone can share some guidelines, tutorials, words of wisdom, experience or anything about buying a car out-of-state please share! I've been thinking about the buying process and assume it will go something like this. Please feel free to correct me! 1.) Find a car that I am interested in and is priced fairly (some cars seem way too overpriced). 2.) Email the owner with questions and ask for him to email me service records. 3.) If I am really interested in the car, then negotiate a price via email or phone call. 4.) Once price is agreed, find a shop in his area and ask the owner to send the car to that shop for PPI. Should I trust the owner if he already has a previous PPI from a previous inquiry? 5.) If PPI passes, then purchase airplane ticket and fly over to meet the owner and see the car in person. 6.) If everything checks out during the in person visit, then pay the owner and start the long drive back home Thoughts?

I've bought a few cars out of state. Including my 04 4S and an E60 M5 a few years ago that was about 800 miles away. Your list looks pretty good. I'd suggest pulling a car fax and check for accident history. You can also see how many owners and some service records. I'd call listed dealers to piece together service history as needed. Finally, make sure you pick the PPI location and speak with them before and afterwards. They're working for you and not the seller. Good luck and if all checks out, enjoy the drive home.