Ordering a 997 Porsche in 2004

The 997's may be ready for ordering in March, 2004 with delivery dates commencing in late September or early October. Are you presently planning to order a 997 this coming year?

Do you or anybody else know FOR A FACT what the car will be? Body? Engine? Specs???

For the past three months in Germany the 997's have been driving about the roads with very minimal disguise. The front end panels have been retained to stop accurate spy shots. There have been a multitude of actual photos of semi-disguised 997's in the media. The particulars have yet to be officially released. A preliminary listing, which would be submitted to dealers, is thought to being readied for February, 2004. Do you anticipate placing an order for a 997 next year?

Unless you are already on the 'list' at a dealership, you would want to simply drop by a dealer you know and put a deposit (refundable) down on an '05 '911' of whatever variety. Dealers may know more than we hear around these boards, but NONE of them are talking. And I understand why. If I were a betting man, I'd say order guides for the '05 997 will show up at US dealerships sometime later this winter. Then, and only then, will we hear more about this great new beast. Wish we knew now though.

I would be hesitant to order any first generation model car, including the Porsche 911.

No, I don't order based on rumour or "spy-shots". Regardless of how good any spy claims to be, it's still a best guess and could be way off base. If there is not oing to be a significant change from the 996, I'm happy enough with mine for now. If there is a significant change from the 996, it's a good idea to let a few years go by while they iron out the kinks. Either way, I'm surprised anyone would want to order one this early without knowing exactly what they may end up getting. Well, maybe in UK where the wait for a C4S was something like 18 months.

Hey maybe a little off topic but what do you thing will happen to the market value of the 996? once the 997 is released.I doubt it will do any good for the 996. We can only wish we could be so lucky like the 993 owners.As i said wish.....

...would lead you to believe that not too much has changed. Major body panels appear unchanged which is usually a good indicator of what's really happening or not happening. That would lead you to one of many possible conclusions that there were no major suspension changes or engine changes, though the option of DSG may be one major change. However the interior has been seen in a number of spy shots and looks quite different. If this is the sum of the changes (interior and minor body panel changes) I wouldn't change my C4S. I would prefer to wait for 998 which is supposed to be a more radical change in the order of 993 to 996. See my post below for more conjecture on 998

For 2005, the RWD Carreras will be the 997. We're expecting our first ones in late fall of 2004. The AWD 911s continue on unchanged (996) for 2005. If the cars are due to arrive in fall, figure a late summer build, which means ordering should take place in June-ish. The build allocation up to May 2004 is currently unchanged, with all models as they have been. From what I've seen and read, it appears that 997 is not going to be a radical departure from the 996.