Turbo residiual value

I noticed today that the Porsche site has been updated with some new 997 turbo information. I am thinking about buying a 996 Turbo and wondering if prices will drop once the 997 Turbo comes out. If there are any "Price Watchers" out there what do you think about the right time to buy a 2-3 year old 996 Turbo?

Hard to judge. I would expect the launch of the new car to focus positive attention on the 996TT and, with initial supplies of the 997TT limited, and hugely expensive, then demand for good 996TTs may well remain healthy. Of course, quite a few 997TT buyers will be off-loading 996TTs, so there will be a few more coming up for sale. The thing to remember with the 996TT; it has already shed a big chunk of depreciation so, even at say £65k, there is a lot of value in the car. And, virtually all cars will depreciate - even the 997TT. Of course, if the economy took a down turn, then this would put a different complexion on the whole subject.

One other question. Do 996 Turbos come with a PSE as standard?

There is no sports exhaust for the turbo from Porsche. The silencer is small, since the turbos smooth the gas flow. Where the silencers go on the normally aspirated model, the turbo has big intercoolers. So evne if you wanted to, you cannot fit the normal PSE. There are aftermarket solutions though if you really want one.

TOOcOOL have you considered a 996 GT2? The price differential between the 996TT and GT2 has come in to around 5k from around 30k at inception in MY'01, making it excellent value for money. The first generation GT2 produces 462 bhp vs 416bhp for the TT. 0-62 time was 0.1 faster and top speed 7mph fasater (4.1 vs 4.2 and 190 vs 197mph respectively). However the GT2 only has rear wheel drive and no PSM, but does have ceramic brakes for lower unsprung weight and less fade.(although the disks have been known to crack) One sold recently at auction for £47k, but I've seen a fair few around the £57-59k mark (asking prices), with the TT coming in from around the £52-54k mark for similar mileage. And it looks like a beast! As for depreciation, IMO, I think they both have 5k more to drop over the next year, but then should slowly level off to settle somewhere in between the lows and the highs of current 993TT prices which are holding well around the £35-55k. With around 15% of all 996 sales being turbos, supply is high and there is no shortage on the forecourts at the moment, and it doesn't have the 'Last of the air cooled' badge the 993TT has. Considering a fully specced up CaymanS will set you back around 70k, that makes the TT and GT2 absolute bargains!