Will the 996 ever be a future classic?

So fortunately/unfortunately I have recently got myself a 94k miles C4 manual in silver, black on black interior with sports seats, tech art parts, decent history and is quite a handsome thing. Question I have is what's everyone's opinion when it comes to these things starting to gain some financial appreciation? I didn't go cheap when I bought mine but A) its not a garage queen B) the mileage will climb and is almost at the 100k mark now. Will it ever get me my money back and some? or it this the first 911 model to keep dropping until they are worth pennies? I find it hard to imagine that the bottom will fall out and they will be a couple of grand, and I am sure there have been passed models that we wouldn't have imagined would be worth what they are now? 993's are almost mythical now, they weren't at one point. Will a decent 996 C4 ever be worth 50k again? I will continue to drive and care for mine without this in the back of my mind but it would also be nice to think that one day I might get my money back!

That’s a good question. I’m still considering getting into a 911 but haven’t made up my mind what year and spec I want to get. Spend less on a 996 and just enjoy the simplicity and rawness or get something a tad more modern. I’ve been keeping an eye on the market and one things for sure is the value of used cars across the board has come down quite a bit over the last few months, Porsche is no exception. Seems demand has diminished somewhat and I guess the question is how many buyers will be out there looking for a 996 when it comes time to sell yours :?:

...difficult to answer, but it would be the first 911 in history if it didn't appreciate in value !? Thus history would indicate it being a solid purchase choice?

A man can dream. Enjoy the car.

Well maintained cars in excellent mechanical and cosmetic condition always hold their value. Possibly not realising the full cost of continuing to ensure that condition, but that's for current owners to factor in for their own satisfaction. Future classic could be a little emotive, but I believe that yes, it will be a future classic car. I'm prepared to be ridiculed. Being a future classic does not necessarily mean it will be worth significantly more in the future; t think that can be distilled simply as a representation of desirability and rarity. The 996 is not currently an especially rare car, although finding a good one is much more difficult than it was. Desirability is quite subjective. :dont know: It's been said before, but first of the water-cooled doesn't have the same ring to it as last of the air-cooled. However, it's still a Porsche, it's still a 911 and those GT1 lights look cool, as long as anyone looking at a 996 knows what a GT1 is.

I agree with everything said above pretty much,like yours mine is no garage queen, it sits on the road, is my daily driver and does a good 8/9k oer year. I have spent a lot of money on it and my only interest is that it keeps going tbh, the value is very secondary to me I'm just grateful to be in a 911 again. The 996 has some detractors but if you look back to when it launched Top Gear and other pundits raved about the fact it was (and is) better in virtually every way to previous aircooled 911s, faster, more powerful, lighter, better handling, better equipped. The only bad points suggested are the quality of some materials in the interior and the headlight thing (what is not to like about GT1 headlights), I do get the "boxer looks like 911 from the front" thing but we also have to remember that these cars saved Porsche, if it was so bad why did it sell so many? obviously the people that mattered (customers) loved it, it was just the "must be aircooled" brigade that constantly moan. And if anybody mentions weak engines I believe this to be wrong, yes you need to change the IMS bearing but i never hear of these engines having an issue with dropping a rod or blowing up and the aircooled engines had pleanty of issues too. In my opinion it SHOULD raise in value as it is a superb and very important car in the history of Porsche, whether it will is a different matter.

I don’t think you should buy a 996 if that is your motive, these cars are to be driven and enjoyed, they are a hidden jewel, that people are starting to realise just how good they are, with that in mind they have hit the bottom of the curve and due to the amount of people giving good reviews on social media etc they are starting to rise in value.

They got the real low price point about 10-12 years ago and have only risen with inflation since then

Yeah i could be wrong but could get a base carrera for under £10k then ?

Many would argue that the 996 has already attained classic status. Certainly 996.1 Carreras, the C4S and the turbo variants are often mentioned as 'modern classics'. It's doubtful that any, bar the GT3, will ever be 'investment cars' by virtue of just how many were produced but good condition, low mileage cars will become collectable - just not at the same £££ level as the air-cooled cars. As others have said, all variants 'bottomed out' in price 10 years ago when very nice examples could be had at price points unimaginable now. With hindsight it would have been great to fill a warehouse with £23k turbos, £17k C4Ss, £14k .2s and 11k Gen 1 cars. As with all 911s values have bounced back but, again, not to the extent that air-cooled cars have. It's pretty certain that the 996 (and early 997s) will always be the entry level 911 - which is no slight on what is a great car - which should mean that there's always a ready supply of keen new owners that will improve or maintain the quality of them. It also means that anyone who already owns one and looks after it well - even if they put miles on it - is unlikely to suffer any depreciation at all whilst getting to drive a great little machine.

I remember 996s as low as £8000.

You're not wrong. In 2013 there were a number of 996s in the classifieds for under £10k. Most were high mileage and/or in need of a fair bit of tlc and are probably much tidier, and of higher value, today.

I think they’re already resolutely a modern classic, but I can’t see values climbing like their predecessors. As much as anything I think the world and society’s values are different. Using these cars is going to become more and more limited and more and more expensive. Sadly I think now is about as good a time as any to but one, but not to make money on it. The ePorsche car linked in a different thread is a good example. A manual C2 coupe from a dealer for £14k? That’s 2012 pricing. Edit: https://www.eporsch.co.uk/listings/2000-x-porsche-911-3-4-996-carrera-2/

Its a tough one the 996 although like others I'd say its already a classic. Build quality, quality of materials and plastics were a real low point in Porsches history with the 986/996. With the aircooled whilst rust is an issue they are built like swiss watches. Reference examples are something very nice to own and they are very pretty little sports cars. The drive on an aircooled though isnt worth current asking prices where say a time warp 3.2 carrera, 964 C2 and or 993 C2 are all approaching £100,000 for mint examples wth RS models double, treble and quadruple this amount in certain cases and as a nice object to own from history's most succesful and longest living ever sports car the current asking price do maybe stack up as the market is the market. Something like a mint 993 GT2 clubsport is £1.5m nowadays. Same with a LW 3.3 964 turbo s or 964 3.8 RS. This has a trickle down effect on the rest of the aircooled market. By contrast the 996 is a high point in terms of being an amazing steer in terms of 911 history. Whether 996's amazing driving experince will ever transalte into a £50k 996 C4 who knows. Even 996 GT3 RS, GT2 and turbo are very reasonable if you look at numbers made of something like a 996 GT3 RS they're a relative bargain. I think there is a glimmer of hope for the 996 though. The 964 was disliked and shunned for many years before prices went nuts. Same may happen for the 996 if the driving experience is ever appreciated in the same way it is for a 964. I think the onset of EVs will help reinforce prices of special ICE cars in general as an aside. May take another 10 years or so before we see significnat 996 price rises cant see anything happening for a while yet. Having said that they have already crept up. Dont think you can buy a good 996 for less than £25k-£35k depending on model. 996 turbos are a steal. If an early time warp very low miles full history low owners gen 1 996 C2 with aerokit and powerkit is out there I could see that being worth £50k today. Low miles 40th anniversarry 996 have already changed hands for approaching £50k too :thumbs:

I totally disagree with this, the 996 interior is very hard wearing, and apart from engine issues the car holds itself together remarkably well, none of my 22 year old interior plastics have broken or even look slightly worn, in contrast with the 997 era, where the interior is quite generic of the time, and the plastics break and turn into a 5 year old boiled sweet. The 996 also has very tough engine plastics, you can't look at a 997/987/955 engine plastic part without it turning to dust before your eyes. Springs, Mmmm, same there? So what I am saying, some of the aircooled quality did rub off on the 996, but after that generation, it went cheaper still.