Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Ah, I'd assumed it was a later car due to the mention of GT3 parts - I was not aware that they'd be backward compatible.

I know I hardly ever mention it so you'd be forgiven for not knowing about my German car, but I thought I'd update on costs for those who might be interested in running a 996.

Purchase price was £9,500
Maintenance and parts (which includes £500 on a new radio, and £465 fitting the onboard computer) now stands at £9,900 (this doesn't include the roof-rack which was an indulgence, but one I hope to use a lot over the summer).

To put that into context I bought the car on the 26th of September last year, so that's just under six months of ownership during which I've put ~2,500 miles on the car.

The previous owner paid £13,000 for the car and put under 500 miles on it before selling it to me, however, so all things are relative.

Going back through the history it sold for £19,700 in 2010, so I've essentially paid the value then for it - hopefully it's in better condition than it was then (it had 41,000 miles then versus 62,000 now).

Do I regret it? No, not at all, I really like the car and I have very deliberately gone round the car fixing everything that needed it and bringing it right up to date on all maintenance.

Would you have needed to spend that money? No, you could probably have spent £650 on replacing the brake master cylinder and kept the rest in the bank, but it wouldn't be the same car that it is today - which is awesome, just buy one with your eyes open to the potential costs.

Interesting - how do you feel it compares to what you could buy for £19.5k today?

I'm not thinking of buying a Porsche but I am thinking of buying a nicer car so this equation is of interest.

what would 19.5k have bought you in september?

I wanted a 911 - it's a car I've promised myself since I was a child.

So I never really considered anything else.

For that 19.5k I could probably have got a higher mileage/early 997.

However, I prefer the 996 (the 997 is essentially a heavily facelifted 996).

Interesting - how do you feel it compares to what you could buy for £19.5k today?

I'm not thinking of buying a Porsche but I am thinking of buying a nicer car so this equation is of interest.

I'm not sure tbh, I would be interested in what a 19.5k car would need spending on top of the purchase price.

Yup - but the Superformance / CAV ones are so close to the originals some are eligible for classic racing. I'd prefer one with the proper RH drive / Shift but nevertheless, an absurd amount of car for the cash.

Looking at current prices, I should have kept so many cars. An original 75 911 carrera is worth how much!!! Less than 20 years ago. Saying that cheaper 911 weren't that expensive either, same as 912. If I had known now.

EDIT ; Has the value gone up more than property?

I prefer the 996

The car market is a bit nuts now. The price of new/nearly new premium cars is what I find nuts. I think a lot is driven by the low interest rates.

My old man wanted to buy a friend's 1980s Porsche back in the mid-noughties for about £5k. I wish he had, but my mum vetoed it. Even more so as the friend bought new it just after I was born and liked the car so much he'd bought it back from the guy he sold it to in the 90s. I also think it was the first of the 3.2l sold in the UK.... I loved that car. Luckily from what I understand the current owner thoroughly appreciates it.

How much would that car be worth now? Minus servicing and running costs?

Have triumph stags gone up in value?

Yep, I bought a 74 MFI Carrera Targa for 22k in 2010. Sold it for 50k in 2012 and there's currently a similar one advertised for £175k at Tech 9.

Way bigger rise than any property.

But what goes up can easily come down. I don't think it would dip below £50k again, but I could easily see it being well under £100k.

The nearly new thing is interesting. Have a look how many Cayman GT4s are currently for sale. Are there really that many buyers prepared to pay a premium for a mass produced car? If not and one or two start to drop their prices the race to the bottom could be dramatic.

I came within a gnats cock of buying a CA plated early 70s 911s from Tower Bridge Porsche back in about 1997. Looked at it twice, went over with the cash in my pocket, then woke up to the fact I didn't have a license or anywhere to keep / work on it. Spunked the dough on a fast motorbike instead. I think it was a shade over GBP8k they were asking and aside from a little rust (little) it was a solid car. 912 s at the time were free with packets of cornflakes, I remember the guy telling me they only bought them to fill the containers.

I still love 911s but they've become terribly trendy. 964 and 993 variants are my faves but given how expensive they are, I'd opt for a propitiously priced, manual, basic, silver 997 coupe. The 996s look well priced too but I couldn't love that face.

Regarding prices, I wonder whether the 996 and up models are ever going to be that collectible - the production is MUCH higher than the 964/993s and they're packed with so many electronics that keeping them going in 30 years is likely to be nosebleed expensive.

It's hard to predict I think, if you look at (say) the MK1 Escort they made a few of those, but try finding a decent one now - sometimes large numbers of a car mean they get crushed at a fair rate until the ones which remain go up. Or the 996 could remain forever unloved, of course.

When I was looking the 997's in my price range had all the faults of the 996 (IMS, bore score etc), along with an interior that looked more dated than that of the older car. It's also significantly heavier than the first gen 996, albeit it is a more powerful car.

All that said if you don't like the front end of the 996 you're never going to buy one!

Yup - could be. No way meant to diminish the 996s - yours looks cracking and I'm sure they're great cars.

I expect because I've bought one the value will continue to diminish until filling the tank doubles the worth of the vehicle.

That won't happen.

I agree with Joe - the cooking spec silver man 997 is what appeals to me the most.

Oh, yeah. @Jung - fancy a visitor in late April? Few cold cans and some bog laps in the fury?

Here we go, manual, silver 997 for less than I've now put into my 996: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PORSCHE-911-997-CARRERA-3-6-6sp-MANUAL-19-ALLOYS-FSH-SWAP-PX-/132102296182?hash=item1ec1e91276:g:KgUAAOSwB-1YsJCC

107k miles...

Yes, there's going to be a trade-off at that price.

Definitely. I remember looking at high mileage tvrs, rusty tr6s, then chrome bumper bs that I could afford but a good one was out of budget. I settled on a really good ugly duckling and don't regret it. £5.5k chimaera?

I predict that this one has the potential to have the new owner at 30K invested within the first year: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TVR-chimeara-4-0l-V8-/262860939579?hash=item3d33bba13b:g:VVgAAOSwtfhYqfLU

But it'd sound great getting there.

(Goes looking for a sports exhaust).

I was looking ~£20k continental GTs. Apparently avoid the ceramic brakes option... £10k to replace :O

Yes mate!! I might even have it back together by then, but if not, there's always the VAN.