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Originally Posted by Perfectlap
Yet despite this inventory chasm between the air and water-cooled models, your market's premium for the Boxster still puts it within 30% of the far rarer 993? Amazing.
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Here is where the taxes come in to play. The high prices of 993s (which can easily go well over $100K and up too) are both because of demand and because depreciation hasn't had as many years to take the bite out of the new car taxes. Inventory matters, of course, but Norway is also a small country.
The box on the other hand is a much newer car so again less depreciation. My example price was a 2004 S, and that means its original purchase price also included a boatload of extra tax because of the higher horsepower and larger displacement. A slightly older base model would be in the 30-40 grand range with high mileage cars being a fair bit cheaper. Also, the newer the car, the higher the taxes were on it when first sold... These get raised every year.
You wouldn't believe what is costs to buy a decent new car here. Example: new VW Passat wagon. Diesel. Comfortable, safe, relieable transpo for many years and so boring I get depressed just thinking about it. Prepare to spend $100K on that too. My Passat I bought new is 2005 cost me 70 large then. New Boxster base you say? about $160k. My next DD will likely be a Tesla... 460hp for about the same price as the VW because there is no car tax on electric cars here yet. And I can charge it for free just down the road and get everywhere I need to go with free chargers along the way while justfying a couple gas guzzling P-cars. But I digress.
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It sounds like this makes an air-cooled car an ironic bargain of sorts. But it seems to me that despite having to shell out more for a more popular 911, like the 964 or 993, the less punitive taxing on old cars better protects you from price fluctuations over a less popular 911. In other words, more of your money is going towards the actual market demand for that 911 and less towards taxes, the currency aspect and the 911 market lifting all the 911 boats -- not a very firm price support. The less popular the 911 model is, the more non-car related issues move the price of that car up or down.
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Well said.