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I do not see the 986 as an investment, considering the maintenance costs it would be the worst investment I have ever made. If you are buying a mass produced car as an investment you really need to reconsider. That said, I do see 986 prices stabilizing and even rising.
I would say 986 prices bottomed a few years ago, and have been climbing very, very, very slowly since. I think this is likely because as the original and 2nd owners have unloaded them in the sub-$10k range, the buyers in the sub-$10k range are balking when hit with the high maintenance costs (which is completely reasonable when you compare the maintenance cost to the value of the car). This leads to a lot of 986's being taken off the road, which thins the supply, pushing prices up, very, very slowly. This is nothing new, and happens to almost all Porsches at some point. Just look at the used 911 market over the last several years. Or the 944, or the 914 over the last 30 years. If you still have a good condition, low mileage 986 in 30 years it might be worth something, but you will have probably spent five times the profit on maintenance by then. :cheers: @ Luv2Box, all Porsches get classified as 'classic' after a certain number of years. It just means the price of spare parts goes up, as they produce smaller batches less often. |
It sounds to me like you're trying to keep up a hobby you enjoy while making a little money or at a minimum hit BEP (break even point), all without putting out a great sum of money before you sell the car.
If that's your plan I would say it will NOT work with water cooled Porsches. The cars that can most insure you get your money back, air cooled, are expensive to buy now because of their limited availability, so right off the bat before you've bought a single spark plug you've committed a great deal of money. The costs to restore the car can easily mushroom out of control. And the buyers will not pay top dollar unless the car is worked on by someone with a great deal of experience with Porsche. Meanwhile, the problem with the water cooled cars is that people who can afford to maintain and repair these cars are not generally interested in keeping them long term, they dump them to buy a new car. And the people who will buy an old sports car by and large are skittish about German luxury brands. So you're catering to a very small pool of buyers who will all drive a hard bargain. If your costs get out of control you'll be lucky to sell at a profit. I think your current plan is better, stick with popular Japanese cars. These have more buyers, and those buyers see these cars as daily drivers and scratch the sports car itch. If you like a 928 or 944 it's good that your handy because eventually the only people driving these cars will be DIY'ers because of the costs of parts and labor will be too high for most. As far as the 986/987 and 996/997, their futures are a bit uncertain. High mileage examples will need costly engine work to address lifters, IMS/clutch, water pump, AOS, etc., the costs of these in parts can easily exceed the value of the cars, definitely once you add in suspension overhaul. Sure you can buy a roller and drop in a low mileage donor engine but that's going to scare off many prospective buyers who, as Warren Buffett would say, generally avoid buying what they don't understand, unless it involves home mortgages. Quote:
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Yeah, don't own a Porsche because you're trying to invest. That only worked for guys who bought 356s in the 70s and stored them or early 911s in the 80s. Your best bet for an investment Porsche would be a mid 70s air cooled 911sc. Those are about at the bottom of the air cooled bubble and if you can get one in good shape sub 20k you'll see that back in a few years. Boxsters? No way. I don't see the 944 appreciating and those are way older than the boxster. The only 928 that will maybe appreciate is a 5 speed car you get dirt cheap or the later gts.
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"@ Luv2Box, all Porsches get classified as 'classic' after a certain number of years. It just means the price of spare parts goes up, as they produce smaller batches less often."
Actually it means more than that. As long as Porsche is in business parts will be available either from Porsche or third parties. Porsche parts are expensive now and the argument about price can always be made but the reality is they will be available. If an owner doesn't want to spend the money on genuine parts then at least third party, sometimes at a cheaper rate, will also be available and many times they are from the same supplier of genuine parts. The point is we can keep our cars running in one way or another. As a Porsche classic some future purchaser of an early 986 can send the car to Porsche for a complete restoration. I know that sounds crazy now but who knows what will take place in the future as interests change. If I had the money to buy what I think is an underpriced Porsche model destined to go up in price I'd put my money in a 996 turbo. One of the best motors ever made by Porsche and currently dirt cheap compared to other turbo models. They are ignored by the air cooled frenzy and the fact they look too much like a Boxster in the front, have cheaper interiors (full leather is the preferred) and are reviled by the hard core 911 group makes them a solid buy. |
You might want to check what some of them are selling for
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So even to Porsche - they are not a Collectible. |
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" No way this car ever becomes a 'classic' and an investment." |
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It seems we've scared PG off or he's inwardly digesting our 28 pearls of wisdom.
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2003 911 9,935 Boxster 6,432 Cayenne 13,661 2004 911 10,227 Boxster 3,728 Cayenne 19,134 2005 911 10,653 Boxster 8,327 Cayenne 14, 524 Don't care much about Cayennes, but still today Porsche continues to sell more 911s than Cayman/Boxster combined. Bottom line is I wouldn't reference the "large quantities" of Boxsters so loudly. But, given that the 911 has outsold the Boxster, the more popular model may indeed hold its value better in the long run. Nobody in the real world calls the Boxster a hairdressers' car and in fact it's without question a really real Porsche. Sharing components with the 911 is better than sharing a whole platform or an engine with a VW/Audi I think. I'd easily wager Boxsters will hold more value than an SLK Mercedes or a BMW Z, as it's the Porsche experience and feel that neither of those has. Neither of those has anything like the charisma, and of course anything Oriental is a writeoff and hardly worth mentioning. As I write this, qualityporscheparts on eBay has a 2004 4.5 l Turbo Cayman V8 and a 2000 Boxster S engine, both with over 100K miles and both priced at $3K. Yes, lots of Boxsters will likely go away due to "expensive parts," but this is false economy IMHO. It's an expensive, low volume car, and from Germany where nothing's cheap ... and the pricing seems fairly realistic given the real world economic facts. How can you realistically expect anything different? Parts prices have zero relationship to used car lot prices in any event ... but lots of guys with stars in their eyes may think so. And hey, they have six cylinders and you can't get that anymore. |
I was at a car restoration and brokerage service a few days ago. I was surprised at how low the prices were for what looked to me like very well finished restorations. And I got to thinking that we all want the cars we couldn't have when we were 15. But that means that as folks age, they become able to afford those toys and demand drives up prices. But the next generation may not have the same memories of that particular car and the prices can drop. Looking at the cars earlier than the '60s I saw that and even some of the '60s cars were asking nothing like the Barret-Jackson prices.
Buy a $2500 roller and put a Raby engine in? Only if you love the car and intend to drive it forever. Price one of those engines! You'll not be getting half that in the next 10 years because there are thousands for unmodified cars for sale competing with you every month. And only 10% of buyers will value the specific upgrades like you did. I think you'll be lucky to get what a roller and a stock engine out of a wreck would cost. Good luck whatever you do. They are great cars. |
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