Sold my 986 2 years ago because it was going to start needing real maintenance. Bought a '08 M3 cab because I still wanted a convertible sports car but figured back seats would be the adult thing to include. Never warmed up to that car and ultimately decided it ws too expensive to hold onto and started scheming to replace it.
An acquaintance had a really nice low mileage 987 for a good price. Drove it, bought it. Reminded me how much I used to like my 986. Liked it so much that shortly thereafter I got back on the wagon and looked at 997 prices while researching what price to put on my M3. Drove a "S" cab, liked it, bought it
. My wife now drives the 987 (which I still really enjoy).
So you didn't sell your 986. You just started the process to get a 997.