996 C4S sale price help...

GaryD · 20 Dec 2005

OK, with the arrival of my daughter we've spent more time in the wife's Cayenne than my 996, which has continued to collect dust in the garage. I also now have the option of a company car, and so if I can get a good price for the C4S I will probably get something more practical for now :-(
However, I am a little unsure how to sell the C4S. I've been offered some paltry (or so I think) prices by the dealers for a trade sale, but before I make up my mind on selling it to a dealer (less hassle) or privately (more money?) I wanted to gauge what you guys think I should be aiming for.

The spec is as follows....

2003 (june build) 996 C4S, 4,800 miles (weekend car)

Basalt black/full black leather interior

Sunroof

Bose and 6-CD changer

Soft ruffled leather and Porsche headrest crests

Usual C4S spec (includes computer, electric memory seats, PSM, 18" turbo alloys, red brakes, etc.)

Absolutely no scratches, marks or dings as far as I can see, and all wheels & tyres in mint condition.

Serviced in June 05, Porsche Warranty and Assistance till June 06

Taxed till June 06

Tracker Monitor fitted

Supagard paintwork protection applied 12m ago

Totally cherished, always filled with Optimax, garaged and very well looked after.

I paid just over 66k for the car new from an OPC, and the s***s have offered me 44K (66%) back for a sale, after much arguing about how little it's worth without a sat-nav system fitted, how the resale value is poor now that the 997 is out, and how much of a favour they would be doing me at that price!

As it's only 2.5 years old I am a little unhappy with this, especially given the condition of the car, but am I being realistic in hoping for nearer 50K than 44K? I do realise that the 996's have been hit, depreciation-wise, but surely this is worth more than a Cayman?

I would welcome any thoughts/advice/guidance. If I do sell it privately I will of course do it through this site.

Thanks,

Gary D.

Migration info. Legacy thread was 40511

Tiptronic · 20 Dec 2005

I am not a dealer, and I wish you luck with your sale, I have purchased a 996 C4S just over a month ago.

Spec was as follows:-

Seal Grey, 14k miles, FSH, Mint Cond, Black Leather, Bose, PCM, Sunroof, 52, 2003 car.

Looked hard for the correct car and it ended up costing me £44k, with OPC wtty, I had to spend £1500 on service and tyres, so you can say it cost £45.5k, this was from an independant garage.

When I was looking I was warned to keep away from cars without Sat as I was told they will be harder to move on and lose more value.

With regards your car, I would imgine that an OPC would be asking £54k but would prob take £53k

Independant delaer I would expect to get the car for £51k

Private sale I would hope for £48.5k min (because of the wtty).

Trouble is, that nothing sells at this time of year and Xmas is the worst time to sell a car, you would be better to wait till March when it starts to warm up, however you have the added worry of the new C4S hitting values.

There is no painless way in car ownership from my experience, I have never owned a car that doesnt lose loads every year.

I was offered one car (which I regret not buying) in silver, 02, 2002 car with 15k miles, FPSH, PCM, Phone, Sunroof, Sports Exh, Bose, Black Leather, Xennons, Embossed seats, OPC wtty, red seat belts, alluminum large pack and white dials privately for £42K 3months ago, at the time I hadnt sold my old one and was reluctant to buy, been kicking myself ever since.

Good luck with your sale.

Daz.

C4S,

Migration info. Legacy thread was 40517

Rodders · 20 Dec 2005

try Mark Pearce (aka Stirlings) on here................sounds like his sort of stock..........tho obviously he's not going to give you full book price etc,i'm sure he'll be able to point you in the right direction..........but as Darren has said.its the wrong time of year for selling.......btw sounds a peach but the OPC are right in a way......lack of SAT NAV is killing it

Migration info. Legacy thread was 40519

IceMan · 20 Dec 2005

Damn !

Did'nt know Sat Nav was the important on resale.....?

Sounds like a nice car !

Migration info. Legacy thread was 40530

Tiptronic · 20 Dec 2005

Its odd when you can buy an off the shelf sat nav system for under £300, which will be nearly as good as the original, you wouldnt think that it would make that much diffrence, but it does.

I bought the wife an X3, and wouldnt have considered it without SAT, not cos she needs it, but for resale.

Daz.
C4S

Migration info. Legacy thread was 40532

GaryD · 20 Dec 2005

Thanks guys, that's really hhelpful. Mark has also been in contact, so I will have a chat to him about it.

There is a good reason I didn't have Sat Nav... I am 6'7" and have installed the GT3 console delete kit to allow me to drive the car more easily. Obviously I will put the console back before selling the car, but I couldn't do this with the SatNan in place as there would be no place to put the aircon controls!

I've also suspected that the argument for SatNav is somewhat academic, as I suspect that I wouldn't be offered another 2K for the car now if it had it, even though I had spent 2K on it to have it fitted. IMHO dealers always look for the one thing that the car hasn't got to focus on when negotiating. I had a fully specced Audi TT once that a dealer told me he would find hard to shift as it didn't have some really obscure option that I hadn't heard of, but which apparently everyone wanted.

I guess I do need to be realistic in this market, and also think about selling it closer to spring rather than now. Shucks... I may just have to hang onto it for a few months longer then

Migration info. Legacy thread was 40534

Peter Morton · 20 Dec 2005

Gary

There are some independents who will sell car on your behalf which might give you a better return and is probably less hassle than selling privately.

I know Porschetech in Bristol does this and presumably there are some nearer to you. Obviously you need to look out for how much commission they want etc.

Hope this helps

Migration info. Legacy thread was 40536

Fingers · 20 Dec 2005

Screw the dealers and keep the car! You will regret it the moment it leaves you! Here in Japan when the 997 came out you could get a GBP 8,000 to 10,000 off a new 996 C4s! Now the 997C4S has come out many are disappointed! The 996 was tremendous value for money! If you can't shift it send me some snaps and I will ask around! Please confirm the car is a manual or tiptronic. My e-mail is
servosarai@a
ol.com

Migration info. Legacy thread was 40542

Tiptronic · 20 Dec 2005

I agree with Servo, keep the car.

Daz.
C4S

Migration info. Legacy thread was 40543

GaryD · 20 Dec 2005

I am tempted... if I can get a decent price I will probably sell it, if not then I will keep it.

I agree on the 997... although some people thing it might look better in some ways I had one for a weekend and preferred my 996 (both to look at and to drive).

Migration info. Legacy thread was 40545

Tiptronic · 20 Dec 2005

Never driven a 997, please tell me more re what you didnt like about it to drive.

Daz.

C4S

P.S
I have an annoying rattle from my sunroof all the time, anyone got the same problem.

Migration info. Legacy thread was 40546

Robertb · 20 Dec 2005

It would be an interesting exercise to find out what the car would be worth with the sat nav.... I personally think the dealer is being an ar5e in your instance and is trying it on, as your car sounds like a peach and that mileage has to count for something.

I have seen a quite a few for sale without PCM and they've sold. The Bose is much more of a big deal as it is virtually impossible to get it retrofitted, while you can get a Sat Nav from Halfords for £300!

A similar 03 car to yours, more miles but with litronics and s/sports exhaust was recently listed at a specialist for £52950 and has sold (dunno what for of course!)

If you really want to sell it, I'd try the Sale or Return route after New Year. Don't give the dealer the pleasure of giving you a pittance for it unless you are a forced seller.

Personally, I would take the cash instead of the company car, and then use the 911!

FWIW, my daughter, age 35 months, loves going in my 911 and we've had some very happy family outings...

Migration info. Legacy thread was 40547

Hendo · 20 Dec 2005

Agree with Robert above. Unless you're doing squillions of business miles to keep the Tax down then the company car is not worth it. Take cash alternative and budget it for keeping your C4S in tip top condition.

The big mistake with the 997 'S' is the loss of the reflective stripe across the derrier, which loses a lot of the visual impact of the 993/996 models imho. I still believe that the 996 was the last of true differentiation between carrerra and 'S' models too. On top of that I also agree that the Stealer is just being a
t@sser
and trying to get you to part company with a nice healthy margin guaranteed for him. With or without Sat Nav, 996 C4S's dont seem to hang around on anyone's forecourt at the moment, so tell him to get stuffed. My biggest mistake was falling into the trap of thinking - kids/practicality/ etc and sold my first 911. Took me bloomin ages to get back again but I've not made the same mistake for over 10 years now.

Migration info. Legacy thread was 40554

Parts · 20 Dec 2005

For what it's worth, I can't see any company car (that's not going to cost you a fortune in tax) being any comparison to the 911. Therefore you will regret it when you sell it.

You need to look at the reasons you don't drive it much and try and fix them. Plus if your company offers you a car allowance instead of a company car and use that towards the upkeep of the 911.

Basically if you need to get a car seat fitted, do it, but don't sell unless you really have to.

Migration info. Legacy thread was 40557

GaryD · 20 Dec 2005

Daz - I don't know how best to describe this, but the 997 felt like it was a fly-by-wire that responded to my inputs in how it felt best to respond. I wasn't convinced that it was always doing what I wanted. The effect was really subtle, but it was there nevertheless. I have PSM and eGas on my C4S, and it was far more intrusive than either of those (and I thought that they provided a little too much disconnect than a sports car should have).

I drove a 993, 996 and 997 in the same weekend. I personally would describe them as follows...

993 - A raw, real-deal Porsche that is well planted and directly connected to the road. Very well built, very solid, very quick feeling. Looks and feels a few years old now, but that does add to the 'character' of the experience.

996 - More disconnected from the road, quicker (even though it 'felt' slower) and far more comfortable, especially over distance. Less solid-feeling than the 993, but more modern feeling.

997 - Fully-automated fly-by-wire feeling with too many electronic gizmos and aids for my liking. Again quicker than the 993 and 996 but whilst feeling quicker than the 996 it still 'felt' slower than the 993. More solidly built than the 996 but less so than the 993. Didn't like the cabin controls or the look of the car at the back, but it had the most comfortable seats of all.

One thing that threw me - a few people that I know (not Porsche fans) thought the 996 was the newer car of the three. I didn't expect that, but if you look at the three cars side-by-side there is almost an evolution from 993 to 997 to 996. Very strange.

I am becoming more tempted to keep hold of the C4S... Hendo, I am afraid that I will feel the same if the car goes...

Migration info. Legacy thread was 40560

996 C4S sale price help...

GaryD

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