What's the current market for 997.1 turbo like?

997wanted · 23 Mar 2024

Hi all,

Newbie here, looking to jump into a Porsche 997 turbo within a few weeks (in my dream world). I fell in love with it before I even realised it; don't worry, will do a reality check with some friends before proceeding with a purchase.

I thought I'd post this here rather than in marketplace section as I'd like an opinion on the current market. I'm looking for a 997.1 turbo tip coupe, either dark grey or black, with any interior apart from red, ideally under 50k. There are a few options available at the moment, but I wonder if the market gets any wider than this, and if any of these options could be a good candidate to take this further through PPI before purchase. I would really like a reliable car and know what to expect in the near future. I'm not buying as long-term investment, if it happens it happens. I hope it's okay to post some links. I looked through autotrader, ebay, gumtree, facebook, and whatever popped on google. This would be my main and only car, I would daily it, but I don't do many miles anyway (prob 5k/year).

Could anyone help me figure out what could be the best deal between these listings and which one I should focus on? I'm really not fussed about sunroof, and I know I could fit a new central console screen (which I would like) at any time even later, but all these claim FSH, sports chrono and loads of love. Any reason to prefer private sale or garage dealer in this case, since I would still do PPI? Thank you.

£48k - 61,000 miles - link

£46,500 - 60,000 miles - link

£47,500 - 48,000 miles - link

£48,000 - 62,000 miles - link

£50,000 - 63,000 miles - link

£52,000 - 50,000 miles - link

T8 · 23 Mar 2024

After 9 years in mine I'm obviously biased but the 997.1 Turbo is one of the real performance car bargains around.

You should always expect to pay more for a car bought from a dealer, especially from a Porsche specialist but, at the right price, a privately bought car could be the best buy.

Mileage seems to be the biggest driver of price but the best value-for-money can be achieved by finding a well used but well maintained car. Service history is key - Not just the stamps in the book but invoices to show what other work has been done. At 16 years+ all 911s will need work doing. Finding one that has had suspension work already done will be a bonus. Brakes and tyres are expensive so the current condition of all should be taken into account.

Once you've decided on the car that seems to suit you best have a good look at it, and the paperwork, yourself and if all seems good get a pre-purchase inspection done. Anything found will be useful in negotiating a purchase price. With cars like this you often have to compromise on things such as colour combo or spec' to get the right mileage, history, condition but there's a few around so take your time.

Happy Hunting

997wanted · 23 Mar 2024

T8 said:
Service history is key - Not just the stamps in the book but invoices to show what other work has been done. At 16 years+ all 911s will need work doing. Finding one that has had suspension work already done will be a bonus. Brakes and tyres are expensive so the current condition of all should be taken into account.

Thanks for the advice. Are sellers usually happy to share all this info even if you are still navigating the market? I asked one private seller about more info regarding FSH, and he replied back saying it's got 8 stamps and 'lots of love'. I believe this is not enough for me to get to my conclusions, according to your words.

T8 · 23 Mar 2024

997wanted said:
Thanks for the advice. Are sellers usually happy to share all this info even if you are still navigating the market? I asked one private seller about more info regarding FSH, and he replied back saying it's got 8 stamps and 'lots of love'. I believe this is not enough for me to get to my conclusions, according to your words.

I'd expect the seller of a loved car to be proud and willing to give evidence of when basic items were last replaced.

Harryblue · 18 Mar 2025

I think the 997 Turbo is one of the all time best 911s out there, loved by those that own them and somehow overlooked by those that don’t, which has kept prices a bit lower than I think they should be. They’re generally bulletproof but maintenance costs can be high some years and there is a fairly rare chance of catastrophic failure, I’ve occasionally seen one go bang and land the owner a £75k bill.

My view is have deep pockets or pay more to buy from someone like Paragon who give a full warranty that you can extend.

There is no such thing as a cheap 911, these were very expensive when new and maintenance can reflect that, so buy it eyes open and get a decent PPI.

Personally these days on cars this age I’d only buy a well known car or from somewhere like Paragon. It’s so easy to end up tens of thousands into it if there is work to be done.

Marty* · 18 Mar 2025

I wonder how this search turned out nearly a year on?

Harryblue · 18 Mar 2025

The title was what's the current market like and I was on Pistonheads looking at these and I thought it was worth a revival just for a discussion on buying a 997 Turbo today, for some reason I feel they never really got the limelight they deserve and I saw one in Paragon at the moment for quite strong money and wondered if they're starting to creep up.

T8 · 18 Mar 2025

Harryblue said:
I think the 997 Turbo is one of the all time best 911s out there, loved by those that own them and somehow overlooked by those that don’t, which has kept prices a bit lower than I think they should be. They’re generally bulletproof but maintenance costs can be high some years and there is a fairly rare chance of catastrophic failure, I’ve occasionally seen one go bang and land the owner a £75k bill ..........

A £75k bill ......... How?

Why on earth would anyone pay that sort of money to fix a car that wasn't going to be worth anything like that amount when it was fixed?

It does seem to be a common perception that turbos are expensive to run. This is probably why they're such good value for money in terms of bang for buck. I know I'm tempting fate by saying it but in my 10 years / 50k miles of ownership there's been very little expenditure that wouldn't have been incurred had I been running a Carrera. Having to replace 2 x very expensive MAF sensors instead of 1 x fairly cheap one is the only major incidence.

T8 · 18 Mar 2025

Harryblue said:
The title was what's the current market like and I was on Pistonheads looking at these and I thought it was worth a revival just for a discussion on buying a 997 Turbo today, for some reason I feel they never really got the limelight they deserve and I saw one in Paragon at the moment for quite strong money and wondered if they're starting to creep up.

The Paragon car is a Gen2 which have always been a lot more expensive to buy than Gen1s.

Gen 1 cars bottomed out on value in 2015, rose again and have settled to where they are now. Gen2 cars only ever depreciated slowly and have stayed pretty much the same in recent years.

Because Gen2 cars are very rare to find with a manual box Gen1 manuals do cross over in value but generally a 997.1 can be had for £15k less than a 997.2. Despite being PDK only the 997.2 'Turbo S' model is the most desirable / expensive. The car at Paragon is not an 'S' so at £69,995 is priced at the top of the market. That said, Paragon only sell top cars and have a great reputation so it will probably sell.

Harryblue · 18 Mar 2025

T8 said:
A £75k bill ......... How?

Total engine failure and needed a complete engine rebuilding plus accessories.
I'm sure there was a thread on here about it, there were three cars I think in a year that let go and I remember commenting about whether we were seeing the start of something but it seems not.

T8 · 18 Mar 2025

Harryblue said:
Total engine failure and needed a complete engine rebuilding plus accessories.
I'm sure there was a thread on here about it, there were three cars I think in a year that let go and I remember commenting about whether we were seeing the start of something but it seems not.

I don't recall that thread but I'd be surprised if it was discussing unmodified cars.

Given that some have been upped to 1000 bhp and that 600 bhp is quite common failures do occur but for anyone content with the stock 473bhp they're about as bullet proof as a 911 can be.

TurboSandGT4 · 18 Mar 2025

i do love the look of the 997 turbo, a maunual would be a great buy as the last of its kind

AlpinaB3S · 18 Mar 2025

Harryblue said:
The title was what's the current market like and I was on Pistonheads looking at these and I thought it was worth a revival just for a discussion on buying a 997 Turbo today, for some reason I feel they never really got the limelight they deserve and I saw one in Paragon at the moment for quite strong money and wondered if they're starting to creep up.

I agree. (Obviously)

I still think its the best looking of them all but thats only my opinion, everyone has a different one, and no one is right or wrong.

I still think long term the fact that the 997.1 Turbo is the last non GT car with a Mezger engine has to be worth something in the future. Hopefully wont matter to me because I am keeping mine but my kids might thank me for my foresight one day. Or maybe when its worthless they will laugh about how dad thought his old car would be worth something one day.

Thomps84 · 18 Mar 2025

The blue one on collecting cars at the moment is my perfect turbo

https://collectingcars.com/for-sale/2007-porsche-911-997-turbo-29

If only they’d do a swap and cash for a C2

Harryblue · 18 Mar 2025

Thomps84 said:
The blue one on collecting cars at the moment is my perfect turbo

https://collectingcars.com/for-sale/2007-porsche-911-997-turbo-29

If only they’d do a swap and cash for a C2

I agree it's nice, but I do wonder if blue on blue is just a bit too much blue and whether black might be better interior. It's a very nice example of that model though, I keep looking at it, I wonder what the reserve is.

It's my wife's favourite colour and second favourite car behind the RS, so I could buy it and she'd also be happy.
But I've got too many cars and it would just sit there like the others doing a hundred or so miles a year.