997 Seasonal price difference? Fact or fiction?

[Sarllm]

Hi everyone

Recently had my C4S stolen , pretty horrible times but you can't let the terrorists win, so I am planning on getting a newer 997 in the next couple of months.

I am still waiting on a settlement figure from the Insurance company (+ the inevitable haggle) so I am not sure what my budget will stretch to. I brought my 55 997 C4S in November 2011 and in all honesty prices on average don't see to be much lower than what I paid. I got a good deal at the time from a prestige dealer not an OPC. Scouring the internet I've seen the odd example about 5k less than what I paid, but on the whole they seem to be a couple of grand around what I paid.

So my question is this - did I just get a great deal at the time, or are summer prices of Porsche's in general more than winter prices?

I could be going mad, but I seem to remember when I was last looking to buy (Winter 2011) someone told me "it's a good time to buy a porsche"..........It was probably a salesman but I thought i'd ask you guys your opinion!!


Thanks
:cop:

 

[cheshire911]

In my limited experience I'd say there is definitely a seasonality to this market and prices are higher in the spring/summer months than they are in the autumn/winter months. I bought mine in August after strarting to look seriously from April 2013, but had been watching prices since summer 2012. I saw a drop-off in prices in sept - Feb and from the spring 2013 prices seemed to be higher. I am only going by advertised prices not what they actually sold for. Therefore I cannot rule out that the market tried to increase prices but the realised prices did not follow.

So if you are in the market, maybe start seriously in September and in the dark nights and dreary winter months you might get a good example at a lower price?

This is just my experience and not a scientific study.

 

[Plumb]

They always seem to be lower priced in the colder months and they seem to hang around longer for sale, I bought mine in Feb 2013 and have looked recently for same spec'd cars as mine, they seem to be advertised £2k to £3k more expensive.
I too bought from a prestige dealer, my Indy mechanic agrees they are cheaper in the winter.

 

[chimp911]

Also worth considering is that most dealerships have quarterly sales targets and salesmen tend to get commission based on units sold rather than the price they went for - a good opportunity to get more from your haggling if you time it right...

 

[cheshire911]

I'd say around £3k dearer in the spring/summer months for a 996 Turbo (non X50 around £2k dearer). Seems other peoples experience coincides with mine.

A word about prestige dealers - often a good source as the cars off-loaded by the trade and private sellers for cars that an indy will not take - either cos of missing history etc or simply the seller thinks the offer by the indy is an insult. Consequently the mark-up by an indy will probably be the highest - proving there is no such thing as a free warranty - it is built into the (higher) price the indy is selling at and will also not haggle much - you may be lucky to see £500 knocked off an indy's selling price.

Prestige dealers may be good sources as they may be sending their car away to an indy porsche specialst to prep the car that puts right 80% of what they need to cover them for 3 months. There will be more room to haggle on prices - stock turn is more crucial to a prestige / non-specialist.

The best prices will be by private sellers - but so are the risks. But then you probably know all this anyway - so apologies if this is something that you already know. I did some investigating when buying mine and like the seasoned documentaries went in search for the source of the river Nile. I found it - the private seller! The closer you fish to the source the better the prices but the greater the risks. Take steps to mitigate and manage those risks and you can get some very good buys.

 

[northpole]

Definitely a fickle market imo. Sales appear to have shot through the roof in the last few weeks with the dramatically improved weather. I also think (in London area at least) that there are slightly improved economic vibes which may give potential buyers more confidence to pull the proverbial trigger. Predictable impact on prices...

Peter

 

[Sarllm]

Thanks for the thoughts guys.

In an ideal world I'd like an early 997 Turbo. I've seen the odd private one for around 36k, but naturally most dealers have prices have around the low 40'ks. Mid 30's is about my limit, so perhaps I may wait the summer out and see if the 40k ish cars drop a few grand.

Cheers again