Older Turbo or newer 996

[Marty Kocse]

Brian, I think you make a great point.  The 996 has definitely depreciated down from the $'s they commanded when new, but as with most Porsches, they don't continue to depreciate at the same rate.  It seems that the early 996's are right around $30k whether you find one with 30k miles or 70k miles on the odo - not much difference in price and a bargain as you said.  As the new 997's are $90-100k, it should definitely help to stabilize the 996 values.

One other thing also...  I believe the maintenance costs for some of the other models like the 930 turbo can be significantly higher than with a normally aspirated 996 that has roughly the same horse power (300 bhp).  It's not that any of the Porsche models are cheap to maintain, but I think you may have to take that into account also (along with the headache factor) when considering the purchase.  From what I understand, a 993 engine rebuild is about the same $'s as a new 996 crate motor (around $10k).  And if by chance you need a new 993 motor, that's about double the rebuild cost and the equivalent to the cost of two 996 crate motors.  So, what one may lose in depreciation $'s on the overall value with the 996 they may more than make up on the maintenance costs.  Oh yeah, and then there's that fun to drive factor...