110% sure. I took my checkbook with me when I went to test drive this 2014, I was so sure it was coming home with me, but after a short drive the temptation level dropped to zero.
The interior was ancient, like you’d find in a Conestoga wagon. So there’s less than zero chance of getting something older.
Depreciation isn’t the only factor, but for a newer model it seems like a logical place to start the browsing/driving process because: 1- this isn’t a passion of mine or a dream car regardless of the trim or equipment, and 2- I put on so few miles, and those are basically between home and the grocery store and the airport.
I think my fairly un ambitious use case may be better served on the lower end of the scale, so this might work out in my favor.
I haven’t driven anything newer than the 2014 S, and my impression is that they’ve gotten more refined and easier to drive daily since then. Maybe not.
I have enough self awareness to know that having to swap tires twice a year will make me want to trade it in for an Altima. I’m aware there will be a trade-off.
The bar is pretty low here, it just has to be easier to get up the driveway (which isn’t very steep) than my RWD 750. I’m barely exaggerating when I say that I need a running start to get into the garage after a thin layer of powder falls.
Seems like an expensive move to minimally drive it for 4-5 years and prob get decent amount of depreciation , while basically handcuffing it with the tires and not being a great car for your use case. Honestly your 550 seems pretty perfect for your described use.
The novelty wore off the M550 in a matter of months.
I’m fine spending money on things that bring me happiness, even when it doesn’t make a great deal of sense.
Last week I bought $11,000 worth of hair.
Jokes aside, my appetite for the preposterous isn’t unlimited, which is why I opened the conversation with relative depreciation of various choices as a significant consideration.
I was thinking something like this, rather than a GTS or higher, before even thinking about depreciation… but I’d spend more if it made better financial sense in the end. I don’t know this market at all.
Meanwhile we were looking at that until the dealer decided to give my dad 9.6k off a X5 m50i. And the novelty has worn off before the tags got here! Same thing with the TRX we had lol. At least you can flip a TRX…
Fundamentally, the interior of the 991.2s (like the ‘19 you posted) did not change from the 991.1s (like the ‘14 you drove). Notable advancements include PCM 4.0 with CarPlay, but that’s really about it. If the ‘14 felt dated the ‘19 isn’t going to feel much different.
On the deprecation scale, yes Turbos are notorious for heavy deprecation. It really is remarkable…and it seems the higher the sticker the harder they fall. That being said, this market has everything out of proportion and the 991.1 Turbo/Turbo S “deals” that were out there are no more. No, I would not spend low 6 figures on a 10 year old 911 Turbo. Bad buy in my eyes. Also wouldn’t touch anything from Brooklyn Auto Sales (the ‘17 you posted) and that is way under market, not a realistic price point.
Based on your requirements and thoughts, it sounds to me like you’d be happy in a 992 4 or 4S. I don’t follow this market closely but do know there is still some heavy depreciation to be had with these in comparison to the 991 generation, and of course 997. $150k can get you into one of these easily and as you said, sometimes you just have to spend money on happiness. The latest and greatest tech and having a “new” car sounds like it will be far worth it and truth be told, I doubt you’d even be happy in a 991.2 once the novelty wore off. Contrary to what all the Porsche geeks think, some people don’t want to drive an archaic platform no matter how ‘purist’ it is. And that is certainly OK.
I follow the 911 (mainly 991) market closely, embarrassingly closely, and personally wouldn’t touch anything right now. It’s getting old saying this and I know many are tired of hearing it too, but prices are out of control and sellers are totally irrational. Not sure how others feel but I’d rather knowingly lose on depreciation of a new-er car under warranty (992) than sporadically lose on an older car when the values do fall, and have to worry about maintenance and repairs on top of it (991).
Footnote: GT cars are a totally different ballgame but don’t think that’s the solution here.
This, you have no idea how much I’ve been wanting to buy a used 991 911, and my dreams are just crushed by how much higher prices have gotten. I see 991.2’s with 30k miles that people are asking 10k off original sticker for. It’s straight up stupid.
The problem is that the “novelty” will always wear off no matter what you are driving. I have owned/leased 30 or so cars and trucks including some stock and modified sub 4 second fire breathers. The novelty wears off faster in a ride used as a daily vs. a garage queen for weekend foolishness. The key is to have a few options over many years if you can for different purposes: daily, track (road course and drag strip, skip the ovals), weekend convertible or a 991.2 for example.
Either way, you will always want to move on so try and have some other cars, hobbies and things to keep you occupied and interested.
Are the turbos worse from a maintenance standpoint? In normal times(not now) seems like a sweet spot after the big initial depreciation with regards to perf vs price, not like anyone can push a turbo anywhere near its limits on road anyway. It’s always been strange to me how the turbos are treated like the red haired step kid. Wonder if that will change going forward as more of their cars have turbos.
This is a fair observation and the risk is always there, but it differs from my experience.
The car before the M550 was around for ~10 years, and it wasn’t exactly a thriller (G37 convertible).
Before the Infiniti I had a W211 E500 for 7-8 years.
I have a 750i now (going on four years) and I love it every time I climb in, and have no plans to part with it any time soon. The plan here was to keep leasing these for a while, but then the lease costs doubled and killed the value proposition for me, and now the new generation is just too ugly. So it stays for a while.
My default is to find something I love and drive it for a while, which is among the reasons it takes me such an excruciating amount of time to make car decisions. I don’t enjoy the churn.
Usually I know I’ve hit the spot in the first 30 seconds of a test drive. My instinct on the 5 Series was just wrong.
I thought the 992 generation started with model year 2019, that’s how I ended up bookmarking something like that in my brain.
For the 991.2s, I was under the (apparently mistaken) impression from the sales guy who helped me with the 2014 that 2017+ 991.2s got a partial modernization inside, and that might be a worthy interim point between the earlier 991s and the 992. Sounds like that’s wrong, or the modernization wasn’t really that comprehensive. (They didn’t have a 991.2 in stock to look at.)
From all of the feedback so far I think I need to first figure out exactly where the 992 generation started (does it vary by trim, or was I just off by a whole year and should only be looking at 2020 and newer?), and then focus on the lower trim levels to get started.
The primer on the generations posted by @skerb above says 2018+ and I think I got a similar answer from Wikipedia, and inferred that they started manufacturing 992s in 2018 for the 2019 model year.
Yea as far as I am aware the 992 didn’t start stateside until 2020, though it may have started a year earlier across the pond. Porsche ran the 997.2 and the 991.1 across the same model year (2012) domestically and referred the the 991 as the “new” Carrera - cool fact. Don’t think they did this with the 992.
The 991.2 interior updates are nothing more than a new, larger, PCM screen and a revised steering wheel. Some buttons moved off the center console to the wheel via a selector switch if you have sport chrono, but everything else basically stayed the same.
Revise your search to include only 2020+ and see what inventory you can go look at. You will be blown away at the difference between the 991.2 and 992.
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