First, thanks to Doc and the other posters, I've read and re-read much of this forum and have learned a lot, and really enjoyed it.

I'm in the market for a used 996, probably a 2000 or newer. I'm really leaning towards a Porsche certified car from a dealer. There seems to be a lot of difference in price for comparibly equipped cars depending upon the area. I'm willing to travel to anywhere in the US to get a good, clean car. Part of my willingness to travel is that I'm a bit more comfortable with a certified car from a dealer than I would be from a private party or a non-Porsche dealer. Right or wrong, that's how I feel. I'm confident in putting a deal together with a dealer via phone with pics and it being contigient upon my in- person approval of the car being as it was represented.

From my initial searching it appears that 996's are somewhat less expensive in Florida and Texas. Does that seem to be generally true? Any thoughts or advice on areas or particular dealers would be most appreciated. I'm in Washington state (the dry, eastern side) and a trip home from just about anywhere is easily doable. I know a lot of the cars in California tend to be clean due to the climate there, but they do seem to be priced higher than some other areas of the country. Obviously I'm not going to drive home from Florida to save a few hundred bucks that would be more than eaten up in gas and hotels, but for example cars in Florida seem to be several thousand dolalrs less than comparable cars in California.

Any thoughts, reccomendations or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Hi, I was in a very similar buying situation and came to a similar conclusion. I'm in CA and ended up buying from a local dealer due to a fair price and the assurance that the vehicle would be in awesome mechanical condition.

In talking with dealers from all over the country, I'm under the impression that the price of certified preowned vehicles are strongly influenced by Porsche North America. That strategy preserves vehicle value (on trade-ins and consequently depreciation) and somewhat limits significant pricing desparities. Local dealer latitude exists but in my searching around, I did not find enough discrepency to justify a big trip.

With that said, you could be the beneficiary of a motivated FL or TX dealer with a vehicle on the lot for >90days.

My research occurred during the past three months and I would not say is extremely extensive- but I did find a lot of consistency.

Hope this helps.

Michael

 

Thanks Michael for a very informative post. Any reccomendations on good dealers in California? Obviously California is an easy trip for me (do it on a bike all the time), and would provide a lot of inventory at any given time. I may even be tempted to fly into LA, rent a car and go out looking, as opposed to finding something on the net or in autotrader first. Any thoughts would be most appreciated.

 

Jeff, being a true novice, really hard to say what makes a good dealership and won't pretend to know obvious or subtle differences in the servicing or otherwise.

My experience: Ivisited Rusnak in Pasadena. The salesman there says they do more preowned sales than anyone. I believe him because SoCal retail is more extensive (more competitive) than NorCal. There are _many_ more autonet listings in SoCal than NorCal. Rushkin has a dealership near Malibu too, so I think they are big.

I live in the SF Bay Area. From the websites, Carlsen (Redwood City) seems to have a decent inventory. Sonnen is in Marin. Their selection was ok. Oakland Porsche hadexactly what I was seekingso I did not really look too much further at their full-on inventory. Stead in Walnut Creek had zero inventory of what I was seeking so I did not put time in evaluating their inventory.

Hope this helps.

Michael

 

Thanks for the info Michael, it's very much appreciated. I think I'm going to plan a California trip and fly into LAX and rent a car and spend a week or so seeing what's available.

 

I live in Sarasota, Florida and I think the biggest difference is the age of the owners. You can find a lot of low mile trades they sell for great prices. I have been looking and waiting to buy a 996 Turbo with low miles between 2002/2004 and visit the dealer once every two weeks just because I always drive by on the way home. One guy traded a loaded(Power kit, Crono, Leather etc.) 997 C2S with 189 miles because the manual made his knee swell up, yes you heard right his knee swelling made him trade it in for a TIP. MSRP 109 K and selling for 92K. I personally have done a lot of research and I'm waiting for that special buy and the perfect car for me. I would say Florida has better prices becasue the old people do a one, two year lease and put 2000 miles on them then get rid of them. The more supply of low mile cars you have the better pricing you get. I know you said you didn't want to buy private party but thats were the deal is to be made(at least here). Just get it inspected at the local porsche dealer, It cost about 300 bucks here.

Happy shopping!

 

Thanks Irish 996 Turbo. The mileage is one thing that I've noticed quite a difference in between Floriday and California. The older owners (on average) in Florida must not put the miles on them, or maybe they get pretty mileage restricted leases. Any reccomendations on good advertising publications for Florida? I would assume the Miami paper is a decent source>

The story about the fellow selling because of his knee swelling is pretty funny. I wonder if it was the only thing that swelled?!? Maybe he could get rid of his prescription for the little blue pill if he kept the car.

Thanks for the info.

 

I use Autotrader.com and eBay, it usually covers the majority of used cars. I also go on the Porsche website, you can do a detailed search there also. http://www.porsche.com/usa/pre-owned-vehicles/search/

On auto trader you can save and modify searches to specifically find what you’re looking for and if you want do daily searches.

 

One more thing you should remember you can buy a CPO car from a private party person as long as he puts it on. You may be able to work it in a deal.