GB356

Gentlemen,

As a 25 yr+ buyer of lots of new Porsches (and a few old ones) the trouble has always been in the options. Other than maybe 5 or 7 real performance options, they love to sell us aluminum parking brake lever covers for say $500 a pop. Now what exactly does that item cost to produce - $60-$100 maybe. Shoot I'd sell options all day long at a 500+% mark-up. I generally buy the basic cars with maybe $5000-$7000 in options - be it a Carrera, Boxster or whatever. Over that you are doing just exactly what Porsche wants you to - for their bottom line - not yours. Just try to get 50% of the "overage" back at resale. "Well the aluminum brake lever is nice but our "used car" buyers could care less" says the salesman. A Cayman (base at $59K) ought to be just fine at about $65-70,000 (tops) the rest is just not worth it and except for the ceramic brakes which are too much $$ for this level car IMO. Should be real a real fun ride - although it could use another 50hp to start with.

Galen
'55 Speedster - 2 options
'59 Sunroof coupe - 3 options
'64 Cab - 4 options
'68 911 - 5 options
about 9 other 911's and Turbos since '80
'04 Cayenne - 6 options (the new one coming has 7! - shame)
'03 E55 AMG - 2 options (fast fast grocery getter)
'04 SL 55 AMG - 3 options (lazy man's comfort package TT cab substitute)

Atlas_Croc

Totally agree Galen. Actually my salesman of all people told me that anything over $70k was a waste in his opinion,......you may get a small % back on the fru-fru stuff IF your lucky. From what he said Porsche really isn't expecting many Caymans to breach the $70K mark......but if you gotta have something they are happy to charge you $$$ for it.

Blue S2

Well, its a waste at resale. Who are you buying the car for though?? The next guy, or yourself.

The car will do the same thing with black leather as it will with custom dyed leather to match a paint-to-sample car. Im sure you will spend more time looking at the interior than the exterior.

You will always lose money on a car. A lot of options aren't worth it as you can add them yourself later for less. I wouldn't think about resale when adding options though. As long as the car is still relatively in your budjet, add what will bring you enjoyment while you own the car.

(ps...colored seat belts always help set off an interior!)

Jim Michaels

I started to repond to Galen's post about the fluff options last night, but knew I would run on too long. I haven't heard the term "fru-fru stuff" that atlas_Croc used above, but it made me wonder how many terms there are for what I've called "frosting", anything that has no function except to look different. Of course, there are also other options that make very little, if any, noticable difference. The options on the car I ordered total $5950, and a couple of those really aren't much different than the standard offerings. I'm refering to the sport steering wheel (only .2" smaller in diameter) and the sport seats, which are still too wide for my skinny hips and thighs.

GB356

Reminds me of a Porsche friend who often says one thing and does another. I remember well that he complained that the Boxster and the 911 had 40% commonality. Why buy a 911 then went his logic? Then about 2 years later he shows up in an '01 $70,000 Bosxter S when a 911 would have been $2000 more. Now I had a Boxster S in ''01 and it cost about $58,000. You can see the ending from a mile away. His sold about 2 months after mine - with less milage for about $1,500 more and he complained mightily *@#% about it. These are great cars w/o fru/fru,frosting or whatever we want to call it. If I knew I'd have it for 50 years I'd get exactly what I wanted. Until then it's pure caution on the option list. BTW, My '05 Cayenne was within $700 on the sticker from what my '04 cost. Guess I bought too much fru/fru way back in late '03!

Galen
w/ new '05 Cayenne asleep in the garage

nyca

the early "gotta-have-it" people will option it up. but I imagine the typical price point is going to be around $65K for this car. with a V8 M3 in that range, and a Z06 a little more, they won't sell too many $80K+ Caymans.

MikeN

According to my salesman who has ordered about 8 of them now......the most common price range is $65-$70K.......but then again a lot of the options in the order guide are not available yet. The Cayman will be a great car but if I had over $80k to spend I'd probably be looking at something else.
Some of the same people that buy one for $80k will be the ones bitching 3 years from now saying Porsche resale is sooooo bad.

1AS

69K is a new ZO6. Which would be more fun? AS

mark34

Which would you rather own?

Z06 would be an absolute blast, would love to borrow one for a week, I just don't think I would want to drive one everyday.

SinVancouver

I got one to 85K with NO PCCB

U2 GT Silver
BG Black/Stone int.
M6A mats
PPB pref pack
342 heated seats
P78 sports seat
461 antenna
475 pasm
498 no badge
640 chrono pack
641 log book
CNX spoiler alu
P16 pcm
XCZ short shift
XFJ white dials
CDB black wheels
460 sport wheel
CPT stor lid leather
XMZ centre console leather
803 carbon pack
CXD sill in illum carbon

Word. LOL.

MikeN

Interesting.......have you actually ordered it yet? As far as I know everyone that has tried to order any of the "X" options has gotten them kicked back out as I don't think they will be ready for the next few months.

SinVancouver

No I have not ordered yet.. as yes some of the options are getting kicked.. chances are I wont complete the order either.. I half talked myself into wanting this car but I currently have 1997 Carrera S that I dont think I could be apart from till I leave this earth

Scott.

Riz

Lets see who can option out the most expensive Cayman - that would be a dumb exercise! Give me a Cayman S with everything on it.

Jim Michaels

Riz: When you called optioning-out a Cayman a dumb exercise I knew I'd have to do it. I don't know about dumb, but it is time consuming because one has to be careful not to include any conflicting options. I was able to get an options total cost greater than the base price. So yes, one can order a Cayman S for well over $120k (actually closer to $130k if I did it right). The Cayman I actually ordered was just under $65k.

Black Magic

wow and i thought the cayman would be a relativly cheap porsche,sheeh!!