NoGaBiker

Greetings,

My experience has always been with air-cooled or 986s, but just got to looking at 996TTs last month. Not too long ago I missed on a local Forest Green 03 with a list of about $136k (most options were interior dress-up pieces like carbon fiber everything, which I didn't care about one way or the other. But it also had $5000-ish worth of HRE forged wheels, very nice.) The car had 23k miles and was listed at $45k. I was new to the search and didn't realize this was a very good price, prolly because of the green color, which was actually a bonus for me.

I've now located a local car with mileage well under 20k. Third owner. Local dealer serviced. I called the service mgr there (know him) and the car's ownership history checks perfectly with the seller's story.

This car is an X50. Interior is full leather (by that i mean, dash, front and rear consoles, pretty much everything in the car) and also Natural Gray, which is pricier to boot than standard leathers. Exterior is completely perfect except a small amount of driveway scrape on underside of the black plastic chin spoiler.

Upgrades -- 19" wheels of indeterminate make (all this was on the car when current owner purchased.) Michelin PSS tires (appx 1200 - 1500 miles on them). OEM Turbo 18s with very good condition PS2s on them (which are probably gettting hard due to age.) H&R adj. coilovers, B&M short shift, Billy Boat header and exhaust, laser/radar integrated.

Car pulls like no Porsche I've ever owned or driven, that much is for sure. Everything feels right, with H&R currently on middle of 3 positions, says the seller. No bottoming out, no harsh ride motions on less than perfect surfaces, basically felt very similar to my 986S suspension as far as comfort on the road goes. Out of deference to the seller, of course, I didn't get anywhere near testing the handling limits of this car.

List was $148k, plus the upgrades.

Ask is $57k. Seems like a high price for an 02, but it is pretty much exactly the car I am looking for. You guys hang around the turbo world all the time -- is that price out of line or right on target?

Thanks for any advice!

EDIT: Forgot to ask. The BB exhaust system sounds orgasmic at idle and even better under throttle -- OUTSIDE the car. Inside, particularly at those annoying resonant frequencies that develop when loping along in the neighborhood or around town under part throttle in 2nd, the drone is positively barbaric. This is always a problem in the 986 world also, and much care must be undergone to avoid it. I would trade whatever extra power that setup gave me for getting rid of the drone. Is there a universally endorsed aftermarket option that sounds aggressive but doesn't have that jackhammer-to-the-temporal-lobe throbbing drone? Or do I need to just replace with OEM (sadly, not included in sale)? If so, anythoughts on leaving the headers and just replacing the cans, or does the whole thing need yanked? I know there are many "exhaust sounds horrible" threads, and I just wanted to add that I am adding this car as something my wife will enjoy riding in (my other cars are too "hard core" for her.) As such, I want a sound that is well-behaved inside, so I can receive my daily instructions from her and she can hear my muttered "yes, dear."

"02996ttx50

sounds nice, but possibly overpriced relative to market. maybe not, ..but i bought a similarly equipped x50 car in early 09 for $57k 27k mi. w/ 2yr cpo warranty from a dealership. sticker was originally $143k. have they gone up in value? i don't think so.

NoGaBiker

Good data point. Thanks! I wasn't looking at TTs then, so I don't know if they've gone up or not, but I'd certainly be surprised! Carreras sure haven't.

So this car is now 4 years older than yours was, but has 10k fewer miles. Don't know if the acres of leather makes much difference ($4400+ for the interior, not counting the seats); I would guess that the aftermarket exhaust and suspension don't bring any premium. Sounds like maybe he's a little high. Or that you got a GREAT deal 4 years ago!

c4speedster996

I'd pay $49-52k but the x50 package is
one great package! Mines a 2004 cab. paid 53k.

"02996ttx50

i couldn't have gotten a great deal. largest pcar dealership in SoCal.. lol...
and the leather is grey? i'm not sure that commands a premium. i had it in an old c2 years ago. i attribute that particular purchase to the impetuousness of my youth. my old x50 was as i've said, similarly optioned. the x50 as someone noted is nice, if not a bit slow to spool. it has *added* a few grand to that listed price, i'm sure. good luck.. there are plenty of these out there, you'll find one.. but if this one has all the stuff ya want? offer 50. but i wouldn't really go more.. i don't think.

sanyata

Paying a 5-10% premium for a car that matches your desires is a no brainer in my book. So many people get hung up on the deal and dickering over prices they lose the deal. Then they're looking a long time for the right car or compromising for something a little less than what they wanted. The car is worth what you are willing to pay for it not what everybody thinks, or NADA, KBB, etc. By the way, I think it's a good price and I'd jump on it if it passes all the usual due diligence.

Misplacedyankee

Find out what exhaust it has. Someone might swap.

Its a bit overpriced, but not too much. Maybe low 50s right retail price. Up to you. If your going to keep it a long time that 5-10% difference just won't matter. Go for it if it feels right.

jbossolo

I have a heavily modified track/road 02' X50. Yank that exhaust, put a Speedtech on it, and enjoy!
I'd say if the gut feeling is right, go for it.

cannon1000

I am asking $40k for mine if that puts it in perspective. Granted mine is considered "high" mileage by some. In vehicle marketplace.

jbossolo

^ I'll never sell mine, if that puts it in perspective. 10K miles when I bought it in 04', close to 50K now. Most of them track miles. Great pic, BTW. GLWS.

csaturno1

I bought a 02 X50 Black on black Carbon fiber pckg - all stock - one owner car 30,ooo miles - i paid 42K - 2 months ago

NoGaBiker

Wow, fantastic price, at least compared to all the asking prices for the last month or so on eBay, Autotrader, PCA Marketplace, and a couple other sites that have classifieds. Was this the asking price, or did you beat the seller down with a hammer?

Oh, one thing that may affect my search: Black is out. Personal preference thing. And that rules out about half the cars for sale at any given time. Fortunately, I'm cool with silver or even Seal Gray, which makes up about the other 48%. I love Guards but find it a little too showy for my personal Turbo. Would get it on a "fun" car, like Boxster or 3.2 Carrera or SC, etc, but not on a "serious" car like Turbo. But I do love seeing Guards -- prolly my fave color.

NoGaBiker

You and I think alike in this respect. Just trying to see if the concensus is that this is a 5% premium (no biggie) or a 15% premium (couldn't in good conscience pay that). Remember, this is essentially a silver 996TT we're talking about, not a Mexico Blue 993TT, where if you find the one you want, you better just pay up!

As far as the price guides, when I plugged in zip, mileage and checked the options KBB allows you to check for the Turbo, it rang up 57,160 for a private sale, which is likely where the seller got his number. I don't know if KBB gets enough transaction data on small-volume cars like this to be accurate, or if their data is lagging behind by a year or two, or what.

NoGaBiker

Yes, I've seen your ad. Beautiful car and local to me. As mentioned above, Guards is not on my search list for this car. Also, I'm intent on keeping the mileage under 30k.

Best of luck with yours!

NoGaBiker

LOL, couldn't agree more about Granite Gray. My brother had a 2002 C2 Cab in Lapis/GG and as beautiful as the outside of the car was I could never bond with it because of the GG interior. Even with a black car I vastly prefer any of the tan shades of leather.

No, what this car has is Natural Gray leather. Porsche has two "Natural" colors, Gray and Brown. The leather itself, from what I've seen, is actually a higher grade or finished better or something. Perhaps it's slightly thicker or the tanning process is different. Not sure. Anyway, it is a costly adder over "regular" leathers. The Natural Brown is a lovely dark tan, think Audi Baseball Glove interiors. The Natural Gray, despite its name, looks like Black, unless you have a black interior sitting right next to it. I guess it's a deep Charcoal Gray. I first encountered it when I bought a 2004 Boxster 550 Anniversary Edition SE back in 2004. It was offered with the dark brown (Cocoa) interior (previously only on CarreraGT) or Natural Gray, which was a letdown because it just looks like black, and now you have a silver/black Boxster that has $3400 worth of special paint (GT Silver Metallic) that looks like Artic and $3000 worth of special leather (Natural Gray) that looks like Black. So I bought the Cocoa version.

Anyway, sorry for rambling -- just didn't want you thinking I was getting all worked up over Granite Gray interior! That color is actually a deal killer for me.

Cheers!