Larry, yup, very true. The dealers in the Pacific Northwest were priced so high and NOBODY seemed to be willing to budge much on price. After I expanded my search to California, it really opened up so many more options that seemed to be priced well. It was a great experience to find the car in Northern California and fly down there with my wife and have a wonderful drive home.

 

First Porsche, 2008, 05 997 carrera, bought used, looked for about three months, knew what I wanted, just had to find the car.
Then in early 2009 found a used 2006 Cayenne Turbo S for the wife, looked for about three months again.
Bought it and figured this will satisfy my needs, sold the 911 in early September, Realized the Cayenne was not the answer to all of my needs and bought the 09 C4S with in one week of selling the 05.
Funny thing , if I have one sitting in the garage I am fine ( drive it on weekends) but if I don't have one, I get clammy.
Not a millionaire by any means, Just addicted for some reason, got to be those hips !!!

 

i'm one of the eternal searchers... and there is a reason to it... prior to my current search, i've been the king of impulse buys. i bought a lexus GS on a whim and sold it in a couple of years because i didnt like the way it drove. then i bought a yukon denali on a whim because i thought it was what i wanted... i took an $18K hit on the denali when i sold it in less than a year. then i bought a mini JCW because i thought it'd be fun and now i'm looking at selling it for the 997. Just these 3 cars alone have cost me a dear penny ($49K in lost value) in the past 4 years... i have vowed to myself and my wife to make wiser decisions with car purchases because i am otherwise pretty frugal... so coming into this next phase, i wanted to find the car that i wouldnt want to sell in a couple of years. i was in the market for a 997.1 non-S.... but started worrying about non-S remorse. So I went back and forth for a while with this issue.

The other issue is something I think about quite a bit. I have set some specific criteria for my purchase and I don't want to get away from it. I actually agreed to purchase a 2006 C2S. Purchase price, funds, everythign was set. When I asked the seller for service records and PPI, he balked because he had a buyer who was willing to buy the car sight unseen... so I walked. This has happened twice now. The last time, I even offered to provide a non-refundable deposit, but the buyer said no. Just because others are willing to make impulse purchases without an inspection, should I come down to their level? My answer is no. I think patience is rewarded and believe I can find a car out there that I can purchase on my terms. If it doesn't work out, then perhaps it wasn't meant to be. Until then, I can keep trolling these boards...

 

sounds like a memorable great-time !

 

Larry and Joe,

Sorry to digress a bit...

But I would have to agree with the somewhat inflated pricing in the Pacific NW. I just went through the whole process and the dealers up here don't seem to have what I wanted (09 C2 or C4). However, Spokane Porsche has some great deals on leftover 2009s now...! And Barrier Porsche was where my friend from the Bay Area got his 09 C2 PDK for 20K off sticker - they have loads of Cabs leftover...

 

i got 15k off a 2010...so you better get atleast 22-25k off an 2009

i dont think 5k is worth it..after 2yrs the difference between 2009 and 2010 will be more than 5k

 

Many years ago a friend and I were coming back from a road trip when he asked me, "wanna see some Ferraris"? Dumb question, so we stopped by “Auto Italia” in Greensboro, NC. We showed up in dirty blue jeans and tennis shoes and were met at the door by the only salesman in the place. He asked if he could help us and we said no, we were there just to look. After about 10 minutes of us drooling on everything he asked us if we had a few minutes to spare. We did, so he proceeded to give us the grand tour of the whole facility; explained all the Ferraris and how one model was related to another, took us through the restoration area where they were working on a Dino, through the garage bays (sparkling clean), and then up to the Maserati dealership located on the other side of the building. We thank him for the tour and agreed that we had never been treated like that at any other dealership either one of us had ever visited...ever. I swore to myself that one day I was going to do this all over again.

Flash forward those many years, and one day I talk the wife into driving up to Greensboro for a couple of hours to look at Ferraris. We arrived at the now much newer and much bigger dealership and were met at the door by one of the salesmen (Déjà vu!) who asked if he could help us. We said no, we were just there to look. He stayed with us and answered all of our questions, explained the evolution of the various Ferrari models, and even started up one of the new California models because my wife asked a question about the folding hardtop (what a sweet sound that car made!). We then wandered through the Aston Martin and Maserati inventories and ended up at the other end of the dealership where the Porsches were located.

By now I figured I could at least finagle a test ride and asked if we could try out a Cayman. Five minutes later the salesman and I are out on the road. He shows me the route to take and we returned and the wife and I took the car out. Great little car (PDK’d), but we both agreed that it was a little too small inside. I said that all I wanted to do when we got back was sit in that red 911 that was on the floor to compare interior space. We got back, sat in the 911, and it was like night and day. The Porsche sales manager came over, and we ended up in his office looking at inventories and discussing purchase options. By now our little 2 hour visit had taken the whole day and all I wanted to do by then was get home. The manager asked me what I had driven up in (’06 Corvette) so we went out to look it over. He said he would work up some numbers and would call me the next day. I figured any numbers he came up with would resemble the debt of some 3rd world country, but I said OK and we left, not expecting to hear anything.

The next day, the phone rings and it’s the sales manager. The numbers he quoted me were indeed shocking, but in a very good way. We played phone tag for the rest of the day exchanging information and by late afternoon we are back at the dealership picking up our new ’09 Carrera S. Not exactly an impulse purchase but unplanned nonetheless. It was probably the only time that my wife and I left a car dealership smiling.

 

PTParks that is a great story. I wish we had dealerships around here that were like that. Most salesmen in the boston area are not so kind.

 

In response to the original post, some poeple aren't serious buyers yet at the point they're out wasting sellers' time. It's one thing going to a dealer to test drive and chat when you have no intention of buying -- that's what they are in business to do. But a private seller doesn't need tire kickers.

Buyers should be decisive. First, decide you're ready to buy, now. If you expect to need financing, have it arranged in advance. Then, go find and buy the car. Get on it or off it and don't waste peoples' time.

 

For me, two months from decision to execution. I have never been much of a car guy, but was told by a friend that "everything fits, except the car" and I suddenly realized she was right. I *can* afford a nice car. And so it began.

I initially considered Boxsters and other sporty cars, but after much thinking I just couldn't escape the iconic imagery of the 911 and the perception of the lower priced models in comparison. I had to have a 997.

I did much consulting with friends, I signed up for different forums and read and watched every review I could on the 997. I slogged though lots of Top Gear episodes just to learn the language of cars. I made giant spreadsheets with every palatable 997 on autotrader, cars.com, and eBay. I visited dealerships and looked inside and out at the different colors and options.

I realized I couldn't justify driving a Tiptronic to myself ... it would be insulting to everyone who dreams of owning a car like this and can't. So I picked up a used 1995 Ford Aspire hatchback for 1K even and drove it to work and back every other day. People at work looked at me like I was crazy. I was!

Finally, after talking to a few different buyers, I ended up corresponding a lot with a nice fellow off of eBay. We finally arranged for me to fly out there and as soon as I saw the house, I knew there was no reason for this guy to bull**** me. I handed over the checks and got the title to a 2007 Targa 4 with less than 10K miles on it. Incredible deal, even nicer guy to boot. I gave him the shipping instructions and 3 weeks later, I had a practically brand new 911 sitting in my apartment complex's gated parking area.

I really have so much more to write ... in terms of how scary and intimidating it is for me to get used to driving such an amazing car around (I'm only now at the point where I feel comfortable enough to enjoy it), the projects I went through with the car (swapping out the interior lights for LED's ... looks amazing ... and iPod integration) and eventually buying an old Boxster to learn about working on cars and hooning a P-car on the track without risking the ruin of the 911.

So yeah ... two months to purchase, but a whole timeline that extends beyond the purchase point.

 

Love this part

 

not long after the dealer gave me the price...I am an emotional buyer! Someone help!
Is there a 12 step program?

 

I usally buy the car I am looking for with the options I am looking for. I have only had 4 Porsche colors as they are Granatrot Garnet Red (Burgundy), Artic Silver, Guards Red and Black. I have always been lucky to find the car with nearly all the options I wanted. If it didnt have all options it surely had all of my MUST have options so I have always been able to buy in a short period of time.
I just dont have the patience to order the car I want. However, my wife has had me order a few cars for her and she didnt mind waiting.

 

My Porsche (now better said, my first Porsche) had a lot of 'firsts' for me. I never thought I would buy a used car because I thought:
1. I could not tolerate the risk of prior mistreatment;
2. It would not be optioned exactly the way I wanted it;
3. Though I could tolerate 'used' in other things, cars should be bought 'new'.
Well Porsche pricing made me revisit my predispositions. I could have bought a new one, but it surely is a large chunk of money. So I decided to buy a used one, still under warranty. I couldn't find one exactly the way I would have ordered it, but I knew I could not tolerate a car that wasn't white/black, had to be a cab and had to be an 'S'.
I finally found one. Had I known then what I know now, I probably wouldn't have bought it. No PPI, some rough edges, probably paid too much as well.
But the car has turned out to be a complete and utter joy. I've mod'ed it quite a bit, meticulously massaged every surface to the point that it appears 'new' to most people, and take care of it like I just bought it. It surely lacks some of the options that I would have ordered - some of which can never (or not easily) be added later - more leather, better heated seats, X51 (maybe). Other than a missing autodimming mirror (yes, that really bugs me) I don't notice any shortcomings.
It has been a fabulous experience, and I am now firmly convinced that I will never buy a new high-end car. In that regard, once decided, I am at the mercy of the market to determine when I will close on the car that satisfies me. Next time, which I dearly hope will be many years from now, I will be a more informed buyer. But I now have the knowledge that any car can become 'my' car with time and proper care.

 

Hard to imagine looking and researching for weeks or months...only because once the fever sets in, I am completely consumed by the search, and the wife just wants it to be over. Otherwise it's late nights reading reviews, digging up old issues of Car & Driver and Car (UK), and surfing cars.com and autotrader.com. I haven't actually taken my temperature during one of these car frenzies but I feel warm, look flushed, and wouldn't be surprised if a rectal temp was > 100 F-