I had an email from someone in the USA wanting to buy a Porsche 997 Turbo S Cabriolet.He wanted to know if he would be better off buying a limited edition Edition 918 (pictured) because it would prove to hold its value better. He also asked if it would be worth waiting until next year to see if the last of the 997 Turbo Ss would depreciate in that time. Here is my reply:
The Edition 918 is meant to be reserved for buyers of the Porsche 918 Spyder but it seems that they are available on the open market. Porsche says that it will build no more than 918 examples (one for each Spyder) although, in reality, I doubt it will be that many.
Unfortunately, the days of low-depreciating Porsches have long gone. You only have to look at values of three-year-old 997 Turbos to see that a brand-new one going to suffer heavy depreciation. .
Short-term, I don’t think that the Edition 918 will hold its value better than a standard 997 Turbo S. It’s the same price to buy new and the green accents may even limit its appeal.
Longer term, will it fair better? Look, for instance, at the 996 Anniversary from 2004 – despite being a rare car it’s not special enough to warrant anyone paying over the odds for it. I suspect the Edition 918 will prove to be similar; it will be an interesting curiosity but won’t carry a price premium.
I suggest, then, that you choose the car you like better – the Edition 918 or a Turbo S of your own specification. The former is a great-looking car to my mind and has a good spec for the money. The latter will let you choose the colour and spec that you want, if you buy new.
Porsche is tight-lipped about the new 991 Turbo but I suspect it won’t go on sale until the middle of 2012 so the 997 Turbo S will remain in production for some time. If you wait a few months you may find that you will be able to pick up a used example for less money but the saving will be small.
Finally, I’ve driven the 997 Turbo S a lot and can confirm that it’s a superb car. The only downside is tyre noise but then that’s an issue with most modern super cars.
