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Cut price Porsches: is the 911 Turbo out of favour?

It’s no secret the Porsche marketplace has undertaken something of an adjustment in the last two years or so, with prices of used Porsche 911s falling across the board. However, a closer look at the stats shows it is the iconic 911 Turbo which has almost uniformly tumbled in the last 24 months.

So what’s going on? “There’s been a real correction in the marketplace since 2017,” says Tom Wood, market expert from Porsche specialists Ignition Classics, who also gives a pretty good outline of why prices got so high in the first place. “Prices were at such a point where lovers of the 911 were no longer the only customers for these cars. 2012 was when, I think, the ears of the public, the media and potential investors pricked due to the rise of ‘Porsche personalities’, resulting in the prospect of owning an old 911 being ‘cool’ and people started buying them and falling in love with them.

“As such, investors started to get onboard with the idea, without having any real, in-depth knowledge of what exactly they were buying. This lead to a sale of just about anything with a 911 badge on the back. The nature of supply and demand then took its hold and the values rocketed, leaving much of the enthusiast market left behind. 

“However, these sky high values needed to be corrected, and cars are coming back into the hands of enthusiasts – but they’re not prepared to pay those inflated prices of recent times.” 

Wood’s comments are reflected across the entire marketplace, with the 911 R losing around £150,000 in value since 2017, while the average 2.7 Carrera RS has shrank in value by £300,000. And what about those Turbos? “ The Turbo model isn’t exclusive to this but it’s certainly a good example, as we’ve seen first hand the deals needed to be done to get cars sold,” says Wood.

As we’ve said in Total 911 magazine all year, the good news is it’s truly a buyer’s market right now, with plenty of choice available. Which brings us to the wide band of values at present: “Prices are spread out considerably,” Wood concurs, who focusses on the 996 Turbo as a case in point. “You could still pay £50,000 for an immaculate, low-mileage manual Coupe, while at the other end of the scale, a high-mileage, Tiptronic example can be had for around £30,000. There are more than 22,000 996 Turbos worldwide, and lower mileage cars with good specs are harder to come by.” 

However, is the recent dip in Turbo prices the start of a long-term trend? “It’s speculation, but I think there’s potential that this icon for a generation of buyers is now going to be the icon of the past generation, which may have an impact on future prices.

“However, given the way the world is headed, with a stronger focus on an efficient, renewable power source to drive cars – plus the concept of autonomous driving – is there a place for an analogue machine requiring real driver input, and which comes with a noisy soundtrack? With absolute certainty there will be. We’ll return to the days where you purchase a classic 911 for the love of it, to drive it and own it for a few years, and selling will hopefully result in you getting your money back but without expecting more.”

Wood, like all our experts in our cut price Porsche special issue, says good cars are still selling and selling well, so it’s important to do your research and spend as much as you can on the best example you can, to avoid a scenario of having to pay big bills to put a bad car right.

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