With our latest price limit, we are well beyond the new price of virtually any 718 Boxster/Cayman – the double in fact the base 2.0 Cayman, and most of the 911 Carreras except the GTS and Turbo models and of course the specialist small-volume 992s.
Nevertheless, if demand for Porsches waxes and wanes, one model never seems to lose its appeal and that, of course, is the 911, and perusal of the used market reveals quite a few well-spec’d 1-year-old Carreras priced comfortably above $150,000.
For a different budget range, check out our other buyer’s guides:
- Budget Based Porsche Buyer’s Guide: $25k
- Budget Based Porsche Buyer’s Guide: $50k
- Budget Based Porsche Buyer’s Guide: $75k
- Budget Based Porsche Buyer’s Guide: $100k
Porsche 718 Models
$150,000 is a generous cut-off for the mid-engine cars: only the 500 horsepower Cayman GT4 RS and the similarly tuned Boxster Spyder cost more (+$10,000) new. Their depreciation is typically slow: $130,000 buys a 15,000-mile GT4 RS from 2021 and $137,000 a Boxster Spyder from the same year. The RS looks like the track car it is, and driving it is an intense experience.
The hot Cayman is a demanding, relatively hard-riding car and many potential buyers might be happier with the GTS 4 liter which has ‘only’ 400 horsepower, but a more subtle throttle response that does not relentlessly urge on the driver as well as slightly more highway-oriented springing. Barely run-in GTS examples can be found around $90-$95,000.
The GTS also has Porsche’s precise and fluent six-speed gearbox, a nicer unit incidentally than the seven-speed manual available on the manual Carreras. Both top-line 718s are PDK gearbox-only though Porsche did fit the Boxster Spyder with a road rather than the Cayman’s track-biased suspension: for all its immense performance the Spyder offers an altogether less frenetic drive than the GT4 RS.
Most people think the Spyder’s fared rear bodywork is fantastic, but if you live in a state prone to sudden rain, beware of the manually erected hood which even with practice can take ten minutes to assemble fully!
Porsche 911 Models
Since 2016 all 911s (except the GT3) have been turbocharged: Porsche refers to them as ‘Carreras’ and the original Turbo model is distinguished by its ‘Turbo’ designation and larger 3.8 engine which has bespoke turbochargers. Always four-wheel-drive and more luxuriously equipped, it is pitched substantially above the Carreras, its new pricing starting around $190,000 rising to $230,000 for the S.
In the USA, the base plain Turbo is far less common than the S where buyers seem more than ready to pay the extra $40,000 for 70 more horsepower and 40 more foot-pounds. Even the oldest 992s from 2020 cars are still priced around $200,000 so if a modern 911 Turbo is your objective, you have to look at the 991 version to be within our price range.
Again, the S predominates: a Porsche-approved 2017 Cabrio S showing 37,000 miles is on offer at $163,000: these cars have a comfortable dealer margin and hard bargaining might take this down to $150,000 for cash if the dealer feels he has had the car long enough.
Outside the Porsche network, prices are generally lower: it took little research to uncover a low-mileage 2017 Turbo S Cabrio at $149,000, one of several around this price.
At just short of $148,000, the unregistered zero mileage 992 T above shows just how much Porsche’s extras can add to the new price. To justify its $20,000 uplift, this example has features such as sports seats, sports exhaust, and above all the striking 20” (21” rear) Spyder wheels. But with such an enthusiast spec, it’s a pity that this entry-level 992 does not have the manual gearbox. At the other end of the scale, it is difficult to find a 992 GTS below our nominal 150k: a 7,000-mile 2019 991 GTS, the last of the previous generation, sells for around $145,000.
A would-be 992 buyer happy to take a well-spec’d second-hand Carrera and with an eye for a bargain will find plenty to choose from well below 150k.
This 2020 Carrera S cabrio offered at $129,000 has only 13,000 miles which should mean the interior looks and smells new and the car’s body should be quite unmarked. After four years, the service record should show at least two dealer visits and all-important oil changes.
The specialist GT3 911s are well beyond our budget unless buyers are prepared to contemplate eight or ten-year-old cars and these will be the 991.1 version which had a 3.8 engine allied to seven-speed PDK. The six-speed manual option did not return until 2018 on the 991.2 version.
Typical of offers below 150k is this 13,000 miles GT3 from a private owner. Higher mileage 991.1s – 40,000 miles in a GT3 context, are on offer in the $125 -130,000 range.
Unless the model is new to them, GT3 buyers generally know what they are looking for: the GT3 is a serious, track-oriented 911, eminently driveable on the highway, but with its shorter suspension travel, it is less comfortable and has a tendency to ground on the steepest ramps. Service history is vital with a GT3: it was intended for the track so it is no surprise if the previous owner was a weekend racer.
A conscientious proprietor would have adhered closely to the enhanced service regime recommended by Porsche in terms of more frequent engine and gearbox oil changes and replacement of suspension components which have to work much harder often in much hotter conditions on the track. Circuit driving sometimes leads to ‘offs’ which can result not just in flat-spotted tires, but also bent bodywork.
GT3 fenders are easily if expensively replaced and par for the course on a car that has seen regular track use, but buyers should look out for signs of more extensive damage. Lift the carpet and see whether the floor is rippled. Get underneath if possible and look for non-factory welding and other indications of repair. The seasoned GT3 buyer knows the pitfalls: if it is your first GT3, consider taking an experienced second opinion with you.
By contrast, some GT3s will barely have been driven, their owners deciding for whatever reason not to use the GT3 but keep it in the garage rather than selling it on. The danger here can be underuse: oil and coolant deteriorate over time and lubrication tends to dry up on moving parts from air conditioning to door locks. The GT3 is like a thoroughbred racehorse: it needs to get out and stretch its legs properly. As ever the evidence of the dealer service record is vital.
Porsche built several thousand 991 GT3s, reflected in their wide availability on the used market. Much rarer was its predecessor, the 997 GT3. This is quite a different 911 and is much less ‘technical’ than the 991.
The 997 version used the so-called Mezger engine, which those people with long memories will recall was named after the flat six’s original engineer, Hans Mezger. The GT3 engine, seen in the first production GT3 came in 1999, though for emissions reasons not in North America until 2004. This engine used the old, air-cooled block of the 964-993 with a bespoke water-cooled 24-valve head and Porsche did not stint on exotic metals such as titanium in its construction. The result was an extraordinarily robust engine which in three capacities gave sterling service until production ended in 2011. Today, track devotees will tell you that the 997 GT3 has long ceased to be a weekend racer’s car since the wholesale arrival of the 991 GT3 in 2015.
The 991 GT3 moved the game on so dramatically in terms of performance and dynamics that the old model quickly became obsolete. For the traditional 911 fan more interested in the driving experience than circuit times, the 997 GT3 is a great car: with its manual shift it is paradoxically more demanding yet its very analog nature is what appeals to some buyers in a world where increasingly cars (even Porsche cannot escape this) and the driving experience are being robotised.
The older 911 is an antidote to this, especially the GT3. It lacks the refinement to travel cross-continent, but as an involving visceral drive on your favorite canyon route, for keen 911ists, the 997 GT3 is hard to beat. And purchased advisedly, depreciation for this rare beast is likely to be minimal if there is any. As an essentially mechanical car, there are far fewer electronic systems to maintain or with the potential to go wrong.
In the US a GT3 997 takes a little more searching out than in Europe, however all but pristine examples aside, there are offers inside our nominal $150k of interesting-looking low-mileage cars as the picture below shows.
Porsche Air-Cooled Models
The inflation that has affected air-cooled pricing since the late 1990s –it probably began with the Carrera 2.7 RS – means rarer 911s have long been outside our 150k limit.
The main classic Porsche sales in Europe this year were the auctions by Bonhams. Artcurial and Sothebys held during the Historic Grand Prix at Monaco in May and offer something of a benchmark: the tendency for the oldest 911s was down, for example, prices realized for a brace of 1970 911S 2.2s fell well below $150,000 as did a 1974 Carrera 2.7 (mechanical, not Bosch fuel injection) when the estimate for these cars had been $200,000.
Looking at the North American market in July 2024, the internet throws up a pair of 1977 Targas, just restored by a Porsche dealer on offer at around $147,000.
As thorough as these restorations may be, it might be worth waiting to see whether as Fall approaches older air-cooled pricing stabilizes for common models like these. Moving into the 1980s, our budget offers a relatively small choice of Carrera 3.2s. The previous buyer’s guide illustrated some very impressive-looking 3.2s below $100,000 and venturing further into six figures these cars should produce exceptional perhaps even concours-winning examples.
911 930 turbos from this period are comparatively rare in North America because import was not allowed until 1986. Hemmings lists a German-registered car so presumably just imported, on offer at $115,000. The handful of other 930s figure well above our budget.
The 964 was once the least-loved of the air-cooled cars, but times have changed. The number of original cars has been depleted by the re-imagined and restomod crowd and taken 964 pricing to 993 levels. Hemmings lists a 1990 964 C2, the most desirable of the range, and another German import, with only one owner and seemingly spotless.
At $145,000, this is an impressive jump for a model that in this condition might have sold for half that only six or seven years ago.
The 993, as the last of the line, never fell from favor. It was produced for longer and in greater numbers than the 964 and is not difficult to track down. As the previous guide illustrated, there are plenty of good usable 993s both open and coupé versions, 2 and four-wheel drive in the $75-100k segment.
The S models, especially the C4S which featured the wider turbo bodywork (except the rear spoiler) brakes and suspension are today much sought-after. Essentially they are merely the C2 in its Sunday best, both C2S and C4S variations used the stock 3.6 engine giving the same performance as the C2/C4, but were originally priced higher. That margin has steadily increased to the point where the C4S is often worth half as much again as the C2.
These cars often feature lower mileage than the plain Carreras, purchased perhaps in the knowledge that they would be the final air-cooled 911s, but that does not stop some ambitious pricing. A measure of this is the number of ‘POA’ offers of cars probably priced around $130 – $150,000.
This listing shows one of the rare C4S with a price sticker, $155,000. The car has minor modifications such as the removal of the US ‘bumperettes’ from the front fender, auxiliary lights, nonstandard wheels, and (yellow) brake calipers.
The purist collector might prefer the 993 C4S, to be sold at Sotheby’s, Monterey on August 17. The ample photography (Elferspot) suggests a spotless 9000-mile standard C4S. A sale price here nearer $200,000 might be expected.
In this column’s view, the plain C2/4 offers potentially better value at a little below $100,000 for an exceptional car; by contrast, the widebody 964s now sell in the $200,000 range, but these have the rarity value of very low production numbers: both 993 C2S and C4S were made in the thousands not the hundreds so there is no particular shortage of either.
The Turbos, both 964 and 993 are generally beyond our $150,000 budget, offers within this bracket usually involve cars that though driveable require some improvement, often having suffered from long storage. ‘Recommissioning’ as the auction houses like to put it can mean significant and expensive restoration: the turbos are more complex to put right than the naturally aspirated 911s.
