maestegman Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Just watched Used Car Roadshow (hurrah for Sky+) where a fella swapped his newish 350z plus £20k for a 3 year old Porsche 911 (993). Now, the Porker is a very fine car and, one day, I'd love to own one. I've test driven a couple (993 and 996) and they were fab. However, since owing my Zed, I simply cannot see any other car on the market offering such value for money in the way of looks and performance. In fact, in the two weeks I've owned my car, the only thing I don't like is my skipping Bose! What do other members think? Is the premium purely a "badge-thang"? PS Thanks to this site, I've now become addicted to car detailing websites and the wife thinks I'm now officially the world's saddest web surfer - I have, however, added words like "dodo juice", "detailing clay" and "snow foam" to my vocabulary! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Value is a hard thing to define, buying a Porsche is a lifetime dream for some people, not sure many people dream of Nissan's......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 I'd say right now that the biggest bargains out there to be had are on Porsches themselves, namely the 987 Boxster and the Cayman S. I never used to understand the fixation with Porkers until I drove a few of them, and then I realised just why everyone raves about them. Modern day ones really are that good, and as much as I love the Zed I wouldn't put it in a square fight with anything from Stuttgart right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maestegman Posted April 14, 2009 Author Share Posted April 14, 2009 This is very true Sarnie. I have always dreamed of owning a Porsche (in fact, I got very close to buying a Cayman before deciding to go for the Zed). (Most) Porsches are indeed things of beauty. Cabin size was actually the deciding factor on my case (I'm 6'5"). However, I really enjoy telling people I drive a small Nissan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maestegman Posted April 14, 2009 Author Share Posted April 14, 2009 Agreed Ekona. I'm simply too big for the Boxster and I would have needed to have taken out a loan to go for a newish Porsche. The 996 I test-drove was astonishing however. I suppose it goes back to Sarnie's point - can value be defined objectively? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 The main thing I noticed when test driving a Caymann S was the cabin. Its so much nicer and better built that the Nissan. But I simply could not take that hit of extra cost for a better cabin. Driving wise, the Caymann was much more solid and planted, but felt a bit dull. I like the fact that the Zed is a bit of a brute and needs a bit of driver interaction to get the best from it. Hopefully the new 370z will shrink the gap even more between us and Porsche, but I dont think they can be considered the same league at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Ther performance of Porkers over the zed (Cayman up) is there for all to see, it just depends on how much that difference is worth to you personally. If a Porker is your dream car then you end up selling yourself the reasons to buy it. I nearly bought a boxster before my zed and was glad I did so. When moving on from the zed there was nothing within £20-£30k of it that could tempt me to part with the zed and the cash apart from the G................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maestegman Posted April 14, 2009 Author Share Posted April 14, 2009 You're right Chris. The Cayman cabin was lovely - well appointed and very solid. Decent headroom too! Personally, I thought the Zed was a much better driver's car than the Boxster however. This might have had something to do with the fact that I couldn't actually move in the Boxster however I suppose the thing that got me thinking (and posting) was the differential in price and, whether or not it represented actual "value". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 As Sarnie said, the percieved value is down to the owner. I'm sure if I stumped up the cash for Cayman S instead of the Zed, I would have convinced myself it was worth it, but in all honesty I have more fun modding it now its worth feck all as I cant really destroy the residuals that much An Aston is next on my list, and thats quite a price hike from a Zed, even for a second hand one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK350Z Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Just watched Used Car Roadshow (hurrah for Sky+) where a fella swapped his newish 350z plus £20k for a 3 year old Porsche 911 (993). Now, the Porker is a very fine car and, one day, I'd love to own one. I've test driven a couple (993 and 996) and they were fab. However, since owing my Zed, I simply cannot see any other car on the market offering such value for money in the way of looks and performance. In fact, in the two weeks I've owned my car, the only thing I don't like is my skipping Bose! What do other members think? Is the premium purely a "badge-thang"? PS Thanks to this site, I've now become addicted to car detailing websites and the wife thinks I'm now officially the world's saddest web surfer - I have, however, added words like "dodo juice", "detailing clay" and "snow foam" to my vocabulary! You watch the Used Car Roadshow? That big fella does my head in. With regards the Porsche, I'm sure he was dying for a 911, but until i'm fortunate enough to drive one, I'll say the Zed has far more smiles/£. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainSensible Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 When I was recently considering whether to buy a 350Z I was also considering a Boxster or older (996) 911. For me I just couldn't make myself like the looks of the Boxster, its just too damn feminine. I would LOVE a 911 but getting a 10 year old one with close to 100k on the clock for similar money to a 3 year old Zed, well it was no contest. Porkers are fabulous cars but not worth the badge premium IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maestegman Posted April 14, 2009 Author Share Posted April 14, 2009 Haha. I must admit that Used Car Roadshow is one of my guilty pleasures. Zoe Hardman is more my type than Jason Dawe however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3FIDDYZ Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Found the coxster's driving position to be awful... but the S has got a lovely engine. Gayman is 100% better for not a lot of money... Best bargains in the porsche discoutn bin I have found to date are the 996 Turbos.... 27k for a 2000 model... I know you have higher service costs with higher mileage but lovely car! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maestegman Posted April 14, 2009 Author Share Posted April 14, 2009 CaptainSensible - snap! Same issue exactly here. I wonder if the Porsche audio system plays CDs without sounding like Norman Collier though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trev-the-Rev Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 I've fancied a Cayman S ever since they were launched but just couldn't justify the price difference between them and the Zed. Having now driven one though and seen the prices you can get a good 2-3 year old one for, I'm fairly certain that this will be my next car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maestegman Posted April 14, 2009 Author Share Posted April 14, 2009 Yep Trev - the Cayman was a fab drive and a stunning bit of kit. I cheapest decent one I could find was £24k though and I didn't think it was worth £15k more than my Zed (which, IMHO, is also very pretty). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissZ Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 I was looking at a Boxter S at the weekend. My mistake was parking next to it. Got out, started taking a look at it, the saleswoman came running out and by the time she'd got to me I'd already dismissed it on looks alone. Turned down the test drive she offered me and took the Z for a blast up the side of a mountain instead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trev-the-Rev Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Yep Trev - the Cayman was a fab drive and a stunning bit of kit. I cheapest decent one I could find was £24k though and I didn't think it was worth £15k more than my Zed (which, IMHO, is also very pretty). This was exactly my view as well but the Cayman has depreciated less in real terms and is also without doubt a superior piece of kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathys Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 He traded for a 993, 3 years old? How does that work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matth76 Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 I saw the same episode two or three years ago so since then prices have plummeted. 7-9yr old 996's can be had for less than £20k now. The 993 is viewed by the purists as being the "better" Porsche because it is air cooled and demand higher prices. However it's a matter of opinion. Cayman is a nice car but the only one to go for in my opinion is the "S" version. The alternative base model is a fair bit slower than the Z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maz77 Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 I am sorry but I see no point what so ever in paying the extra money for the badge. yes pokers are dream cars for some, but for me only the carrera GT can be categorised as that. has any one thought of importing a second hand GTR. they were selling for £27K with 2K miles on them in japan and thats 2 months ago when I last had a look. putting that price plus an extra say £10-15K to get it here and sort it against any porche up to the 911 turbo??? I would happily take the first plane to tokyo. few moths down the line when the GTR is a year old!!! I gonna have to start looking into shipping arrangement. no porche for me thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Show me a GTR for sale in japan for £27k please...................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maestegman Posted April 14, 2009 Author Share Posted April 14, 2009 Some really good discussion here guys. Thank you. The reason I started this thread was that the situation on UCR resonated with me (albeit on a much smaller scale). I wrestled with many of the issues contained in this thread before I bought my Zed. In reality, the main thing that settled it for me was cabin size. However, I'd be lying if I didn't factor in the additional cost of a sizeable loan if I had purchased a Porsche (Boxster) or a Mercedes (SLK). Value is such a difficult thing to quantify. I love Porsches. But I am sooo happy with my Zed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewbie Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Preferred the look of the 350 roadster to the Boxster and then money made the final choice. The 350 gets a lot of smiles from inside and outside the cabin. Having said that as a driver who loves drivers cars it's a Boxster S for me as the ultimate convertible ( outside of supercars ). The balance and power are just so useable and confidence inspiring. Truly amazing. The only thing to get me off roadsters might be a second hand GT-R though. True super-value super car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maz77 Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Show me a GTR for sale in japan for £27k please...................... 1. http://www.tradecarview.com/used_car/ja ... r/1702915/ 27000 kilometres Going for 5500000 JPY 2. http://www.tradecarview.com/used_car/ja ... r/1778994/ 4000 kilometres on it Going for 5710000 JPY 3. http://www.tradecarview.com/used_car/ja ... r/1569889/ 12000 kilometres on it Going for 5900000 JPY take the second one for example: With the current exchange rate it will come to £38K If you consider the bank of England average exchange rate for 2008. You can have it for £29K If you consider the bank of England average exchange rate for 2007. You can have it for £24K Generally speaking the exchange rate prior to the credit crunch was between 200-235 JPY per 1 British pound. pick the right time and your in for a treat. Bear in mind that this is an export trader. So he knows you and I will be looking at his cars for side of the world. I wonder what it would be like if you visit local dealer and haggle the price (or get your Japanese holiday girlfriend to do it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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