Planet 9

Ira_S · #1 06-08-2008, 11:33 AM

Hey everyone. I have been a BMW driver for a long time and my M roadster is coming off lease in 6 month. I am now sure I am going to be getting a new Cayman S. My question for guys is with all the options that Porsche lets you choose from, what options are the ones that will keep the best resale value. And also, what are the options that are just like throwing money into the wind, and never see it again. I appreciate all the responses!

kareldeeley · #2 06-08-2008, 11:43 AM

All options, come re-sale time are thrown out of the window.....................
Buy an '07 (hanging around the dealer's lot) - modestly spec'd car, at a good price, and you will not feel so bad when you come to sell............

cheerIO · #3 06-08-2008, 11:49 AM

Originally Posted by kareldeeley

All options, come re-sale time are thrown out of the window.....................

I think that this is true. You can opt for some things that may make your car a little more desirable at resale time like xenons, heated seats, etc. But, from my experience anyway, they won't add much value to the car.

jpccarguy · #4 06-08-2008, 12:21 PM

Depends on how long you plan to drive your Cayman S, how much you will drive your Cayman S, and how much satisfaction you will get if you don't add options you want.

PASM is helpful if you want to track your car, or if you have 19's and poor road surfaces. Xenons help if you drive a lot at night. My incoming car has red stitching on the black sport seats, and red belts. Useful? No, but I plan to use mine as an almost-daily driver, and I know I plan to keep the car a very long time.

Having a Z3 M coupe that I will keep for now as a track-modded, barely legal street car, I can tell you that I almost never used the heated seats, and I abhor electric seats. So the CS has neither. Less complex, and less weight; less stuff to go wrong.

Even if you don't order a CS, you might access the Cayman Club pdf of the Porsche NA order sheet. It may help you decide what you want on a car that's in inventory, or it may help you realize how many goodies you can pile on a CS if it's ordered.

YMMV, and good luck. Let us know what you get.

Cheers,

John Cuellar

Meteor Grey over black, sport seats, PASM, XPA wheel, PSE, sport chrono, PSE, xenons, rear wiper, Carrera Classics.

**KS-CS** · #5 06-08-2008, 12:23 PM

Agree with above . . . I don't think you can/should pick options just based on future resale value or return (though if you pick "paint to sample" with some weird color, it probably will hurt resale value). Pick the options you want or can afford, and just enjoy the car the way you want it!

chows4us · #6 06-08-2008, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by Ira_S

My question for guys is with all the options that Porsche lets you choose from, what options are the ones that will keep the best resale value.

Go to kbb.com or nada.com and look it up. PCM, Nav, Bose add value. Lack of power seats detracts value.

Jim Michaels · #7 06-08-2008, 12:37 PM

I think that options are such a personal thing that it's hard to predict just which combination of options will interest prospective buyers several years down the road. Note that most options fall into three general categories; performance (short shifter, etc.), appearance (full leather, etc.), and convenience (auto anything). Prospective buyers probably fall into similar categories in terms of the options they hope to find in a used car.

While options don't hold their value at re-sale time, having popular options probably does attract more prospective buyers. Most dealers probably have a better idea of which options will sell and re-sell easier than most of us do.

I'm a performance-related options guy myself, but my guess on more generally popular options on a Cayman would at least include bi-xenons, auto climate control, and full leather.

Nick · #8 06-08-2008, 01:30 PM

An option that adds value is the 'S' badge, but not as much as it cost.

I like Xenons and they will probably be a future standard fit on most cars.

Maybe Next One · #9 06-08-2008, 01:59 PM

Nick said: "An option that adds value is the 'S' badge, but not as much as it cost."

I agree with both conclusions, but I still love the power upgrade.

gmsracing · #10 06-08-2008, 07:19 PM

If you look at past Porsches as a barometer of future Porsche value, it is always the performance model or the model with the sport options that command the most value in the long term. Doesn't matter which model it is. In the short term it is more of the "luxury features" that will help the resale of the car. As the cars age, people stop buying them for daily luxury transport and use them for weekend sports cars (or track cars)--thus the switch to the sports features. The demographics of the purchasers change.

So--I'd buy sports features! GT2 seats, etc. Who also wants a nasty brown Cayman 10 years from now? Get a solid color that won't go out of style. Blues, silvers, blacks, etc.

**Chris S** · #11 06-09-2008, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by chows4us

Go to kbb.com or nada.com and look it up. PCM, Nav, Bose add value. Lack of power seats detracts value.

Sure, they do, but at a fraction of the price difference when new. The less options you have, the less depreciation you'll likely incur...but you'll also miss out on the incremental enjoyment that options can provide during your ownership.

**Blitzkrieg** · #12 06-09-2008, 12:57 PM

Originally Posted by Chris S

Sure, they do, but at a fraction of the price difference when new. The less options you have, the less depreciation you'll likely incur...

+1 options are pretty much for your own enjoyment, if you only plan on keeping a car for a couple years I wouldn't invest a lot into its "extras".

***carsteve*** · #13 07-25-2008, 08:22 AM

I have a CS with absolutely no options ticked. It's Guards Red with Sand Beige. The only thing I regret not having is the Xenon headlights, that's about it. But I'm pretty sure I'll add them aftermarket. The way I always look at it, for any car, is the more options, the more things that can break down the road.

That said, I think the most important options are the Xenons, and non-mechanical options like interior trim pieces (because I think it's very important that you thoroughly enjoy sitting in your car at all times!). Everything else you can make do without, but of course I'm a little biased.

**blueone** · #14 07-25-2008, 09:00 AM

I ended up ordering a CS, but when I was looking at some hardly used 06/07 examples it became very obvious that some options made the cars much more likely to attract buyers & sell:

Full leather
PASM
Sport seats, adaptive or manual
Sport steering wheel, any one of them

A couple of sellers with cars that didn't have xenons said that was a deal-breaker for some buyers, but perhaps that's just a Pacific Northwest thing.

Anders2727 · #15 07-25-2008, 10:08 AM

I would highly suggest PASM and Xenons. PASM transforms the suspension IMO and your "rump" will thank you for it. Xenons are a great safety feature.

Cheers!

iqwertyi · #16 08-04-2008, 02:26 PM

When I went to purchase my car, the only must have option I told my sales guy was Bi-Xenon. Which surprisingly was a rare item for them. He says people would rather spend it on the wheels.