Sales debate - is the Porsche 911 992 market in trouble?
Recent sales listings reveal some scary viewing in the 992 arena. Asking prices show not just price reductions month-on-month, but falls across the board. In some cases, those reductions run to tens of thousands of pounds, and even Carreras have been slashed. What’s going on?
Jonathan Franklin of Jonathan Franklin Cars neatly sums up the background. “The market has been slowly getting itself overheated, partly since Covid, when people suddenly began spending.” There was, he notes, a growing willingness to spend on items that perhaps people wouldn’t have necessarily purchased, using readily available finance. “With low interest rates and easy availability of ‘special’ models like GT cars or Turbo S, we suddenly have overproduction of those cars,” he explains.
Follow that with a cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine, and a slightly negative view begins to emerge with consumers. “As banks raised rates, they also tightened lending criteria,” reveals Jonathan. “911s that had solid residuals were a safe bet, so Turbo S or GT3s were easy to fund. Now residuals are falling, finance is harder to get and payments are a lot higher, for the same car.” Two years ago it was possible to fund a GT3 RS, run the PCP/finance deal to the end and basically have owned one for free, or even a profit. “Now, those buyers are seeing residuals fall, feeling a squeeze in their finances elsewhere, and are getting out,” he says. The problem is, so is everyone else. Jonathan thinks it’ll be an uncertain market for 992s in 2024, as the trend plays out. Will they drop more? “Who knows,” he says, “although some cars are starting to look good value.”
Paragon’s Jamie Tyler agrees that a price correction is occurring, but notes that, “People will be tempted back in, and we would buy [992s],” caveating it with “just the right car, at the right price.” Jamie thinks it may begin to level off well into the new year, but is already seeing signs of improvement in offers made for 992s.
Is this merely the 992 models finding their true value? The picture is unclear. The rest of the market is rock solid, and the 991 market is strong. “We’re getting lots of interest in both generations of 991,” says Jamie, so this isn’t just a ‘modern 911’ problem.
Time will tell if this is a brief reset but, for some enthusiasts, this might enable them to buy their dream 911. Of course, if a 992 is your ideal car and one you’ll keep then values are irrelevant. However, first ask yourself if the only currently depreciating 911 really is the car for you, when the rest of the market is behaving totally differently?