AUCTION/SHOWROOM/CLASSIFIED MARKETWATCH

Environmental issue are soon likely to influence values of used Porsches depending on how green they are, as cities introduce high charges for driving in their centres. David Sutherland looks at the winners and losers

It used to be rust that sent cars, Porsches included, to the breaker’s yard, but advances in anti-corrosion treatment in recent years have slowed that process. However, cars now have a new “enemy” that in the near future could fell them far quicker than the slow spread of tin worm: emissions.

On 23rd October 2017 the issue of what comes out the tailpipe became much more significant in the UK, and within two years will almost certainly be even more so. If your Porsche falls on the wrong side of a certain “Euro” spec, you now have to pay an extra £10 “Toxicity Charge” or “T-charge” to drive into central London’s Congestion Zone, the fee coming to £21.50, and applying 24/7 rather than the present 7am–6pm, Monday to Friday. And it’s expected that in 2019 this area, now called the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) will extend out to the North and South Circular Roads, the capital’s suburban ring route. 911 & PORSCHE WORLD

At this point you might think, ‘I don’t live in London so it doesn’t affect me’. But it might well do, because even if you never drive in London the changes could acutely impact your Porsche’s value, leaving it all but unsaleable. And remember that other UK cities are likely to copy London’s scheme, Cambridge for example having asked central government for the necessary legislative powers.

For your car to escape the new charges, it must comply with one of two emissions standards: Euro 4 (made mandatory in January 2005) for petrol cars, and Euro 6 (September 2015) for diesels. The 987 generation Boxster and 997 911, both launched in 2004, are Euro 4, as is the petrol Cayenne, which appeared in the UK the previous year. Before that, it is less easy to determine which Porsches are Euro 4, although some later 996s are; you can instantly find out the status of an individual car by simply typing the registration number in the T-charge Compliance Checker on the Transport for London website (tfl.gov.uk).

However, only the latest Porsche diesels are Euro 6 compliant, with most oil burning Cayennes and Panameras Euro 5. Dealers’ asking prices for diesel Panameras don’t seem to have changed much recently, but Cayenne values are sinking, with some offered for sale at way below the “book” price. Glass’s lists a 2008/08 plate Cayenne Diesel at £19,300 “retail” and £15,100 “trade”, but you’ll see them advertised for a lot less, some for £9000 to £10,000 albeit with huge mileages.

‘In the last six months people have turned away from diesels, and we’ve stopped doing Cayenne diesels completely’, said Harry Loannou of Porsche specialist Portiacraft in Mill Hill, north west London, whose showroom is about four miles from what will form the ULEZ boundary. ‘Even if we did take one in we’d value it accordingly.’

We’ve heard it suggested that post-“dieselgate”, Porsche Centres are shying away from oil burners – after all, the carmaker practically had to be dragged kicking and screaming into this market sector a decade ago. But so far there is no obvious evidence of this, it not being hard to find pre-euro 6 diesels offered; Porsche Sutton Coldfield in The Midlands was offering a 2011/61-plate Panamera Diesel with 40,200 miles for £34,900 and another from the same year but with 72,500 for £32,900, some £2500 and £3500 above book, respectively. There are also plenty of pre-euro 6 Cayennes in the network, starting at a little over £30,000.

But as 2019 looms and the ULEZ extension and date is confirmed, rendering these diesels virtually unusable even in the London suburbs, their values seem likely to go through the floor. Whether that also blights values of unaffected, Euro 6 dervdrinking Porsches, for example all Macan S Diesels, remains to be seen.

But what about the preEuro 4 petrol-engined Porsches that will fall foul of London’s ULEZ, and indeed any other similar scheme further down the line? It does not seem to be something that buyers have yet absorbed.

‘No one is asking us about it,’ Harry Loannou told us. ‘Most people who are buying a pre-euro 4 Porsche are not going to be going into London, and if they do on the odd occasion, they’ll just pay the extra tenner’. But undoubtedly the ‘losers’ are going to be the tattier 986 Boxsters, and possibly early 996s that are past presenting a business case for restoration, for example those suffering the familiar M96 engine bore wear and IMS bearing failure issues; values of these cars, now the “cheap” Porsches, are likely to slip further.

However, one clear “winner” emerges: classic Porsches, defined by TFL as those first registered in the UK 40 years ago or more. Sensibly, TFL has used that milestone – also the age at which cars pay zero road tax, and won’t need an MOT as from May 2018 – to exempt them from the T-charge and extended ULEZ charge, although the £10 fee is still payable.

This will almost certainly further boost the values of 1970s Porsches, even if only in a small way. Who would have thought that a government would ever deliver a tax bonus to car drivers?