Sales debate

Does a new 911 release raise used values? The 992 is here. The arrival of Porsche’s eighth generation of its iconic 911 sports car has been a secret poorly kept, with all manner of spy shots and other leaked material documenting the evolution of its prototype testing.

Timing of the launch also falls neatly in synch with what is now an established eight-year production cycle for each generation of 911, with mid-life engine and facelift adaptations taking place at the end of year four.

So, with the 992 now officially in the public domain, what will that do for values of older generations of 911 Carrera, including the now-defunct 991?

Karl Meyer, formerly a business manager within the Official Porsche Centre network and later a proprietor at Porsche trade-in specialists 2911, is well placed to offer an insight, having witnessed many new generations of 911 come and go in his time in the marketplace. His reply, therefore, came as something of a surprise when we put our latest sales debate question to him: “Quite simply, values of older 911s don’t change at all!” he says. “Porsche is the definitive masterclass when releasing a new car with little or no impact on the outgoing model. One side of it is that changes with each new model are only small in comparison to other manufacturers, but Porsche is also adept at running out the previous model in very low numbers. 911s in particular are still one of the few ‘volume cars’ built to order. The new model will only release in tiny numbers initially too, so if there is a flurry of new-generation interest, your only option may be a nearly new approved one – and there’s no such thing as a bad 911, so why wouldn’t you?”

Paul Stephens of Paul Stephens Porsche believes the arrival of a new 911 piques the interest of the wider market, but it’s not enough to change used prices. “We may see a little more interest in terms of website traffic or interest in our stock, but the prices don’t change. The 911 market is quite settled in terms of the structure of values of old versus new models and anyway, there can often be very different buyers interested in them,” he says.

It seems Porsche is as well-drilled in controlling the market for its products as it is in continually developing its 911. Which generation you go for will therefore be an emotional decision, and not a financially oriented one.