Nick Jeffery
The ‘Cars to buy in 2021’ article recently published in this magazine got me thinking about my experience of the second-hand Porsche market in the UK over the last couple of years. There has been a real price correction and subsequent stabilisation since I purchased my 997.2 Carrera 4 GTS back in October 2018. If you look at my current garage, 997.2 GTSS have, on average, dropped around £15k but prices now appear to be steady again. 997.1 GT3 values do not seem to have been impacted whatsoever.
981 Cayman S prices remain strong, presumably because of their flat six DFI engines as opposed to the four cylinder units installed in the subsequent 718 generation, GTS 4.0/Gt4/spyder aside. Purely from a retail price perspective, I reckon my 981 Cayman S has dropped circa £3k since January 2020, having added around 9k miles.
To be clear, I did not purchase any of the cars as an investment. They are all being driven and enjoyed as intended. I have no desire to part company with the GT3, unless another GT3 is going to take its place! The 997.2 generation GTS really is such a special car. It offers near GT3 levels of performance but without any of the compromise, plus it is the car that resurrected the GTS model designation that is now so proliferate across the entire product range. It is also much rarer than subsequent 911 generations with only 154 Pdk-equipped Meteor grey Carrera 4 GTSS currently registered in the UK. I do prefer the smaller footprint of the 997 on the road and absolutely love the centre lock wheels, the wide body with the classic red rear reflector stripe, plus mine has full extended leather instead of the standard plastic dash and Alcantara.
However, I think I may be reaching the end of my 981 Cayman S journey. It truly is a brilliant car to drive and be in, making the most awesome noise as you thread it down your favourite road, but it is almost too easy to extract the performance, if that makes sense? Like other modern cars, it feels so much more ‘plug and play’ where instant performance and gratification is only the turn of a key away. The fact that you can exploit the car’s potential so readily is an initial attraction but also the model’s ultimate problem, and therein lies the beauty and truth of the 911 ownership experience! I thoroughly enjoyed my 996 Carrera 4S for 5.5 years and was still exploring the hidden depths of its performance when I part exchanged it for the 981 Cayman S. In fact, I still miss that car to this very day! Perhaps I should not have sold it after all?
I am sure it has been said many times before, but it is the inherent flaws that Porsche has tried so very hard to eradicate with each subsequent generation that make a 911 so much more demanding, rewarding and ultimately satisfying to drive than the more balanced, mid-engined cars. I know our Editor, Lee Sibley, has been recently running around in a 981 Cayman GT4 and have a funny feeling his experience will mirror that of my own. We shall see…
Don’t get me wrong, in so many ways the 981 Cayman S really is the better engineered car and so much easier to extract its instantly accessible performance, but like any drug once you hit that high you need more! Perhaps the 981 Cayman S has peaked too soon, whereas I am still mining the depths of both 911s’ abilities and performance?
It is therefore possible the 981 Cayman S will make way for another 911. Current thoughts are a well-optioned 997.2 Carrera S with a manual gearbox or, wait for it, another 996 with a naturally aspirated Mezger block…