Quote:
Originally Posted by BillC
This may come back to bite Porsche. Part of the "value" in their cars is a relatively high resale value for their used cars. And depreciation rates are often part of what new-car buyers consider when picking which new car to buy.
You need buyers for the used cars to maintain those values -- if buyers can't easily find a used Porsche they want, they'll go buy something else, possibly some other brand. If there are no buyers for used Porsches, then the resale values will drop and new-car buyers will wonder if they really want to spend that much money on a Porsche when some other brand might represent a better value.
Take McLarens for example. Fantastic cars, but they depreciate like a dropped rock. I've read a number of online discussions of whether or not to buy a used McLaren, with the potential buyers getting scared away by the rapid depreciation and then looking for something else instead.
Plus, Porsche has said multiple times that used Porsches are the "gateway cars" toward new Porsches (this is the "reason" why they won't introduce a car under the Boxster/Cayman). If buyers can't find the used Porsches they want, why should they bother with a new Porsche?
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You make some excellent points, especially about maintaining resale value (especially when new Porsches are so crazily priced as it is). I remember the quote not long ago when asked if there would be a Porsche below the Boxster/Cayman and the reply was that they already have an entry-level car - it's called CPO Porsche.
I drove four states over to pick up my last CPO Porsche. Local inventory is sometimes good, sometimes not so good. A LOT of new buyers of CPO Porsches are willing to shop out of state. Make it harder for them to do so and you risk driving them to other brands or to seek used Porsches from other sources (for example, I picked up my first 911 through CARMAX - Porsche [and a Porsche dealer] didn't get to make any CPO money off of that deal).
Heck, I am a success story for Porsche and drank the freakin' Kool-Aide
- I bought a used 911, then a CPO one...and then finally bit the bullet and bought a new one.